Eric J. Smith left me a question on one of my Ezine articles that I would like to respond to.
Here is Eric’s question: “Hello I am wondering what your thoughts are on special needs children receiving special needs education in mainstream schools. . .We are possibly at the opposite of the articles you have (written) where we want our daughter who has Angelman’s Syndrome to receive her supported education in a mainstream facility. We support the need for specialist services and supported education, just not at a facility focused only on disabled kids. Anyway, I would value your opinion.
JoAnn—Here is a little information on Angelmans Syndrome for those reading this:
Angelmans Syndrome is a neuro-genetic disorder characterized by intellectual and developmental delays, sleep disturbance, seizures, jerky movements, frequent laughter or smiling. A diagnosis is based on: A history of delayed motor milestones and then later a delay in general development, especially of Speech. Unusual movements including tremors, jerky arm and leg movements, hand flapping, and a still legged gait. There is a characteristic facial appearance as well as a history of seizures and an abnormal EEG tracing. There is also a deletion on Chromosome 15.
Here is my reply to Eric:
Eric: Thank you for placing a comment on one of my E zine articles. Here is my response to your inquiry:
As a parent of two adults with disabilities and an educational advocate for over 20 years what I am most concerned about is a child with disabilities is learning; not only academic learning, but functional learning as well. Whether this learning occurs in a regular classroom, a self contained classroom, or a special school is best left to the parents to decide, what is appropriate for their child.
My daughter Angelina who is now 29 years old participated in mainstream education throughout her schooling; and I believe that she benefited from it.
Children with disabilities can receive many positive things by being in a regular classroom. They have access to the regular education curriculum, they can make friends with children without disabilities, they can learn social skills and appropriate behavior from them, and many other positives.
But one thing that needs to be kept in mind is the importance of functional educational training for children with disabilities. A wonderful book that I use is called: “Functional Curriculum for Elementary, Middle, and Secondary Age Students with Special Needs” by Paul Wehman and John Kregal. While this book is older it is filled with lots of great information on Functional Curriculums. It even discusses the functional skills that children with disabilities need to learn at different stages of their education (elementary, Middle School and High School). I recently heard that the men wrote a second edition that has more updated information; definitely worth checking out!
As a child ages they may require more focus on functional skills training and functional academics rather than normal academics. The above book also has a chapter on functional academics that children need to learn so that they can become as independent as they can be in their adult life.
Unfortunately functional curriculums which include community training cannot be carried out in a regular classroom, but can be carried out in a specialized classroom with regular equipment for students to use and learn on (ovens, cooking utensils, tooth brushes etc), as well as the child’s community.
Special education is a service and not a specific placement! The child can receive the related and special education services they need in any setting that the parent deems appropriate.
Hope this answers your question Eric! Thank You for taking the time to ask me. JoAnn Collins
