Special Education Case Study: Is This Child Mislabeled

In reading the case study, “Is This Child Mislabeled,” there is a lot of great information on children with disabilities. In the case study there is a boy named Sergio, who is a third grader from Serbia, where he is now a student at Oakwood Elementary. He has been diagnosed as having a learning disability due to the fact that he tested poorly on the assessments that his new school required. In reading the article, and some very great points for The Iris Center Star Sheet, I believe, that Sergio has, in fact, been mislabeled as having a learning disability; however, with the help of Mrs. Evans, his new resource teacher, he is getting the help that is truly needed. To begin, Sergio was not assessed adequately. He has very poor English. However, Sergio was given the test in both English and Serbian. Meanwhile, the test should have first been given in a language that he understood and then in English if he did not understand. Even though Sergio was getting special education help it was not was right for him. He needs help but in a different manner. He needs more individualized helps that focuses on his English. “English Language …show more content…
There are many times when “English language learners often show the same difficulties with learning, attention, social skills, and behavioral and emotional balance as students with learning disabilities” (The Iris Center, n.d., p. 4). This was the case with Sergio. He was showing all the different signs of being disabled because of the way he was tested. It is said that “second language learners often go through a silent period where they process what they hear but do not verbalize a reply,” (The Iris Center, n.d., p. 5) which fit Sergio perfectly. However, not having the individualized instruction in place would have only mattered if he had someone early on that related to him as Mrs. Evans