Children with special Needs( Disabilites) - Essay Example

It argues for the functional development approach in empowering these special children. It acknowledges the significant role of government in breakthroughs made in Special Education and which have had positive impact on the lives of special children. Statistics Let us begin by looking at the population (children with disabilities) that we are dealing with. According to World Health Organization, CITATION WEA11 \l 1033 the figures are as follows: 650 million people in the world are disabled; 80% of disabled people live in developing countries; 20% of the world’s poorest people are disabled, and tend to be regarded in their own communities as the most disadvantaged; 1 in every 10 children around the world copes with a disability; and.

Only 2–3% of disabled children in poor countries go to school. Disability vs. Special Need The most accepted definition of “child with a disability” is found in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). CITATION WEA11 \l 1033 A “child with a disability,” is a child whose educational performance must be adversely affected due to the disability. CITATION WEA11 \l 1033 IDEA is considered to be the cornerstone of special education, as it required public schools to provide "free appropriate public education" to students with a wide range of disabilities, including “physical handicaps, mental retardation, speech, vision and language problems, emotional and behavioral problems, and other learning disorders.

” It also mandated that school districts provide such schooling in the "least restrictive environment"(LRE) possible. CITATION WEA11 \l 1033 In subsequent years, the term disability was applied to physical disability (such as paralysis, loss of limb, deafness), mental disability (such as depression or post-traumatic stress disorder) or intellectual disability (such as a learning disability). Disabilities could be at birth or a result of an accident or disease. Disabilities could range from moderate to significant and can be temporary or permanent.

CITATION WEA11 \l 1033 To many, disability and special need may have no significant difference. However, children with disabilities have suffered from exclusion or bear a stigma, simply by being labeled “child with disability. “Disabled people are typically shunned, isolated and stigmatized by their community. Families hide disabled children and exclude them from family and community activities.” CITATION WEA11 \l 1033 . What educators, psychologists, and governments have been trying to do is, first and foremost, to remove the stigma that comes with the term “disability,” secondly, to reorient individuals and communities to deal with these special children in a normal environment, and thirdly, to support and help empower them.

To my mind, the term “children with needs” transcends barriers and demonstrates the progress in the field of Special Education. The term acknowledges that a special child, like every child develops in a unique way, and will develop and interact with his environment at the appropriate level. With this understanding of typical child development, a child may have a special need when he or she has a delay in one or more