Education for Disabled Students
Sources:
Teaching Mathematics to Students With Learning Disabilities by Nancy S. Bley, Carol A. Thornton.
A Mind at a Time by Mel Levine.
New Information Technology in the Education of Disabled Children and Adults by David Hawkridge.
Complete Learning Disabilities Handbook: Ready-to-Use Strategies & Activities for Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities, New Second Edition by Joan M. Harwell.
I choose to define disability as a difference. It can be a gift as well as an impairment. A person who is weak in one area, that is to say unable to perform well in that area, may be outstanding and hence gifted in another area. This is why I think that in the philosophy of education of students with disabilities, the potential to nurture and emboss the gift in the student is much more important than to put the student down in the area where the student is weak. The philosophy in education in every case is that education only helps polish the skills of the student, and develop new skills to help the student excel in the area where the student is happy and performing best, rather than to change the identity or choice of the student to other areas where the student may not be as good or happy.
In students with disabilities giftedness is often overlooked. The difficulties that are associated with their disability make identification unlikely. The need to have their special abilities acknowledged and specifically catered for is essential for gifted students with disabilities. Focus should be placed on enhancing their strengths and enabling participation although interventions may be necessary to reduce the effect of disability. Considered on the basis of their own abilities and disabilities each student will have individual needs and should have an education program catering to meeting those needs.
I will take this opportunity to outline a philosophy that is inclusive of gifted students with disabilities. The "hidden gifted" should be identified and adequately catered for, which includes disabled students who have learning difficulties. Challenge gifted and talented students, enabling their special abilities to "surface" and be identified, and the learning environment should be responsive and provide stimulating learning experiences. Identification should involve a team approach and include a wide range of quantitative and qualitative methods. I feel everyone has to identify the abilities as well as the disabilities.
Ludwig van Beethoven, Franklin D Roosevelt, Helen Keller, Vincent van Gogh, Albert Einstein, George Patton, Thomas Edison, Hans Christian Anderson, George Washington, and Nelson Rockefeller all had disabilities yet achieved greatness. Gifted students who have a disability do not need to be restricted in their achievements.
There are as many gifted among disabled students as any other segment of the population with the exception of students with intellectual disabilities. The terms "gifted" and "disabled" are often viewed as placing students on opposite ends of the intelligence continuum (Gallagher & Gallagher, 1994). Often only identified as disabled are students who have both special abilities and disabilities. Removing the need to provide successful learning outcomes, viewing any student as having a "deficit" can lead to an expectation of low achievement. Identification, recognition and nurturing are also needed for special gifts, as my philosophy for the education of students with disabilities (and abilities) stresses.
Identification methods need to consider both a student's potential and the current limitations placed on them by the degree of disability. Karnes & Johnson (1991) discuss possible barriers to identification. This includes the use of assessment procedures designed for students without disabilities. Students with disabilities may not display obvious signs of giftedness when compared with nondisabled peers. Students may be regarded as "slow" because of their disability, thus precluding any recognition of giftedness. Students may have strengths in some areas and deficits in others. Unfortunately, there is discouragement of students with disabilities from pursuing higher education and professional careers, steering them towards vocational training. Gaps in their skills may mask their talents. Professionals supporting students with disabilities may have little knowledge about the characteristics of gifted students. Professionals in gifted education may end up having little knowledge about the gifts that the disabled students possess.
Having their special abilities recognized is a major obstacle confronting gifted students with disabilities (Karnes & Johnson, 1991). Identification requires input from parents and teachers. To enable gifted students with disabilities to be identified, regular assessment methods will need to be modified. Identification should be examined in a full range of areas, including intellectual, academic, creativity, leadership, visual and performing arts, and psychomotor abilities. Comparisons need to be made alongside peers with similar disabilities, not within the norms of students without disabilities.
Adults who believe in them is one thing that gifted students with disabilities require. They also require an environment that facilitates achievement and teachers who have high expectations and show confidence in their ability to succeed.
I think that the the training of professionals is essential. For students with disabilities standard techniques for teaching gifted students may need significant adaptations. They should be regarded as "gifted" first and programs should be developed accordingly instead of categorizing a student as "disabled" without recognizing special abilities (Davis & Rimm, 1998).
The same strategies used with students without disabilities to develop each student's strengths can be included in education programs for disabled students. Acceleration, enrichment, and grouping techniques may be included.
To overcome many difficulties technological aids are available. T enable a student to have better access to the learning environment computers, hearing aids, sign language, magnifiers, tape recorders, visual aids, and other aids are available.
To ensure disability does not prevent a student's development, the talent strategies must also be implemented. To enhance a disabled student's self image and develop social interactions, special education programs can be designed. Students can achieve and appreciate the value of their success through special activities.
While non-disabled peers may benefit from disability awareness to enable them to empathize and accept a student with a disability, students with disabilities may need social skills training. To achieve this Davis & Rimm (1998) suggest strategies. Group discussions encourage open communication, for instance. Mixed learning teams with group outcomes can foster cooperation and interdependence. Pairing gifted students with disabilities with talented adults who also have similar disabilities can provide both role modeling and inspiration (Braum, 1990). A gifted student with disabilities may benefit from receiving tutoring or being a peer tutor.
For instance when having a sensory and physical impairment, students may fall within more than one domain of disability. Two students with the same disability may have similar difficulties or require completely different adaptations. Through a collaborative approach with parents and professionals working together a specific education program can be achieved.
Affecting a student's performance are an extensive range of physical disabilities. These can include anything from fine motor difficulties to quadriplegia. To meet their individual needs, identification and programming for gifted students with physical disabilities needs to be specifically tailored.
When a physical disability is present there are often obstacles to overcome to enable identification of giftedness. Students may have an inability to give a verbal response, Cline & Schwartz (1999) suggest. They also suggest limited mobility, limited life experiences due to impaired mobility and a lack of fine motor coordination.
For students with a physical disability assessment techniques must take the degree of disability into account or find alternative methods of assessment. Designing a program for gifted students with a physical disability will need to incorporate ways to overcome the obstacles confronting a student. As mentioned by Ministry of Education, 2000, helping disabled students participate in activities that would otherwise be difficult or impossible for them to complete can become easier with assisting equipment such as pencil grips, special scissors, computers, communication boards, and voice synthesizers.
An essential part of any educational program development will be a full assessment of the learning environment. To enable a child to participate environmental adaptations may be necessary (Foreman, 2000). This may include providing wheel chair access, modifying equipment, and altering the class layout. For those students with disabilities, teachers need to design an education program that extends and strengthens the abilities of all gifted students.
The same opportunities as their non-disabled peers are needed for students with physical disabilities. Every effort must be made to find alternative methods of instruction and assessment where performance is limited by the effect of a disabling condition. Their talents may be buried by the weight of their disability unless gifted students are supported to develop their potential.
The degree of disability will determine the effect on each student and the effectiveness of adaptive equipment. Students with visual and hearing impairments may have a slight disability or a significant loss. Through observation and comparisons with similar peers identification of giftedness can be achieved. Students who are gifted and have a sensory impairment will require teachers to adapt their curriculum and teaching methods. Programs need to include critical thinking, creative thought processes, and social and emotional content as Cline & Schwartz (1999) suggest.
Not easily identified as gifted are students with a hearing impairment. Through their ability to communicate by alternative methods students unable to use verbal communication may reveal giftedness (Whitmore, 1981). Including body language and/or gestures may include visual modes or nonverbal modes of communication. Through superior memory, superior problem solving skills, an exceptional interest and knowledge in specific areas, giftedness may become apparent.
In order to accommodate both their talents and their disability gifted students with a hearing impairment require a specially designed education program. The "expanded core curriculum" is required to teach everyday living skills. It is important to target their area of interest or talent so students can acquire extensive specialized knowledge and training.
In the classroom students will require additional support. Even though they do not enable a student with hearing disability to hear normally, hearing aids enable a disabled student to benefit from any residual hearing. A student may hear some sounds and not others, usually incomplete or distorted words. For students with severe hearing loss their reading ability may be depressed and reading can be difficult. By hearing the words and recognizing blending sounds reading is usually learned more successfully. In an alternative manner, using charts, posters, and signed videos, additional information may need to be provided. An interpreter can help as an intermediary until the class and teacher are conversant with any signing methods.
Similarly masked by their disability are indicators of giftedness in students with visual impairments. Contributing to a difficulty identifying giftedness are developmental delays, lack of opportunity, communication difficulties, and learning two curricula (both mainstream and the "expanded core curriculum" to teach life skills). Cline & Schwartz, 1999, mention that assessment procedures need to consider these elements.
To provide better access to the learning environment assisting equipment is available. Teachers for disabled students will need to prepare suitable resources and plan ahead. Class materials can be scanned for students to access via computer or transcribed into Braille. Anything to be presented in printed form (whiteboard, handouts, journals, textbooks) will need to be adapted. Tape recorders, laptop computers with speech or large print output, taped textbooks, raised line paper, large print textbooks and computerized Braillers are other beneficial technologies. Students will need additional time to read because it is impossible to skim Braille at a normal reading pace.
The philosophy of education for disabled students that I present is that in assessments it is important to identify gifted students, because students with disabilities are often overlooked. To "shine" alongside their non-disabled peers, assessment techniques designed for regular students may not allow the gifts possessed by students with disabilities to be detected. Specifically for students with disabilities, assessment procedures need to be adapted. While making adaptations to minimize the effects of disability, teaching methods must focus on enhancing each student's strengths. Regardless of disability, gifted students need to have their special abilities nurtured and the opportunity to succeed. Eventually, this philosophy that I have presented and supported is not only a philosophy of education for disabled students, but also a philosophy of education for students with special gifts. The implementation of this philosophy is essential in educating students with special gifts and needs.
Sources:
Teaching Mathematics to Students With Learning Disabilities by Nancy S. Bley, Carol A. Thornton.
A Mind at a Time by Mel Levine.
New Information Technology in the Education of Disabled Children and Adults by David Hawkridge.
Complete Learning Disabilities Handbook: Ready-to-Use Strategies & Activities for Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities, New Second Edition by Joan M. Harwell.
I choose to define disability as a difference. It can be a gift as well as an impairment. A person who is weak in one area, that is to say unable to perform well in that area, may be outstanding and hence gifted in another area. This is why I think that in the philosophy of education of students with disabilities, the potential to nurture and emboss the gift in the student is much more important than to put the student down in the area where the student is weak. The philosophy in education in every case is that education only helps polish the skills of the student, and develop new skills to help the student excel in the area where the student is happy and performing best, rather than to change the identity or choice of the student to other areas where the student may not be as good or happy.
In students with disabilities giftedness is often overlooked. The difficulties that are associated with their disability make identification unlikely. The need to have their special abilities acknowledged and specifically catered for is essential for gifted students with disabilities. Focus should be placed on enhancing their strengths and enabling participation although interventions may be necessary to reduce the effect of disability. Considered on the basis of their own abilities and disabilities each student will have individual needs and should have an education program catering to meeting those needs.
I will take this opportunity to outline a philosophy that is inclusive of gifted students with disabilities. The "hidden gifted" should be identified and adequately catered for, which includes disabled students who have learning difficulties. Challenge gifted and talented students, enabling their special abilities to "surface" and be identified, and the learning environment should be responsive and provide stimulating learning experiences. Identification should involve a team approach and include a wide range of quantitative and qualitative methods. I feel everyone has to identify the abilities as well as the disabilities.
Ludwig van Beethoven, Franklin D Roosevelt, Helen Keller, Vincent van Gogh, Albert Einstein, George Patton, Thomas Edison, Hans Christian Anderson, George Washington, and Nelson Rockefeller all had disabilities yet achieved greatness. Gifted students who have a disability do not need to be restricted in their achievements.
There are as many gifted among disabled students as any other segment of the population with the exception of students with intellectual disabilities. The terms "gifted" and "disabled" are often viewed as placing students on opposite ends of the intelligence continuum (Gallagher & Gallagher, 1994). Often only identified as disabled are students who have both special abilities and disabilities. Removing the need to provide successful learning outcomes, viewing any student as having a "deficit" can lead to an expectation of low achievement. Identification, recognition and nurturing are also needed for special gifts, as my philosophy for the education of students with disabilities (and abilities) stresses.
Identification methods need to consider both a student's potential and the current limitations placed on them by the degree of disability. Karnes & Johnson (1991) discuss possible barriers to identification. This includes the use of assessment procedures designed for students without disabilities. Students with disabilities may not display obvious signs of giftedness when compared with nondisabled peers. Students may be regarded as "slow" because of their disability, thus precluding any recognition of giftedness. Students may have strengths in some areas and deficits in others. Unfortunately, there is discouragement of students with disabilities from pursuing higher education and professional careers, steering them towards vocational training. Gaps in their skills may mask their talents. Professionals supporting students with disabilities may have little knowledge about the characteristics of gifted students. Professionals in gifted education may end up having little knowledge about the gifts that the disabled students possess.
Having their special abilities recognized is a major obstacle confronting gifted students with disabilities (Karnes & Johnson, 1991). Identification requires input from parents and teachers. To enable gifted students with disabilities to be identified, regular assessment methods will need to be modified. Identification should be examined in a full range of areas, including intellectual, academic, creativity, leadership, visual and performing arts, and psychomotor abilities. Comparisons need to be made alongside peers with similar disabilities, not within the norms of students without disabilities.
Adults who believe in them is one thing that gifted students with disabilities require. They also require an environment that facilitates achievement and teachers who have high expectations and show confidence in their ability to succeed.
I think that the the training of professionals is essential. For students with disabilities standard techniques for teaching gifted students may need significant adaptations. They should be regarded as "gifted" first and programs should be developed accordingly instead of categorizing a student as "disabled" without recognizing special abilities (Davis & Rimm, 1998).
The same strategies used with students without disabilities to develop each student's strengths can be included in education programs for disabled students. Acceleration, enrichment, and grouping techniques may be included.
To overcome many difficulties technological aids are available. T enable a student to have better access to the learning environment computers, hearing aids, sign language, magnifiers, tape recorders, visual aids, and other aids are available.
To ensure disability does not prevent a student's development, the talent strategies must also be implemented. To enhance a disabled student's self image and develop social interactions, special education programs can be designed. Students can achieve and appreciate the value of their success through special activities.
While non-disabled peers may benefit from disability awareness to enable them to empathize and accept a student with a disability, students with disabilities may need social skills training. To achieve this Davis & Rimm (1998) suggest strategies. Group discussions encourage open communication, for instance. Mixed learning teams with group outcomes can foster cooperation and interdependence. Pairing gifted students with disabilities with talented adults who also have similar disabilities can provide both role modeling and inspiration (Braum, 1990). A gifted student with disabilities may benefit from receiving tutoring or being a peer tutor.
For instance when having a sensory and physical impairment, students may fall within more than one domain of disability. Two students with the same disability may have similar difficulties or require completely different adaptations. Through a collaborative approach with parents and professionals working together a specific education program can be achieved.
Affecting a student's performance are an extensive range of physical disabilities. These can include anything from fine motor difficulties to quadriplegia. To meet their individual needs, identification and programming for gifted students with physical disabilities needs to be specifically tailored.
When a physical disability is present there are often obstacles to overcome to enable identification of giftedness. Students may have an inability to give a verbal response, Cline & Schwartz (1999) suggest. They also suggest limited mobility, limited life experiences due to impaired mobility and a lack of fine motor coordination.
For students with a physical disability assessment techniques must take the degree of disability into account or find alternative methods of assessment. Designing a program for gifted students with a physical disability will need to incorporate ways to overcome the obstacles confronting a student. As mentioned by Ministry of Education, 2000, helping disabled students participate in activities that would otherwise be difficult or impossible for them to complete can become easier with assisting equipment such as pencil grips, special scissors, computers, communication boards, and voice synthesizers.
An essential part of any educational program development will be a full assessment of the learning environment. To enable a child to participate environmental adaptations may be necessary (Foreman, 2000). This may include providing wheel chair access, modifying equipment, and altering the class layout. For those students with disabilities, teachers need to design an education program that extends and strengthens the abilities of all gifted students.
The same opportunities as their non-disabled peers are needed for students with physical disabilities. Every effort must be made to find alternative methods of instruction and assessment where performance is limited by the effect of a disabling condition. Their talents may be buried by the weight of their disability unless gifted students are supported to develop their potential.
The degree of disability will determine the effect on each student and the effectiveness of adaptive equipment. Students with visual and hearing impairments may have a slight disability or a significant loss. Through observation and comparisons with similar peers identification of giftedness can be achieved. Students who are gifted and have a sensory impairment will require teachers to adapt their curriculum and teaching methods. Programs need to include critical thinking, creative thought processes, and social and emotional content as Cline & Schwartz (1999) suggest.
Not easily identified as gifted are students with a hearing impairment. Through their ability to communicate by alternative methods students unable to use verbal communication may reveal giftedness (Whitmore, 1981). Including body language and/or gestures may include visual modes or nonverbal modes of communication. Through superior memory, superior problem solving skills, an exceptional interest and knowledge in specific areas, giftedness may become apparent.
In order to accommodate both their talents and their disability gifted students with a hearing impairment require a specially designed education program. The "expanded core curriculum" is required to teach everyday living skills. It is important to target their area of interest or talent so students can acquire extensive specialized knowledge and training.
In the classroom students will require additional support. Even though they do not enable a student with hearing disability to hear normally, hearing aids enable a disabled student to benefit from any residual hearing. A student may hear some sounds and not others, usually incomplete or distorted words. For students with severe hearing loss their reading ability may be depressed and reading can be difficult. By hearing the words and recognizing blending sounds reading is usually learned more successfully. In an alternative manner, using charts, posters, and signed videos, additional information may need to be provided. An interpreter can help as an intermediary until the class and teacher are conversant with any signing methods.
Similarly masked by their disability are indicators of giftedness in students with visual impairments. Contributing to a difficulty identifying giftedness are developmental delays, lack of opportunity, communication difficulties, and learning two curricula (both mainstream and the "expanded core curriculum" to teach life skills). Cline & Schwartz, 1999, mention that assessment procedures need to consider these elements.
To provide better access to the learning environment assisting equipment is available. Teachers for disabled students will need to prepare suitable resources and plan ahead. Class materials can be scanned for students to access via computer or transcribed into Braille. Anything to be presented in printed form (whiteboard, handouts, journals, textbooks) will need to be adapted. Tape recorders, laptop computers with speech or large print output, taped textbooks, raised line paper, large print textbooks and computerized Braillers are other beneficial technologies. Students will need additional time to read because it is impossible to skim Braille at a normal reading pace.
The philosophy of education for disabled students that I present is that in assessments it is important to identify gifted students, because students with disabilities are often overlooked. To "shine" alongside their non-disabled peers, assessment techniques designed for regular students may not allow the gifts possessed by students with disabilities to be detected. Specifically for students with disabilities, assessment procedures need to be adapted. While making adaptations to minimize the effects of disability, teaching methods must focus on enhancing each student's strengths. Regardless of disability, gifted students need to have their special abilities nurtured and the opportunity to succeed. Eventually, this philosophy that I have presented and supported is not only a philosophy of education for disabled students, but also a philosophy of education for students with special gifts. The implementation of this philosophy is essential in educating students with special gifts and needs.
