Special Children Education is A Must for the Progress of A Nation

The schools for mentally challenged provide academic support and other related facilities for the mentally challenged children. A mentally challenged child has intellectual disabilities that affect his/her learning abilities with limitations in communication, expression of emotions and other restrictions associated with his/her ability of learning. Difficulty in memorizing and trouble in adapting social and problem solving skills are other areas of limitation in the general learning process of a child with mental disability. Special education is thus what is offered to the children with mental disabilities. The differently able children need individual attention and personal care, coupled with some special techniques and tools for their special learning process. The schools for mentally challenged or the special education schools, thus offer basic academic facilities for the mentally challenged children.

Meant particularly for providing all kinds of essential educational support to the special children who have their own set of learning disabilities, including mental and physical disabilities also, a special education school strives with every possible effort and dedication to help the special children in joining the mainstream. Special education is meant for the special students who have their particular disabilities in learning and also in other areas of life, such as communication, physical activities, emotions and expressions. Some of them also lack normal physical and intellectual growth. A special education school offers learning facilities to the special children with special personalized teaching aids, particular surroundings, specific teaching methods and other educational conveniences.

At a special education school each child is observed individually and according to his/her specific needs, he/she is provided with all kinds of educational and often, vocational support too, on completion of education. Non-profit making non-governmental organizations supported by charitable and administrative funds mostly looks after the operations of a special school in India. Other than educational, vocational and healthcare facilities, the special schools provide residential and financial support to the special children belonging to the underprivileged class of our society. Likewise, a school for the mentally challenged children also usually offers residential facilities to the students apart from the essential learning supports.

Basic needs of the students with mental disabilities are met sufficiently in a special school along with appropriate learning facilities to help them develop their life skills and vocational proficiency. Healthcare facilities including medical workshops at regular intervals are organized for the special children to monitor their growth by a team of professional healthcare consultants and experienced volunteers. Vocational training at special schools for the mentally challenged children helps them to become financially independent.

Special Education for Children with Disabilities

The child has the ability to learn a wide variety of information during the first year of its life. The brain is malleable and can form important connections. It any child is suffering from any injury, illness or some disease that results disability, then it will surely affect their ability to absorb information. Therefore, schools for mentally challenged children have been set up.

Special education help children’s disabilities and they learn in a way tailored to their requirements. In 1975, U S government concentrates on the special education schools under the education for All Handicapped Children Act. This combined both mentally and physically handicapped children. The act declared all schools to enclose program introduced specially for needy children. 

In the year, 1990 EHA is renamed as Individual with Disabilities Education. The lesson plans created by EHA was developed with the help of the parents. Normal education is provided with the help of their parents to the disabled children. Later in the year 2004, the call to amend IDEA was recognized by the government. It meets the requirements of disabled children and schooling. Individuals with disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) was brought at the end 2014. On the whole, special schools for mentally challenged children have set up in a first-rate manner by the government. 

Further, for the better education the federal government’s IDEIA altered the law by allowing the states to apply for financial aid to assist them to improve special education programs in schools. Additionally, these funds help in developing special education school by training those teachers and improving technology required to help children. Here there are few disabilities that child undergoes and it is detailed under IDEIA. 

• Emotional disorders

• Mental retardation

• Orthopedic impairments

• Autism 

• Sensory disorder that influence hearing, speech capabilities or vision

• Developmental disorders

All schools must follow the Individual with Disabilities Education Act to educating children with disabilities. The main benefits of this special education include both students and the disabled that are brought into the same environment. As a result, every child will learn the difference between them and it creates a way for new and friendly relationships. Every student learns how to mingle with other students, support staff and teachers. The law states that disabled students have complete right to attend regular classes. More importantly, parents can actively participate in their child’s education. These types of education can promote socialization and create a cooperative learning environment.

Special education school - School for mentally and physically challenged

Both a mentally challenged child and a physically challenged student need special care and guidance for learning and education. Special children have their individual set of needs and hence when it comes to education they are needed to be given proper support. The mentally challenged children face some basic challenges of learning like behavioral disorders, emotional disorders, developmental and communication disabilities. These children need special help and they are thus provided with more than a conventional classroom education.

This type of special education is imparted to the mentally challenged children by special educators in a school for mentally challenged students by means of special teaching methods and various objects and equipments, modified mainly to meet the separate set of special needs of these special children. Love, care and individual attention are what these children need.

A wide number of NGOs, supported by funds and donations, run school for mentally challenged children and emphasize mostly on perception and sensory training. Apart from education, care is taken to involve them in small tasks that they can perform on their own. Many of these NGOs run vocational centers for the mentally challenged adults and youngsters where they are trained to make various handmade decorative objects like paper bags, handmade papers, candles, greeting cards, toys and many more. These items are sold to the visitors and also at open exhibitions. These organizations also provide employment to mentally challenged adults who have completed their vocational training. Many of these special education schools also offer day care facilities for the special children.

Generally both mentally challenged and physically challenged children do not go to the same special education school. A school for physically challenged child has a different set of services to offer, which is not the same to that provided to a mentally challenged child. But there are many schools that take care of both the mentally challenged and physically challenged students.

A school for physically challenged children looks after children with physical disabilities like Cerebral Palsy, Autism, Poliomyelitis, genetic deformities, deafness, impairment of speech, blindness, amputated conditions and burns. The school supports these children with physical and psychological treatment, medical assistance, hearing aids, orthotic workshops, equipments for free movement and special educational and vocational guidance, apart from the residential facilities that they offer. Free education and separate residential facilities for boys and girls are provided to these physically challenged students, as many of them have weak financial background. Charitable funds and donation from various sources support these special education schools for the physically challenged students.