Disabilities in the ancient world and especially in Greece and Rome were treated by getting rid of babies that were born deformed or with any form of disability. Their obsession with perfection “allowed” them to commit unspeakable sins.
Luckily, civilization has come a long way and today we know that a disability doesn’t mean we are dealing with a lesser being at all. Some of the master brains of our society are disabled people. Stephen Hawking, the British theoretical physicist, is one of the best examples of a severely disabled person that made massive contributions to the world of science.
The law expects it from schools to accommodate disabled children in schools and rightly so. Unfortunately, while the idea is noble and within the human rights of the individual, the practical application might not always be that easy.
There are many concerns that need to be addressed before the decision can be made to say that mainstream education will benefit the child.
1. The severity of the disability will have an impact. A child that is physically disabled and in a wheel chair or have some difficulty walking would easily adapt in a mainstream school where the school is equipped to accommodate wheel chairs. If the child doesn’t suffer from any other disability or cognitive impairment, he or she would be able to learn as well as any of the other children in the school.
2. Visual or hearing impairment or disability might not be so easy to accommodate. Teachers need special training to assist these learners as they cannot communicate and learn in the same way as other children do. In larger schools where there might be a number of children with these disabilities, a special education teacher can be appointed. In smaller areas with smaller schools the need might not be the same or it might not be possible to get a teacher with these qualifications.
3. Children who are severely physically or mentally disabled will need special care that mainstream schools might not be able to provide. Again the smaller schools might have more of a problem than bigger city schools.
Parents who need to make this choice should consider all options and if the school can genuinely not provide the specific needs of the child, it might be necessary to look for alternative opportunities. Who knows if this child will not grow up to be the next Stephen Hawking?
By: Jared Wright
Posts Tagged ‘Special Education Teacher’
Disabled Child and Mainstream Education – Getting it Right
January 13th, 2010Federal Student Loan Consolidation for Teachers
December 13th, 2009
The average teaching student graduates with over $18,000.00 in student loan debt. After interest is added you could be paying a total of almost $40,000.00, so it is extremely important to make sure you are getting the best deal possible with your loan consolidation. You will probably have both federal and private loans but for this article we will be dealing with only your federal loans.
Grace period –
One of the benefits to a federal student loan is you don’t have to start making payments until 6 months after graduation. Perkins loans have a 9 month grace period. You do still gather interest during this time on your unsubsidized loans so you may want to go ahead and start making payments anyway.
Forgiveness –
There are a couple programs that offer student loan forgiveness for teachers. With the Stafford Loan Forgiveness program you could be eligible for up to $5000.00 in forgiveness and up to $17,500.00 if you meet certain requirements such as teaching math, science or special ed to low income students. Eligibility doesn’t start until you have taught for 5 years, and there are other requirements such as –
• You must not have had active student loans on Oct 1, 1998.
• Your must be employed for 5 consecutive complete years and your school must have been designated a low income school at least the first year you taught there.
• You are not in default on the loans you are seeking forgiveness for.
Consolidation will not affect the right to forgiveness for Stafford loans.
The Perkins forgiveness program will forgive up to 100%
of your loan if you are:
• a full-time teacher employed in public or nonprofit elementary or secondary schools in districts eligible for ESEA Title I-A funding, where the percentage of children from low-income families enrolled in the school exceeds 30% of total enrollment, or
• a full-time special education teacher in public or nonprofit elementary or secondary schools (including teachers of infants and toddlers) or qualifies professional providers of early intervention services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), or
• a full-time teacher of math, science, foreign languages, bilingual education, or other fields determined to have a shortage by the state educational agency.
The Perkins forgiveness loan is forgiven based on the following scheduled:
For full-time teacher
• 15% for each of years one and two
• 20% for each of years three and four
• 30% for year five and each successive year
For full-time special education teacher
• 15% for each year of service
Perkins loans are not eligible for forgiveness if they have been consolidated.
In addition you may be eligible for forgiveness by state. Check for the availability in your state here.
Consolidation –
Once you have decided if you will be eligible for forgiveness or not it’s time to start making those payments. A federal student loan consolidation can help you do that more affordably by extending your repayment term and lowering your payment and interest rate. Compare the terms of several consolidation companies and choose the one who will save you the most money and has the best customer service. It can be hard to compare different types of repayment incentives programs so ask for the bottom line – how much will you be paying in total interest. The company should have actual people available to answer your questions and they should be courteous and knowledgeable. You have many choices in lenders pick one that will deliver for you.
You must give up what is left of your grace period when you consolidate so if you aren’t ready to start making the payments time it so your consolidation is funded right at the end. Generally a consolidation takes 4-6 weeks so you should have your company picked out and an application underway by about 4 months after graduation..
Repaying your student loans can be a daunting task but with a little forgiveness and the help of a good student loan advisor we can take some of the sting out of it.
By: Matt Kelly
Educational Evaluation For Special Education Student With Autism
November 25th, 2009
All students in special education are required by law to have a complete evaluation every three years to determine eligibility for special education services. The following case study is about a student named “Adam”. Adam is seven years old and has autism. He is in a Special Day Class setting in a public school. The case study includes details of Adam’s three-year educational evaluation.
The student in this case study has autism. His name is Adam. Adam is seven years old. He is in a Special Day Class for Severely Handicapped students. Adam’s 3-year evaluation needed to be completed to determine eligibility for his special education services. Adam has an advocate and parents who are intensely involved with his education. When the assessment plan was presented to the parents, they requested additional assessments including a functional analysis, occupational therapy and an assistive technology assessment. A copy of the signed assessment plan was given to the appropriate specialists: psychologist, occupational therapist, speech therapist, speech therapist, nurse and special education teacher.
The school psychologist observed Adam on several occasions before administering the psycho-educational profile revised (PEP-R). The PEP-R covers a variety of developmental areas. The test items are presented with simple, concrete instructions and most of the expected responses are nonverbal. The PEP-R provides information on developmental functioning in imitation, perception, fine motor, gross motor, eye-hand integration, cognitive performance and cognitive verbal areas. The PEP-R consists of a set of toys and learning materials that were presented to Adam within structured play activities. The psychologist recorded Adam’s responses to the test. His scores were then distributed among seven developmental and four behavioral areas. The resulting profile revealed Adam’s strengths and weaknesses in the different areas of development and behavior.
Adam’s portfolio was used as an assessment tool. Included in his portfolio were work samples, progress reports, behavior reports, notes from parents and daily reports. The teacher sent home daily reports that included performance, compliance and prompt levels on Adam’s tasks and goals/benchmarks. His parents signed and returned the daily reports and became part of his portfolio. The daily reports were used to assist in the assessment of Adam.
The school psychologist also conducted the functional analysis to determine why Adam was exhibiting disruptive behaviors. Questionnaires were sent home for the parents to complete. Screaming and biting were behaviors his parents and teacher were concerned about. The classroom teacher was responsible for collecting data on the behaviors. The psychologist and the teacher created a data collection form. The teacher recorded the occurrence of the undesired behaviors. The information from the parents, psychologist observations and teacher were compiled by the psychologist and the report was written.
The occupational therapist observed Adam, assessed him and wrote a report. The school nurse tested Adam with a special device. She was able to determine that his hearing appeared to be normal. Adam’s parents reported no problems with his vision and hearing. The speech therapist, who worked with him over the past year, also assessed him.
Other tests that can be used to diagnose and assess students with autism are the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC), Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R), Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) and Pre-Linguistic Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (PL-ADOS). These tests are individual autism assessment instruments that have been specifically designed to assess children with autism. Furthermore, these tests rely on either historical information about the child’s behavior (usually provided by a parent), direct observation of the child by a professional or a combination of these methods.
Adam’s assessment for his 3-year evaluation was extensive and comprehensive. This assessment gave the team information on Adam’s development, behavior, communication, health, coordination and cognitive levels. With this information, the Individualized Education Plan (IEP) team determined that his placement was appropriate. Occupational Therapy (OT) services were recommended. The occupational therapist wrote several goals and will provide services for Adam. The functional analysis concluded that Adam’s undesired behaviors occurred during transitions. The assistive technology assessment revealed that Adam excelled in this area. No recommendations were needed. Although Adam’s assessment was extensive and required hard work for the IEP team, valuable information was provided that assisted the team in making recommendations for Adam’s education. The assessment also revealed that Adam was making great progress in his special day class setting.
By: Vivek Chaturvedi
