In the year 2019-20, a total of 7.3 million students in the USA received special education services. Simultaneously, the dropout rate for students with disabilities was 40 percent that is twice that of the students without disabilities. While these numbers assure that parents have been looking forward to sending their children to school, it also puts us in a dilemma. The increase in the dropout rate suggests that things are not seemingly fine in the special education system.
No matter what, who you are, or what community you belong to, education is vital for personal growth and survival in this world. However, people with special needs face discrimination and sheer negligence in this department as well. People with special needs do not just need a vigilant health care system but also remarkable educational facilities. However, most of us are unaware of the major problems faced by students with special needs. These problems never come out because they belong to the group whose voice is never heard in the dominant crowd.
Here is a profound look at some looming issues ongoing in the world of special education that never receive enough attention.
- Neglect Of Individual Needs
A special education classroom is no different from a regular class. It has students from all backgrounds with different needs and disabilities. Unfortunately, these needs are mistaken as stubbornness and sometimes a part of their nature. Teachers and the institution itself ignore the fact that every student needs special attention and care to adjust to the environment. The neglect leads to effects on the students’ overall progress and leaves no room for their improvement. To cater to this problem, some networks have introduced advanced degrees to gain more expertise in to look after special students as per their needs.
- Communication Gap Between Parents And Teachers
The special education institutes fail to build a healthy communication bridge between parents and teachers regardless of highly-trained and professional teaching staff. While the former has trust issues, the latter is barely able to tell them about their child’s actual needs and potential talents. Even though some institutions have introduced online Special Education Teacher Masters, parents are unable to maintain a healthy equation and understand why communication is vital. Communication plays a huge role in understanding the needs of the student and helping him get through troublesome aspects of the journey.
- Poor Infrastructure And Technology
We are living in a different world with new innovations and viruses. During the pandemic, children with special needs were particularly at the receiving end. Both students and even institutions had no access to gadgets and advanced online systems to get in touch with students. Moreover, there is a dire need for smart classrooms even without a pandemic, but they are unavailable in most schools due to financial constraints. Lack of funds means poor infrastructure and not enough technology to cater to the needs of students. Therefore, the students will not be able to learn something out of the box.
- Special Education Only For Special Children
Would you believe that special education is not meant for all special children? It is true because if a child belongs to a poor family, he/she is most likely to be deprived of getting an education. Standard special education is sadly only restricted for students from financially secure backgrounds. Several parents cannot afford special schools, and the ones run by the government and NGOs are unable to admit more than a few hundred due to a lack of resources. Moreover, special children belonging to rural areas have absolutely no access to special education.
- Insufficient Curriculum and Teaching Methods
Students are fed with the same old, outdated lessons. Teachers do not pay attention to the fact that students need to be indulged in more creative activities apart from identifying colors and looking at birds. There is barely any creativity in the teaching methods, and no research is done on how to improve the curriculum for students every year. Outdated teaching methods and techniques have led to dissatisfaction among parents as well.
- Unhealthy Learning Environment
Unfortunately, the learning environment at special schools is getting more toxic than expected. Children are unable to complain, and teachers are burnout due to low payouts and burdensome schedules. This leads to toxic learning environments where teachers treat their jobs as burdensome, and even caretakers get exhausted. Learning possibilities are reduced, and students become resistant to attending school.
- Uncertainty of Immediate Medical Help
In many areas, schools are not attentive to special children’s health anymore. They think that teachers are trained enough to look after medical issues, which is wrong on many levels. There is a huge dependency on volunteers that needs to be replaced with professionals. There is a dire need to hire medical staff in schools to monitor the children.
To this day, special education institutions need improvements like others schools and colleges. They need attention and equal funding to ensure that special children are not left behind. They are indeed different, but that difference does not make them unworthy of our care and attention. It’s time that we start focusing on their education at all levels and let the world see their hidden potential.
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