How To Write An Essay On Working With Children With Special Needs
Ms. Hoover
Graduation Project
16 August 2013
Working with Children with Special Needs According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), about one in every 33 babies born is the United States, is born with a birth defect or developmental disability. Birth defects cause changes in one or more parts of the body and can have serious and adverse effects on the developing child. The defect can cause a permanent disability that affects health, functional ability and/or cognitive ability. Defects can affect the way a body looks and works (CDC). When a child is born with a physical or developmental disability, the whole family is affected. Regardless of the type of disability a child has, these children are afforded the opportunity to learn and participate in school and school functions. This gives those students with physical or developmental delays the same educational opportunities as children …show more content…
without a disability. This is called Free and Appropriate Public Education (Willis).
While in the school setting, children with special needs can receive many services such being taught by Special Education Teachers, Adapted Physical Educators and receive Occupational Therapy. Special Education teachers provide individualized education plans to these students based on the disability and goals set by the school, the family and the teacher. Adapted Physical Educators provide physical education and activities that have been modified or adapted to each student’s disability in order to maintain, improve and develop strength, endurance and fine motor skills. Occupational Therapists, who work with school-aged students, help them perform certain physical tasks while in school based on their disability. Occupational Therapists assess and treat students who have delays in fine motor skills (IU 13 School-Age Special Education). The three areas I’m interested in focus on helping special needs children with functional activities of daily living, personal care and hygiene, handwriting and sensory motor issues. I think I would enjoy helping children reach their full potential, despite them having a physical or learning disability. I am interested in working with special needs children in a school setting or learning environment. In order to learn more about this, I based my project on Special Education.
My motivation for choosing this project dates back to 2008. I became interested in working with special needs children when I attended Middle School. I was one of the volunteers who helped Mrs. Hilbert’s class. Mrs. Hilbert teaches Special Education in a Life Skills Class. Her students have disabilities that range from mental retardation to severe orthopedic and birth defects. At that time, some of them were in wheelchairs, and others had feeding tubes. I was a buddy to her students who weren’t able to walk and were in a wheelchair. I helped get them from class to their bus. There were many different levels of disabilities, but I noticed all the students had one thing in common. Every one of Mrs. Hilbert’s students seemed to give 100% all of the time. They were happy, loving, children who enjoyed simple things. I soon realized that I loved these kids! It was then that I knew I wanted to work with special needs children.
In order to complete my project, I arranged to job shadow Mrs.
Kristi Costello. She is a high school Special Education teacher for the Palmyra Area School District. Before setting up a mutually convenient date, I needed to complete paperwork from Palmyra High School that would allow me to spend a day there. Once Doctor Benjamin Ruby, the high school principal, approved this, I contacted Mrs. Costello. We scheduled a full day of job shadowing that took place on January 25, 2013. Her students arrived by van at 7:15 a.m., before the regular buses arrived. I noticed there were three students in wheelchairs. They were wheeling themselves! A few of the students had problems walking and there were other students who looked like they were helping those who weren’t steady. I initially thought the helpers were buddies to the disabled students, but they were also students in the Life Skills Class. The class was surprisingly large with seventeen students. There were five students who looked like they didn’t belong there, but once I talked to them, I realized they had mental
retardation.
There was one aid helping Mrs. Costello. Since the class was made up of students with different levels of disability, some were able to work independently and others worked with Mrs. Costello, or the aid. I was allowed to help some of the higher functioning students with their reading. I was surprised to see that many of the students were reading different things. For example, some students were reading Winnie the Pooh books, while others were reading regular books. Mrs. Costello teaches her class every subject, and each student has their own Individualized Education Plan. Based on goals that are set for each student, Mrs. Costello had to teach everyone at the same time, but almost none of the students had the same lesson. The class also had Physical Education scheduled. I was curious to see this, but it was amazing to watch. The physical education teacher adapted class so each student worked and exercised doing whatever they were physically and cognitively able to do.
I knew from interviewing a Special Education teacher, an Occupational Therapist and two Adapted Physical Educators, that special needs students required Individualized Education Plans. I also read numerous articles that referenced the Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which is a law that ensures children with disabilities receive services (ed.gov). A common source of frustration among all four interviewees was the number of IEPs and meetings they had to attend. When the class size is too large, I’m sure it’s hard to meet the needs of so many students. After I shadowed the Life Skills class, I realized there are many rewards to teaching children with special needs, but also learned there is a high burnout rate.
In conclusion, I still plan to attend a four-year college to work with children. All four interviewees enjoy having their summers off. While it is frustrating for them to meet the demands of the school, the parent and the student, they do get to go home at a scheduled time on most days. I enjoyed the students I worked with and noticed they try their best to do well. Small things make them happy, like receiving a sticker or words of praise for doing well. One thing that was frustrating for Mrs. Costello and it would also bother me is the lack of help in the classroom. When there are students who can’t toilet themselves, it should not be the teacher’s job to do this.
Although most of the day all of the students were a joy to be around, when one becames agitated it affected the whole class. I learned that to work with children who have special needs, I would need to be patient, organized and tolerant. I feel I would be a great Special Education teacher or Occupational Therapist. I was fortunate to job shadow a young, funny, creative and energetic teacher, and had a wonderful experience. It will be hard work, but I’m ready for that challenge!
Citations
Center for Disease Control and Prevention http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/birthdefects/index.html Idea-Building the Legacy http:/www.idea.ed.gov
Lancaster-Lebanon IU 13-School-Age Special Education http://www.iu13.org/StudentsandParents/Pages/SchoolAgeSpecialEducation.aspx Willis, C. (2006). Working with Children with Special Needs, http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/23472_Willis_Chapter_1.pdf
Graduation Project
16 August 2013
Working with Children with Special Needs According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), about one in every 33 babies born is the United States, is born with a birth defect or developmental disability. Birth defects cause changes in one or more parts of the body and can have serious and adverse effects on the developing child. The defect can cause a permanent disability that affects health, functional ability and/or cognitive ability. Defects can affect the way a body looks and works (CDC). When a child is born with a physical or developmental disability, the whole family is affected. Regardless of the type of disability a child has, these children are afforded the opportunity to learn and participate in school and school functions. This gives those students with physical or developmental delays the same educational opportunities as children …show more content…
without a disability. This is called Free and Appropriate Public Education (Willis).
While in the school setting, children with special needs can receive many services such being taught by Special Education Teachers, Adapted Physical Educators and receive Occupational Therapy. Special Education teachers provide individualized education plans to these students based on the disability and goals set by the school, the family and the teacher. Adapted Physical Educators provide physical education and activities that have been modified or adapted to each student’s disability in order to maintain, improve and develop strength, endurance and fine motor skills. Occupational Therapists, who work with school-aged students, help them perform certain physical tasks while in school based on their disability. Occupational Therapists assess and treat students who have delays in fine motor skills (IU 13 School-Age Special Education). The three areas I’m interested in focus on helping special needs children with functional activities of daily living, personal care and hygiene, handwriting and sensory motor issues. I think I would enjoy helping children reach their full potential, despite them having a physical or learning disability. I am interested in working with special needs children in a school setting or learning environment. In order to learn more about this, I based my project on Special Education.
My motivation for choosing this project dates back to 2008. I became interested in working with special needs children when I attended Middle School. I was one of the volunteers who helped Mrs. Hilbert’s class. Mrs. Hilbert teaches Special Education in a Life Skills Class. Her students have disabilities that range from mental retardation to severe orthopedic and birth defects. At that time, some of them were in wheelchairs, and others had feeding tubes. I was a buddy to her students who weren’t able to walk and were in a wheelchair. I helped get them from class to their bus. There were many different levels of disabilities, but I noticed all the students had one thing in common. Every one of Mrs. Hilbert’s students seemed to give 100% all of the time. They were happy, loving, children who enjoyed simple things. I soon realized that I loved these kids! It was then that I knew I wanted to work with special needs children.
In order to complete my project, I arranged to job shadow Mrs.
Kristi Costello. She is a high school Special Education teacher for the Palmyra Area School District. Before setting up a mutually convenient date, I needed to complete paperwork from Palmyra High School that would allow me to spend a day there. Once Doctor Benjamin Ruby, the high school principal, approved this, I contacted Mrs. Costello. We scheduled a full day of job shadowing that took place on January 25, 2013. Her students arrived by van at 7:15 a.m., before the regular buses arrived. I noticed there were three students in wheelchairs. They were wheeling themselves! A few of the students had problems walking and there were other students who looked like they were helping those who weren’t steady. I initially thought the helpers were buddies to the disabled students, but they were also students in the Life Skills Class. The class was surprisingly large with seventeen students. There were five students who looked like they didn’t belong there, but once I talked to them, I realized they had mental
retardation.
There was one aid helping Mrs. Costello. Since the class was made up of students with different levels of disability, some were able to work independently and others worked with Mrs. Costello, or the aid. I was allowed to help some of the higher functioning students with their reading. I was surprised to see that many of the students were reading different things. For example, some students were reading Winnie the Pooh books, while others were reading regular books. Mrs. Costello teaches her class every subject, and each student has their own Individualized Education Plan. Based on goals that are set for each student, Mrs. Costello had to teach everyone at the same time, but almost none of the students had the same lesson. The class also had Physical Education scheduled. I was curious to see this, but it was amazing to watch. The physical education teacher adapted class so each student worked and exercised doing whatever they were physically and cognitively able to do.
I knew from interviewing a Special Education teacher, an Occupational Therapist and two Adapted Physical Educators, that special needs students required Individualized Education Plans. I also read numerous articles that referenced the Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which is a law that ensures children with disabilities receive services (ed.gov). A common source of frustration among all four interviewees was the number of IEPs and meetings they had to attend. When the class size is too large, I’m sure it’s hard to meet the needs of so many students. After I shadowed the Life Skills class, I realized there are many rewards to teaching children with special needs, but also learned there is a high burnout rate.
In conclusion, I still plan to attend a four-year college to work with children. All four interviewees enjoy having their summers off. While it is frustrating for them to meet the demands of the school, the parent and the student, they do get to go home at a scheduled time on most days. I enjoyed the students I worked with and noticed they try their best to do well. Small things make them happy, like receiving a sticker or words of praise for doing well. One thing that was frustrating for Mrs. Costello and it would also bother me is the lack of help in the classroom. When there are students who can’t toilet themselves, it should not be the teacher’s job to do this.
Although most of the day all of the students were a joy to be around, when one becames agitated it affected the whole class. I learned that to work with children who have special needs, I would need to be patient, organized and tolerant. I feel I would be a great Special Education teacher or Occupational Therapist. I was fortunate to job shadow a young, funny, creative and energetic teacher, and had a wonderful experience. It will be hard work, but I’m ready for that challenge!
Citations
Center for Disease Control and Prevention http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/birthdefects/index.html Idea-Building the Legacy http:/www.idea.ed.gov
Lancaster-Lebanon IU 13-School-Age Special Education http://www.iu13.org/StudentsandParents/Pages/SchoolAgeSpecialEducation.aspx Willis, C. (2006). Working with Children with Special Needs, http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/23472_Willis_Chapter_1.pdf