Special Ed refers to any students who don’t fit the norm. That is, they could be gifted and talented all the way to severely autistic.

There are many students who fit in Special Education categories who are capable of being mainstreamed — that is, taught in regular ed classrooms.

See the following links for professional articles about Special Education.

The reason we have Special Education is to educate those students who are exceptional in any way. Whether they are gifted, talented, emotionally impaired, hearing impaired, cognitively impaired, behaviorally impaired, seeing impaired, etc, we need a system in place with rules on how to educate them. What is in the child’s best interest, or what goals will be set for the childs yearly learning?

http://psycinfo.apa.org/ this is a database of peer-reviewed journal articles about psychology.

http://www.hollingworth.org/fullincl.html here is an article about keeping gifted kids in the class

http://www.vor.net/Full%20Inclusion%20Article.htm this is one about whether or not we should include SpecEd kids in regular classes

http://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc/ltrs/inclusion_right_suzanne.htm another about inclusion

My feeling is that special children need special teaching but that their needs may not be catered to in a regular classroom so I would keep the child wherever they would make the most improvement.

Not all children learn the same way…some may have physical, emotional, or behavioral disabilities that prevent them from learning in the regular classroom. The main goal is to teach special education children in an all inclusive classroom as it is the least restrictive environment.

It is often difficult for a classroom teacher to meet ALL the needs of ALL students in the classroom, but we work hard to do it. Students who require special education services need extra attention in order to have their needs met.

In some cases, the students will need to be pulled from the classroom in order to give them the attention and focus they need in order to be successful. However, the downfall is that they are removed from their peers and others may view them as “different.”

In other cases (many cases), the students may remain in the classroom and the teacher may have an aid, assistant, or cooperating teacher present to assist in teaching students with special needs. This is called mainstreaming or inclusion. This is the goal of special education. Why? Because the students are not isolated from their peers. Their classmates acknowledge them and accept them.

Students learn from each other! Students receiving special education services in the regular education classroom will learn from their classmates, just as their classmates will learn from them. It is extremely beneficial for all involved.

There are many students who have trouble with reading, math, speech, hearing and so forth. Depending on the degree to which they have a problem, they qualify for special services that are supposed to support them through the learning process. At one time in the US many students who had learning “problems” were not educated in schools. Some students with mental retardation or severe learning disabilities stayed home and were not advanced cognitively. Today there are laws that govern how we approach and deal with those students so that they can thrive in our society. This is why we have special education.

The website below will add more insight for you. Hope this helps and God bless.

IT should be in you transition IEP(Individualized education Plan). A special education diploma or certificate of achievement as some would hear is just that. It is not an actual Graduation diploma. In you city you should have GED classes you can take that concentrate on the stuff in the GED test. You also can bring your IEP to college after you obtain your GED and you will have help there. Good Luck!!!

We need special education because it is law that every child must be educated and the mainstream curriculum might not be appropriate for some of the kids who need special services. The main goal of special ed is to give the education that is most appropriate to each individual kid (Ex. Some kids do not speak verbally, so they need to be taught communication skills, or children with autism need to be taught socialization skills…etc..)

um to tell you the truth my mom is a teacher in the special education department she works for a company called life span so she could probably answer your questions a lot better than i could but well i’ll do my best… you could look up their website on google let me just tell you that if you went into a special education classroom you would understand why we need special ed classes these kids need special attention they need tubes to eat… and well they don’t function like we do i suggest going to the life span website ill attach it as my source for you!!!

the main goal of special education is to prepare those students, like all students, for life. its done a bit slower and with more one on one.

my daughter was born with a genetic defect that, besides the physical problems she had at birth, made it very hard for her to concentrate on something with all the stimulus that regular classrooms have. she had regular gym, art, study halls, lunch, etc. with the rest of her peers.

she also types 90 wpm, volunteered outside of school more than her normal peers, got a job on her own at the age of 14, straight As and was student of the month for her entire junior class once. she was able to do all this with the help of special ed.

she rode the short bus since the age of 2,,,never knew she was special ed until she was in high school. her classes gave her great self esteem, and thats what its all about.

love the styro helmet remark, tho,,,,,its remarks like that that made school hard for her and lots of other kids.

Special ed in schools in america is corrupt. Go to these websites to learn all about it –

www.wrightslaw.com

www.reedmartin.com

www.schwablearning.org (their message board)

www.specialedlaw.blog

www.mothersfromhell2.com

www.learningabledkids.com

IEP Guide yahoo group