Inclusive Education Program For Children With Special Needs: An Essay.

The Benefits of Inclusive Education for Children with Special Needs

You have been asked to prepare a professional learning session about your inclusive practice for your colleagues at the first professional development day at the beginning of the year. Your supervisor has noticed that your educational setting is truly inclusive and would like you to share with your colleagues the effective inclusive practices you have adopted. The presentation is expected to run for 20 minutes.
You may submit your material in a word document. Alternatively you may prefer to submit your assignment in a digital format - such as a YouTube video; an animated video; a slide cast; a PowerPoint or Prezi,  or Mahara ePortfolio. 
You may base this assignment on a student case study to be provided or on a student with whose context you are familiar. NB. If basing the assignment on a student of your own choosing, you must preserve the anonymity of that student. Any identifying information about the student or the school must be removed. Use a pseudonym for the student and the school.
Your presentation on your inclusive practices will focus on the following:
Identify the key learning needs of the student in the case study. If you choose a case study from those provided, some learning needs may already be mentioned but you will need to research more widely based on the diagnosis of the student to identify all relevant needs. In addition to general areas of need, identify a particular skill or aspect of curriculum content that is relevant to this student and describe the student’s current level of performance.If relevant, briefly identify the needs of the other students in the group setting as well. You may wish to use a slide or a diagram or a flow chart to show these learning needs in context.
Explain how you differentiated your pedagogy to meet the individual needs of the student in the case study. Focusing on your teaching of a particular skill or aspect of curriculum content, explain the differentiation strategies you used to accommodate the learning needs of the student and create an inclusive learning environment. Justify your strategies with reference to appropriate scholarly literature. If you also made reasonable adjustments for the student explain these adjustments, including how the student benefited, and why they were made. Ensure that you explain the difference between reasonable adjustments and differentiated tasks. 
Also mention some strategies that involve the use of technology by the student and explain how the particular technologies meet the needs of the student.  
Show the learning plan that you developed for the student in the case study. This may take the form of an Individual Learning Plan (ILP) or a Positive Behavior Support (PBS) plan. The plan should, however, clearly define the skill or aspect of curriculum content to be taught, include short and long term goals, instructional techniques and procedures for assessment. 
?Finally show some monitoring and evaluation strategies.

This report will evaluate how comprehensive studies will be beneficiary to the children of special needs. It offers an option for children with special needs to have a normal school. This arises in reference to the specific academic curriculum with an individual education program. This supports the notion that a particular method is more effective for children with a special ability. This program provides a platform which is more interactive and helps them to share their feelings with peers and others. This will lead to having more impact on future goals of such children as they can easily connect and benefit academically from this program. To attain long-term plan, with reference to academic and social interactions seems achievable. Parents and teachers should all approve that schools aim at meeting the goals of students with special needs in the most suitable setting for each student in the school which runs such a program (Rix, 2011).

The regular school setting is allowed for children with a special need at all times, in this program like any other kid in the school. The objective of this program is to educate students in the regular classroom while still presuming children unique needs. It will be successful if the inclusive education program is accepted, understood and is attended, for students with differences and diversity. This could be categorised as per social, physical, cognitive, emotional or academically. The need of the students to learn new things or course as per their requirement is not excluded from this program. As it is done in keeping in mind the requirement for special training for special need kids, for example, Motor skills class or speech therapy. Ultimately the goal of this program, i.e., the overall development of children will be an exception. (Intxausti, Etxeberria and Bartau, 2016)

Here they will discuss the different strategies and measures to help Susan to have normal school. The best strategy chosen here is the Individual Learning Program as Susan is not only a child with a special need but also has a sensitive issue (Sree Priya, 2016).

The conclusion will be added in the end to summarise the benefits of Inclusive Education for children with special needs.

Here they will study the case of special need child Susan (name changed) with hearing and speech defect.

Susan is a thirteen-year-old a grade five student, who has a severe hearing loss with a little speech defect. She needs extra help and cares to take an interest in class activities and to complete given academic tasks. She has difficulty in understanding the concept taught in class which leads to minimising the development of problem-solving skill.  Earlier she was placed in a specialised class for students with hearing and speech impairment later her parents requested to transfer her to the local school. She is a budding teenager with hormonal changes, at times she is difficult to manage. She refuses to have the assistance of the FM system and depends totally on her hearing aids.

Case Study: Susan

Teacher finds difficult to manage her with regular students as she lags behind the class. Susan easily gets annoyed and angry this bars her to participate in any activities or to feel the part of the class group. A teacher at times communicates very fast which make difficult for her to pace with the subject or topic given with lip reading. Because of this Susan has a problem in understanding the concept taught by the teacher or instructions given which often leads to misinterpretation of what is said in class.

Due to her ailment, she secludes herself from a social gathering. However, she enjoys movies (with subtitles), computers and automobiles. She aspires to become an automobile engineer in future.

• Seat Arrangement:Special need students need full visual access so that they can have a better view and also can read lip of teacher and also helps in full input, engagement and access by these students. This could be attained by arranging all the desks in a “U” shape. Hence allowing the students to understand and participate in the conversation in the class with speaker and others (Xie, Potm il & Peters, 2014).
• Teacher’s Attention: During the time of lectures in the class, teachers should consistently face their special need students. They should avoid talking when giving out papers or pause before starting into a new topic. A teacher should give special need student require time to process topic’s info done in class previously in case they have any questions(Banks, Frawley and McCoy, 2015).
• Social Group: Best to incorporate special need student into smaller group for any class activity like charts - rearrangement or others. As this will help to make them relax and to increase their focus on their school assignment other than feeling unwanted and distracted from social interactions in the class (McKenna et al., 2014).
• Interaction with Teacher:The teachers should remain in constant, always means available to the student during school. They should have close communication with the student, with their parent, and as well as make sure that the interpreter(for speech) is always available to help children and also have a complete understanding of the curriculum. This will ensure that everyone is on the same page and readily available for conversations about general educational techniques and adequate learning environments for the special need children as here in case of a deaf or hard-of-hearing student (Celeste Azulay Kelman & Angela Uchôa Branco, 2009).
• Class Notes:A soft or hard copy of the class notes or lecture information should be provided before class to assist the special need children with it. If it is preferred that the student engages more actively in class, teachers can provide a printed copy listing key points of the lectures to be discussed, so that they focus more on the topic and attentively participates during class (Cockcroft & Dhana-Dullabh, 2013).
• Fieldwork and Placements: For this special method provision should be made.  As class activity sometimes dull their overall process of learning, such outdoor activities develop their interest on the subject and add on their self-confidence as they tend to feel the environment and can answer more diligently. A transcript of the session can usually be assessed within 24 hours for live remote captioning. It can be emailed directly to the student participating as an accurate record of reference for live updates. (Reimer and Pangrazio, 2018)

For special need children, technology plays very important roles not only they ease the lectures or class notes but also help them to connect well with other peers or with class. It provides access to all learners and able to access the general education curriculum Mitchell, D. (2014). Children have difficulty in understanding the normal language or to read the lip accurately most of the time. Technology like– interactive whiteboards, VRI, chat rooms, strobe lights, digital pen technology, PPT or live models makes a topic more interesting and add value. In case of hearing loss kids, they can use devices installed with infra-red system, computer-assisted message taking, ASL videos for testing materials, pen and paper alert systems such as vibrating systems, and signalling alarms help to have normal or regular classes. As they help them to connect with class. Both teacher and student benefit with it (Bagon, Ga?nik and Istenic Starcic, 2018). 

If the above methods get included in the school curriculum for hearing defect students, then this would be very productive. The student will be prepared and will also participate more actively in class. A student with special need feels left out in regular school with normal kids but with this suggestion, they will also have a normal routine and sense of belonging will eventually come. Teachers and interpreters will help to build a normal environment for them. The importance of inclusive, integrated models of service delivery for children with special needs has been widely researched indicates that they benefited through this program and results are positive.

For Susan, it will be the best pedagogy as it will include both classroom and outdoor activities to have a better understanding of the subject. (Spratt & Florian, 2015)

• Arrangements of seats: To start with, rearrangement of sitting position will help her to connect better with the class and teacher. This way she will be able to understand the class- notes or lectures in the class. She will take less time to complete her assignments and sense of belonging will also develop eventually.
• Outdoor or On field Activities: As she likes outdoor activities, she will tend to engage more on field trips or such assignment. Her confidence will be built as she will connect better with peers and studies. This will help to mellow down her temper or aggression.
• Teacher: With the constant presence of teacher Susan will build trust in them and will communicate about her problems or difficulty with ease. If teacher faces her, she can easily read the lips or can use sign language to communicate over the topic going in the class.
• Social Groups: Now she has her own interaction group to communicate or discuss with. Her frustration will eventually be calm as she will be able to cope up with other students with little or no help (Meronen & Ahonen, 2008).
• Interpreters: Sign language or interpreters will result in better inclusive education for her. If she has any problem in understanding the language, the interpreter will help to make her understand, and her communication will be at ease with others (Hoyeon Kim, 2007).
• Class handouts: Susan will be prepared as she has class notes in the form of soft or hard copy. She will read beforehand and understand the topic.
• Technology: With the use of technology like PPT, whiteboards, video graphics Susan will get a better understanding of the subject. It is boon for teachers as it will make the class more interactive and responsive. Monotonous lectures create a dull environment, but interactive technology makes it fun (Reitsma, 2008).

Individual Learning Plan for Susan (Hearing Defect)

This program is set up to meet the needs of the child so that she can behave normally with other kids and have no social discrimination.

Here it is suggested that the individual learning plan will be best for Susan as it will focus on both her strength and weakness. (Wilson, 2017)

Individual Learning Plan or ILP is a user (student) specific program or strategy of education or learning that takes into the account of their strengths and weaknesses.

Individual Learning Plan for Susan (Hearing Defect)

All the above-given strategies or method needs to be monitored and evaluated time to time to show how effective the program is and how much student has benefited from it (Ryapisov & Ryapisova, 2016).

It is important because it helps to improve the processor performance and to give desired achievement or results. This could be done in many ways like a Class test, class activity, personal interaction with student and feedback by teacher, parents and peers. (Zettler, 2011)

Change in Susan, this we have to monitor and evaluate with time to time. Both teachers and parents should be included to evaluate Susan. Curriculum and class participation can be monitored n checked by teacher whereas behaviour changes can be monitored by parents.

Teachers can take test time to time for the topic taught in class, and they can also give grades or marks for class work done or any activity he has participated. Susan may require more time to understand the given topic as she is a child with special needs so the teacher should be at ease and encourage for participation and completion of the task in given time frame or if he requires breaks, in any scenario.

Topics not only include class activities but also free presentation, this way she will be able to understand and connect with the topic in a better way. With personal interaction, her hesitation with peers and teacher will go and eventually her confidence will be built along with trust in others. This could be evaluated through monitoring and getting feedback (Westwood Peter).

Susan's parents should look into her social behaviour. Regular outings with friends and family to be encouraged and her involvement with them should be noticed. Usage of sign language should also be kept into consideration, whether she is using while communicating or to make people understand. They should participate along with Susan in outdoor or computer activities to enhance her knowledge and try to build her confidence and trust (Marschark, 2006).

Monitoring and Evaluation Strategies

Feedbacks should be shared with teachers may be on monthly or trimester wise. This should be evaluated through grades and marks. This will show the effectiveness of the plan.

This case study reflects the need for comprehensive studies for kids with special educational needs. This program gives a chance to enhance development in academics and in personality. Children with a special need should be treated normally like other peers in the class. This program gives a chance, to all schoolchildren to go and are welcomed by their nearby education centers in age-appropriate, regular classes. They are given support in their learning process, contribute and take part in all aspects of the life of the school (Jigyel, Miller, Mavropoulou & Berman, 2018).

As it is clear, that Susan has a hearing defect with sensitive issues. If we imply this plan, there will be a change in her overall behaviour. The curriculum will now become easy as she will interact and participate more with all the changes done. This could be inferred from her evaluation done by her teachers, peers and parents (Gorges, Neumann, Wild, Stranghöner & Lütje-Klose, 2018)

We have made many changes in class curriculum as per the need of Susan. Out of all changes we need to identify which change has affected her the most. This way it will be helpful for teachers and parents to make the course interesting in future need for Susan without much hustle for her. Earlier she was not only finding the difficulty in academics but also in personal behaviour as she was unable to express her discomfort. With an individual plan, her social behaviour will also be improved or gone as her communication skills will be improved. Evaluation will summarise her class responsiveness, participation and clarity about the various subjects (Jull, 2009).

References

Bagon, Š., Ga?nik, M., & Istenic Starcic, A. (2018). Information Communication Technology Use among Students in Inclusive Classrooms. International Journal Of Emerging Technologies In Learning (Ijet), 13(06), 56.

Banks, J., Frawley, D., & McCoy, S. (2015). Achieving inclusion? Effective resourcing of students with special educational needs. International Journal Of Inclusive Education, 19(9), 926-943.

Celeste Azulay Kelman, & Angela Uchôa Branco. (2009). (Meta)communication Strategies in Inclusive Classes for Deaf Students. American Annals Of The Deaf, 154(4), 371-381.

Cockcroft, K., & Dhana-Dullabh, H. (2013). Deaf children and children with ADHD in the inclusive classroom: working memory matters. International Journal Of Inclusive Education, 17(10), 1023-1039.

Gorges, J., Neumann, P., Wild, E., Stranghöner, D., & Lütje-Klose, B. (2018). Reciprocal effects between self-concept of ability and performance: A longitudinal study of children with learning disabilities in inclusive versus exclusive elementary education. Learning And Individual Differences, 61, 11-20.

Conclusion

Herriott, R., & Jensen, B. (2013). Students' responses to inclusive design. Design Studies, 34(4), 438-453.

Hoyeon Kim. (2007). A Study on Roles of Related Service Providers for Effective Inclusion. The Journal Of Inclusive Education, 2(2), 17-38.

Intxausti, N., Etxeberria, F., & Bartau, I. (2016). Effective and inclusive schools? Attention to diversity in highly effective schools in the Autonomous Region of the Basque Country. International Journal Of Inclusive Education, 21(1), 14-30.

Jigyel, K., Miller, J., Mavropoulou, S., & Berman, J. (2018). Benefits and concerns: parents’ perceptions of inclusive schooling for children with special educational needs (SEN) in Bhutan. International Journal Of Inclusive Education, 1-17.

Jull, S. (2009). Student behaviour self?monitoring enabling inclusion. International Journal Of Inclusive Education, 13(5), 489-500.

Marschark, M. (2006). Benefits of Sign Language Interpreting and Text Alternatives for Deaf Students' Classroom Learning. Journal Of Deaf Studies And Deaf Education, 11(4), 421-437. d

McKenna, J., Muething, C., Flower, A., Bryant, D., & Bryant, B. (2014). Use and relationships among effective practices in co-taught inclusive high school classrooms. International Journal Of Inclusive Education, 19(1), 53-70.

Meronen, A., & Ahonen, T. (2008). Individual Differences in Sign Language Abilities in Deaf Children. American Annals Of The Deaf, 152(5), 495-504.

Mitchell, D. (2014). What really works in special and inclusive education: using evidence based teaching strategies

Reimer, K., & Pangrazio, L. (2018). Educating on the margins: young people's insights into effective alternative education. International Journal Of Inclusive Education, 1-17.

Reimer, K., & Pangrazio, L. (2018). Educating on the margins: young people's insights into effective alternative education. International Journal Of Inclusive Education, 1-17.

Reitsma, P. (2008). Computer-Based Exercises for Learning to Read and Spell by Deaf Children. Journal Of Deaf Studies And Deaf Education, 14(2), 178-189.

Rix, J. (2011). Repositioning of special schools within a specialist, personalised educational marketplace – the need for a representative principle. International Journal Of Inclusive Education, 15(2), 263-279.

Ryapisov, N., & Ryapisova, A. (2016). Monitoring the effectiveness of inclusive practices. Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University Bulletin, 6(1), 7-22.

Spratt, J., & Florian, L. (2015). Inclusive pedagogy: From learning to action. Supporting each individual in the context of ‘everybody’. Teaching And Teacher Education, 49, 89-96.

Sree Priya, D. (2016). Challenges and Benefits of Inclusive Education. Bonfring International Journal Of Industrial Engineering And Management Science, 6(4), 191-193.

Westwood Peter, ( ). Inclusive and adaptive teaching

Wilson, J. (2017). Reimagining Disability and Inclusive Education Through Universal Design for Learning. Disability Studies Quarterly, 37(2).

Xie, Y., Potm  il, M., & Peters, B. (2014). Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing in Inclusive Educational Settings: A Literature Review on Interactions With Peers. Journal Of Deaf Studies And Deaf Education, 19(4), 423-437.

Zettler, I. (2011). Self-control and academic performance: Two field studies on university citizenship behavior and counterproductive academic behavior. Learning And Individual Differences, 21(1), 119-123.