Inclusive education for disabled children: how to meet their special needs

A common problem in actual schools in most countries is the inclusion of children with special needs in regular classrooms. But what does “inclusion” in this context mean? UNESCO defines inclusive education as “a process of responding to the diversity of students”. It involves offering a common education for all students that recognizes, values, and adjusts to the characteristics of each one of them, thus trying to avoid a segregated school. Even though, in the last few years there has been a big progress in the subject, there are still a lot of improvements to be made, starting with our society. This issue should be considered more a social problem or a problem that affects everyone as an educational community and less a problem of the child involved and/or its family. Sonsoles, a single mother, and Juan Carlos, a primary school teacher, have shared their experiences related to this topic.

By improvements it is not only meant the help of a third person in class or the use of ICT in the classroom, among other digital innovations, which are necessary and can be useful in the learning process of the child. It is meant also the change of view and attitude of parents and teachers towards this issue, due to the fact that sometimes it is seen as a positive thing that these children are kept out of the way of the best students, so that these are not disturbed in their competitive academic results. Children with special needs need their parents to be able to see beyond the problem and to have a proactive attitude that will enable them to be satisfactory also in school, especially in their first years of life.The attitude of the teacher is also fundamental in the process of educational inclusion, meaning by attitude certain perceptions, beliefs and ways of reacting to the educational posture that focuses on the learning achievement of all the students. 

Most of the time, the negative attitude of teachers comes from their lack of knowledge of not knowing how to approach their students with disabilities, whose educational challenges or difficulties go from learning deficits to behavioral disturbance disorders. Teachers should ensure a good individualized plan that can meet all their educational needs and tutors will have to be able to integrate them into their school activities so that they can participate and integrate as the rest of the class. When Juan Carlos became a teacher in 2010 he didn’t know how to handle the situation of having to teach mixed classes, rooms with general-education students and students with special needs. Despite the fact that he had never had a subject in his degree regarding this topic, he learned day by day how to lecture students with disabilities, how to give them tasks according and adapted to their needs and how to break down lessons into smaller, easier bits of information for those who were struggling to understand them.

In my opinion, as a disabled person, while parents usually focus on the cons of having disabled children in their children’s class, there should be more awareness about the benefits. Sonsoles, mother of two children, shares her experience: “Both of my children have met a classmate with Down syndrome. I think sharing time with other disabled children helps them to accept them and get to know them better. For me the benefit is clear, being aware of others difficulties, and trying to make others differences understood and accepted, makes children more tolerant, more open, collaborative and empathetic. My children have had more problems with regular than with disabled children and I can assure you that they have learned more from them than from other classmates”.

It is also important mentioning that there exist different and numerous disabilities and each of them needs to be approached in a specific way. Each need must be identified in an assertive manner and the progress of strategies and the quality of tools supervised. Depending on the needs, the intervention will be more or less considerable. Regardless of this, what children really need is dedication and perseverance so that they can achieve their learning goals in and out of the classroom. And to achieve this, it is very important to develop a cooperative flexible plan that includes family members (or tutors), teachers, and administrative staff of the school in order to create a more proactive environment. This can improve the confidence and interpersonal skills of the children with special needs, because both, parents and teachers, will recognize the child’s strengths and will support him/her so that they can be a bit more independent in a daily basis. 

To avoid that the inclusion of children with special needs in school is pitied and for it to be encouraged, it is very important to learn about the study methods offered by the different institutions and what strategies and tools will enable to look after them and meet their special needs better.

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