Special Needs in the Classroom – An Overview

In this module, we will be looking at the factors that surround the inclusion of Special Needs in the classroom.

1A: Meaningful participation in the least restrictive environment

The Least Restrictive Environment is described by Mills (1998) in the Least Restrictive Environment Implementation Policy Paper as:

'Least restrictive environment means that placement of students with disabilities in special classes, separate schools and other removal from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability is such that, even with the use of supplementary aids and services, education cannot be satisfactorily achieved. The placement of an individual student with a disability in the least restrictive environment shall:

  1. provide the special education needed by the student;
  2. provide for education of the student to the maximum extent appropriate to the needs of the student with other students who do not have disabilities; and
  3. be as close as possible to the student's home.'

This is to say that every available provision should be made to educate the child as usual, taking into account their individual disability as well as seeking to allow the child to  join in as much mainstream activity as possible. If there are certain factors that occur in the school environment that work against a child's best interest, then steps are taken to remove or overcome these factors. 'School environment' refers to the collective excperience of school for a child, its machinations, its social aspects and its wide range of rules. The most common factor in the school environment which would work against children with special educational needs (SEN) would be the social side of school. Marx & Wooley (1999) describe the school environment as follows:

"A school’s environment is the thread that connects the multitude of activities on a campus.  In many respects this thread is almost invisible, yet everyone experiences its influence.  Positive social relationships and attitudes about school are as important to the environment as are safe and well-kept buildings and grounds."

Schools are repeatedly reinforcing the importance of good relationships and positive attitudes. These concepts may simply be lost on many SEN children, especially those with autistic spectrum disorders or Aspergers' syndrome. Children with this type of disability have often made their own idea about how social interaction works.

Cooke, a Webdoctor, tells us that

 "Like those with autism, children with Asperger's syndrome have abnormal social interactions, facial expressions, and gestures, and unusually focused interests."

This can lead to the unfortunate scenario of social exclusion or even cause 'regular' children to taunt or make fun of the SEN child. It is refreshing to find from personal expereience that most children are tolerant of SEN children and any strange behaviour they ma exhibit. There can however be a serious problem when an SEN child's behaviour impacts upon another child, such as irritation from the SEN child's constant talking. When an SEN child displays violence as part of his behaviour, as has occured with a year 4 pupil in my school, the idea of meaningful participation becomes more serious as the teacher has to account for the wellbeing of her other students to promote a healthy school environment. The brightly coloured, information-filled walls of a primary school may also prove counter-productive to a child who is stimulated by bright colours or textures. In this instance, a child may work seperately from the class with a teaching assistant in a calmer, more soothingly decorated room.

In St. Luke's Primary, the social and relationship side of special needs becomes a problem only when conflict situations arise which happens a little more regularly than desired. St. Luke's has a large number of children from underpriveliged backgrounds and fairly severe behaviour problems. To put it simply, there are some children you would not want to mess with. A fear many teachers and parents might have is that the SEN child will taunt or even make friends with and be influenced by, the 'school bully'. Of course, this 'bully' may well have special needs himself, and it is the other children who will be at risk. Ultimately, this will be terribly counterproductive for effective social networks within the school.

The other main problem faced by SEN children in a mainstream school is the access to the curriculum. Learning is usually delivered to the children through the teacher in the carpet scenario. This scenario is difficult enough for 'regular' children to maintain attention in, let alone for those who have difficulty focusing or listening. The National Curriculum has been modified several times to attempt to make provisions for SEN. Mittler (2002) tells us that the curriculum was too demanding for any child at all in 1990, and as of 2000, it is notable for a seven page document on inclusion.

Mittler (2002) goes on to suggest that a major barrier in the education system for SEN children would be the issue of standardised testing. This researcher has found that stadardised tests such as SATs or simple mental maths tests cannot be completed by many SEN children. This can all too often result in what Mittler (2002) calls 'the dreaded W mark (working towards level 1)'. The most effective method I have seen to allow children full access to these kinds of activities would simply be constant one to one TA support. One-to-one support must surely be the most effective method of allowing a child to cope in the often hectic school environment. However, this type of support is not without disadvantages. Firstly, it is costly to hire a staff member to look after a single child. Other children may also become jealous of the relationship  and attention that the SEN child recieves. It is important that the teacher is seen to be giving equal attention to all children (which may not be tru). It would be yet another of the teacher's skills to ensure that all children felt that they were treatedequally in the classroom - even if that were essentially untrue due to the extra effort nescessary for the SEN child to particiapte meaningfully.

1B Experience of school for an SEN child

Throughout this module and in my daily school experience, I work alonglside an Asperger's sufferer who for this module we shall call 'Master M'. He is nine years old, although he is in Year 3. Master M suffers from mild Asperger's syndrome. His attention and language skills are the most adversly affected, although this has implications on his social activities. As he finds it very difficult to keep from speaking out loud, quiet classroom environments are difficult for him. The most extreme form of his behaviour occurs when Master M seemingly forgets basic class rules such as 'stay in your seat', as he will get up and go to tell another child a fact that he might consider interesting. Master M favours extremely technical and specialised conversations about specific topics, and especially when he himself does not know the word for something, it can become very difficult to follow his train of thought. However, Master M will not speak about his topics to those who he thinks will not understand or whom he does not consider his friends. In this case, he will not make eye contact or speak directly except for basic pleasantries. He also speaks incredibly quickly in a garbled American accent, the reason for which is unclear.

Master M is particularly obsessed by certain children's toy lines and television shows. His obsessions have been documented as follows:

 Reception (2003-2004) - Thomas the Tank Engine

Year 1 (2004-2005) - ???? - Unknown, but known to like Pokemon

Year 2 (2005-2006) - Sonic the Hedgehog (especially the character 'Miles "Tails" Prower)

Year 3 (1st part, 2006) - Doctor Who (new BBC series)

Year 3 (2nd part, 2007) - Pokemon

Masih has always been interested in space, science, planets, robots and aliens. He is also very fond of his older sister and talks about her almost as if she had superhuman powers. He loves video games and enjoys them on a level more expectant of a young adult of 14-16 than a 9 year old.

Masih is particularly interested by Pokemon at the moment, partially fuelled by the release of a new version of the video game, 'Pokemon Diamond/Pearl'. Masih has always been fond of Pokemon, which re-establishes its brand every few years by releasing another video game, tie-in movie and cartoon series. He does not stop liking other shows and products, however, and maintains a working knowledge of them. Masih uses the Internet to watch clips and episodes of his favourite shows through websites such as YouTube and DailyMotion and reads information related to them on other websites. This shows quite a high level of competency in ICT. When Masih is concentrating, his ability level and word recognition skills are very high. When he is with a group of other children, he will find it impossible to be calm and continually gets out of his seat and flaps his limbs. In a one on one situation, Masih exhibits no hyperactive behaviour, becoming much quieter and resorting to fiddling.

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On the carpet, Masih has learned to be able to keep quiet, usually through use of concentarion. This can backfire as if he begins to touch something like a string or loose piece of shoe he will find it impossible to stop following it with his finger. If he sits near one of his friends, he will nt be able to stop talking to him, and will hae to be asked to move. He cannot also be sat by a chair otherwise he will not be able to stop touching it. If these factors are overcome he will be ...

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