teaching children

[hs student]

Hi everyone! I am currently a student studying Early Childhood Education.  I don’t have a lot of hands on experience in working with children with special needs but I would love to gain some insight into the best way to teach and care for these amazing children. A few questions I have are do you feel that your child’s school system supports your child’s individual needs? Why or why not? As well as what are some areas in which you feel your child’s teacher could improve to provide a more inclusive environment.

[QueenOfTheMeadow]

Welcome to MDC!  I have one child who is on the spectrum and one child who is gifted with a learning disability.  Both of them recieve special ed services.  I have been very lucky to end up in the school district that we are in.  I feel like the greatest thing any teacher, special ed or regular ed, provides for a student is keeping involved with the parents.  If both the parents and teachers are able to work together, things go a lot smoother for the children.

[sageowl]

Glad you are thinking about these things.  If you really want to get "good" at working with kids with special needs, spend as much time as possible observing and working in different settings with different people, and watching people who appear to be good at what they're doing.  Gather ideas.  And figure out what works for you because it's not the same for everyone.  And above all, remember that in spite of all the labels, they're really just kids.
 

[Linda on the move]

My DD has Asperger's, sensory issues, and an anxiety disorder. She attended public school for a while and now attends a small private school. The public school teachers she had were AMAZING. But they were limited in what they could do by the overall set up of the school and and student/teacher ratio. The overall environment was not one in which my DD's needs could have been meet.

But the teachers were awesome -- very committed, compassionate, and patient.