Monday, June 30, 2014

Coaching At A Special School

Teaching as a profession requires a set of qualities, but teaching in a special education sector requires more than cognitive skills. It requires a person to go beyond the ordinary reasoning and understanding and yet be in-sync with reality. If you plan to be a part of this special world, you are in for an exciting journey that will take you through situations you have never been before. The career progression is not only rewarding, but also fulfilling in ways that cannot be defined.

As a prospective special education teacher, here are a few personality traits that you need to hone, if not inherent, to hit it right in the field of special education as a career option.


A special children school works with students with autism - emotional disparity and intellectual disabilities – and dealing with such students daily can push you to your limits despite the care of not being overwhelming, firm or direct, but kind and helpful, even in tough situations. As an instructor, these students look up to you for the minutest of needs, and hence, it is important that you keep a check of your reactions and responses. It is easy to lose it at an instant, and hence, watch yourself each time that a situation arises and be aware. A balanced judgment and calm temperament are essential approaches. Be confident about your final judgments, else it is easy to lose the grip. Regularly dealing with students who are incapable of making decisions can lead you to start doubting your own decisiveness.

At a special children education school, frustrating situations are an inherent part, and there will be times when you will feel that matters are getting out of hand from bad to worse. This is when you need to understand that your students do not have the basic intellectual and rational abilities to tackle the matter on their own. They do not have the maturity to suffer quietly and if anything troubles them, they will react in a way that is natural to them.

Remember that these students are reacting without a thought or agenda to it, which is why a teacher must not react to their comments and statements, but stay calm, assess the matter and then come out with a rational solution to deal with it. If you feel you will struggle in this area, keep the focus on positive aspects and work on any constructive feedback that you receive.

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

We Must Learn How to Contribute for Differently Abled Peoples

Many people are unaware about how the Americans feel and take steps in the favour of The children and people who are under developed in any way. The people in America have a great amount of understanding for these people as they support them in the best possible manner. Constructing special home for mentally challenged is one of their projects that have contributed for the people who are physically or mentally challenged. They have taken out many other projects and steps that have led to a hand of help towards these people. Basically, they have set up projects, organisations and government reforms to help them in different possible ways to different people.


1. Health Provider Building: For all those who are under developed in any manner, these people are openly invited to some institution where they are trained in order to be self-independent. Other practices such as group work, preventive measures from dangers etc. are also included where by accepting the fact that they can live a better life, these people are made to rise above their disabilities.

2. Health Clinics: Some people are prone to some specific diseases and therefore separate health clinics are being set up in order to serve these people. There is 24 hour helpline and emergency services that accepts the cases only for these under developed people.

3. Health Plans: These projects include not only the availability of cure to some disability but they help them to make better health plans for their future. Let us say, a child is deaf, generally people send their such a child to a school for the deaf so that he can live his life with the similar kind of people. But, these institutions instead of just sympathizing take necessary steps so that this problem can somehow be cured for his full life time.

We all must empathize with the under developed individuals because after all, we all are the creatures of one god.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Tackling Concerns of a Special Child

Handling a child with disabilities has its share of learning experience and wonderful moments. Yes, the effort needed is tremendous and that is what makes the entire journey with them memorable. With good times, tantrums are inherent to all, be it a child, teenager or adult, but with special children, this aspect needs to be looked at and handled differently.

As a teacher at one of the credible special schools in Noida, I learnt the importance of identifying what triggers certain behaviour in these children and hence, here are a few points compiled by experts in the field of special education that can generate a positive response that caters to their needs as well.


If children react differently or look unsettling, check if the room is conducive to their needs and moods. Identify the root cause of the issue immediately. If the room set-up is the concern, change it. If it’s a person, speak to that person politely; make him or her understand the situation and why it is necessary for that person not to be involved. Doing so will ensure that you are supportive of the concerns of that child.

If the student is over enthused when indulging in games, try to limit the activities. Recommend the child to paint or play in the garden instead. As a new instructor at special school for disabled children, when faced with an overwhelmed child, stay calm and composed at all times. It is easy to lose patience and get irritated, but remember that you are dealing with a trouble child with a certain disability. It is best to respond to the situation without displaying anger. This is the time you must remain quiet and behave like a responsible adult. If the behaviour aggravates, take a few minutes off to relax before reacting.

Help the child learn an alternate behaviour or how to express his or her needs in a different way. For instance, if the fight is over toys, teach him to borrow politely. These aside, appreciate positive behaviour through genuine admiration and tokens - be consistent with this. Avoid any surprises as children with disabilities tend to react differently to them. Don’t forget to have fun and keep in mind to bring a smile to their lovely faces each day.

Monday, June 9, 2014

Fun Elements in Activities for Special Kids

Children with special needs need more than just a caring attitude, attentiveness, love and affection. They need a burst of activities most times, at certain intervals of the day. And if you are able to incorporate fun activities that promote learning with fun time, children tend to learn faster and understand the importance of working together with the others.

For this reason, the need for any school for mentally disabled to take the onus to create games for such children and ensure that all work around them in tangent is essential. Games and activities in a classroom allow children with special needs to experience flexibility and movements they need to get accustomed to. There are certain basic functional movements from walking to jumping, kicking, throw and catch that can be incorporated with games to help such students learn and enjoy at the same time.


It is through constant encouragement that children at mentally challenged schools are given a chance for corrective measures but in a way that does not hinder their mental state but in fact in a way that stimulate their thinking and understanding abilities. Through repetitive exercises combined within gaming activities, children begin to get accustomed to dominant patterns of movements that are necessary and ones they will be using daily for a lifetime.

Dance is loved and enjoyed by all and so by children with special needs too, which is why schools for mentally challenged encourage this. From drama to role plays and from learning the rhythm of dance to understanding songs with the use of tools and techniques such as rhythmic drum beats, actions depicting the song, listening to lyrical notes; all help to drive excitement, focus on certain actions and reactions, improve listening and social skills, encourage imagination and bond between students.

Furthermore, the act of transitioning from one activity to the other, within a marked interval of time aids students to understand the importance of following a structure within a specified timeline. It also encourages children to follow a timetable while respecting that of others.

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Music for An Autistic Child Does It Helps?

Be it anyone a little girl or an adult, music has an altogether different role on different individuals. It affects anyone and everyone differently, autistic children are no exception.

It has been observed very often that interactive nature of music becomes a fascinating thing for autistic children and thus, majority of them shows a great interest in learning music. It might be a possibility that many of them has a verbal and non-verbal concerns, which makes them difficult for them to understand logics and writing stuff, but if it’s about music, they don’t miss an opportunity to catch up with the tunes, says pros at school for mentally challenged. This is why in majority of special school for disabled children, special music classes are allotted to keep these children hooked in that.


Music actually bridges the gap between isolation and interaction and comes with its own healing effects. Besides rewarding a child with feeling of calmness, it also stimulates the learning capacity of children. Once an autistic child gets fond of music and rhythms, it helps him in more interaction, which ultimately fosters growth in future and helps in sooner recovery.

As a whole, if you have a child with special needs, you do not need to think about it, just enable them to give new dimensions to his own likings and interests. If your child is interested in music, encourage him to learn it as it will be beneficial for him in the long run.