EDUC 134

Lesson 1 – An Overview of Special & Inclusive Education

I. What is Special Education?

SPED is defined as individually planned, systematically implemented, and carefully evaluated

instruction to help exceptional children achieve the greatest possible personal self-sufficiency and success
in present and future environment.

Breaking down the definition…

Individually planned instruction

- Individualized Education Program (IEP) is implemented

Systematically implemented and evaluated instruction

- Each type of children with special needs requires particular educational services, curriculum goals,
competencies and skills, educational approaches, strategies and procedures in the evaluation of
learning skills

Personal self-sufficiency
- One important goal of SPED is to help the child become independent from the assistance of adults in
personal maintenance, home-making, community life, vocational, leisure activities and travel

The present environment

- Refers to the conditions in the life of the child with disability (family, the school, community where
the child lives, and other institutions that extend assistance and support to children with special
needs

The future environment

- Is a forecast of how the child with a disability can move on to the next level of education: Elementary
– Secondary – College/Vocational Program – Work place

II. Special Education in the Philippines:

1) Special Education is protected by law.

2) Special Education is a part of the country’s educational system under the Basic Education Program of
the Department of Education. The Special Education Division of the Bureau of Elementary Education
formulates policies, plans, and develops standards of programs and services.

3) Special Education is teaching children with special needs in the least restrictive environment (LRE).

There are several educational placements for children with special needs. The most preferred setting
for the LRE is Inclusive Education where students with special needs are mainstreamed in regular classes.
Other types are special schools, residential schools, self-contained classes, home-bound and hospital
instruction.

4) Special Education is purposeful intervention.

Intervention prevents, eliminates and/or overcomes the obstacles that might keep an individual with
disabilities from learning, from full and active participation in school activities, and from engaging in social
and leisure activities.

Types of Intervention:

a. Preventive intervention – designed to keep potential or minimal problems from becoming a disability
(example: new born screening)

b. Primary prevention – is designed to eliminate or counteract risk factors so a disability is not acquired
(early childhood intervention).

c. Remedial intervention – attempts to eliminate the effects of a disability

III. Common Terms Used in Special Education:

1) Developmental disability – refers to a severe, chronic disability of a child five years of age or older that
is:

a. attributed to a mental or physical impairment or a combination of both

b. manifested before the person is 22 yrs. of age
c. results in substantial functional limitations in three or more of the areas of major life activities:
self-care, language, learning, mobility, capacity for independent living, and economic self-sufficiency

2) Impairment/Disability – refers to reduced function or loss of a specific part of the body or organ.
 3) Handicap – refers to a problem a person with a disability/impairment encounters when interacting with
people, events, and the physical aspects of the environment.

4) At Risk – refers to children who have greater chances of developing a disability.

Categories of “at-risk” Children:

a. established risk – are those with Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, and other conditions
that started from conception.

b. biological risk – are those who are born prematurely, underweight at birth,
whose mother contracted diabetes or rubella during the first trimester of
pregnancy, or who had bacterial infections like Meningitis or HIV.

c. environmental risk – results from extreme poverty, child abuse, absence of

adequate shelter and medical care, parental substance abuse, limited opportunities
for nurturance and social stimulation.

IV. The Categories of Disabilities:

1) Cognitive/Intellectual & Developmental Delay – characterized by severe delayed development in the

acquisition of cognitive, language, motor, and social skills.

2) Autism Spectrum Disorders – a very serious lifelong developmental disorder characterized by abnormal
behavior, a severe impairment in verbal and non-verbal communication skills, and an impairment in
initiating or reciprocating social interaction.

3) Specific Learning Disability – a severe learning problem due to a disorder in one or more of the basic
psychological processes involved in acquiring, organizing, or expressing information that manifests itself in
school as an impairment in the ability to listen, reason, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical
tasks.

4) Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) – a condition characterized by persistent patterns of

problems in the areas of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.

5) Hearing Impairments – a condition that results to the individual being “deaf” or “hard-of-hearing.”

6) Visual Impairment – a loss of vision that, even if corrected, affects educational performance.

7) Communication Disorders – a disorder of articulation, fluency, voice, or language that adversely affects
educational performance.

8) Orthopedic Impairments – these are associated with physical conditions that seriously impair mobility
or motor activity.

9) Health Impairments – causes individual to have limited strength, vitality, or alertness because of
chronic or acute health problems.

10) Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) – an injury to the brain that is caused by an external physical force that
may result to an impairment in cognitive abilities, and physical, emotional, or behavioral functioning.

11) Emotional/Behavioral Disorders (EBD) – includes individuals with a condition in one or more of the
following areas during an extended period of time:

● inability to learn, not due to intellectual, sensory, or health problems

● inability to build and maintain social relationships with peers and teachers
● inappropriate behavior
● general pervasive depression or unhappiness
● tendency to develop fears of physical symptoms associated with school and personal problems

V. What is Inclusion?

Inclusion is a philosophy that brings diverse students, families, educators, and community members
together to create schools and other social institutions based on acceptance and belonging (Bloom,
Perlmutter, & Burrell, 1999).

Inclusive education thus recognizes that all students are learners who benefit from a
meaningful, challenging, and appropriate curriculum, and differentiated instruction techniques that address their
unique strengths and needs.
VI. The Goal of Inclusion:

Inclusion seeks to establish collaborative, supportive, and nurturing communities of learners that are
based on giving all learners the services and accommodations they need to succeed, as well as respecting
and learning from each other’s individual differences (Jackson, Ryndak, & Billingsley, 2000).

VII. Principles of Effective Inclusion:

1) all learners and equal access

2) individual strengths, needs and diversity
3) reflective practices and differentiated instruction
4) community and collaboration

VIII. The Ideal Setting: Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)

The LRE is determined individually, based on the student’s educational needs rather than the student’s
disability. Inclusive education promotes the placement of students with disabilities in general education
classrooms.

Students can be shifted to self-contained special education classes, specialized schools, and residential
programs only when their school performance indicates that even with supplementary aids and services,
they cannot be educated satisfactorily in a general education classroom.

IX. Continuum of Educational Placements:

To organize the delivery of special education services (with LRE as the goal), schools use a continuum of
educational placements ranging from the highly integrated setting of the general education classroom to
the highly segregated setting where instruction is usually delivered in
hospitals or institutions.

Option 1: General education classroom placement with few or no supportive services.

- The student is educated in the general education classroom

- The general education teacher is primarily responsible for designing and teaching the instructional
program
- The instructional program is individualized to the needs of the student. As such, indirect services
such as teacher in-service education may be offered.

Option 2: General education classroom placement with collaborative teacher assistance

- Similar to option 1
- Difference: the general education teacher and the student receive collaborative service from ancillary
support personnel in the general education classroom

Option 3: General education classroom placement with itinerant specialist assistance

- Teaching takes place in the general education classroom but the student also receives supportive
services from itinerant teachers.
- Itinerant teachers may deliver the support services to students either inside or outside the general
education classroom, depending on the school’s arrangement.

Option 4: General education classroom placement with resource room assistance (pull-out program)

- Resource room teachers offer direct services to students with disabilities, usually within a separate
resource room within the school.
- They provide individualized remedial instruction in specific skills to small groups of students.
- Resource room teachers often provide supplemental instruction that supports and parallels the
instruction given in the general education classroom.
- Resource room teacher can also help general education teachers plan and implement instructional
accommodations for students.

Option 5: Special education classroom placement with part-time in the general education classroom

- The student’s primary placement is in the special education classroom within the same school building
as peers who do not have disabilities.
- The student’s academic program is supervised by a special educator

Option 6: Full-time special education classroom

- Similar to option 5 but contact with non-disabled peers is exclusively social

- Teaching takes place in a separate classroom
 - Socially interacts with students outside the classroom setting (lunch/snack time, carpool, school bus,
or school activities)

Option 7: Special Day School

- Students attend a school different from that of their neighbourhood peers.

- Highly restrictive and is used with students with more severe emotional, physical, and cognitive
disabilities

Option 8: Residential School

- In this placement alternative, students live within the school and participate in a 24-hour program
- In addition to providing education, residential programs offer the comprehensive medical and
psychological services that students may need.

Option 9: Home-bound Instruction

- Applies to students who are recovering from surgery, illness, or who may have been suspended from
school
- A teacher teaches the student at home
- Technological advances now allow students who are home-bound to interact and take classes with
their peers at school

Option 10: Hospital-bound Instruction

- Practice of this alternative placement has been reduced but is still being practiced by few.
- Education takes place at the hospital especially if students have health issues and need medical
supervision 24 hours a day.

X. Factors that Contributed to the Movement to Educate Learners in Inclusive Classrooms:

1. Normalization

- By definition: seeks to provide opportunities, social interactions, and experiences that parallel those
of society to adults and children with disabilities
- Experience of people with exceptionalities (in terms of education, employment, housing, social and
leisure opportunities) should resemble as closely as possible the opportunities and activities enjoyed
by their non-disabled peers.

2. Deinstitutionalization

- Until recently, individuals with disabilities were placed in institutions that isolated them from society.
- Due to the terrible conditions found in many institutions along with the awareness of the many
negative effects of institutionalization, said establishments were shutdown and smaller, community-
based independent living arrangements were developed.

3. Early intervention and early childhood programs

- This promoted the placement of students with disabilities in the general education setting.
- Said programs have increased the physical, motor, cognitive, language, speech, socialization, and
self-help skills of many children from birth through age 6.
- The likelihood of the occurrence of secondary disabilities have been reduced
- Decreased probability that children with disabilities will be socially dependent and institutionalized as
adults.

4. Technological Advances

Assistive technology device

- Defined as any item, piece of equipment, or product system (bought, modified, or customized) that
is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of an individual with a disability
Categories of assistive technology:

a. High technology – devices that tend to be electronic and commercially produced

Examples: devices used for electronic communication, speech recognition, motorized

wheelchairs, adapted keyboards, touch screens, etc.

b. Low technology – these devices are usually non-electric and are home-made

Examples: pencil holders, book shelves, containers, etc.

Assistive technology service – is defined as any service that directly assists an individual with a disability to
select, acquire, or use an assistive technology device, including physical, occupational, and speech therapy.

5. Segregated Nature of Special Schools and Classes

As institutions “housing” individuals with disabilities declined, the number of special education
schools and special classes within public schools increased. However, much improvement is still needed with
regards to the administration and implementation of services and academic programs for existing special
education centers.

XI. Benefits of Inclusion

For Students with Disabilities

1. friendships
2. increased social initiations, relationships and networks
3. peer role models for academic, social and behavior skills
4. increased achievement of IEP goals
5. greater access to general curriculum
6. enhanced skill acquisition and generalization
7. increased inclusion in future environments
8. greater opportunities for interactions
9. higher expectations
10. increased school staff collaboration
11. increased parent participation
12. families are more integrated into school community

For Students without Disabilities

1. meaningful friendships
2. increased appreciation and acceptance of individual differences
3. increased understanding and acceptance of diversity
4. respect for all people
5. prepares all students for adult life in an inclusive society
6. opportunities to master activities by practicing and teaching others
7. greater academic outcomes
8. all students’ needs are better met; greater resources for everyone