Search results

Students with physical and health impairments represent a small but growing group of individuals with diverse educational needs. They are those students whose physical limitations or health problems interfere with school attendance or learning to such an extent that special services, training, equipment, materials, or facilities are required. Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to discuss some of these impairments and acquaint both general and special educators with interventions for helping students with physical and health impairments succeed.

Technology is present in classrooms today in many ways that it never has been before. Technology, and more specifically assistive technology, can be used to provide students with visual impairments with equal access and engagement in learning. Best practices for using technology to enhance learning for students with visual impairments includes, but is not limited to, collaboration among all stakeholders involved, individualized instruction, and specialized training on behalf of students with visual impairments and their teachers. The heterogeneity of the population of learners with visual impairments must be explicitly addressed by educational teams taking into account the high prevalence of additional disabilities among students with visual impairments and other unique characteristics of this population. Stakeholders (i.e., students, families, caregivers, educators, administrators, and policymakers) need to work together and continue working together as education evolves to make this access and engagement a reality for all learners including those who are blind or have low vision.

This study investigated demographic factors, attitude and knowledge of persons with special needs towards COVID-19 in Nigeria between 12 May and 25 May 2020. This cross-sectional online survey was conducted among 72 persons with special needs purposively selected from the six geo-political zones in Nigeria. A questionnaire comprising questions on demographic information (three), knowledge (24) and attitude (28) towards COVID-19 was completed via Google forms by the participants (r=0.78). There were more males (51, 70.8%) than females (21, 29.2%) and the most common age group was 34-44 years (37.5%). The number of participants with a hearing impairment was 34 (47.2%) and the number with a visual impairment was 26 (36.1%). The results indicate adequate knowledge about the characteristics of COVID-19. It was found that 98.6% of the participants had heard about COVID-19; 94.4% were aware that COVID-19 is a contagious disease, 91.7% stated that COVID-19 is a virus and 88.9% reported correctly that the incubation period is 3-14 days. The knowledge about symptoms of COVID-19 among participants was high (x=2.63; participants obtained 87.8% of the total achievable score for these questions). The knowledge about prevention and control of COVID-19 among participants needs was very high (x=2.77; participants obtained 92.3% of the total achievable score for these questions). Attitude of participants towards the COVID-19 outbreak was positive and above average (x=2.84). However, participants reported that it is hard to get palliatives or financial support from others during COVID-19 lockdown (52.8%) and that they feel frustrated by the uncaring attitude of the government towards them during COVID-19 lockdown (55.6%). On this basis, counselling and social policy implications were suggested including the provision of palliatives by the government and the need for widespread enlightenment among individuals with special needs on prevention of COVID-19.

Assessment techniques for students with visual impairments (that is, those who are blind or have low vision) are designed to meet their unique learning needs. Considerations for assessment both within the general curriculum and expanded core curriculum (ECC) for students with visual impairments are presented. The roles of educational team members are discussed, especially as related to special education service providers trained to teach students with visual impairments. The heterogeneous nature of the population of students with visual impairments and the importance of assessment as a collaborative process are additional discussion points presented within this chapter for specific consideration.

This chapter discusses what special education means for students with visual impairments (that is, those who are blind or have low vision) including what is being done and how traditions are maintained. More specifically, this chapter explores the importance of advancing values for the diverse population of students with visual impairments, focusing on cultivation of supportive, inclusive, and collaborative educational environments that continue to stand the test of time. This chapter highlights the increasing heterogeneity of this population of students and specific instructional strategies to support the cultural and linguistic diversity of learners with visual impairments in today's classrooms. This chapter also discusses the significance of promoting core concepts that are rooted in a traditional and specialized instructional framework for students who are visually impaired.

In this chapter, we examine how the schooling experiences of disabled children have changed during COVID-19, how families' engagement, advocacy and support of their children have shifted during the pandemic, and how race, class, and other axes of inequality shape these processes.

We used a semi-structured interview protocol with families of disabled children, asking them about their experiences with their children's schools before and during the pandemic. We analyzed the interview data using “flexible coding” and the constant comparative method.

COVID-19 has had wide-reaching effects on disabled children's schooling experiences, yet these effects varied, particularly at the intersections of disability with race, class, linguistic status, and gender. Remote learning and other pandemic-related changes to schools exacerbated extant inequalities in children's educational experiences, as well as in families' ability to effectively advocate for their children in school.

This research provides important information about how the pandemic has exacerbated inequality at the intersection of disability, race, and other axes of inequality. Moreover, it provides a lens to examine ableism and other systems of oppression in schools. The findings have crucial policy implications, pointing to the necessity of equitably allocated, high quality, inclusive educational services for disabled students, as well as to the need for special education policy that does not rely on individual family advocacy to allocate appropriate services.

Although special education was built upon the foundation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the discrimination that many racialized students receiving special education services experience cannot be denied. Many culturally, ethnically, and linguistically diverse students receiving special education services encounter labels that perpetuate racism and ableism and lead to inequitable access to services and resources necessary for more positive postsecondary outcomes. By honoring intersectionality and dismantling the singular identity, educators can become change agents and shift the historic oppressive narrative to create a system of empowerment as these individuals transition from transitional kindergarten to age 21 special education programs (TK-21) schools into adulthood.

The purpose of this chapter is to share the experience and discuss issues that support and hinder inclusive practices in Taiwan. In this chapter, inclusion-related culture and policies are described in the context of Taiwan, followed by the challenges and lessons learned from promoting inclusive education for students with disabilities from the perspectives of general and special education teachers. Some promising strategies applied by teachers are also discussed in this chapter based on the findings of the research literature in Taiwan. Implications for practice and research about inclusion are addressed at the end of this chapter.

This chapter is structured for teaching young learners with physical (orthopedic) disabilities in special education. Orthopedic impairments encompass a range of disabling conditions. Orthopedic impairments are typically grouped into three main categories: (1) congenital anomalies (CA) such as absence of a member or clubfoot, (2) impairments caused by disease such as bone tuberculosis (TB) or poliomyelitis, or (3) impairments for other causes to include amputations, fractures, cerebral palsy (CP), burns, or fractures. In the chapter, the authors present definitions of various orthopedic impairments and discuss their respective etiologies followed by discussions of specific disabling conditions. Students with orthopedic impairments present both challenges and opportunities to special education teachers as is evident in the following case of Amira, a girl with asthma and CP.

Misidentification has two meanings. First, it refers to the identification of a student with a disability when in fact he or she does not have a disability. This is also referred to as a false positive. Misidentification can also mean a student has been identified with the wrong disability (e.g., specific learning disability (SLD) instead of mental retardation (MR)). Disproportionality includes both overrepresentation and underrepresentation. Overrepresentation is identifying more students with disabilities than would be expected based on proportions within a defined population. Conversely, underrepresentation refers to identifying fewer students with disabilities than their prevalence in a population.