Coping with Learning Disabilities in Education

When special education was introduced, it was to separate the normal, healthy children from those with mental retardation and learning disabilities. It was assumed to be a perfect solution because the children that had impairments and disabilities could be given more attention and taught in a different way to others. There are many people however that believe education can be integrated for these children so that they learn to interact more with healthy children and in turn this will allow them to become more socially accepted and recognized in the workplace and in general.

Many children in today’s society have a learning disability or physical disability of some kind. Many children with these problems suffer from a serious emotional disturbance and struggle to interact with other children their age. Most visual impairments and hearing impairments will also affect their ability to learn with healthy children. Mental retardation can also be a serious problem as the child will learn at a much slower pace than others of the same age and it is found that by grouping these kids together that they learn social skills faster and they feel more confident. One such disease is cerebral palsy. This condition is a brain disorder that develops during or just before birth and results in slow movements, spasms, seizures, hyperactivity, and vision or hearing difficulties. These are the reasons why various special education centers and schools exist all over the country and the world. It was done mainly to protect the children, but some people including adults with illnesses are saying that they should have rather been better prepared to blend in and face the world by being integrated with the regular schools. They insist that with helpful teaching aids and proper integration methods, that this is quite possible and will not compromise of the education of any one child or groups of children.

As each child is different, they react to things differently and at different times, and this is also true in education. Some of the cerebral palsy children might learn faster than others depending on how bad their disease is. You will find that some children who have hearing impairments and visual impairments cope well at regular schools and some will be better off at a special school. The same goes for all mental retardation illnesses too. It is agreed by many that healthy children also need to become more aware of those that have illnesses and special education needs and through this it is hoped that the world will become more tolerant of disabilities, especially in the work place as discrimination is still a big issue. With this new train of thought, some parents are allowing their slightly hearing impaired, vision impaired, or mild cerebral palsy children into normal classrooms. The teachers are also having to step up to the plate now and are being taught additional aids to help them cope in the classroom more effectively. In the end, however, it is up to the parent if they want to send their child to a normal school or special education school, which will mainly depend on their personality and severity of disease.

About the Author

Glen Orenstein is author of this article on Special education web sites. Find more information about Special education links here.