Special Education refers to a range of educational services designed to ensure that children with disabilities are provided with an environment that allows them to be educated effectively. Disabilities that qualify for special education include physical disabilities, such as Deafness, and mental disabilities such as Down syndrome and Autism. The purpose of Special Education is to enable students to successfully develop to their fullest potential by providing a free appropriate public education in compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
Special Education can include a range of support services, depending on the special needs of the child. Support services may involve physical assistance and therapy, counseling and psychotherapy, modified learning environments and assistive learning devices, educational and psychological assessments, and behavioral modification techniques.
- Deaf-Blindness: This refers to children who have difficulties when it comes to both hearing and seeing what’s being said and shown to them. They may not be completely deaf or blind, but the combination of these issues makes it harder for them to learn at the rate of their peers.
- Hearing Impairment: A child with a hearing impairment may not be completely deaf but they are hard of hearing. In some cases, they may be deaf in one ear or deal with a hearing loss that changes and progresses with time.
- Specific Learning Disability: A child with a specific learning disability, or SLD, has been diagnosed with a processing or learning issue. This can make it hard for the child to read, communicate, write, understand math, and more.
- Autism: Autism means that a child may have difficulty expressing or controlling their emotions, have trouble with communication, and even struggle to make friends. They may also make repetitive movements, fixate on ideas, and become extremely sensitive to their sensory surroundings.
- Speech or Language Impairment: This means that a child has issues with speaking or communication. They may not speak the language of instruction, may stutter, or have a voice impairment that prevents them from speaking.
- Emotional Disturbance: A child with an emotional disturbance deals with moderate to severe mental health issues. This could include disorders like Bipolar Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, schizophrenia, extreme anxiety, or obsessive-compulsive disorder.
- Intellectual Disability: This refers to children that don’t simply have a learning disability but have an intellectual ability that is below average for their age, such as Down syndrome.
- Orthopaedic Impairment: Children with an orthopedic impairment deal with situations that make it difficult for them to move as easily as children without a disability can. They may require a wheelchair, walker, or have a limp or another issue that affects their mobility.