Teaching Exceptional Learners has been a very eye opening class. When the class started I was scared of what might happen in my classroom, when I was a teacher. I was scared of losing control. This class has helped calm those fears. We have covered a wide range of disabilities and the various ways we can teach those students. The class read a book about children with autism and what they wish teachers knew about them. This class helped me with my views of education and students with disabilities. In this class we discussed ADHD, Gifted and Talented, and the misdiagnosis of some of these students. ADHD is one disability that should not be misdiagnosed. There are strong, dangerous medicines that doctors will put these children on. If a student …show more content…
They want to know you they are a whole child, their senses are out of sync, and many more aspects of themselves. Autism outbursts can be triggered by anything from loud noises, to a brightly lit room. Autistic children are very picture oriented. They view everything in pictures and patterns; it is also how they learn. They are best with pictures. They need us to know how to identify what triggered their meltdown. They will need help with social interactions. They do not know how to communicate with other students their age. Autistic students are prone to talk to adults and teens, because they feel more connected to people more mature than children around their age. Autistic children want teachers to know that teachers need to determine between what students cannot and what they do not want to do. They also need teachers to love them unconditionally, and always encourage them. Tell them what they are good at and keep them doing those things. Never tell them they cannot do something because they will stop and never try. Autism is very important to know about. “Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew,” was a good read. It helped me to understand children with autism and prepare me better for what might go on in the classroom with autistic
Bryant, D. P., Smith, D. D., & Bryant, B. R. (2008). Teaching Students with Special Needs in
Many people in America are not very educated about the false Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) epidemic. There has been a documented rapid increase in diagnoses in the past decade. Many psychological experts believe the proper diagnoses are not being made, and that many of the children being diagnosed today do not actually have ADHD. These experts blame the increase of diagnoses on the current practices of doctors and teachers. Doctors are the ones who write the prescriptions, but teachers inflict fear within the students and parents that can make them believe that they are not preforming sufficiently in class, and that students can do better in school simply if they change their behavior by medication. So who is really to blame for the epidemic of youth being diagnosed with ADHD? Teachers and doctors are both equally responsible for the ADHD Epidemic, although some researchers say it is not an epidemic at all.
It was my pleasure to be able to experience children with these disabilities. A day spent at Westgate was aery active one, I always was able to write plenty of notes from my observation. When the English language students were peer mentored with their 4 grade class, they had to write an autobiographical poem. The fourth grade students had to help their first and second grade ELL students write this poem. When the poem is all written out the students will then type up the poem on word and create a PowerPoint. After the poem was finished they would then present the poem in front of the whole class. This activity was pretty challenging for the fourth grade student because they had more reading and writing skills then the first and second graders. Ms. Lewis; the class teacher had to always redirect the ELL students because they did not understand what to do or what some of the questions said on the organizer. The next day I was in I was able to experience working with three students that had learning disabilities in the classroom. The teacher would separate the children in to groups, the learning disability children were paired up with me and they were given different book pages and problems to work on. Since these children were struggling in math I was able to help them comprehend. I was asked plenty of questions on how to do the problems. Usually Ms. Lewis is paired up with these students but today instead of me just observing them she wanted me to be hands on with the students and be able to interact with them. The next day I went I observe the boy with ADHD. It was very interesting to observe him. I was able to see him use assistive technologies to be able to focus. He also was seated on the outside of the desk range right by the teacher’s desk. I believe he was by the teacher’s desk and on the outside so he was
The students in our classrooms, both special education and general education classrooms, require individualized education to reach their full potential. Each child’s potential is different just as each child’s road to reach it is different. Our job as teachers is to be there for the student’s to help them reach their potential through their own unique way.
In the textbook, Exceptional Learners: An Introduction to Special Education by Daniel Hallahan, James Kauffman, and Paige Pullen, chapter four discusses the parents and families of exceptional children. At first the chapter discusses the stages parents go through when they have a newborn that has a serious physical disability. The stages that the parents go through are shock, disruption, denial, sadness, anxiety, fear, anger, and adaption. The chapter then goes into talk about the support systems that parents need to have to keep their lives less stressful. The authors stated, “extended family members can often play a critical role in providing comfort and support to the immediate family” (Hallahan, Kauffman, Pullen, 2015, p. 69) Once the chapter talked about this they went into detail the factors that can cause stress for parents. After that the chapter talks about the siblings reactions to their
... can be difficult for a child with autism to initiate conversation on her own, by following your child’s lead and responding to what she does, you are encouraging further interaction. You can also help by encouraging friendships between your child with ASD and other children”
Two years ago, I embarked on a journey that would teach me more than I had ever imagined. As a recent college graduate, I was thrilled to finally begin my teaching career in a field I have always held close to my heart. My first two years as a special education teacher presented countless challenges, however, it also brought me great fulfillment and deepened my passion for teaching students with special needs. The experiences I have had both before and after this pivotal point in my life have undoubtedly influenced my desire to further my career in the field of special education.
Autism is a form of neurodevelopment disorder in the autism spectrum disorders. It is characterized by impaired development in social interactions and communication, both verbal and non-verbal. There is an observed lack of spontaneous acts of communication; both receptive and expressed, as well as speech impairments. A person diagnosed with Autism will also show a limited range of activities and interests, as well as forming and maintain peer relationships. The individuals will display limited interests, which are often very focused and repetitive. He or she is likely to be very routine oriented and may show behavioral symptoms such as hyperactivity, impulsivity, aggressiveness, and self-injurious behaviors.
Since Autism doesn’t present the same in each person, everyones needs are unique. Where some will excel others may drag behind, it 's important to figure out what areas need to be focused on more so than others early on so you can target them with structured programs and activities. Most people with Autism have underlying medical conditions as well as behavioral conditions so being on the correct medication and monitoring that is very important. Often times it 's recommended for children with Autism to go to therapy sessions for speech, social interaction skills, and general development. It 's extremely important to focus on social skills since that 's one of the main components of Autism is a lack or strain on social skills. Enrolling your children in specialized structured activities to help them work on their social skills is important for their
There has been an increase in the number of children diagnosed with autism or other autism spectrum disorders. It is likely as an educator that you will have at least one child with this diagnosis in your classroom. This paper explores some of the methods used to teach autistic children.
One of the most controversial things about gifted and talented education is the criterion educators use to identify the gifted and talented. In the past, a student’s intelligence, based on an I.Q. score, was considered the best way to determine whether or not they qualified as gifted. As a result of using this method of identification, many gifted and talented students are not discovered nor are they placed in the appropriate programs to develop their abilities. Talents in the arts or an excellent ability to write are not measured on an I.Q. test but are abilities that may certainly qualify a student as gifted or talented.
Jordan, R., & Powell, S. (1995). Understanding and Teaching Children with Autism. New York: Wiley.
Special education is an incredibly important, but often underappreciated aspect of education. There is a stigma around individuals with disabilities, that leads people to assume those in special education are less capable or smart as their peers in in a strictly traditional classroom setting. That could not be farther from the truth though, and the individuals in special education are just as capable of learning and maturing in to successful adults. As a future teacher, I was not really aware of how little I knew about special education until I enrolled in this course. This course has helped change and shape my views of special education, and helped me gain a better understanding of what exceptional children are and how I can better serve them
The teachers were giving the students positive reinforcement throughout the day. In class we talked about how positive reinforcement helps the students to succeed in their classes. Another ah-ha moment was the environment of the classroom. The classroom had no windows at all. In class we talked about what kinds of things are distracting to students with ASD in classrooms and one of those things are the windows in classrooms. The third ah-ha moment was the parent sheets that the teacher and the school provide for the parents. In class we talked about how parent involvement is very important for the students with disabilities. The teacher fills out the parent involvement paper that lets the parents know how the child did in school this week and what their child needs to improve on. The students must give their paper to their parents to look at when they get home. The things that I had learned during my observation experience that I will use in the future for my classroom will be including student learning objectives in the classroom, using positive reinforcement, and get the parents more involved in their child’s education. I will go over with the students what the student learning objectives are in the beginning of class so the students will know what they will be doing and what they will be learning throughout the day. I also will use positive
This course not only gave me the knowledge I needed to understand students with learning disabilities, I was also able to empathize with these students through active participation in the sensitivity activities. Participating ...