Educating Special Needs Students

Educating Special Needs Students Today with so many children being born with some type of disability it is essential that schools are equipped to educate them in regular classrooms. There are many challenges children with disabilities faces and the greatest one is the myth that they cannot learn. With the appropriate instructions provided by certified special education teachers they can learn as well as the ones with disabilities. Their disabilities may range from mental retardation, autism, hearing loss, and vision impairments. Many children have severe or multiple disabilities which will cause them to need accommodations and modification to be a part of a general education curriculum (Hardman et al., 2009).
Mental Retardation Mental retardation is individuals with limited intellectual functions and adaptive behavior which is recognized before age 18. Adaptive behavior is skills that individuals cannot perform alone effectively such as communication, social interactions, caring for them self, using transportation, and counting money. Mental retardation is also called intellectual disability. Intelligence (Intelligence Quotient/ IQ) is defined as an individual overall mental ability, ability to solve problems and to learn. These tests assess a person general knowledge skills, vocabulary and reasoning ability (GCU, lecture 4, 2008). The cause of intellectual disability can include (1) Prenatal factors are to be considered as causes for infant’s developmental delays which include harmful chemical, addiction to alcohol, infections, syphilis, HIV, and environmental exposures. Mothers that do not receive proper prenatal care or smoke can also cause developmental disabilities. (2) Perinatal factors such as premature birth, trauma at birth or infection transmitted during birth (herpes) can cause developmental disabilities. (3) Postnatal factors are infections that occur after the birth such as meningitis, lack of oxygen while injury, of lack of nutrition and result