Channeling Students into Special Services - Essay Example

Education Research in education has acquainted teachers and parents with information on effective strategies and interventions for students with disabilities. Teachers are facing challenges in meeting the special needs of every individual in a classroom of varied special needs students. This paper gives the procedures and plans laid to cater for special needs of student Jeffrey, with an autistic disorder. Autism is a nonprogressive developmental disability which results from an impairment in brain development (Wayne, 2005).

It is characterized by impairments in communication and social interaction with abnormal imaginations resulting to exaggerated behaviors and interests (Wayne,2005).An appropriate individual intervention program be developed considering Jeffrey’s developmental needs and challenges, learning styles, the nature of services needed to support his education and the environment for social support. The support services can be formed and maintained through a collective effort of the parents, teachers, the society and the school community.

Such services involve training the parents, giving special care, medical intervention, counseling and managing aggressive and self-injurious behaviors (Wayne, 2005).There are various approaches to plan for provision of Jeffrey’s special needs.An appropriate way to begin planning for Jeffrey is to consider his developmental levels which would guide in programming for social relationships and affective behaviors. This would involve the teacher to apply principles of applied behavior analysis which emphasizes on structured and sequential teaching strategies with systematic data based evaluation methods(Middlemiss,2002).

The purpose of the analysis is to vary a specific behavior, either increasing or decreasing it depending on the objective. There are various strategies employed in the analysis without alteration of the curriculum.Prompting- Inducing the student to perform by utilizing, gestures, verbally, demonstration or by expectant waiting (Middlemiss, 2002).This would encourage the student to participate in the learning process.Chaining- A teaching approach in which the teacher links the content in a chain manner, by may be beginning with the backward and proceeding in reverse(Middlemiss,2002).

This develops the child’s mind to follow through all the steps and be able to perform the same tasks alone.Modeling-The teacher demonstrates the intended lesson verbally or nonverbally in sequential actions (Middlemiss, 2002).This help in grasping and retention of the concepts.Another target point of planning in catering for Jeffrey’s condition in learning is considering the working environment. The learning surrounding should be structured in a way that is more meaningful and appealing for his needs.

The physical structures should be clearly visible with visual boundaries. The teacher should ensure that there are no or minimal visual and auditory distractions since students with autism tend to be easily distracted by sights and sounds. For example, the student’s area should be away from a window, somewhere close to the teacher’s desk. It would also be helpful to have specific and identified teaching and learning zones in order to minimize movements. There should also be a plan for daily schedules where the student is conversant with occurrence of activities and in the right sequence.

This assists the student predict daily activities and form routines. The schedules should be tailored to the student’s comprehensive ability and placed to their convenience like in their notebooks or desks.Mental health providers can also intervene to support such a student through provision of therapies. Sensory motor therapies assist address difficulties on behavioral functioning by developing independent functioning. Play is a vital intervention too for various psychological disorders. It gradually increases the student’s tendency of interaction and develop effective coping strategies by playing alongside other mates.

The teacher should regulate the play activities in order to grant the student opportunity of participation and enhance new skills (Middlemiss, 2002).In summary, assisting a student with autism in a general education classroom is attained by planning to incorporate various strategies like applied behavior analysis, structured teaching and incorporating both physical and sensor motor therapies This way a teacher assists the students success not only academically, but also socially and behaviorally.

REFERENCESMiddlemiss, E. (2002).Reaching and teaching students with autism spectrum disorders. New York: Willey & Sons. Pp.4-6. printWayne, G. (2005).Identifying, serving, and educating children and youth with autism. Nashville: Abingdon press. Pp.2-7. PrintRosenberg, S. (2007).Special education for today’s teachers: An introduction. Pearson Education.Pp.93-105.Print