Arlan V.
Payad
Current Trends and Problems in Special Education
Prof. Honorio C. Añora, Dev.Ed.D -SPED
Lesson 1:
Question: What historical event significantly influenced the evolution of
special education in the United States?
What started it all for special education in the United States would have to
be Public Law 94-142 known initially as the Education for All Handicapped
Children Act of 1975. This legislation on the federal level ascertained public
academic training for children with all typologies of disability that was
supported by the government’s budget. The legislation gave rise to the
concept of free and appropriate public education (FAPE) that supported
children with disabilities and deemed discrimination against the same
unacceptable. It is also considered the touch stone of later developments
in the field. To illustrate, it was on the tenets of Public Law 94-142 that
1990’s Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or IDEA was based. This
later milestone took inspiration from the earlier law to fortify the
entitlements of learners with disabilities as well as their fathers and mothers.
Question: Who is considered the pioneer of special education in the 19th
century, and what were their contributions?
Jean Vanier who lived from 1928 to 2019 primarily influenced the world in
that he made people aware of the importance of having a community that
looks out for the interests of people with special needs. This is people who
do not suffer from similar circumstances would be most unlikely to take time
out to take care of people with special needs. He also exerted efforts to
promote tolerance through his work as an author, discussing about disability
and perceptions of normality. From him, people have learned the importance
of people with disabilities, their families and significant others would do well
to model to other people the kind of caring people with disabilities need to
experience.
Temple Grandin who was born in 1947 was uniquely positioned to influence
the world’s thinking about autism, and by extension, disabilities as a whole.
This is because she was born into a wealthy and influential family, and more
importantly she herself was autistic and a communications practitioner and
educator with activist leanings. Her self-documentation on her experiences
as an autistic individual sent a powerful message to the world so much so
that the message reverberated as an award-winning film.
Maria Montessori’s life spanned the historically eventful years 1870 to 1952.
Women can look up to her as one of the first champions of equality because
she broke ground and became a physician and one of the most influential
educational philosophers. The field of special education owes her the
precepts that deem the idiosyncrasies of different learners as worthy of
consideration in figuring out the best manner of educating the same
children. The Montessori school and Montessori way fame are such that to be
an ardent teacher, one should at least have surmised on these and tried
them out once as an educator-researcher.
Question: How did World War II impact the development of special
education?
During the second world war, a significant portion of special children stayed
in special learning set ups which also served as their lodging arrangement.
Expectedly, since there was war raging, the quality of these arrangements
varied greatly. This disparity was on the level of instructional quality, as well
as in terms of the provision of the needed facilities and resources. It goes
without saying that the lack of consistency also extended to the kind of
attitudes and values that pervaded such residential special schools. Both
extremes were observed: teachers and administrators displaying outright
cruelty and instances of communities pulling resources together most
sympathetically to provide comfort, affection and instruction as best as could
be done given the circumstances. The residential schools which were for
special children allowed thinkers of the period to see the advantages and
disadvantages of such arrangements. The extreme permutations of the
concept of residential special schools also generated a spectrum of reactions
that gave rise to later more consistently humane, research-based, and
scientific conceptions of education for special children.
Reference:
Cross, M. (2014). Worth saving: disabled children during the Second World
War. Disability & Society, 29(6), 987–988.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2014.905278
Question: What was the significance of the Brown v. Board of Education
Supreme Court decision in 1954 for special education?
Through the litigations and counter arguments carried out in the Brown v.
Board of Education it has since been established by the American
government and the thinking public in general that having special children
segregated on account of their being classified as disabled is in itself an
advocacy for discrimination and inequality. This therefore became the
forerunner of the idea that the thrust of special education should be inclusion
and the integration of the individuals with special needs in a social set up
that is permeated by concern and acceptance for special individuals who are
treated as equals with appropriate entitlements ascertainable.
Question: How did the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s influence special
education policy?
The unfolding of events constituting the initiation and progression of the
American civil rights movement served as the watershed that brought the
domino effect of pioneering provision of rights for different groups that
previously saw only inequality and persecution. Children classified as
disabled were one of these previously unjustly treated. In the wake of efforts
awakened by the civil rights movement, lobbyists and families of differently
able children started to pressure the system of courts in the federal
government to protect and provide the rights for equitable education for
children with disabilities.
Question: What was the impact of the 1997 amendments to the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)?
The amendment to the provisions made succinct support for the transitioning
of learners involved in special education from the circumstances of basic
education towards the successful accomplishment of developmental tasks of
living as an adult. This effectively integrated IEP or Individualized Education
Program in the general concept of IDEA. In a number of ways more
holistically looking at the situation of the individual with disability, the
amendment provided for the resources needed to link up the students to
workable employment arrangements and other aspects of that may prove
essential for the survival of the individuals as self-supporting members of the
community.
Question: Who was Jean-Marc-Gaspard Itard, and what is his significance in
the history of special education?
Itard was a pioneer in the effective education of persons with disability in
hearing. He laid the foundation for the efficient for the training of children
with intellectual disabilities through scientific means. His most famous work
was with a youth he provided training to after he was discovered with no
human socialization from a forest in a secluded corner of southern Paris. He
also proved the merits of combining oral and sign language in training
hearing impaired persons.
Question: How did the deinstitutionalization movement of the late 20th
century impact special education practices?
The deinstitutionalization movement of the late 20 th century allowed the
society to look at special learners as individuals who could graduate to a
level where they could transition into a situation in which they could work
with and associate with mainstream learners in a context of equitable social
learning. The development of better medications and more effective
therapy, including the utilization of multi-disciplinary approach to treatments
of particular conditions contributed to the view that special education may
be sustained for some learners or can be transcended by others. Overall,
there came an understanding that special children need not be confined in
an institution for lack of better alternatives.
Question: What role did the Education for All Handicapped Children Act
(EAHCA) of 1975 play in shaping special education?
This legislative achievement made sure that special children had schools to
go to and enjoy education, much like other students who do not display any
disabilities. This was because the legislation made sure every public school
had its financial resources to spend for the education of special children. It
therefore removed the excuse of schools to dissuade special children’s
families from enrolling their children in schools for fear of curtailing the
entitlements of other learners because of limited resources. This law
rendered discriminating against special enrollees unlawful and punishable by
law.
Question: How has the concept of Individualized Education Programs (IEPs)
revolutionized special education?
The concept revolutionized special education in that it acknowledged the
individual differences of the special education clientele. In so doing, the
teachers and other personnel involved in the training are mandated and
empowered to tailor fit the engagement of the learner following the
principles of learner centered instruction and non-traditional assessment.
There is a focus on holistic development and a veering away from the focus
on the one-size-fits-all perspective of the by gone days of old-fashioned
institutions.
