Introduction to Special Education: Making a Difference Seventh Edition

1. Introduction to Special Education: Making a DifferenceSeventh EditionDeborah Deutsch SmithPowerPoint presentation prepared by Roxanne Watson

2. Introduction to Special Education: Making a Difference Seventh Edition Chapter 1 Disabilities and Special Education: Making a Difference

3. Chapter Objectives • Explain the different perspectives of “disabilities.” • Explain how the civil rights of people with disabilities are protected. • Discuss why Congress passed IDEA in 1975 and the act’s ensuing reauthorizations. • Discuss the key features of “people first” language. • List the defining features of effective special-education programs.

4. Disabilities and Social Justice • Historically, people with disabilities have… • Experienced injustice. • Experienced unfair, and sometimes cruel, treatment. • Been denied rights provided to others.

5. Perspectives of Disabilities • Ways of thinking that guide our perspectives • Deficit • Cultural • Sociological • Perceptions make a difference • Historical examples of stigmas and discrimination • Minimizes people’s disabilities • Leads to the conclusion that special services aren’t needed • Encourages the reduction or discontinuation of services

6. Perceptions • Perceptions make a difference • Negative • Balbus Balaesus the Stutterer—caged and displayed by ancient Romans for amusement • People with intellectual disabilities portrayed as criminals or tragic victims (such as the character Lenny in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men) • Positive • Seventeenth-century Martha’s Vineyard Deaf Culture • The film My Left Foot

7. Language Makes a Difference • Language communicates attitudes and perceptions. • Basic guidelines: • Put people first. • Do not make the person equal the disability. • Disabled is NOT a noun. • People with disabilities are neither victims nor wheelchair-bound. • For example: • Do say: “students with intellectual disabilities.” • Don’t say: “mentally retarded students.” • Exception: those with substantial visual and hearing problems who prefer a different descriptive approach.

8. Disability vs. Handicap • Disability • Condition or impairment • Handicap • Challenges and barriers

9. Federal Laws • 1973: Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act • Requirements for accommodations • 1975: PL 94-142 Individuals with Disabilities Act (EHA) • Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) • Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) • 1990: Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) • Normalization • Universal Design • 2001: PL 107-110 No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (ESEA) • Assistive Technology Act (ATA or Tech Act) • Access to information technology

10. Defining Special Education • Special education is instruction that has been specially-designed to meet individuals’ unique learning needs. • Two overriding principles are key to the services extended to students with disabilities and their families: • Free and Appropriate Education (FAPE). • Least Restrictive Environment (LRE).

11. Special Education Categories for Classifying Disabilities

12. The Origins of Special Education • 1799: Jean Marc Gaspard Itard, the Father of Special Education, begins the case of “wild child” Victor. • Early 1800s: Edward Seguin came to the U.S. to educate students with disabilities. • Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet brought experts in deaf education to the U.S. • 1898: Elizabeth Farrell initiated public school classes for students with disabilities. • Sam Gridley Howe founded the New England Asylum for the Blind (which later became the Perkins Institute).

13. Responsive Education • Identification procedures must be systematic and cautious. • Decisions about special education services must be individually determined to match the needs of each student. • No single answer to service or program decisions is possible for all students. • An array of services must be available. • The intensity and duration of services varies according to the unique needs of the student.

14. Increased Accessibility • People with disabilities are experiencing increased accessibility to society and education. • General education curriculum • High school diploma • College participation • Some students with disabilities, however, require alternative curriculums not available through general education curriculums. • Mobility training • Public transportation use • Physical therapy

15. Data-based Practices • Referred to as “evidence-based” or “scientifically-based” practices • Interventions or teaching tactics have been proven effective through systematic and rigorous research. • Interventions share six common features. They are • Validated. • Individually determined. • Explicit. • Strategic. • Sequential. • Accountable.

16. Frequent Monitoring of Progress • Progress monitoring: A set of evaluation procedures that assess the effectiveness of instruction on skills being taught • Educational progress is measured: • Directly on skills of concern. • Systematically. • Consistently. • Frequently.

17. Collaboration • Multidisciplinary teams work together to respond to the unique needs of the student. • Example: Speech therapist, physical therapist, and special education teacher work together to support the student in the most responsive way. • General education and special education teachers design and implement responsive educational programs for students. • Co-teaching: teachers working in the same classroom partner to provide greater supports for all students.

18. Emerging Trends: Differentiation for All • The educational system is shifting in how instruction is delivered. • Students learn in different ways, and should therefore be taught differently. • Almost all school students can benefit from models that differentiate instruction. • When the instructional needs of learners are met early, those learners struggle less and require less specialized instruction later. • Technology Integration • Advancements in technology are granting students with disabilities more access to the general education curriculum. • Universal Design for Learning • Seeks to remove barriers in the curriculum through technology (such as electronic texts and enlarged-print books)

19. Multi-tiered Instruction • Philosophy about how struggling students should be supported • Grounded in the principles of differentiated instruction • Provides tiers of increasingly-intensive support to students with and without disabilities • Positive Behavior Support (PBS) • Response to Intervention (RTI) • Core idea: when students receive assistance early, problems can be corrected or minimized

20. What are some solutions to problems faced by students with disabilities and by educators charged with meeting their needs? Challenge Question