spec. needs essays

ETHICS Children w/spec. needs essays Students with Special Needs in the Classroom Environment: No topic has sparked as much recent controversy in the public school system as have equal education laws, particularly laws protecting the rights of students with disabilities. Before the passage of the Education for Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (which was later renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 1990), children with disabilities were not treated as equals in the education system. As Dr. Francis Wardle states, For most of this century, children with disabilities have experienced isolation, segregation, misplacement, misdiagnosis, and poor-quality education in our schools and early childhood programs. The purpose of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, focuses on a students right to a free, adequate, and suitable education. Public schools are required by law to serve the needs of all students with disabilities, even if they attend a religious or private school, or are home-schooled. Obviously, the decision to allow a child with a d isability an education outweighs the opposite alternative. The controversy surrounding this issue is the question whether the quality education of a child with special needs should exceed that of a child without disabilities. Parents may consider several alternatives before they decide the learning environment they wish to place their child in. Parents may decide to home school their child where they can ensure that their child is being taught principles they view as important. Unless the child is part of a large family, however, this alternative does not allow the child to interact with peers. Parents may also consider sending their child to a special school that educates only children with disabilities. Doing this eliminates discrimination or any teasing the child may face at an integrated school setting since they are only around other children with disabilities. This ...