SPECIAL EDUCATION

Special education refers to the range of services that is provided to the children who are differently abledand need extra help to learn, in different settings.

The special education program is tailored to meet individual children’s needsbecause it does not follow the “one size fits all “ approach. The specialists who works with your child focuses on his/her strength as well as challenge him/her so that it becomes easier for them to make required progress in educational and social setting.

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF A SPECIAL EDUCATOR?

There are roles which are specific to special educators which includes:

Instruction and support which facilitates the participation of students with disabilities in the regular classroom.
Severe as manager and be responsible for development ,evaluation and implementation of children with special needs.
Make individualized plan for every child.
Provide necessary information to the teachers regarding needs of the child when sent to normal classroom.
Develop plan and schedules according to child’s need.
Should supervise para professionals.
Counsel and guide parents of children with special need

WHAT OTHER PROGRAMS ARE COMBINED WITH SPECIAL EDUCATION ?

Speech therapy : Helps the child improve his communication
Occupational therapy : Helps the child perform everyday work
Individualised education program : Provides with a custom learning plan
Psychological therapy: helps in child’s cognitive development and includes mental health counselling for parents

If you find the need to enroll your child into a special education program, you need to get your child’s assessment done by a team of professionals including occupational therapists, paediatrician, speech language pathologist etcetera.

You have to make sure that you do not delay the testing because the sooner your child gets the help needed, the more likely they are to succeed in both educational and social settings.

HOW TO MOVE FORWARD?

Consult a doctor : Your paediatrician or family doctor can track the child need to go for testing from other professionals (SLP or Psychologist)
Meet a speech language pathologist : Speech language pathologist will help assess the speech and language development of your child and help you gain an idea of whether your child needs special care
Meet a psychologist : Psychologists will perform necessary assessment specially on cognitive abilities of the children and will be able to suggest better if your child needs to be enrolled in a special education program

HOW ARE THE SERVICES PROVIDED?

Depending upon the challenge faced by the child, group or individualized plans are made by the special educator and her team For example the child who has dysgraphia or dyspraxia may need one or 2 sessions with an occupational therapist as well to improve his or her handwriting skills.

If the child needs help in speech and language part a speech language pathologist is also involved and similarly if the child requires any kind of cognitive therapy then the psychologist pitches in. So, as with other programs special education is a team approach. Let us help you on your journey with your child with special needs.