Analysisof Interview and Observation of Children with Disabilities
InclusiveEducation is where all students are part of one classroomirrespective of whether a child has a learning disability or not. Forthese students with disabilities such as hearing disorder, visualimpairment, autism, brain injury, and orthopedic disorder to beincluded in the classroom, some rules must be followed such adevelopment of an Individual Education Plan (IEP) (Sigel, 2014).Students in Special Education (SPED) are sheltered under theIndividuals with Disability Education Act (IDEA). This legislationpresides over the special education procedure for students until theyare twenty-one years of age (Siegel, 2014). This paper seeks to focuson inclusion of children with disabilities in a regular classroom.
Observationof the activities & strategies utilized, staff, atmosphere,interactions, classroom arrangement, management style(s) andtechniques of teaching Special Education students
Mystudy focused on Christine, a fifth-grade student with Down syndromeand Eric, a fourth grader who autistic. During the six-hourobservation, the students were involved in activities such as math’slesson, and afternoon sessions of physical education. It wassurprising to see how well Christine and Eric faired in a regularclassroom. Christine was more engaged in the classroom activities,was cooperative in finishing the given assignment, and was liked byall the students. However, Eric was less cooperative and seemed to bedoing a lot of private work. During the two activities, the teachersorganized the student in groups while assigning them team leaders.Consequently, fellow student displayed the willingness to assist themwhenever they faced a challenging situation in the activities. Inaddition, the teachers applied direct instruction method such as theuse of graphs, frequently checking their progress and providingfrequent feedback in teaching Christine and Eric (Meyer, 2016).Notably, Christine was comfortable when her parents came to pick herfrom school, and they seemed to have a close relationship with herteacher while Eric appears to ignore his mother when she came to pickhim. Interestingly, the displayed antisocial gesture in herappearance and it was obvious that Eric s behavior was more due tohis upbringing. During the interview session with Ricky’s teacherMiss Jackson, she gave me an insight of the following questions
Howthey first got involved with SPED
MissJackson has a child who has multiple disabilities and afterwitnessing how challenging it was to get him an inclusive education,the difficulties he encountered when studying and the amount ofattention the teachers accorded him. She decided to take up trainingin special education to enable her to assist her child as well asother kids with disabilities. She recounted how fulfilling it is tosee a child with disability successfully transition to higher levelsof learning and eventually to the career world.
Thedisabilities they deal with and how
Theydeal with children with various disabilities such as hearingimpairment, autism, Down syndrome, specific learning disability,multiple disabilities, intellectual disability, and speech orlanguage impairments (Siegel, 2014). Each case is different, and itis imperative for each student to have an IEP. For instance, childrenwith visual impairment are taught with the use of computerized brail,which makes their adaptation to the digital world easy. She also addsthat it is important for the teachers to collaborate with thephysical therapists, speech therapists, occupational therapists,psychologists and any other person who is part of child IEP team toproperly schedule and carry out the lesson as indicated in the IEP.
Howdo they keep up with the changing trends in special education?
Bystudying journal, attending workshops, seminars, and training onspecial education. Additionally, reading future federal and statespecial education regulations.
Whattheir thoughts are on the system and any improvements they mightsuggest
Shenotes that inclusive education has more benefits to children withspecial as compared to the separate classroom and adds that morespecial education training should be afforded to teachers equip themwith additional knowledge and skills. Moreover, the governmentprovides resources to make the transition from one stage to the nextnatural. She further recommends that classes offering inclusiveeducation should adopt one teacher, one assist model ofco-teaching-meaning they should have more than one teacher dependingon the number of students with disabilities.
Summary
Fromthe above observation and interviews, it is evident that inclusiveeducation offers children with disabilities more advantages and itimproves their confidence and chances of success in their life.Additionally, dealing with disabled children requires a lot ofpatience, love, and care from the parents, teachers, and fellowstudents (Ford, 2013). Thus teachers should be given, ample training,time to plan with co-professionals and adequate resources to meet therequirements of the students.
References
Ford,J. (2013). Educating Students with Learning Disabilities in InclusiveClassrooms. ElectronicJournal for Inclusive Education,3(1),7-21. Retrieved fromhttp://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1154&context=ejie
Meyer,L. (2016). PositionStatement on Determination of Specific Learning Disabilities | RTIAction Network.Rtinetwork.org.Retrieved, fromhttp://www.rtinetwork.org/about-us/position-statement-on-determination-of-specific-learning-disabilities
Siegel,L. (2014). Nolo`sIEP guide(6th ed., p. 12-17). Berkeley, CA: Nolo
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