The Effects Of Special Needs On Children

“The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows.”, Buddha

When Public Law 94-142 was passed in 1975 it had a positive impact on the education for children with disabilities. Millions of children in the United States were supported by the law. These children had previously been excluded entirely from the education system.

In England, it is a legal requirement under the EYFS for all early years settings to work with parents and other professionals to support children’s care, learning and development. Certain policies and procedures must be in place to protect children and for guidance.

Data taken from the 1997-2008 National Health Interview Surveys of US showed that 1 out of every 6 children had developmental disabilities (Boyle et al, 2011). These disabilities were tabulated as including autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and other forms of developmental delay. According to the survey, these disabilities increased and now require more health and education interventions. Children aged 3-17 years old participated in the survey. Parent-respondents reported their children's diagnoses as including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, autism, seizures, stuttering or stammering, hearing loss, blindness, learning disorders and other forms of developmental delay. These disabilities were much more prevalent in boys than in girls. They were lowest among Hispanic children as compared with non-Hispanic white and black children. Low income and public health insurance were associated with the prevalence. The rate of these disabilities increased from 12.84% to 15.94% in the last 13 years. Autism, ADHD and other developmental delays increased in all socio-demographic sub-groups, except for autism among non-Hispanic black children. The survey called for additional research on the influence of changing risk factors and changes in the acceptance and the benefits of early services (Boyle et al).

Many would choose to argue that those who have a certain mental illness or learning disability are not considered a special needs child. These people only consider those who may have physical abnormalities to be special needs. Because many think this way, they may not want to help the special needs community because they are afraid of it being “awkward”. “About 70 percent of babies prenatally diagnosed with Down Syndrome are aborted.” says Becker, Writer and mother of a daughter with Down Syndrome (Garrison). Many people choose not to be involved with special needs because they don’t want to be put in that situation or won’t know how to interact with them.

Every year that I have been teaching (nine years) I have had experiences with individuals and small groups of special populations. Child Find Project, serviced by Clark County School District, was one special populations group that I was a part of for a couple of years. Child Find is a program that would identify and evaluate the needs for children, who are not in school, that could qualify for the Early Childhood Education Program. Early Childhood Education Program is to help prepare young children, ages 3-5, to be ready for Kindergarten when they are of age to attend. At the school that I taught the speech pathologist was given the names of the

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a developmental disorder that affects the brain. Many children are affected by Autism. It limits a child’s ability to connect, socialize and relate to others.  Autism is a growing disorder and every year more children are born with autism. There is no cure for autism; there are no known facts about what causes autism in children at an early age, just possible causes. ASD is reported to occur in all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups (CDC, 2016, p.1).

1. How do you perceive the field of education changing, especially in the area of serving students with special needs?

Growing up in a private school I was not exposed to what the special education system is and what the purpose of this system was. I did have family members who were apart of this special education system but I never looked at them any differently than anybody else. When I graduated, and began my high school education at a public-school I was exposed firsthand of this special education system. In high school I was happy to engage and interact with children in the special education system. Arts and crafts, and board games were activating that many students including myself played with children in the special education system. I have learned that even though these children are put into a different education system than many others they are still human. They are a wide variety of

Disability is a thing that can happen to anyone whether it is that they are born with it or they get into an accident and ultimately end up being disable. This is something that is life changing and it affects a person’s life forever. According to Sinclair, & Xiang (2008) “Disability is a major public health problem that affects approximately 20% of the US population, including children younger than 18 years. It is estimated that 5.8% to 18.0% of children in the United States have a chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional disability” (Sinclair, & Xiang (2008). Luckily, there is a place that people facing these circumstances can go to for help with their disabilities and this place will help them to readjust themselves and

Children with disabilities need love, support, and lots of patience. Parents need to feel that they are ready to be part of their children's formation so the instruction provided by the educators can be reinforced at home.

When I thought about websites I would want to look at if I were a parent raising a special needs child, I realized I would want actual parent experiences telling me about raising my child. This might mean I would not get clinical studies on how to raise my child, but I know I would get more out of real world situations. Reading about the struggles and joys families with special needs face from the actual family instead of a doctor is more meaningful to me. I decided to look at three blogs run by mothers of children with special needs. I happen to know all three families extremely well, so their stories probably impact me more than those who do not know the children, but I think all three do a good job of making special needs real. Each blog focuses on a different need.

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.

One of the most controversial issues facing educators today is the topic of educating students with disabilities, specifically through the concept of inclusion. Inclusion is defined as having every student be a part of the classroom all working together no matter if the child has a learning disability or not (Farmer) (Inclusion: Where We’ve Been.., 2005, para. 5). The mentally retarded population has both a low IQ and the inability to perform everyday functions. Activities such as eating, dressing, walking, and in some cases, talking can be hopeless for a child with mental retardation.

Mother: We tried for several months to get pregnant before we were successful. We both were reluctant to try for a child again because of a traumatic miscarriage I experienced several years prior. We both really wanted to be parents and made a tough decision.