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About Special Education |
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Dealing with family and friends regarding your special needs child |
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Dealing with Family and friends and your special needs child... Remember they hurt too When I first learned about my son's heart condition, all my family and friends called me at the hospital and I could not talk to anyone. I just could not hear the pain in their voices. I needed time alone to take all this in and sort it out. When it was inevitable that Marcus would come home with a tracheotomy and a ventilator (due to complications from his hearts surgery) although I was devastated, I forced myself to come to terms with it so I could bring my baby home. I can only imagine the despair my whole family experienced. It was not just Marcus, his father and I who experienced a... |
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Is Johnny's Primary Handicap a Learning Disability or ADHD? |
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Parents are usually worried by the report of learning problems and under performance in school by their child. Once learning accommodations and positive incentives have been informally introduced in the classroom, the next level of possible interventions to help a student’s academic performance in the classroom can become more complicated. The difficulty Johnny experiences in the classroom cannot be accurately understood without some amount of individualized evaluation primarily in the areas of intellectual ability, learning achievement, or his ability to regulate attention. Schools are more likely to refer a student for an ADHD evaluation prior to the initiation of a comprehensive... |
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Special Education & Mainstreaming |
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In the district I work in, just like others across the United States, special education departments have been dismantled and special education certifications have been debunked. Because special education certifications no longer carry the same weight as other teaching licenses, said educators no longer have the right to teach their own classes. This has lead to most special education students being taught in regular education classrooms. This type of inclusion does not always work. In theory, this form of mainstreaming may seem ideal for special education students, since they are now in an environment with their peers and have the support of another teacher in the room that will adhere... |
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Translate/Traduisez/Übersetzen Sie/Traduzca/Traduca/Traduza:
How to Successfully Homeschool Your Child with Special Needs
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As a researcher, specializing in disability topics, I often get emails from parent or grandparents interested in home schooling their child (grandchild) with special needs.
Most recently, I received this message from Joyce:
“I would appreciate leads on home schooling Special Needs kids with multiple diagnosis as we will home school our angel after this year of home based Special Education - 8th grade. Getting various sites together and ordering things available to home schooling parents and/or teachers. Any suggestions appreciated. Your site is a real help and inspiration for us at our house!”
The reasons parents decide to home school a child with special needs vary:
· They want their child to be able to learn at their own pace.
· They want their child to work at a level that is appropriate to their developmental stage and have the flexibility to introduce new skills and concepts when the child is ready.
· They want to create a more “ideal” learning environment. Children with learning disabilities frequently have difficulty with concentration and focus in a traditional classroom.
· They want to use teaching methods that suit their child's particular learning style.
· They want their child to feel accepted and free from teasing, bullying or humiliation from peers.
· They are looking for an alternative where their children can gain self-confidence - one that includes less criticism from teachers and less comparison with other children.
· They want their children with special needs to reach their full potential and not be limited by the use of "cookie cutter" educational methods or the lack of experience with special needs in their neighborhood school.
· They want to ensure that their at-risk child will not be exposed to gangs, drugs, and guns.
Their needs, however, when they prepare to tackle this challenge, are often very similar. They want to know where they can find the information, tools, and support to be an effective educator for their child. If you are interested in home schooling a child with special needs, here are the resources to help you get started.
1. Learn the rules. Each state has their own set of regulations for home schooling and you will need to be familiar with yours. Read the regulations and discuss them with current home schoolers in your own state, as many regulations may be vague and open to interpretation. A seasoned home schooler in your home state should be able to tell you how confusing regulations are generally understood.
2. Study the fundamentals. The National Home Education Network offers a “New Homeschooler Information Area” as well as a “New Homeschooler Encouragement Newsletter” to help you get off to a good start.
3. Consider joining a national support network. Frequently parents can gain valuable information and contacts by joining an association specifically for home schoolers. Two you will want to consider:
· The National Challenged Homeschoolers Associated Network
NATHHAN is a Christian based association that specializes in equipping parents (or grandparents) to home school children with special needs.
· American Homeschool Association
AHA is a service organization sponsored in part by the publishers of Home Education Magazine. The AHA was created in 1995 to network home schoolers on a national level. They provide online news and offer a discussion list, which provides news, information, and resources for home schoolers.
4. Use online resources to brainstorm lesson plan ideas. There are several excellent informational websites that offer tons of practical tips and ideas when it comes to home schooling a child with special needs. Perform a search for Home Schooling and include the word that describes your childs special need. You will get many results to investigate further.
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5. Learn from the experts. For more detailed ideas and instructions that you can refer to frequently, you will probably want to invest in some resource books. Some I recommend are found on this sites landing page.
6. Learn from other parents. I always encourage parents to find a place where they can safely exchange ideas and vent frustrations. If there is a local support group of parents that home school, join. Even if they have limited experience with special needs they may still be able to provide general support regarding home schooling regulations and materials. For special needs expertise, you may want to consider an online support or discussion group.
7. And finally, look for curriculum and daily lesson materials that are from a quality provider and offer true value to your child. Resources that I recommend include:
· How to Learn - How to learn is an excellent starting place when it comes to materials because they offer a free learning styles inventory. The inventory is a quick and easy online test that will help you figure out how your child learns best -- by seeing, hearing, or doing. After the test, there is a follow up article to help you understand how to use this information to help your child succeed. In additional they several terrific solutions for students struggling with reading, spelling, and test taking.
http://www.mcssl.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=70730
· The Home School Source - Although this site offers many excellent home schooling products for sale, the unique feature of the Home School Source is their lending library. This is a terrific option for new home schoolers because it allows you to check out and try and a wide variety of learning materials for a very reasonable membership fee.
Home schooling is not the right solution for every family. However, if it's the right solution for yours - I hope that these tips and resource suggestions will help make the transition a little easier.
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Special Education |
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A Quick Note
From The Publisher...
If you like the article above, you may be
interested in the following article which is also related to Special Education...
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Getting My Child The Additional Help In School He Or She Needs |
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The British government promised "that a child with special educational needs should have their needs met" (sec. 1.3, SEN Code of Practice, 2001). Even though it's printed for all to see, they won't be able to keep the promise, as they don't have the resources. The British government has promised that "a child with special educational needs should have their needs met" (sec. 1.3, SEN Code of Practice, 2001). This is a pretty rash thing to promise, since there is no way that they have the resources to back this up. However, there it is, in black and white! So, how do you make sure that your child with special needs gets the help they need in school? First, understand how your school is set up. Second, even with governmental promises, there is still a limit to the resources. You need to develop a good working partnership with your school so you can state your concerns and be confident that they will be resolved. Typically, a child's educational needs can be met in the normal classroom (commonly called mainstreaming). If it does become evident that the child is not making progress as expected, the school has the responsibility to take some action. Progress delays are evaluated in the following areas: If you have concerns about your child's educational progress, talk to her teacher and/ or the SEN Coordinator (SENCO) at her school. If they think she's having problems, they will add her name to the Special Education Needs Register, if they haven't already done so. If you have concerns about your child, discuss them with your child's teacher and/or the school's SEN Co-ordinator. If they are in agreement with your concerns, they may place his or her name on the Special Educational Needs Register. In fact, they may have already done so. If the school does... |
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