There are many students who need consideration for being included in the classroom setting. When most consider the topic they immediately think of the students recognized as having one or more of the 13 federal classifications of disabilities (the full list and descriptions are included in this link http://www.education.com/reference/article/IDEA-disabilities-categories). In addition to students with federally recognized disabilities, there are many more students that need special consideration in the classroom setting. Methods of inclusion has established the categories of High Incidence disabilities, Low Incidence Disabilities, at risk students, and Gifted students.
Students Considered for Inclusion
High Incidence Disabilities: These are the more frequently occurring disabilities. They consist of speech or language disabilities, learning disabilities, emotional disturbance, or mild intellectual disabilities. These are the students that general education teachers are most likely to have in their classroom every year. For a lot of students with these disabilities, the signs of having the disability may not be apparent until the students are in the general education setting. Each disability has variances. For example language disorders can be receptive or expressive.Therefor it makes it extremely hard to generalize each disability. * Descriptions of each disability can be located on the page including the 13 federally recognized disabilities.
" Their academic failure is not caused by a lack of mental ability. Many students with learning disabilities also develop problems in the social-emotional area." -Unknown
While this quote is referencing learning disabilities, it can also be applied to every disability. Teachers have to be in tune with their students academically and socially. Some of the academic struggles may be directly linked to social- emotional struggles. In any case of severity, students with any disability may feel a sense of being different from their peers, and that can be a very intimidating feeling.
Low Incidence Disabilities: These students make up the lowest percentage of students who have disabilities, but the group is also one that may require the most complex, individualized, and advanced interventions. According to IDEA, the disabilities under this category are Mental retardation, Multiple disabilities, Hearing Impairments, Orthopedic Impairments, Other health impairments, Visual impairments, Autism (Autism spectrum disorders), Deaf-blindness, Traumatic brain injury, and Developmental Delays physical, cognitive, communication, social or emotional, or adaptive development. In other words the category covers a wide rang of categories, all of which may require different interventions. Additionally, no disability is the same for every person. Students with the same disability very in ability level from one another, and the characteristics of the disabilities are often displayed in manners that are unique to that student. Students in this category appear less frequently in the general education classroom because of the low percentage of students that have the disabilities, and also because some students may require intense intervention that is not able to be provided in a general education setting. These students often require education plans that have to be modified or accommodated. Teachers have to make sure that while their engagement, interaction, participation, and assignments may differ from the rest of the class it still must be aligned with the general curriculum to be considered inclusion. Just because students may not be able to perform the same tasks as their peers, it does not mean that they cannot interact with the curriculum in a different manner.
Students Eligible for Section 504: This group includes students with medial or health needs, students with learning problems, and students with ADHD. (Go to the simulations page if you want to get a better understanding of a lot of these students; simulations with ADHD, Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, and more). (Go to the IEP vs. 504 page to learn differences in the programs
At Risk Students: This is a group of students that is not as widely recognized as being in need of special services and having special needs. At risk students are students at risk for not graduating for reasons other than ability level. One set of these students is students that live in poverty. Living in poverty can place a student with great difficulty in school. The students may be malnourished, may lack necessary supplies to complete assignments, and they may not have a steady place to live and concentrate on school outside of the classroom. Another group of students are those who are abused or neglected. Parental involvement is extremely important in many students educational success. When the home becomes a place that is harmful to the student physically or emotionally it becomes a situation that takes precedent over education (teachers are obligated to be aware of such situations). Another group is those who are involved with substance abuse either by personal abuse or parental abuse of substances. Additionally, teachers need to be aware of English Language Learners. ELL students are at high risk. Learning a new language makes it hard to transfer knowledge because of a a lack in means to communicate. In such a situation students suffer academically because they cannot communicate their knowledge, not because they don’t have knowledge. ELL students often also have struggles socially as they have trouble interacting with peers because of a language communication barrier. As a teacher you have to be mindful of these students, look out for these students. As a teacher you have an amazing opportunity to make a positive difference in these students lives. On the same token teachers cannot be overcome with exhaustion by they fact that they may not be able to help every single student completely, there is little that can be controlled outside of the school setting. Teachers have limited resources, and have so much responsibility to so many people. The most important thing to know is that you can make a huge difference for these students in the small amount of time that they are in your classrooms.
Diversity in classrooms is also an issue that can lead to students becoming at risk. Put simply, different cultures, families and people have different value systems. The different cultures may have different morals and norms that are not necessarily addressed in the teacher's classroom. It is the teacher's responsibility to learn about the cultures of their students in order to truly know their students. Creating a culturally sensitive classroom does not mean substitution a word problem in math where Jill got three apples to her getting 3 oranges.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZwabwdLRNg (ELL Students)
From an ELL Student to an ELL Educator (8:49)
English language learner educators share their own personal journeys as former English language learner students. The film depicts the uniqueness of the ELL journey. The educators also share the importance of family engagement and how their personal journey has impacted their desire to work with children within their schools.
Gifted Students: Students who are talented or gifted also have special needs; they have special needs to be challenged so that their full academic potential is recognized! There is almost no legislation or laws regarding the education of gifted students.
On Being Gifted.m4v
by: Sherry Frachey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVQBXr2l8Zs
(This video was filmed and produced for the Illinois Association for Gifted and Talented Children and SENG, Supporting the Social and Emotional Needs of the Gifted. In my recent research of gifted and talented children, I found that there are many complex issues to consider. The unique stressors affecting these students have enormous implications.)
While our information is not taken from the text, the classroom textbook (mentioned on the homepage) has been very influential in our learning, and has influenced our ideas and perceptions along with our instructor Dr. Bracke (also noted on the homepage).
Friend, Marilyn Penovich, and William D. Bursuck. Including Students with Special Needs: A Practical Guide for Classroom Teachers. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1996. Print.