Students Become the Teachers

When I was in high school there was a student that suffered from mental disabilities and his name was Travis. He suffered from Intellectual Disability and in this case it only affected his mental well-being. He attended a few classes with non-disabled students, but most of his classes offered more attention. Travis loved everything about high school, from helping make the morning announcements to attending the Friday night football games, but the in classroom activities were lacking.

 Travis did not always receive the one-on-one attention that he needed and deserved causing him to fall behind. The special needs programs offered by the public school system are in desperate need of a fix. Some of the main reasons Travis and his fellow classmates were not progressing are because of the school system.

Special needs are a very broad term and can be something as minor as ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, to something as immobilizing as Spina Bifida, a problem within the spinal cord. Intellectual Disability, also known as mentalretardation, is the below-average mental ability and lack of skills forday-to-day living. The underlying problems are beginning to surface and it is being shown that the lack of interest and funding are present. There are too many children with special needs to let this go on any longer, “Currently 2.4 million students are diagnosed with a learningdisability and receive special education services in our schools, representing 41% of all students receiving special education”.

In regards to the poor quality of education, most of the teachers that work with special needs students enjoy their job and what they do. However, a lot of times they are unable to provide the individual needs for all of the children due to the lack of resources. Within the public school system there are student teacher ratios that are to be followed, but are not. The resources are not there to provide enough teachers to give the attention needed, “About half ofOntario’s school principals have asked parents to keep their child at homebecause they could not accommodate their special education needs”. The special needs department has to focus on physical needs more so than mental needs. Although physical needs are vital, it is important to provide stimulation for each child’s mental capacity. Personally, I have seen the lack of education in the classroom from being involved with the special needs students in high school. The students out weigh the teachers drastically and there are not enough hands to go around. The simple task of eating lunch may take longer than and hour because each child requires help to eat.

Due to the fact that many of these students accompany non-disabled students in the classroom can result in social stigma. Although many high school students understand that these students suffer from mental or physical disabilities, there are still a few that are immature and see the need to bully or discriminate against them.

 This problem can be handled through the school system, but often times go unattended, "The severity of the impact that bullyinghas on these vulnerable victims is a problem of monumental proportion”. Discrimination against another student that has special needs is unacceptable and should be handled properly.

While these students actually have the privilege of having a program for special needs there is a serious lack of funding in the school system to support all of the students. This causes many problems such as a high student teacher ratio, poor education, and not enough accommodations for physically disabled students, “Statistics show across the United States, special education students areincreasing. The services are drastically needed, yet the funding is just notthere”. Without the funding for these programs the students are being deprived of their rights to a full day of school.

In addition to the lack of funding in the school system there is also a lack of training. Not all teachers that work in the special needs programs obtain a degree. In fact, generally there is only one teacher that has a degree in special education. If the teachers are not trained properly and do not acquire the same knowledge of how to teach special needs then ultimately the students are suffering. I have personally seen that most of the teachers working with special needs students do not have a degree in special education and some of them do not even have training.

In conclusion, the special education programs funded by the public school system are not providing enough to accommodate the needs of these students. They are missing out on potential engagement opportunities because of the lack of funding, teachers, and training provided by the school system. It is amazing what money can do, but for these children it can be a big deal. Ultimately, children with special needs deserve more than they are receiving and these issues need to be addressed.

 Special education in the public school system has become a problem that needs to be addressed before it gets out of hand. While having a program is great, if you cannot accommodate the students then it is pointless. The lack of funding, teachers, and training seem to be primarily the main sources of the problem that need to be addressed. Until they are addressed then the problem is going to continue to worsen and will soon be too big to handle.

That being said, there is not but so much that can be done to increase the funding and teachers in the school systems. If it’s not there then it’s not there. The only logical solution is to provide training for teachers that may not have a degree in special education and further educate the ones that do. Providing onsite workshops and resources would help improve the education of the students tremendously.  Yes this may cost money, but in the long run it will be cheaper than hiring new teachers for the classrooms.

Above all, the teachers would have more knowledge on how to provide care and education for these students. It may be easier to juggle the many things that go along with being a special education teacher if you are constantly learning and adding to your awareness then you will benefit the students as well.

On the other hand, providing more teachers would eliminate almost all of the problems in the program because there would be more hands to help in the physical needs and then there would be more time to focus on the mental needs as well. Why this sounds perfect, it is too good to be true. Hiring more teachers is going to cost thousands more than providing a monthly workshop for the teachers currently in the classroom. With a lack of funding, the better option is to provide more training and learning experiences for the teachers and others involved.

In the end, by providing training sessions the overall program will drastically improve, “Receiving in-service training was significantly related to educatorsrated highly in their involvement in transition planning” and all their needs will be met because now teachers will also know how to educate students with different disabilities. It is important for this program to go on and continue to improve because the rights of these students are just as valuable as the rights of a non-disabled student.

 I’m sure all the parties involved would be grateful to have the opportunity to impact someone’s life, especially a special education student.