To: Rebecca Agosta

From: Haynes Owen

Date: 10/3/14
Subject of Inquiry: I would like to explore how people with special needs are viewed and
treated differently than the rest of society
Initial Inquiry Idea: I am inquiring about how people with special needs are viewed and treated
differently than the rest of society. My main focus will be on students and how different the life
of a special needs student is than the life of the average student. I am very interested in how
special needs students lives are different because my dad was a social worker and would always
come home with various stories, often which involved special needs students. I want to know
what the average school day of a student with special needs is like compared to the life of the
average student. I went all the way through public schools and have seen a little bit of how a
special needs students school day is so I have some knowledge of how they are treated but not
really about their daily lives. I am very interested in this topic because I am thinking about
possibly becoming a teacher and maybe even teaching students with special needs. I grew up
next door to a little girl with downs syndrome and became very good friends with her so I have
always been interested in their lives.
Methods: To begin this inquiry process I will research students with special needs on the
internet and gather information that way. I am currently enrolled in a special education course
here at UNC Charlotte and for that class we are required to spend 10 hours of observation on a
special needs setting in a school so I could use this experience to gather a lot of my research on
this topic. I do not really need much support other than being set up at the school which UNC
Charlotte is already doing for me.
Questions: 1. How are people with special needs viewed in society?
2. How does the average school day of a student with special needs compare to the average
school day of the average student?
3. How do teachers treat students with special needs?
4. What is different about how students with special needs are taught?
5. How is it decided whether or not a student with special needs is put into an inclusion setting or
a regular classroom?
6. How do other students treat students with special needs?
7. How does a parent decide where to place their child who has special needs?