Services Benefitting Disabled Students - Essay Example

? Inclusion Introduction: With respect to education, the concept of inclusion refers to a technique that allows learning and teaching of disabled students to be placed in a system of regular classes, along with those children who are normal in their abilities and activities. The concept is based on the belief that all children irrespective of their abilities or disabilities get the equal opportunities and chances towards education. Thus the concept is meant for children of all ages and for all children. It focuses on the need of a school in the life of a child who is even disabled. Thus disabled children are intended to be included into the normal group of students in a school, as a part of this concept, supported with the special assistance that they might need (Hall, 2010, pp.11-12). The present study focuses an understanding of the concept of inclusion, the services benefitting disabled students, and the advantages and disadvantages thereof. Services Benefitting Disabled Students: There are certain services that have been found to help the disabled students in schools. Here three of such services shall be discussed that include: Inclusive Service Models, Collaborative teaming or planning, and Family Involvement. Inclusive Service Models: There are several models for inclusion in teaching intended to serve the disabled students. The consultant model involves consultation of a special educator with a general instructor for lessons in areas related to “curriculum adaptation, instructional accommodations, remediation for struggling students, and assessment accommodations and/or modifications” (Holdheide & Reschly, 2008, p.6). The coaching model reflects on all-purpose and particular educators teaching and coaching students in turns in the subjects of curriculum and instruction. These are the subjects where these educators tend to be more expert and have greater amount of knowledge. A third model of this service is the collaborative teaming model in which the “special and general educator share equal responsibility for the lesson design, implementation, and assessment of instruction” (Holdheide & Reschly, 2008, p.6). Collaborative Teaming or Planning: Unlike the early times, in the present times, the educators have realized the need for working in teams in order to share their knowledge in an effective manner to their students. Thus, collaborative practices are welcome more in the recent times, even in the inclusive teaching programs. However, such planning has been found to create complexities as well since general educators may not be comfortable with the practices. However this service has been demanded by the bodies of literature and collaborative teaching has been incorporated as the most preferred system of teaching for disabled students as well. When collaborative teaching is applied on inclusive teaching, then disabled students along with normal students are provided with equal lessons and hence the disabled students do not get ignored. “Graduates of teacher education programs that practice what they preach and provide general and special education teacher candidates opportunities to see and experience collaboration in practice are better equipped to engage in collaborative teaching models” (Holdheide & Reschly, 2008, pp.7-8). Family Involvement: This is one of the most important components of the services to disabled students. It has been observed that when students and their families are supportive in nature and well informed then they tend to become powerful advocates for the inclusive form of teaching for disabled students in classes. This service requires that the parents are well involved in the process and are capable of anticipating the students well otherwise the efforts may be at loss. “Sharing consistent and frequent information on the purposes and benefits of inclusion and involving the students and families during the development and implementation of inclusion plans facilitates buy-in and secures support” (Holdheide & Reschly, 2008, p.10). When information are offered in regard to the academic and social performances of the students, along with the inclusion and satisfaction of the families, then the process becomes more persuasive and affirming. “Teacher preparation programs and professional development activities that provide teacher candidates with opportunities to acquire and practice family-involvement strategies facilitate support for inclusive practices” (Holdheide & Reschly, 2008, p.10). Advantages and Disadvantages of Inclusion to Disabled Students: Inclusive teachings have been found to have several positive effects on the students. When disabled students are placed with normal students in a classroom, a stimulating environment gets formed leading to learning for the student. They get more time for instructions, and also get exposed to normal activities. Role models present in the system of education also enable better communication, and communal and adaptive behaviors among the disabled students. This actually leads to student modeling in the disabled students as well. Moreover, these students get the opportunities to make new friends when they are part of the normal regular classes. In this way, they can communicate more and share their experiences with others. Normal students also become capable of accepting the disabled students when they get the opportunity to mix together. Thus there is a greater acceptance of the disabled in the society as well. They become more conscious and gradually capable of developing friends and acquaintances in their neighborhoods as well. The self esteem and confidence of the students also get enhanced through such inclusive programs. Another advantage is the increases level of competence that has been observed as a result of inclusion of disabled students in normal classes (Berg, 2004, pp.26-29). However there are certain disadvantages of the experiences of the disabled students in the inclusion teaching programs as well. One of the advantages is that socialization often tends to become more important than the education part, whereas education needs to be an essential part. In many cases, the disabled students may just sit in the regular classes without even participating in any of the activities. This might affect these students badly since they would lose their skills instead of gaining. Another disadvantage occurs in cases where the student may not be able to cope in the normal regular class and would instead require special class and attention for learning. In such cases, if they are forced into the normal classes, the effects would be negative. Moreover there might be situations where a disabled student may be unable to do certain things that a normal child can do easily. These might affect the self confidence of the students and hence become depressed. Lastly, there are no guarantees to the fact that the normal students would not treat the disabled ones badly or mockingly (Berg, 2004, pp.32-34). Conclusion: From the above study, it can be concluded that inclusion proves to be an important form of teaching the disabled students since it is necessary not to make such children feel ignored or out of place. There are several advantages of this process. However, in order to be successful in its implementation so that disabled students can effectively become educated going through normal classes along with normal students, the disadvantages also need to be studied and measures taken accordingly. References 1) Berg, S.L. (2004). The Advantages and Disadvantages of The Inclusion of Students With Disabilities into Regular Education Classrooms. Uwstout. Retrieved on November 18, 2012 from: http://www2.uwstout.edu/content/lib/thesis/2005/2005bergs.pdf 2) Hall, S.A. (2010). The Social Inclusion of Young Adults with Intellectual Disabilities: A Phenomenology of Their Experiences. Digitalcommons. Retrieved on November 17, 2012 from: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1018&context=cehsedaddiss 3) Holdheide, L.R. & D.J. Reschly (2008). Teacher Preparation to Deliver Inclusive Services to Students With Disabilities. Tqsource. Retrieved on November 17, 2012 from: http://www.tqsource.org/publications/TeacherPreparationtoDeliverInclusiveServices.pdf Read More