Discuss the impact a child’s home culture has on his/her acceptance in the mainstream school culture. How is it further intensified when that child has exceptional needs?
The kind of culture that a child is brought up in has profound implications for the way it integrates into the mainstream society. Usually, a child from one of the minority communities has to overcome more challenges. The minority status may be as a result of ethnicity, language, race or nativity. It has been proven by many studies that a school environment can be very hostile for a vulnerable child. The ability to “belong” to a peer group can lead to undesirable tendencies in the child some of which will undermine its growth. Children coming from dysfunctional family environments are a high risk group. And so are the ones who have had a history of emotional or sexual abuse. They all tend to display inadequate social skills and hence put their acceptance in the mainstream school culture in jeopardy. The difficulties confronting children with special needs (be it physical one or psychological ones) are all the more daunting.
Identify 3 of the key components of IDEA and discuss the impact those components have had on services for students with disabilities.
IDEA is the country’s special education law that expands to Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Though originally debated in the Congress in the 1970’s to ensure that children with special needs and disabilities have adequate opportunities to get appropriate public education, on par with children of normal ability. The recent amendments to the law were the most comprehensive, the final document of which was published last year. It sets out many key components of IDEA as well as guidelines for educational institutions in regard to providing “special education and related services to more than six million eligible children with disabilities”. The three important components of IDEA are:
1. Its Alignment with the No Child Left Behind Act
2. Early Intervening Services
3. Individualized Education Program (IEP)
All these new requirements from the law are set to positively impact the way special needs children receive their education. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen if they meet all their objectives.
Discuss strategies that teachers can implement when working in general education classrooms with students with ADHD. Consider curriculum modifications, teacher behavior, organization and social skill development in your discussion.
Teachers can implement plenty of innovative strategies to help students with ADHD alleviate their learning difficulty. Some of them are discussed below:
1. Using active reading techniques- reading headings before reading chapter, skimming chapter to see what comes next, taking notes while reading, making up questions using chapter headings, practicing answering these questions while reading and reviewing major points.
2. Figuring out if they study better alone so that they won’t get off track talking to others or if they need others around to make studying more interesting and help them stay on track.
3. Reviewing notes as soon after class as possible, filling in any gaps, and helping to remember the information, then reviewing notes prior to the next class.
4.Using the SQ4R method, Survey Question Read, Rite (write) Recite Review – surveying sections by looking over the main headings, making up questions, reading entire sections, writing answers to the questions, reciting the information out loud if possible, and finally reviewing their work.
5. Using movement (reading, underlining, writing in margins, highlighting, stimulation, and conversation (reciting information out loud), to keep the students alert while studying.
The increase in emotionally disturbed behavior among young children is both alarming in the present and frightening for their future. What are the risk factors involved? Relate how family, community and peers are involved in assisting children with emotional disturbance.
Emotional disturbances in children are becoming an increasingly common phenomenon. Some factors that contribute to emotional disturbances include organic factors, stress, and exploitation. On the other hand positive factors such as coping skills, self-esteem, and social support, etc minimize emotional disturbances in children. The following are some of the common risk factors for emotional disturbances in children: (1) major physical illness; (2) premature birth; (3) low birth weight; (4) difficult temperament; (5) children who have experienced physical or sexual abuse or neglect; (6) parental illnesses such as schizophrenia, chemical dependence, or mood disorders; (7) insecure attachment to the family; (8) teenage parenthood; (9) homelessness; (10) lack of social support; (11) poverty; and (12) foster care placement. The social support that the child receives in the form of its family, community, peers and school go a long way in mitigating negative consequences.