Final Essay! Fingers Crossed!

The mainstreaming of children with special needs should be done on a case by case basis. This essay will discuss the pros and cons of mainstream education for children with special needs and the various levels of help required by each child. It will exploring the social stigmatization and attitudes towards special needs children in mainstream education, specialized teachers and resources to fit each child’s needs and how government funding changes might affect mainstream therapists.

 A case study by Caswell, McDonald, MacArthur & Simmons Carlsson (2007) tells us about Simon (18 years old) who had previously attended a regular school “but had been withdrawn because the school seemed unable to meet his needs” (p.126) Simon is now enrolled in a self-contained school which matches his needs better. Another case study of Ian (11 Years Old) who was moved to an intermediate with an attached unit for special needs students said “…at the other school I was the only one with a walker...” (p.130) at his current school there are many others with walkers or wheelchairs “…I know I wont be looked at like I am completely from, from planet mars or something…” (p.130). During the observation period Ian would spend a great deal of time away from class which lead to his teacher voiceing a concern about the amount of work he was missing while at therapy sessions.

Kimi Ora School is a Special needs school in Wellington that aims to provide the best for the students enrolled (Stevens, 2009). At the beginning of 2011 Kimi Ora will be split into two satellite units like the one attended by Ian; one at Evans bay intermediate and the other at Naenae intermediate. It is hoped that at Evans Bay intermediate, which already has an impressive special needs unit, will continue help with good integration and the reduction of social stigmatization (Roy, 2010). 

A report by the Human Rights Commission (2008) tells us that is often detrimental towards children with special needs with classmates or staff often being patronizing or openly discriminatory. However, both Coie & Pennington (1976) and Hazzard (1983) show that children in some cases may gain better understandings of special needs as they grow older (Encyclopedia of special education, 2001).

The definition of mainstreaming in education is the placing of students with special needs in a regular class (MSN encarta, 2009). Wolfberg & Schuler (1999) tell us that the mainstreaming of children with special needs can provide them with the ability to learn some social skills through observation. However, there are still problems for special needs students in mainstream education including; the feeling of being socially rejected by their classmates, becoming targets for bullying or them becoming embarrassed at the level of extra help needed to partake in activities as stated by Jacques, Wilton, & Townsend (1998).

A study conducted by Semmel, Abernathy, Butera, & Lesar (1991) discovered that teachers believed that "full time placement of students with mild disabilities will not have positive social benefits for these students". Reynolds, Martin-Reynolds, & Mark (1982) state that the teachers attitude towards special needs children is the most important thing for sucsessfull mainstreaming to occur. In an address to the Auckland Disability Law Workshop in 2010 the Associate Minister of Education, Heather Roy, said...

Wherever I go I hear about the need for teacher training in special education - how important it is for families to have teachers who know how to work in partnership with them and support a child with a disability to learn. I hear about the need for professional development for all teachers so students with special needs can have their needs met irrespective of the class they are in or the subjects they choose.

Not having enough specialized teachers for special needs student’s means some may miss out on valuable learning time.

Smith (2009) wrote that with the 2009 budget the government decided the country can no longer afford the $2.5 million a year to fund therapy services for hundreds of children. Therapists in mainstream schools may not be able to provide the level of help needed to improve the quality of life for certain students because of these funding cuts. The education minister, Anne Tolley, has moved this therapists' budget to a $51 million funding pool to allow more children to access grants from ORRS (On-going and Reviewable Resourcing Schemes). ORRS is a government run program that provides resources for a very small number of students who have the highest level of special needs during the student’s school years (Ministry of Education, 2010). Roy (2010) states that parent’s cannot continue to rely on funding raises to provide the improvements they are demanding in the future.

Children with special needs often face different challenges in mainstream education due to social differences and negative attitudes from others towards them. To widely implement it there needs to be a case by case assessment and given the that child’s individual needs a decision should be made between the government, parents and the student as to what is best for the education of that child. The changed of government funding for special needs education may mean in the future specialized education (therapists and teachers) may not be available for those that need it.

Reference List

Clark, P., McDonald, T., MacArthur, J., Simmons Carlsson, C., & Caswell, P. (2007). Research project on Intergrated Effective Service Provision for Children and Young people with Physical Disabilities: Two Part Research Project. New Zealand: Ministry of Education.

Coie, J., & Pennington, B. (1976). Childrens perceptions of deviance and Disorder. Child Development , 407-413.

Encyclopedia of special education. (2001). A reference for the education of the handicapped and other exceptional children and adults (Vol. 2). (C. R. Reynolds, & L. Mann, Eds.) New York: John Wiley and Sons.

Hazzard, A. (1983). Childrens experiance with, knowledge of and attitudes towards disabled persons. Journal of Special Education , 2 (17), 131-139.

Jacques, N., Wilton, K., & Townsend, M. (1998). Cooperative learning and social acceptance of children with mild intellectual disability. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research , 29-36.

Ministry of Education. (2010, September 15). NZ Education. Retrieved September 27th, 2010, from ORRS Guidelines: http://www.minedu.govt.nz/NZEducation/EducationPolicies/SpecialEducation/FormsAndGuidelines/ORRSGuidelines/The_Ongoing_and_Reviewable_Resourcing_Schemes.aspx

MSN encarta. (2009). Dictionary . Retrieved September 7, 2010, from MSN encarta: http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_/mainstreaming.html

Reynolds, B. J., Martin-Reynolds, J., & Mark, F. D. (1982). Elementary teachers attitudes towards mainstreming educable of mentally retarded students. Education and Traning Of The Mentally Retarded.(3), 171-177.

Roy, H. (2010, Febuary 4th). The review of special education in New Zealand. Retrieved September 7, 2010, from Scoop Independant News: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1002/S00160.htm

Smith, J. (2009, August 3rd). NZ Herald. Retrieved Seotember 27th, 2010, from Special education centre threatened by funding cuts: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10588300

Semmel, M.I., Abernathy, T.V., Butera, G. & Lesar, S. (1991). Teacher perceptions of the Regular Education Initiative. Exceptional Children(58), 9-24.

Stevens, D. (2009). Kimi Ora School. Retrieved September 27th, 2010, from Kimi Ora School: http://www.kimiora.school.nz/about.html

Wolfberg, P. J., & Schuler, A. L. (1999). Fostering peer interaction, imaginative play and spontaneous language in children with autism. Child Language Teaching & Therapy , 41-52.

Communication Essay Draft!

Children with special needs in mainstream and special needs schools.

Introduction

Children with special needs, government policies or no government policies, are always going to be treated differently in the educational system to what is defined as “normal” children. Due to no fault of their own, or their parents, children with the same physical, emotional, intellectual and behavioral disorders will require different help based on the child’s individualized needs.



Thesis

Mainstreaming Children with special needs in theory is a very good practice but when practically implying it should be done on a case by case basis. Not based purely on averages of the different classifications of disabilities.





The Government’s definition of the special needs education policy is “to improve the learning outcomes for all young children with special needs at their local school, early childhood centre or wherever they are being educated” this is achieved by adapting the learning environment’s or programs and, if needed, providing extra assistance (Equipment or materials). (Ministry Of Education, 2010)



The most common special needs issues faced by children may include, Learning challenges, communication challenges, behavioural and emotional disorder, physical disabilities and developmental disorders (Ministry Of Education, 2008). Mainstreaming in education is the idea of educating students with special needs in regular classes (MSN encarta, 2009)



“Inclusion”, including mainstreaming, in education of children with disabilities may allow them to learn social skills through observation occasionally allowing them to gain more “understanding of the world around them” and maybe to help them to become more part of the “regular” community. By interacting with “normal” children Autistic children were observed to be more likely to engage in social relations. (Wolfberg & Schuler, 1999). Some classroom based activities have also been found to increase the social acceptability of children with intellectual disabilities. (Jacques, Wilton, & Townsend, 1998)

The progress towards “Normalization” has been greatly improved in the last 25 years “segregation and institutionalization have given way to more productive engagement with the community in education (Emerson & Hatton, 1996). The continuation of steady mainstreaming, on a case by case basis, will help to create a more tolerated image of students with intellectual, physical, and cognitive disabilities.



However there are still problems, certain social differences for children with special needs who are mainstreamed may include, the feeling of being socially rejected by their classmates, becoming targets for bullying, they may even become embarrassed due to the level of additional services required for them to partake “normally” in activities (teacher’s aide to help with writing or language). (Jacques, Wilton, & Townsend, 1998). Some reports have shown differentiating attitudes towards children with special needs from their peers or staff, often being “patronizing or being openly discriminatory” often not having enough knowledge of their individual special needs. (Human Rights Commission, 2008).



In an address to the Auckland Disability Law Workshop on February 12 2010the Associate Minister of Education, Heather Roy, said

“...Wherever I go I hear about the need for teacher training in special education - how important it is for families to have teachers who know how to work in partnership with them and support a child with a disability to learn. I hear about the need for professional development for all teachers so students with special needs can have their needs met irrespective of the class they are in or the subjects they choose...” (Roy, 2010)

In the same address she continues on to state how people can’t continue to rely on increases in funding to provide the improvements that parents and others are demanding. “The Government spends about $450 million a year on special education and is promising $51 million more over the next four years for students with the highest needs.” (Young, 2010)



A good example of Inclusion without mainstreaming that could help to combat certain social indifferences is Kimi ora school, currently based in Thorndon, from the beginning of the 2011 school year is planned to be split into two satellite units based at Evans Bay Intermediate and Naenae intermediate. The hope is that at Evans Bay intermediate where they already have a impressive special needs unit they will continue to go to good lengths to help with good integration with the school and its students. (Roy, 2010)



Conclusion

Mainstreaming in certain cases works very well for children. Just to say that because it works for a certain number of children and then widely implement it would be wrong. To efficiently implement it the government needs to look at each child’s needs and draw a conclusion, and with conference with the parents and student, decide where would be best for the students individual learning needs.







Reference List



Emerson , E., & Hatton, C. (1996). Deinstitutionalization in the UK and Ireland: Outcomes for Service users. Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability , 17-37.

Human Rights Commission. (2008, January 1). The rights of disabled people. Retrieved September 5, 2010, from Human Rights Commission: http://www.hrc.co.nz/report/chapters/chapter05/disabled04.html#edu

Jacques, N., Wilton, K., & Townsend, M. (1998). Cooperative learning and social acceptance of children with mild intellectual disability. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research , 29-36.

Ministry Of Education. (2010, January 20). Special Education Policy. Retrieved September 6, 2010, from Ministry of Education: http://www.minedu.govt.nz/NZEducation/EducationPolicies/SpecialEducation/PolicyAndStrategy/SpecialEducationPolicy.aspx

Ministry Of Education. (2008, 20 july). What is special education? Retrieved September 6, 2010, from Ministry of Education: http://www.minedu.govt.nz/NZEducation/EducationPolicies/SpecialEducation/AboutSpecialEducation/WhatIsSpecialEducation/WhatIsSpecialEducation.aspx

MSN encarta. (2009). Dictionary . Retrieved September 7, 2010, from MSN encarta: http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_/mainstreaming.html

Roy, H. (2010, Febuary 4th). The review of special education in New Zealand. Retrieved September 7, 2010, from Scoop Independant News: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1002/S00160.htm

Wolfberg, P. J., & Schuler, A. L. (1999). Fostering peer interaction, imaginative play and spontaneous language in children with autism. Child Language Teaching & Therapy , 41-52.

Young, A. (2010, Febuary 4). New Zealand Herald. Retrieved September 8, 2010, from Closure of special-needs schools on review list: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10623999