SPECIAL EDUCATION PORTFOLIO

1. SPECIAL EDUCATIONPORTFOLIO Meghan Mulligan

2. Part One:Overview of Special Education The History of Special Education Laws and Lawsuits Pre-Referral intervention Initial assessment and verification process Least restrictive environment and the continuum of services Inclusion Part Two:Special needs Learning disabilities Attention Deficit & Hyperactivity Disorder Emotional & Behavioral Disorders Mental Retardation Physical disabilities Autism & Aspergers Syndrome Part Three:My Action Plan Part Four:Looking back at my semester Journals Agendas Class reflection Table of Contents

3. Special education • Specifically designed instruction, at no cost to the child’s parents, to meet the unique needs of a student with a disability

4. Superstition • Institutions • Public school classes • Legislation & National support • Normalization, Child advocacy, and litigation • Redefinition& Refinement • Empowerment

5. Superstition:Children were believed to be demon possessed. Institutions: Children were put into asylums • Legislation and National Support: • 1950 and 1960 • -Rapid expansion of services, though still segregated • -Beginning of Federal Government Involvement • Legislation • Litigation • -Political Activism • Civil Rights Movement • -Parent Advocacy • Assn. for Children with Learning Disabilities founded in 1963 • Normalization, Child Advocacy, and Litigation: • 1970’s • PARC vs. the Common wealth of Pennsylvania (1971) • Mills vs. the Board of Education of the District of Columbia • Rehabilitation Act of 1973 • Education of all Handicapped Children Act (PL-94-142) of 1975 • Redefinition and Refinement: • 1990’s: • -Individuals with disabilities education act (1990) & amendments • -Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) • Public School Classes: • 1900-1950 • Segregated classes and schools. • -First public class started in 1869 in Boston. • Alfred Binet 1857-1911 • -Developed first standardized assessment measure (IQ test). Empowerment: -Twenty-first century -Self-determination -Self-advocacy IDEA 2004 History of Special Education

6. Laws PUBLIC LAW 94-142 : the Education of the Handicapped Act • In 1975 Congress passed one of the most comprehensive education laws in the history of the United States, the Education of the Handicapped Act. The Act brought together various pieces of state and federal legislation into one national public law. It made a free appropriate education available to every eligible student with a disability. • Congress designed this act to: "...insure that all handicapped children have a free and appropriate public education which includes special education and related services to meet their unique needs." • Congress also desired to: "...insure that the rights of handicapped children and their parents are protected.“ • Public Law 94-142 instructs each state to provide the necessary programs and services to insure that persons with handicaps receive an appropriate education. It also prescribes a variety of procedures which students and their parents can use to safeguard their rights. In return, the state receives federal funds for special education.

7. Laws The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 • The ADA is a wide-ranging civil rights law that prohibits, under certain circumstances, discrimination based on disability. • It affords similar protections against discrimination to American’s with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which made discrimination based on race, religion, sex, national origin, and other characteristics illegal. • Disability is defined as "a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity." The determination of whether any particular condition is considered a disability is made on a case by case basis.

8. Laws Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 • Applies to people of all ages, is known as the civil rights act for persons with disabilities it provides that: no otherwise qualified handicapped individual in the United States…shall, solely by reason of his handicap, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under and program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. • Section 504 forbids discrimination in the: -Workplace -In admissions to institutions of higher education. -In the provision of health, welfare, and other social services. -It also entitles school-aged children with disabilities to a free, appropriate public education

9. Laws The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act • (IDEA) is a United States federal law, most recently amended in 2004, meant to ensure "a free appropriate public education" for students with disabilities, designed to their individualized needs in the least restrictive environment. • The act requires that public schools provide necessary learning aids, testing modifications and other educational accommodations to children with disabilities. • The act also establishes due process in providing these accommodations. Children whose learning is hampered by disabilities not interfering with his/her ability to function in a general classroom, may qualify for similar accommodations under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation act of 1973 or the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

10. Lawsuits • The Six Hour Retarded Child, by the President’s committee on mental retardation(1969)found out that many students only acted disabled in the school setting. • The Diana suit,(1970)attacked testing abuses with students who did not speak English • Larry P. case, pointed up abuses with students from diverse cultures(1972,1979,1984).

11. Pre-referral intervention Pre-referral intervention: modification of the general education program designed to promote a students success in the regular classroom and prevent referral for services such as SPED. -Before a child can be referred for assessment for special education a pre-referral checklist must be completed. Some example of steps needing to be handled are: -Meeting with student and parents either together or separately to find possible solutions and discuss concerns. -Establish that student has passed or been referred to a hearing and vision test. -Identify in writing the students specific education problem. -Obtain or develop instructional learning aids to address the students problem.

12. Initial assessment & verification process After the pre-referral team meets, an assessment team reviews the data from the pre-referral, and the referral for special education. Together the team members design an assessment plan. The plan is then provided to the parents and is then is review. Once the parents give permission the assessment of the child takes place. The assessment team then summarizes their results and conducts a meeting with the child’s parents to determine their eligibility for special education.

13. Identify Students with Special Needs Revise as needed Assess Special Needs Communication and Coordination with Other Professionals and Parents Plan Education Program Implement Education Program Evaluate Educational Program Special Education Process

14. LRE: Least Restrictive Environment • Child must be educated to the maximum extent appropriate with non handicapped peers. • They should be removed from the general education setting only when the nature or severity of the disability prohibits an appropriate education in a general education setting with supplemental aids and services.

15. Increasing severity of needs and restrictiveness of environment Placement in the Least Restrictive Environment

16. General Education Inclusion Special Education INCLUSION The term most often used today to describe the placement of students with special needs in general education. Inclusion is a more modern term for mainstreaming but unfortunately the meaning is imprecise. Inclusion is also seen as the meaningful participation of students with disabilities and other special needs in general education classrooms and programs.

17. For Future Research Many of the websites we looked over in class provide a lot of information I can learn from. I will better understand such topics as People First Language, Laws and Lawsuits, and people living with disabilities if I utilize these sites and look deeper into topics I am presented with. Some good websites that help me in gathering information for this semester are: NICHCY stands for the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities. We serve the nation as a central source of information on: -disabilities in infants, toddlers, children, and youth, -IDEA, which is the law authorizing special education, -No Child Left Behind (as it relates to children with disabilities), and -research-based information on effective educational practices. http://www.nichcy.org/ Education Resources on the Internet (SERI) is a collection of Internet accessible information resources of interest to those involved in the fields related to Special Education. This collection exists in order to make on-line Special Education resources more easily and readily available in one location. http://www.seriweb.com/ The PACER Center: Parent Advocacy Coalition for Educational Rights The mission of PACER Center is to expand opportunities and enhance the quality of life of children and young adults with disabilities and their families, based on the concept of parents helping parents. http://www.pacer.org/index.htm

18. Reflection • Before I was in this class I had a very limited knowledge of special education and the services it offered to people living with disabilities. Growing up I have always been around kids with disabilities in the school setting, but I never had a knowledge of how they were educated. I also have a brother that was in special education as a younger boy and some things I learned in class helped me better understand exactly why he was offered special education services. Learning about the pre-referral process and the concept of IEP’s really showed me the great lengths the education system go through to make sure that every child gets the education that they deserve. It is amazing how far professional help in the classroom has come from such people as Occupational therapists, Physical therapists, and paralegals. Another great advancement is the technology that is offered to help children of all disabilities to better their learning, and help them with their communication skills.

19. Reflection • The information I gathered on disabilities for my fact sheets provided me with very interesting information. Before I looked into specific disabilities I was guilty of grouping them into one category. I instead should have taken the time to separate and examine what makes each disability unique. Every disability has distinct physical, behavioral, and emotional needs that have to be taken into consideration. You cannot expect any two children to learn the same way. Having these fact sheets will be great tools to use once I am able to run my own classroom. Since I will be teaching in the general education setting I can look back at these sheets and may be able to better identify any unique needs that need to be met, whether that be in the way I present my lessons or the way I interact one on one with the children in my classroom.

20. WORK DONE IN CLASS • Stations and worksheet over: Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity disorder • Physical disabilities chart: Arranged into groups physical disabilities caused by traumatic brain injury, orthopedic needs, and other health impairments. • Graphic Organizer *History timeline for agenda points was emailed earlier in the semester.