Special needs kids are not sick or gross. They only want to be accepted. They want to feel normal. They cannot help the way they were born. People who have never dealt with special needs children do not see what they go through on a daily basis. One out of every 10 children under the age of 14 has some type of special need. Which includes any medical disability, chronic or life threatening illness. The children and parents both deal with emotional battles. The parents are more tired emotionally and physically then a parent without a special need kid.. They feel alone, because raising a special needs kid is very challenging and takes a lot more effort. They are scared because they do not know what the future holds. Organizations like CEIP give kids and parents more hope. They give them something positive to look forward to. The Cumberland Early Invention Program is a very supportive program. It is good to know there are still non-profit companies out there that are genuinely “non-profit”. Some companies/programs claim to be non-profit but they still have their hand in the cookie jar. The other companies claim to use a certain amount in other areas. In which, they never state exactly what other areas. The Cumberland Early Invention Program puts 100% back into the company while individuals are volunteering 100%. So in other words, the Cumberland Early Invention Program is actually for people that need help and not for themselves.
The Cumberland
Many children have physical, or pathological disabilities which cause them to have a below average performance in a usual classroom environment. The government of the United States of America, having recognized this, issued the Education of All Handicapped Children Act in 1975 in order to assist children afflicted with these disabilities (Berger, 2014). This lead to the creation of multiple special education programs for these children. Programs, such as LRE and RTI strategies have allowed many children to receive education they otherwise would not be able to receive.
Special education is a relatively new concept in education. The question is why? Although, the Federal Government required all children to attend school since 1918, this did not apply to students with disabilities. Many state laws gave school districts the ability to deny access to individuals they deem “uneducable.” The term “uneducable” varied from state to state, school to school, and even individual to individual. If students were accepted into the school, they were placed in regular classrooms with their peers with no support or in classrooms that were not appropriate to meet their needs. This started to change with the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. The lawsuit Brown vs the Board of Education sued to end segregation of public schools laid the ground work for Individuals with Disabilities Act. The next major impact in education was the enactment of Elementary and Secondary Act signed into effect by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965. The purpose of this law was to provide fair and equal access to education for all, established higher standards, and mandated funds for professional development, resources for support education programs, and parent involvement. Under this law, programs like Head Start were created and celebrated their 50th anniversary this year. Despite additional federal funds and mandatory laws, children with disabilities were unserved or underserved by public school due to loop holes with in the law. Many more lawsuit followed Brown vs
One organization in particular that has large involvement within the community to help disabled kids is this organization called Miracle League of the Triangle. This organization is country-wide organization that is located in multiple parts of the country. In particular, one location is in Cary, North Carolina. This organization is specifically related to the sport of baseball. This league operates like a real baseball league where there are multiple teams and each team plays against each other. Each player has some sort of disability where it’s a physical disorder or a mental disorder. The good thing about the involvement is that each player is assisted by a person known as a BUDDY where they help the player run the bases and hit the ball. It’s a real bonding moment for both the player and the BUDDY. It shows that the BUDDY really cares for the player and it makes the player feel more appreciated. The mission statement for the league is to create positive life experiences for children and adults with special needs and for their families through baseball. The league also has some core values in which they take and consider in this organization. Some values are that everything that is done should be player-centered and create an accepting, safe, and fun environment. The world sometimes responds in a ways not to accept people with special needs because they think they don’t fit into the society so they simply exclude them from most activities or other involvements in the community. To change this issue, the leagues organizes the baseball games to give kids a chance to participate in the community even if the league is a specific minority group. It gets these kids more involved to have exposure of interesting things in the world. The league gives everyone the opportunity to participate which creates unity among each other. The BUDDY system helps the staff, board, coaches
In ninth grade, my mother suggested that I volunteer with peers at my high school who are special needs. She thought it would be good for me to meet other people my age who have their unique struggles in school, much like myself. I protested originally, but little did I know I would love volunteering with my peers, regardless of their disability. During this time, I signed up to volunteer with a local organization called Buddy Ball. At Buddy Ball, I had the opportunity to teach children with disabilities ages five through twenty-one baseball. When I volunteered with my peers, I mainly saw high schoolers with severe autism, intellectual disabilities, and emotional disturbances, whereas with Buddy Ball most of the participants had severe autism, intellectual disability, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, epilepsy, or a multiple of disabilities. Both of these experiences allowed me to gain knowledge of a variety of special
The first thing about my thinking that changed after reading the article is that it is also the parents responsibility to know what is available for their special needs children. There are many services
About 11.2 million children representing 15 percent of all children in the United States have special health care needs, such as autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, depression, or anxiety (Data Research Center for Child and Adolescent Health, 2009/10). These children often require specialized services and therapies to live a healthy life, such as nursing care to live safely at home, specialized medical equipment, or regular therapy to address physical, behavioral, or developmental illnesses and conditions, which most private insurance plans don’t
The Parker Lee Project is an organization in Ennis, Texas that is dedicated to help families with special needs children's to obtain medical supplies and equipment that they need. They also provide educational resources for families and provide emotional support for families struggling to care for their special child. This agency helps the clients obtain medical supplies that are not covered through insurance. They help the client maintain their health and independence by getting supplies that are consider “luxury” but are actually essential for the well being of the child. This agency also helps the parents of the child with education resources such as help to find agencies to help their child and finding the therapies that are needed.
The Block Institute caters to not only children with disabilities, but their families as well. Through The Respite program, families that consist of children with special needs can have a reprieve from caring for their child several times during the year. The Respite program occurs once a week after school, during school holidays, and at the end of the summer. Transportation is included in this service and accommodates children from seven to eight years old. The Block Institute serves as a great provider for children with special needs because of their vast array of programs and services to help benefit children and their families. This agency is designed for children of all ages, even reaching to adulthood. The Block Institute is a great environment to allow children to develop into successful adults.
Families of special needs children will face a lot of barriers through their lifetime. Families wants quality care and someone to love their child like they do. The barriers that Special Needs children and families faced in ECE programs do not have the proper training or research on children with disabilities.
In 2010, I began working as the infant room teacher at Kids Depot. I had heard people refer to Kids Depot as a “special needs daycare” because of their affiliation with Tennessee Early Intervention System (TEIS). With only two years of experience as a childcare provider, I questioned my own qualifications to care for children with special needs. I walked into my new classroom and met the sweetest boy, who changed the course of my future. Gabriel was a happy, charismatic ten-month old baby with Down syndrome. In order to provide Gabriel with the best possible care, I worked closely with his parents and early interventionist (EI). Gabriel’s EI taught me how to feed him properly, help him move from the sitting to crawling position, and use simple sign language. She also showed me how to encourage him to interact with the other infants in the class. I loved every aspect of early intervention, so I decided to pursue a degree that would allow me to follow that path.
From the first day a child is born, parents are there to nurture their child, to support them as they grow and develop. There is a lot to learn about raising a child under normal circumstances, but when a child has special needs parents must learn this whole new language of medical and special education terms (Overton, 2005). Parents enter this new world where navigating for the best interest of their child is riddled with challenges and obstacles that they need to somehow overcome. This is especially true when parents are dealing with the special education program in their child’s school.
There are millions of children that are passing through the United States school system every day, not all children possess the same traits, and not all children can learn at the same rate, and do not perform at the same ability. The fact that all children learn differently and some have difficulties learning in general classrooms, special education was put into place to try and take care of these issues. Special education programs were put into place to help all students with disabilities. These children range from general disabilities to more complex and severe disabilities. There has been a revolution occurring in the past several years with education systems, and special education. There have now been several laws that have been
The importance of education for all children, especially for those with disability and with limited social and economic opportunities, is indisputable. Indeed, the special education system allowed children with disability increased access to public education. Apart from that, the special education system has provided for them an effective framework for their education, and for the institutions involved to identify children with disability sooner. In turn, this promotes greater inclusion of children with disability alongside their nondisabled peers. In spite of these advances however, many obstacles remain, including delays in providing services for children with disability, as well as regulatory and
Children with special needs are slightly different from non-disabled kids, but they’re should not be a barrier between non-disabled children and children with disabilities. Special needs covers a wide range. Some children with physical disabilities use wheelchair, or cane while other children with learning disabilities such as, autism, or emotional disorder. Children with special needs are like all children they want to make friends. Non-disability children want respect, love, good education and job of their dream. Children with special needs can do the same things non-disabled kid do, but it can take them longer. It requires additional explanation or attention. Parents of children with special needs usually feel isolated and uncertain about their child 's future. Schools can help them find support that children are not alone and help is available. Teachers should meet with parents in order to get to know the children better, the specific of their children. Special teachers may come into the class to work one-on-one with the student, for individualized attention. Change begins with an honest examination of understandings, knowledge and belief. Children with special needs should spend more time with non-disabled kids. Children with special needs should study more at public school to learn from
The school district I received the majority of my special education services School District 308, states, “The term "special education" means specially designed instruction, at no cost to parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability” (2016). My disability is what makes me unique and has happened in with my own philosophy of education. I am intrinsically and extrinsically motivated in school to be the best IEP student with the highest grade, high GPA, and try to be exempt from the Special Education Department. Not only do I feel and act this way in the classroom, I was feel and act this way with personal relationships and work. In the scheme of things, I have been influenced by intrinsic goals and reward by others. Just by these simple characteristic traits, this helps me forms my philosophical beliefs of education and how students learn.