Meeting the Needs of Special Education Students

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Recommended: Policies and legislation for inclusive education

Special education falls under the broad category of exceptional learners. Exceptional learners range from students reading years behind grade level, to students reading years ahead. Within this broad spectrum, special education students are defined as individuals with special needs in a way that address the students' individual differences and needs. Through the use of inclusion classes, mainstreaming, and individualized education plans, the needs of each individual student are met. “Education of physically, mentally, and emotionally handicapped children in the United States, until the 1960’s was provided through a mixture of institutionalization, private tutoring, private schooling, or state-run schools for the handicapped” (Human and Civil Rights: Essential Primary Sources). Before President Gerald R. Ford signed the Education for all Handicapped Children Act on December 2, 1975, “students with such conditions that prevented or hampered walking, developmental disabilities, or genetic conditions, such as Down Syndrome were often ignored, institutionalized, or kept at home without schooling” (Human and Civil Rights: Essential Primary Sources). After this act was enacted, the view of “special needs” was reformed. Individuals understood the concept more thoroughly, and tended to be more accepting to the idea. “The understanding of dyslexia, attention deficit disorder, auditory processing disorder, speech and language disorders, and other behavioral and neurological disorders improved” (Human and Civil Rights: Essential Primary Sources). The Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975 required that all children, regardless of severity of disability must receive FAPE from their local public school district. The significance o... ... middle of paper ... ...ct." Human and Civil Rights: Essential Primary Sources. Ed. Adrienne Wilmoth Lerner, Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, and K. Lee Lerner. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 459-462. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 26 Nov. 2011. Fuchs, Lynn S., and Douglas Fuchs. "Inclusive Schools Movement And The Radicalization Of Special Education Reform - Research and Read Books, Journals, Articles at Questia Online Library." Inclusive Schools Movement and the Radicalization of Special Education Reform 60 (1994). Questia - The Online Library of Books and Journals. Web. 23 Nov. 2011. Schultz Stout, Katie. "Special Education Inclusion | Special Education | Resource Pages on Issues | Issues & Advocacy | WEAC | Special Education | Resource Pages on Issues | Issues & Advocacy | Wisconsin Education Association Council." Wisconsin Education Association Council. 15 Mar. 2007. Web. 23 Nov. 2011.

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