Individualized Education Plan (IEP) For Students With Disabilities

The Importance of an IEP

Discuss about the IEP for Student with Disability.

Education is the fundamental prerogative for any child regardless of his gender, race or physical state and teachers are entitled to realize that basic right for the students suffering from any kind of disabilities (Mitchell, 2014). These students, bearing the difficulties of disability are usually viewed by the society as disadvantaged and weak section of society attached minimum value with them. Hence, these children are likely to miss the opportunity to have education like any other children of their age. It is due to their personal limitations that affect their psychological state as well as their academic performance (Cortiella & Horowitz, 2014). It is the duty of the teachers to draw out a specific educational plan for these specially abled students so that they can be included in the main stream of education.

The Australian government has spread its hands by formulating Disability Standards for Education Act, 2005 the purpose of which is to eliminate any discrimination in the educational centers and according to section 22 of this Act, it has become unlawful if the educational authority seeks to impose any discrimination against the student based on any disability of him or her. The Standards of this law are secondary legislation, which entails object of the Act ("Disability Standards for Education 2005", 2006). These Standards elaborate the lawful obligations of these in the context of education and further clarifies the objective of the Act.

The student for whom an educational plan is needed to be devised has been suffering from multiple disabilities such as intellectual disability, vision impairment and Autism Spectrum Disorder. The student is about 10 years old and he needs special teaching and learning considerations by applying well-thought teaching strategies regarding both the macro and micro environmental educational situations (Ledford & Wehby, 2015).

Children at such a young age with multiple disabilities faces unique challenges that are difficult to comprehend for a person with no such impairment. Consequently, their educational needs are bound to be different from the rest (Friend & Bursuck, 2002). In the first place, the enrolment standards have to be regulated by the education provider ensuring that the prospective student can be admitted in his desired institution and curriculum as the standards on the same basis as any prospective student having no disability. In the case of this specific student, the first impediment he comes across is to communicate his needs freely with others or make others understand his wants due to Autism. Unless he is able to communicate or means for his communication are arranged it is not possible to impart him anything. The second hindrance the student faces is in learning abstract ideas and concepts. The probable reason behind this is his intellectual disability, which makes him impaired in reasoning, problem solving and learning anything analytical (Duncan, 2014). His third disability i.e. visual impairment can however, easily be overcome though it causes obstruction in motor development. This kind of children are likely to have intense needs, which signifies that delays in meeting their needs has had a general pervasive impact on their development. While imparting education to the students with multiple disabilities such as this referred child, a professional must address his physical, medical, emotional, social and certainly, learning needs. Considering the fact that the child has acute chronic health necessities, the teaching professionals along with his family members have to work together in order to ensure an improved learning experience for him (Krawec et al. 2013). In addition, a child with multiple disabilities needs assistance in engaging with interactions with other individuals in order to communicate their needs. A teacher must be even more cautious while dealing with these children as it is only after entering in the school that they start to identify the subtle differences between them and others. Such as a child needs a customized educational environment with reasonable adjustment that balances the interest of both the student and the teacher.

Australian Disability Standards for Education Act

Probably the most useful mean of ensuring learning success of students with disabilities is to involve their families or carers in the education process of them. For these students the family engagement and advocacy is more important than peer engagement for others as they are likely to communicate comfortably through them (Alberto & Troutman, 2012). The carers and the family members play important supporting roles in the form of their advocates; these are the people, who can act as effective pillars in the learning system by providing significant insights into the specific needs of the students to the teachers. It will also be helpful for the instructors who, at times may feel impelled to meet the requirements of the students with diverse disabilities. It often happens that in the process of imparting education to students with disabilities structural, emotional and pedagogical factors blend up creating extra complexity and demanding extra effort from everyone engaged (Duncan, 2014). However, the mutual effort of parents or carers and the educators enhances the possibility that these children will gain a successful and positive academic experience. The parental and carer involvement is bound be a success since it accommodates enough time for the carers and parents to articulate their concerns regarding their children’s development, ask questions when required as well as offer suggestions regarding the programming of IEP. Besides, it is also a fact that parents or carers need to be educated first about how to become an integral part of their children’s education and overall development process. Being educated about the language of impairment and professional jargon help the parents or the carers to comprehend the educational process even more easily. On the other hand, educators may also feel challenged in involving the family members and carers in the process of Individualized Education Program (IEP) and that accommodating this extra necessity in the IEP demands extra effort, energy and time on the instructor’s part. Although challenges are innumerable, strong partnerships between school and family or carers grounded on consistent involvement and ongoing communication can certainly help to alleviate various concerns of both the families and the educators (Smith et al. 2015). The most advantageous side of the parental involvement is that it offers the parents a sense of autonomy and equips them with the knowledge of school’s responsibilities and reduces the feeling of alienation that they feel.

The essay discusses learning and teaching practices for the student with multiple disabilities of intellectual disability, vision impairment and Autism Spectrum Disorder. In order to address all his disabilities it is very important to devise comprehensive individual education program for the student systematically (Wong et al. 2015). In the first place, it should be identified what strengths the student possess. It has been observed that the student is very fond of woodcarving rather than in any academic tasks. He loves to find meaning in the objects that he makes and attempts to find connections with the words or concepts that he has newly learned (Ballard, 2016). Besides, he exhibits a great amount of interest in science related topics. The second step to design IEP for him is to gather information about his medical past from his family so that required amount of precaution can be taken according to the advice of the doctors. The next step is to assess the student’s academic ability through a series of tests like MAP, MCA, MTAS, Whole-to-Part, Bridge and Progress Monitoring ("Models of Best Practice in the Education of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders", 2011). Considering his visual disability, the teacher has to adopt a number of teaching strategies that will ease the learning process for the students. While giving any instructions, the teacher must keep them brief and straightforward as much as possible. Due to his Autism, it can be that the teacher may have to repeat the instructions; however, the educator, in this case must be careful to repeat the instructions exactly in the same way without paraphrasing. The assignments for the student should be specially designed considering his strengths and points of interests and he must have a clear idea about the course requirements, exam dates and the submission date of these assignments. The lecture system should be demonstrated or explained in more than one way; in this way, the student will have a visual impression of it in his mind ("Models of Best Practice in the Education of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders", 2011). While teaching, previous lessons should be reviewed periodically and objectives should be stated clearly. It has been observed from the studies that Autistic students tend to become confused easily so they must be given fewer choices and the choices should be close ended. Besides, as the child has speech impairment too, while communicating with him the teacher must show patience and take help from experts and his carers and family members. The teaching strategy for this special student must include the most important factor, motivation. It is critical to his learning and attention since being aware of what interests the student will help the teacher to engage him in non-preferred activities by connecting his favored areas with those of the activities (Stoesz et al. 2016).

Teaching Strategies for Students with Disabilities

Several systematic approaches and intervention procedures can help in communicating with the referred student with specified disabilities. The concept of Applied Behavior Analysis assists in understanding the behavioral function, controlling interactions and environmental situations prior to behavior and regulating responses on the student’s part. Another education model of Discrete Trial Teaching is also relevant in the curriculum of the student. It suggests to break down each skill into small stages and then is taught by prompts. Gradually, when the student masters the steps they are eliminated one by one. This model is likely to help managing the student’s educational program. Considering his visual disability, Van Dijk Methods and Thematic Instruction process can also be brought into use to diminish the level of difficulty that the child faces while receiving education. Kinaesthetic learning approach refers the students to learn things while accomplishing physical or other activities; this grows interest in the students about the things being taught rather than only listening to lectures. Apart from designing learning curriculum and teaching strategies, a teacher is also responsible for improving his behavioral functions especially in this case of autistic child. A child-centered intervention focusing on “pivotal” or critical behaviors (Pivotal Response Treatment), likely to influence a wide range of his behaviors must be brought into use. A teacher must understand how the student’s inappropriately developed cognitive function affects him with Intellectual Disability. Understanding this fundamental about the student’s impairment, will enable the teacher to manage his curriculum properly and to build an easy communication with him (Morrier, Hess & Heflin, 2011). His curriculum must integrate mathematical instructions, reading and writing tutoring into the daily activities of him. Keeping his visual impairment in mind, it will be better if the medium of teaching can be assisted with special technical equipment or computer software. However, managing curriculum is not enough for the student; rather a teacher should focus on managing his learning environment according to his needs. The teacher has to ensure providing the student a safe, supportive, equitable and positive environment for learning (Fishman & Nickerson, 2015). However, interventions will vary with time according to the student’s development in learning and behavioral functions.

The aim of education is to provide an individual person with a public education, which will meet his unique individual requirements irrespective of his physical or mental condition. The discussion of this essay intending to design an Individual Education Plan for a special child concludes that such a child with multiple disabilities requires intense care and support to grow confidence in learning. The teaching principles devised for him must be child-centric and according to his physical and emotional requirement. The biggest challenge in this case is to regulate and manage his emotions and to build up easy communication with him. Involving his parents or carer in this context will be of great help. Besides, the teacher will have to select teaching models very carefully as the student has more than one disability. Implication of any special teaching theory aiming at any particular disability will be inappropriate in this case; rather the student needs comprehensive integration of several teaching theories or models that will separately address all his limitations at the same time. Consideration of all these factors while designing the IEP of the student will certainly meet the educational needs of him and help him grow a positive attitude towards school learning.

Role of Families and Carers in Education Process

References:

Alberto, P. A., & Troutman, A. C. (2012). Applied behavior analysis for teachers. Pearson Higher Ed.

Ballard, K. (2016). Children and disability: Special or included. Waikato Journal of Education, 10(1).

Cortiella, C., & Horowitz, S. H. (2014). The state of learning disabilities: Facts, trends and emerging issues. New York: National Center for Learning Disabilities.

Disability Standards for Education 2005. (2006). Retrieved 30 March 2017, from https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/disability_standards_for_education_2005_plus_guidance_notes.pdf

Duncan, N. (2014). A Cross Disability: Visual Impairment and Autism. Retrieved from https://www.visionaware.org/blog/visually-impaired-now-what/a-cross-disability-visual-impairment-and-autism/12

Fishman, C. E., & Nickerson, A. B. (2015). Motivations for involvement: A preliminary investigation of parents of students with disabilities. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 24(2), 523-535.

Friend, M., & Bursuck, W. D. (2002). Including students with special needs: A practical guide for classroom teachers. Allyn & Bacon, A Pearson Education Company, 75 Arlington Street, Boston, MA 02116.

Krawec, J., Huang, J., Montague, M., Kressler, B., & Melia de Alba, A. (2013). The effects of cognitive strategy instruction on knowledge of math problem-solving processes of middle school students with learning disabilities. Learning Disability Quarterly, 36(2), 80-92.

Ledford, J. R., & Wehby, J. H. (2015). Teaching children with autism in small groups with students who are at-risk for academic problems: Effects on academic and social behaviors. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 45(6), 1624-1635.

Lieberman, L. J. (2016). Visual impairments. Adapted Physical Education and Sport, 6E, 235.

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

Models of Best Practice in the Education of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders. (2011). Retrieved 30 March 2017, from https://www.doe.virginia.gov/special_ed/disabilities/autism/technical_asst_documents/autism_models_of_best_practice.pdf

Morrier, M. J., Hess, K. L., & Heflin, L. J. (2011). Teacher training for implementation of teaching strategies for students with autism spectrum disorders. Teacher Education and Special Education: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children, 34(2), 119-132.

Smith, T. E., Polloway, E. A., Patton, J. R., Dowdy, C. A., & Doughty, T. T. (2015). Teaching students with special needs in inclusive settings. Pearson.

Stoesz, B. M., Shooshtari, S., Montgomery, J., Martin, T., Heinrichs, D. J., & Douglas, J. (2016). Reduce, manage or cope: a review of strategies for training school staff to address challenging behaviours displayed by students with intellectual/developmental disabilities. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 16(3), 199-214.

Wong, C., Odom, S. L., Hume, K. A., Cox, A. W., Fettig, A., Kucharczyk, S., ... & Schultz, T. R. (2015). Evidence-based practices for children, youth, and young adults with autism spectrum disorder: A comprehensive review. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 45(7), 1951-1966.