An interview was conducted with an individual involved in the process of identifying children with special needs. A lot was learnt from the interview. It is difficult to establish whether a child requires special needs after they are born, or during pre-school and kindergarten years. Children with special needs are therefore in most cases identified when they enter elementary school. When a child is in early elementary school, teachers, school officials and parents may recognize that a child requires special education. When his happens, the child becomes eligible for a formal evaluation which is conducted with the consent of the child’s parent. The aim of this evaluation is to confirm whether the child actually needs special care and services. Whether it’s the parent or the teacher who initially discovers that something is not right with the child, the process of identifying a child with special needs involves five steps. The classroom teacher offers children with general effective learning instructions and monitors their progress. Failure to successfully complete these instructions calls for additional support in the general educational program. Progress is monitored and if there is still failure, evaluation for special needs services may be conducted.
Identification of students with special needs involves use of various assessment methods. Child behavior checklist focuses on a child’s behavior. This assessment method quantifies social competencies. Battelle Developmental inventory identifies if infants and preschool children meet developmental milestones. Peabody Developmental Motor Scale identifies children with motor disabilities and is applicable for children aging 0-8 years. Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test is an assessment method used to identify a child’s communication and cognitive skills, as well as language skills. Family members and especially parents are the first people a child knows in his/her life. The main role of family in the identification process is to provide background information regarding the early years of a child’s growth. Families also identify any early developmental delays in the child. It’s also the parents’ role to give a go-ahead and consent for assessment and evaluation incase a child is identified as one requiring special needs. Screening and evaluation services provided for these children are free of charge and parents are not expected to pay anything. Additionally, families have all the information regarding special needs at their disposal to ensure they make the right decisions.
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For such children with special needs, use of technology creates a sense of belonging for them and thereby improving their classroom participation. Technology has been used in identifying and assisting children suspected to have special needs. Assistive and instructional technology has both been used in the process. Written language, reading and memory/organization assistive technologies have been used with these children with a lot of success. Written language assistive technologies such as spellcheckers, proofreaders and speech synthesizers all assist children with special needs with writing. Assistive technology for reading that have been used include tape recorders, Microsoft word and speech synthesis. Memory assistive technologies include free-form databases and personal data manger.
After preliminary evaluation procedures have been conducted to establish whether a child requires special care and services, positive outcome directly leads to the beginning of placement procedures. Special skills and needs of the child are carefully evaluated. Specific areas of the child’s needs must be assessed. Individuals with mandate to make placement decisions are individuals who know the child well and individuals who are able to understand evaluation information meaning. Information used in making the placement decision should come from a wide range of sources including aptitude and achievement test results, recommendation from the teacher, adaptive behavior, social background of the child and the child’s physical condition results.
The teacher spends a considerable amount of time with the student and in some situations it’s the teacher who initially recognizes that a student may require special needs. The role of the teacher in the placement process therefore is critical. Having knowledge about the child’s educational background, it’s the teachers’ responsibility to effectively communicate with child’s family explaining to them why it is necessary for the child to receive special needs. Additionally, during the evaluation stage, the teacher conducts more frequent evaluations whose purpose is to track the student’s performance. Such activities provide a platform where teachers attempt to improve productivity of the said child.
Classroom assessments practices are important in the process of identifying children with special needs. These assessments establish a student’s ability to recognize and remember what had been previously taught in the classroom. Assessments also improve the learning process of a student. In general classroom assessment is a practice that can assist in identification of a child with special needs, determination of a suitable placement, selection of suitable curricula which meets the child’s needs and referral to appropriate additional services.
From the interview I was able to learn that it’s important for children with special needs to be identified during the early development years. These children require individualized care and separate education that is designed to accommodate their needs and requirements. Care should be taken while carrying out the process of identification since it’s possible to confuse this with lack of interest in school. Issues learnt from the interview will provide me with a platform to change my approaches to teaching in classroom. For instance, more classroom assessments will help identify children’s performance and establish whether they require any special needs. Moreover, I will be keener on grades which are a determinant of whether a child has any learning disabilities.
