Current Issues In Special Education

There was a time when those who had learning or physical disabilities were not considered worthy of living a normal life. Many people with these differences from others were left excluded from society. Eventually, there came along people who brought about a change in how the general public treated their fellow man (Rotatori, Obiakor, & Bakken. 2011). Soon it became clear that with positive experiences and individual based lesson plans individuals who were once thought of as helpless were actually quite the opposite. After many years of reform, the Supreme Court started getting cases involving the mistreatment of individuals with disabilities. Eventually, it became law to treat and educate special needs individuals the same as one would a person …show more content…
If this is not done with respect, compassion, and understanding, then there may be legal consequences. Laws in the 1960’s for special education started changing, and marked the beginning of special education in the United States (Hardman, Drew, & Egan, 2013). However, much changed over the years, laws were added and changed to help in the struggle for a fair and appropriate education for those with special needs. In the 1970’s the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) gave hope to all with disabilities who wanted a brighter future (Hardman, Drew, & Egan, 2013). This Act made it law that no child should be turned away from an education, that there would be no discrimination (Hardman, Drew, & Egan, 2013). Students under the Act would be given individualized education programs (IEP) in a least restrictive environment (LRE) (Hardman, Drew, & Egan, 2013). Moreover, the act also insures parent and student involvement in education as well as due proses safeguards, and special discipline procedures for students with special needs (Hardman, Drew, & Egan, 2013). This Act was reauthorized in 2004, and also adapted the no child left behind act’s policies for highly qualified teachers (Rizzo, 2006). If other students in schools have highly qualified teachers, then to be fair, so too should students in special …show more content…
When I moved to California I was in elementary school, and that was when I met the first of many special needs children throughout my life. His name was Jake, and he was my best friend. Looking back on it all, his fine motor, and gross motor skills were not as developed as everyone else in the school. I did not care that no one really played with us. I taught him how to braid string, and we would spend most of our recesses making friendship bracelets. One night someone cut through in the chain-link fence as a short cut across the Bart tracks that ran alongside our school. No one noticed it the next day, and no one was watching Jake. I was not at school that day, so Jake was on his own wondering around the back fence near the pine trees we played under. He found the opening and was struck by a train. Even after all these years, Jake still crosses my mind, and I remember how amazing of a person he