As of 2015, almost all public and specialized schools in the
United States provide accommodations for disabled students under the
Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA). A child with any of the following
categories fall under the care of this act: autism, blindness, deafness,
emotional disturbance, hearing impairment, intellectually disabled, multiple
disabilities, orthopedic impairment, specific learning disabilities,
speech/language impairment, traumatic brain injury, and visual impairment (Wrightslaw,
2014). Most schools are currently and rapidly moving toward the inclusion
benefits, or moving children from more restrictive settings to less restrictive
ones. However, a major problem seen in current education is students who
escape, or rather go unnoticed. They should or could be diagnosed as having a
learning disability but go through their education without the accommodations
that could potentially be provided to help them succeed in learning (“Special
Education Law”, 2009). Also, another present issue in special education today
is the fact that some students who aren’t intellectually disabled, but are more
“socially disabled” or fall under the category of emotionally disturbed, still undergo the IEP process, and therefore
have standards that they are required to meet that may fall inferior to regular
academic achieving students. This is alarming because these specific students
are intellectually capable of achieving and meeting standards equal to those
students who are not learning disabled, yet most IEP’s state that the student
can be promoted by completing a certain percentage of the main standards.
Therefore, these students are “settling” and not being challenged to their full
potential. They are moving on the next grade level, but sometimes without having
learned much of what they are capable of. I have seen these two issues from
first hand experience, and hope special education proposals and regulations are
brought forward to help address these current issues.
References:
Skiba, Russell (2008). “Achieving Equity in Special
Education: History, Status, and Current Challenges.”
Council
for Exceptional Children. Vol. 74, No. 3, p. 264-288.
“Special Education Law: The Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act – IDEA” (2009).
Understanding
Special Education. Retrieved on 7/6/2015. Retrieved from
<www.
Understanding specialeducation.com/special-education-law.html>
Wrightslaw (2014). “A Short History of Special Education
Law.” History of Special Education Law.
p. 7 –
10.
Below is the link to the special education history timeline
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