Admissions Essay On Students with Disabilities

I am a Pre-K teacher in the public schools, and my students all have varying needs, including developmental ones. In some of the more severe cases, some of my students are or would be categorized as developmentally delayed, and subject to interventions according to the guidelines of IDEA. According to the Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities, "developmental delay is a term that is used to describe a student who is three to nine years old, and has significant delays in physical, cognitive, communicative, social/emotional, or adaptive development. Children who are eligible for special education services under IDEA are between three and five years of age and have been evaluated as having mental retardation, emotional disturbance, specific learning disabilities, or one of the autism spectrum disorders.

Suppose, for example, that there is a child who has been evaluated as having a mental retardation disorder. Because of the normal delays that children experience in early childhood, and they vary from child to child, it is very difficult, at the ages of three or four, to determine whether the mental retardation is moderately severe or more severe. As the child grows, the differences become more obvious, so that by the time the child is in first or second grade, academic recommendations and placements can be made much more accurately. At the early childhood level, this presents some limitations on the design of educational programs for thes children. It is important, then, to develop a program that is connected to the general education program that best prepares the children to learn and move through the general education n program. This calls for flexibility, comprehensiveness, and activities that evaluate and measure progress in the program and the child's ability to function. The program should be adapted and individualized, by changing the content, by providing supports that promote learning, and by making the materials and toys usable, based on the information gathered about the children's progress throughout the year" (Council for Developmental Disabilities). As the child moves through the program, more specific adaptations can be made which will better serve the child's needs. .

Reference

Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities. Developmental delay and non-categorical early childhood. Project IDEAL.