Because everyone in the class except Emily and I are non-Special ed majors, I'm really interested to hear what yall think about Special education.

Here are some questions to think about/discuss:
1. What are your thoughts/opinions on inclusion?
2. Do you feel prepared to have students with any level of special needs in your classroom?
3. Do you think students in Special Education programs can learn?
4. Do you know anything about different disabilities/special needs?
5. Do you know anything about referring students for special ed?
6. Do you intend on partnering with the special educators in your school?
7. Do you think ASU should require a class about special needs learners for all education majors?

You don't have to answer all of these, it's just a list to get you thinking and discussing. Please be honest. I promise your answers won't surprise me or upset me.

To be honest I don't know much about special education. I've had some classes with instructors who briefly discuss the basics, but I feel that I need to know more. As a future teacher I will be involved with these students and they will be in my classes and I feel that gen ed needs a class on special needs and working with these students. I feel that I haven't had the preparation that is possible to work any level of special needs in my classroom. Is there a class that you would recomend that goes over some basics that would inform me futher and give me a general idea.

My mom is an assistant in a kindergarten inclusion classroom in CMS. I am kind of on the fence with the idea of inclusion because I have seen it work and I've seen it fail. I believe it really depends on the teacher and the student. The times that I have seen it fail tend to stand out in my mind. A couple of years ago there was a little boy in my mom's class who had been diagnosed with failure to thrive. He was the sweetest thing ever but inclusion was not the answer for him. I don't know all the details obviously because it was none of my business, but I do know that it took almost the entire year to get him where he needed to be. He is now in a SAC(specialized academic curriculum) classroom which is working very well for him. So basically, I feel that inclusion can work if it is done right but it is not the best solution for every student.
I feel that I could handle some special needs but not as many different special needs that I will have to overcome in my classroom with inclusion. I think it would really help if part of elementary education curriculum included more on special education/special needs. I believe that students with special needs have plenty of potential for success in learning and that in schools all students should have interactment with all other students no matter their age, race, sex or needs.

These are all good questions April, and many of them I think about on a regular basis when talking about starting teaching in the classroom. Special Education students have always fascinated me. They have to overcome so many more challenges to achieve even the simplest goals, but they do succeed none the less. My preparations for preparing myself to teach in a classroom that may or may not involve inclusion is to have as many experiences as I can with people who have a variety of disabilities. Growing up I was always around people who had various disabilities although some of them don't fall under the special education or special needs categories. My best friend when I was young was deaf, and then my best friend from late elementary school through middle school couldn't walk without the aid of a walker. In middle school and high school one of my friends and her brother, who has down syndrome, were in youth group with me and went to school with me. Through being around him I learned a lot, and unfortunately even saw how even high functioning down syndrome students can regress when health issues arise later in life. Now one of my friend's four year old brother has downs. I am constantly learning new things from him and how he learns and interacts with others. Throughout the years I have tried to do special Olympics activities, and worked with some summer school type programs for students 5 years old to 25 years old. I think my main opportunity for learning is through experiencing the disability through interacting with them and learning from the students rather than a book. There are still many more disabilities that I need to learn about, but I plan to continue to learn by experiencing new memories with students who have disabilities that I don't know much about. Classes would be helpful, but so many times it is completely situational as to how to best work with a student with a specific disability and thats why I think personal experience is better than a class on the subject.

I was actually discussing this topic with Hannah the other night, and during the course of our discussion I realized that I know little to nothing about working with special needs students. I do not have a problem with inclusion, but I am nervous about it, because I have not had any classes or preparation for helping these children. I have been around a few special needs children, but I have had nearly enough experience to get to a level where I feel comfortable and confident in my own ability to work with these children. I wish Appalachian would require students to learn more about special education, because it’s not an option for educators today. It a necessity that we know how to teach every kind of child; whether it is a child from a different culture, a child who can’t speak English or a special needs child. I have realized that I obviously need to learn more about these topics and get some experience in these areas on my own before I can be a successful teacher.

Great questions April. I often think about this situation because I know that even if students with special needs are in self-contained classrooms all day, music is one of the classes they would be "included" in (I use the term lightly) because "it's just music." I am actually taking a class this semester called Music in Special Education and it is fabulous. I am learning so much about all the different special needs and how those students interact not only with mainstream students but with each other. I want to teach elementary school music so I know I will have the opportunity to teach these amazing students and now that I am taking this class I can't wait!

I think that a class on Special Education should definitely be part of every education major's curriculum. It is something so important that is often overlooked. I see a lot of people saying that they know they will have these students, but they are scared or apprehensive about teaching them. This can be changed and should be changed. Not only would a class on Special Education be beneficial because it would teach us classroom methods and strategies for teaching students with special needs, it would also make us all more knowledgeable of the different disorders, disabilities, and ABILITIES of these students. We would see these students as students before we saw them as disabilities, which is what may happen if a teacher doesn't know much about the student.

I am also a little nervous about having special education students in my classrooms. Like someone else said, I have seen inclusion work and I've seen it fail, and I really feel like it depends on the students/teachers/aids and other s involved in the program. I do feel like I have had pretty good CI professors who have stressed Special Education and the needs of these students, however, I do believe that we should all be required to take a class specifically geared towards this topic. Thanks for the questions April!

I don't feel qualified to teach special education students. I wouldn't know how to accommodate them in my classroom, so I think it would be great to take a class to train pre-service teachers in this area. I think there would be a definite need to rely on the expertise of others. I do know that these students are very capable of achieving and learning, but I wouldn't know how to tap into it. If teachers are not properly trained and informed, I don't see how inclusion could work effectively for those involved, but if they are, I think it is a wonderful idea.

I've heard benefits and drawbacks to inclusion and I still am not sure which side I take on it. I think that it can be a good thing, to a degree. It could be more distracting for both the inclusion student and the rest of the class.

I think all education majors should definitely be required to take a class about special needs learners. Even though a lot of us aren't Special Education majors, we will still encounter students with special needs in any class we teach. Their condition may not be as severe as others who are put into a Special Education classroom, but their issues are still brought to the classroom and need to be recognized, not ignored and not written off.

Having a class like this would help me to be aware of disabilities and special needs seen in the classroom today and the best way of working with these students. I know about some different disabilities, but I haven't really worked with these students first-hand and don't know how to address it in the classroom to make sure that student has the same opportunity as the others who are on grade level.

April, I am glad you brought up this subject. I just logged in here to create a post about special education and you beat me to it!

Special education and children with special needs is a subject that is very important to me. My mom taught special ed for 25 years. I have been in and out of her classroom and feel as though I may have a little more awareness of children with special needs than some other teachers to be and even teachers have.

Inclusion depends on each child's situation. Some children can not handle being in a regular classroom for any period of time and need special attention. In other cases, inclusion is beneficial. Many children with exceptionalities mimic their peers and could benefit from being included with in the classroom.

Of course, I do not feel prepared to have students of ANY level of special needs in my classroom because I have not been trained on how to handle or teach all levels. Sadly, it is not a requirement for all education majors to take more courses and be educated in special needs. YES, it should be required for ALL education majors! The fact that it is not required for education majors to learn more about special needs or handicaps, quite frankly makes me very mad.

Yes, EVERYONE can learn!

I have had experience with special ed children through an adapted PE class that we taught on campus last semester. It was special ed students from Watagua county. It was a very difficult thing to do. We taught lessons in the gym for half the semester just on basic movement patterns and skills and then we took them to the pool and taught them to swim. I am not completely against inclusion, but I do think that some students should not be in a physical education classroom with students who are not in special ed. The reason I say that is because I observed an elementary PE class and the one student that we were working with in the adapted program was in the regular class and it was dangerous for him. They were play a soccer game I think it was and this student was unable to follow directions. He needed to have one on one attention the whole time which was not able to be done. He wondered around the gym and could have very easily gotten hurt. I think that if a child can successfully do what everyone else is doing then inclusion is fine but if not then I think it is a bad idea. Also I do think that education majors should have to take a class on how to deal with special ed students. They are a very unique group and I don't think that it would hurt anything.

I definitely agree that all education majors should be required to have fairly extensive education regarding students with special needs, especially as our school systems become more inclusive. It sounds like some of you are even worried about having students with special needs in your classrooms because you think you won't be ready. Although it should be mandatory that teachers be prepared for teaching in inclusion settings, don't forget that your special education teachers as well as many others in your school will be there to help you accommodate the specific learning needs of that student. Don't worry too much...we will be there to help and support general education teachers!

I feel that inclusion is a great concept when used at the right times, with the right students. I know nothing about special education, but I do know that I may have special needs students in my music classes. I think they should be there with everyone else. All kids can, and should have the chance to make music. I feel that they can adapt and be just fine in the music class.

I do feel that children with special needs can learn. There may be a "road block" that a teacher has to work around to get them to learn the material. A good teacher will be able to present ideas in different ways in order for the child to understand. I don't know too much about the different disabilities that we may encounter. If I do have a special needs child in my class, I would most definitely be talking to their teacher to see what works for that child, and what doesn't. It is our job to ensure that child gets a chance to learn.

I agree with Amanda. I believe that inclusion programs are a great idea and help students with special needs to develop the social skills that they need. However, if inclusion programs are going to be implemented into schools in our state, I think that there needs to be classes taught here at ASU and in other education colleges geared toward dealing with the possible issues that may arise in these classes. I believe that it is a great idea, but I would like to have a little heads up as well.

I agree with what a lot of people have posted. I think that there should be a class in which pre-service teachers learn how to better deal with special education students in the classroom. We have had Ed Psch which has touched on the subject, but as far as I know there isn't a class that goes into more depth with this. I think it would be a great thing. I know I am a little nervous about having special ed students in my classroom. I believe in inclusion for some situtions, but I am just a little nervous about knowing how to deal with certain students with certain needs because I have not been trained to deal with those needs. I have been exposed to a lot during my own education, but I have never had to deal with it myself.

As a few people said, I too am a little nervous about have children with special needs in my classroom, solely because I do not know very much about it. Just a Brittany said, I think a class about how to deal and what to expect would be greatly beneficial to teachers who are about to enter the field. I think inclusion is a great thing, because it can help a child feel more involved. However, I am a bit scared of how I will handle situations when they come my way. I feel like I will be fine, but I wish I was a little more prepared for it.