APPLYING APPROACHES TO SPECIAL
EDUCATIONAL NEEDS
Theme 1: Introductory lesson
Socialization of the syllabus and the Eva platform.
Analysis of the special educational needs definition
APPLYING APPROACHES TO SPECIAL
EDUCATIONAL NEEDS
Objective:By the end of the lesson, students can recognize what
special educational needs are.
Introduction
All children and young people may experience learning difficulties at some point. This
is not unusual. For most children the difficulties are temporary and are soon overcome
with help and encouragement from home and school.
The term ‘Special Educational Needs’ is used to describe learning difficulties or
disabilities that make it harder for children to learn than most children of the same
age. Children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) are likely to need extra or different
help from that given to other children their age. This help is known as special
educational provision.
Children are not considered to have SEN just because their first language is not
English, although some children for whom English is not a second language may also
have learning difficulties.
What are the special educational
needs?
(SEN)
Definition
1. A special educational need is defined as a learning difficulty or
disability that makes learning a challenge for a child.
2. The term "special education" is generally used to specifically indicate
instruction of students with disabilities.
3. A child having Special Educational Needs (SEN) if he or she “has a
learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational
provision to be made for him or her”
Features
Disabilities can include:
• Problems seeing/ hearing
• Communication and interaction difficulties
• Autism, including Asperger’s syndrome
• Emotional and mental health
• Learning difficulties
• Physical development
Features
Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) can affect a child or young person’s ability to
learn. They can affect their:
•Behaviour or ability to socialise, for example they struggle to make friends
•Reading and writing, for example because they have dyslexia
•Ability to understand things
•Concentration levels, for example because they have ADHD
•Physical ability
Features
A child is considered to have a learning difficulty if she or he:
• has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others
of the same age; or
• has a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of
facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in
mainstream schools.
Features
Special education (also known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional
education, special ed. or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that addresses
their individual differences and special needs.
Ideally, this process involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement
of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials, and accessible settings.
These interventions are designed to help individuals with special needs achieve a higher level of
personal self-sufficiency and success in school and in their community which may not be
available if the student were only given access to a typical classroom education.
Features
Special education includes learning disabilities (such as dyslexia),
communication disorders, emotional and behavioral disorders (such as ADHD),
physical disabilities (such as osteogenesis imperfecta, cerebral palsy,
muscular dystrophy, spina bifida, and Friedreich's ataxia), and
developmental disabilities (such as autistic spectrum disorders including autism and
Asperger syndrome and intellectual disability) and many other disabilities.[1]
Students with these kinds of disabilities are likely to benefit from additional
educational services such as different approaches to teaching, the use of technology,
a specifically adapted teaching area, a resource room, or a separate classroom.
Features
Intellectual giftedness is a difference in learning and can also benefit
from specialized teaching techniques or different educational
programs, but the term "special education" is generally used to
specifically indicate instruction of students with disabilities.
Gifted education is handled separately.
Some examples of SEN are:
• Emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD);
• Autism, including Asperger Syndrome;
• Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder (ADHD/ADD);
• Specific learning difficulties such as Dyslexia;
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder;
• Communication difficulties;
• Medical needs such as Epilepsy and Cerebral Palsy;
• Mobility difficulties.
If a child has SEN, they may need extra help in a range of areas, for
example:
• Reading, writing, number work or understanding information;
• Expressing themselves or understanding what others are
saying;
• Making friends or relating to adults;
• Behaving properly in school;
• Organising themselves;
• Sensory or physical needs which may affect them in school.
Summing up
What are special educational needs?
Garcia (2001), states that "Special Educational Needs appear when a student
presents a very different pace of learning from their peers and the resources
available at their school are insufficient to support it in the acquisition of the
contents established in the plans and programs of study. Therefore, it requires
greater or different resources, which can be: professionals, materials,
architectural adjustments, and curricular adaptations."
Exit Slip: K – W – L
K: WHAT YOU KNOW
W: WHAT YOU WANT TO KNOW
L: WHAT YOU LEARNED
