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Seclusion in SPED doesn’t equal success

More than 41 million Americans, or almost 15% of the population ages 5 and older, have some type of disability, according to 2007 Census survey data. A lot of children with a disability don't get proper assistance. As the years continue people become less considerate of the special needs kids. Although people have different opinions on the matter. Many people believe the government should make a separate school for kids with disabilities. Children with disabilities should be treated the same as an average student.

Special needs kids are often looked down on because they can't do things like the ‘average person’ which leads to them being the butt of the joke. However, that should not take away from them being treated differently than other students. Kids are kids and make fun of anything that isn't ‘normal’ to them. According to a study done in 2012 by Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescents Medicine, 57% of students with an intellectual disability were bullied, while slightly less than half of the students with physical disabilities were victimized.

Children with disabilities are difficult to handle because they have a different mindset than others. Teachers have a lot of responsibilities, and one of those responsibilities is to make sure students have a fun and safe environment. Although it is hard to do that when you don't have the right training to handle the kids. So I propose that teachers should take an extra class in college about the basics of special needs children. This class should cover basic sign language, how to comfort special needs children, and etc. According to Dr. K. Lynn Boyer, director of the National Clearinghouse for Professions in Special Education at the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), “In the U.S., more than 30,000 teachers without appropriate licenses teach students with disabilities,” she says, “In some urban and rural schools, close to half of the teachers in special education are unqualified.”

Many schools have the special education system in the back of their minds, but the schools just care about the test scores at the end of the year. That leads to kids being put in classes that they don't belong in. This is especially a problem in the special education community. Many schools either put special needs kids in a room and don't let them socialize with other kids or put them in classes with no warning. I suggest that elementary students with disabilities spend a certain amount of time in regular classes so they have time to socialize then have time in a class with other kids with disabilities. This slowly introduces special ed kids into regular classes and introduces students to children with disabilities. As the school year progresses special ed kids should spend more time in regular classes. According to the U.S. Department of Education reported that nearly 95% of kids with disabilities spent at least part of their day in a regular education classroom in 2016. 63% were in such classes at least 80% of the time.

This topic is often overlooked by the education system and by the public at large. Some might even have the opposite opinion as I have, which is that SPED students are better off secluded, either within the school they currently attend or by going to different schools altogether. Although some people think that the government should make schools that just provide services to children with disabilities, secluding students is not the answer to success.

These are solutions but not very good solutions, especially the separate school idea. Creating a separate school would minimize the ability for special ed kids to socialize and become familiar with the real world. The same applies with keeping the kids in a classroom all day. If the kids are kept in a classroom or school with no skills on how to socialize then how will they survive in the real world? You can't just throw something so complicated as society in a person's face with no prior knowledge. That's like putting an animal in an unfamiliar habitat and not helping it survive. Of course, the animal will adapt but it will take time. You should prepare special needs children for the real world as you do the average child, they are no different.

Ayana B. says,”My brother has autism and he is actually really smart. My other brother has ADHD and I love him. He isn't treated differently at school people just avoid him.”

A second student, who prefers to stay anonymous, said, ”I have dyslexia, and many teachers don't believe me and haven't been helpful. I have to get a whole doctors note. It’s annoying, bruh.”

Presley R. says, ”My adopted brother has ADHD really bad, like he can't sit down for one second, but I don't see anything wrong with him; he is just annoying sometimes.”

A study done in 2017 by the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) showed that 1-5 Americans have a learning disability. 48% of the parents think the child will grow out of it so the kids don't receive help. Teachers should be on the lookout for these things, especially if the students are younger so they can receive help early. Although 33% of educators say that sometimes what people call a learning disability is really just laziness. Many children that don't receive help get in trouble more. The students are kicked out of class because they are further behind academically. Which leads to children dropping out of school.

There are a lot of improvements the special education community can do. It takes a lot of money to work on such a big project as this. There are many organizations that do raise money to benefit children with disabilities. One of the main organizations is NASET (National Association of Special Education Teachers) this raises money to buy supplies for special education teachers and lets special ed kids go on field trips. They also specialize in providing classes to teachers. This is the link NASET website and contains more information https://www.naset.org/index.php?id=relieftips.

SPED isn't close to being successful there are in need of so many improvements. My solutions help a tiny portion of those problems but they do help. It takes a lot of hard work to fix the system but it is possible. We need to prepare teachers more, get students more comfortable with children with disabilities, and treat children with a disability the same as an average student.


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