Kyla Whann

Child 210
Mark Ware
1

As time has passed, laws have changed for the American school system which declare

education a right and not a privilege. One of the most important federal obligations to arise as a

result of this recharacterization was the need to provide educational services to a large number of

new students with a disability or impairment. The literal definition of a disability is when a

person has a reduced amount of function in any body part or organ; an impairment is a physical

damage or deterioration. The best environment for a child with a disability or impairment is one

in which their strengths are maximized and disadvantages are minimized. When the Individuals

with Disabilities Act (IDEA) passed in 1990, taxpayers allowed funds specifically for

administering education to children with disabilities, in addition to opportunities and aid in

finding employment. Since then there have been numerous benefits to come from IDEA,

including the realization of inclusion therapy for children with special needs, and the adoption of

IEPs, or Individualized Education Programs. Overall, significant advances have been made in

nurturing the development of children with a disability or impairment, and there will be a

continued need for experts in this field to address their broad and particular needs.

To say a child has a disability might be referring to any of several prominent conditions

from sensual impairments: visual, auditory, or linguistic, to emotional disturbances or orthopedic

impediments, to learning disabilities such as autism. In time public education specifically sought

experts for their special-needs children and ‘special education’ classes were then tailored to

group together children with a disability or impairment. “Some research indicated that special-

class placement provided a more supportive and sheltered social environment for exceptional

children, but other researchers found that special-class placement did little to increase children’s

learning and achievement.” (Dunlop, 1977; Child Family School Community). Much of the
 Kyla Whann
Child 210
Mark Ware
2

funding schools and organizations needed to educate students with disabilities or impairments

was secured with the passage of the IDEA Act of 1990. The law mandated that all special needs

children between ages 3-21 were allowed the opportunity to further their education in a public

school special-education classes, one designed specifically for their circumstance.

IDEA is widely reputed as a great success, both in granting the necessary funds to

address the needs of a disadvantaged group but also in the conceptual creation Individualized

Education Programs, or IEPs. These organizational models exist primarily as a foundation

which can synthesize communication between parents, teachers, special-needs experts, as well as

possibly therapists or any other individual involved in the child’s first-hand. Any child

diagnosed with an impairment or disability must apply for an IEP form that is given to the school

at the beginning of the school year. Typically they are reevaluated and updated yearly to address

relevant changes in goals but sometimes they can cover a broader educational period, in upwards

of three years. The central importance of an individualized program is to identify and organize a

special-needs child’s strengths and impediments so that everyone from teachers to parents fuel

an environment for the child that is supportive, constructive, and aggressive in meeting whatever

non-conventional educational challenges arise. The grand result from the cumulative effort of

nearly two decades of the IDEA Act has resulted in a much more knowledgeable and effective

staff of teachers for students with disabilities, and overall better education, opportunities, and

thus life for those students.

Inclusion refers to the educational philosophy of full participation, or the theory that a

child is entitled to have a full experience inside their school and their community. IDEA

suggests that children with disabilities should be placed in the Least Restrictive Environment
 Kyla Whann
Child 210
Mark Ware
3

(LRE), meaning they should be able to interact with their peers to their fullest capacity and not

be held back by their “impairment.” In Inclusion a child may spend the whole day in a regular

classroom or only a partial amount of the day, depending on their level of social capacity.

Although there isn’t any scientifically defined “right or wrong” amount of Inclusion, some have

argued to the benefits of a full regimen where others for one of elements both of formal structure

and inclusion. It’s likely that each child with a disability has a different amount social

endurance: some may be able to spend the whole day whereas others may only be able to take a

couple hours. Regardless, inter-personal activity is a vital element to the growth and

development of a special-needs child, and thus identifying the right levels of inclusion is an

important part their Individualized Education Program.

In conclusion it is a blessing in today’s age that special consideration was taken to

provide children with disabilities all the same opportunities to excel and grow as human beings,

thanks in large to the IDEA Act and work of devoted educators. It is truly a wonderful

accomplishment for a society that takes such care to see that children and adults with disabilities

are given real opportunities to be educated, employed, productive people. Through the continued

study and development of new educational tools and individualized educational programs, the

bulk of today’s children are given real chances for their own growth and success.