Special Adaptations for Children with Disabilities - Assignment Example

Special Adaptations for Children with Disabilities A. Disability can be defined as the incapability of human beings to work or live in a way a normal human being can live. Disability can be by birth or it can be developed due to some accident. Disability can be physical or mental. Physical disabilities include paralysis, physical impairment, vision loss, blindness, hearing impairment, blurred vision, and speech impairment. Mental disability includes variation of emotional behavior, memory loss, and low developed brain. The educational buildings should be constructed in such a way that everyone that it should be adaptable to people with either physical or mental disability. The classrooms should be free to move and maneuver for people on wheel chair. For that either a ramp with gradual slope should be provided or the floor should be kept at much lower level. Access to the bathroom should be same and the bathroom should be made in such a way that it is easy to use by the people with physical disability. For people with vision impairment voice commands giving directions should be incorporated in the office building. So that the people having no vision can get the directions by hearing them and a special path for them be introduced which should give them access to every portion of the building. It is mandatory that proper arrangements of speakers in classroom should be provided so that the people with impaired vision can easily jot down the lecture notes and grasp things which the lecturers want to convey. For people with impaired hearing, sign boards with proper directions should be installed so that they can easily get to their desired place. Before the lecture is delivered the lecture should be circulated so that they can read things if they cannot hear and instructors should try to use the illustrative mean to describe their lectures. The following are a list of mental and physical disabilities that might arise in a child: Physical disabilities: - The child could be blind, which would cause a hindrance in his education abilities. - The kid might have hearing problems, again a source of hindrance. - His body might be affected, and he might not be able to use his hands or legs as effectively as the other children. Mental disabilities: The brain might be slower as compared to the functionality of the average student, which would cause a slow response from the child. Dyslexia, or any such disease might cause a major hindrance in the child’s studious activities. A person who is mentally disabled might find it harder to learn as compared to others, because even though the effort would be there, the results would be minimal. What can teachers do to adapt to these changes: For students who have seeing issues, the teachers can make use of Braille pads and properly distributed channels of communication in order to get the message across to the child. For a kid with hearing disabilities, the teacher can just raise her dictation volume, and/or if the kid is completely deaf, then the teacher can just make use of an in text writer to write everything down for the child. Proper spacing should be available between desks to allow the people on wheel chairs to be able to move properly. For a mentally disabled student, the teacher would just have to slow down the pace of her lecture so that the kid can learn all of it as well. If the kid is dyslexic, there are certain methods that a teacher can use in order to show the kid what letters are and how to go about them. The most important thing is praise and recognition, without which the child would not be motivated and would soon become an enemy of himself if you do not take care of him properly. People with mental disabilities are often not understood properly and therefore, special attention and proper care must be given to those who have mental disabilities and they should be given enough care so that they feel that they are important. Lecturer should pay them double attention and they should be convinced in a much loving manner in order to convince them for something. In a classroom, it is vital that all students can learn properly, and if any student is failing to understand his or her lectures properly, then proper care needs to be taken about that student so that he/she manages to get the best out of the class and actually utilize his or her time in an effective manner. At present, the probability of finding a disabled child in a normal class room is as high as finding a book in a library ( Terry,1999). Therefore, it is vital that certain modifications be made to the class in order to facilitate the education of a disabled child. In several countries, it is a rule of law that is stated by the government that any school that is facilitating disabled children should introduce certain measures of adaptability for them in order to aid their cause and help them learn in a better, much more effective manner. There are certain special adaptation methods that can be used in order to aid the process of learning for disabled children, and these are enlisted in the ensuing paragraphs. Teaching a child with certain disabilities is often a big challenge for many teachers, and it is where their skills are put to the ultimate test (Fredericks, 2005.) For students with reading disabilities, the teacher should provide oral instructions and a complete gist of all that is being read in the class. Moreover, the teacher should present tests and oral materials for reading so as the disabled child should not feel out of place (Quinn, 2003). For disabled students who are a bit slow to catch up, it is vital that all activities that are undertaken in the class be slowed down in pace so that the disabled child can catch up. This does not mean that the whole class should be suffering, but sufficient attention should be paid to the disabled child and he should not be allowed to feel out of place in the classroom. For children who have impaired hearing or visual disability, it is vital that they be provided by Braille pads and proper sign language usage so that they can learn everything that is happening in class in a thorough and an effective manner. The most important part of teaching a disabled student is ample praise and recognition. Because these children have to make efforts much higher than their capabilities, it is vital that the teacher gives ample praise and recognition for their efforts. The slight variation that occurs in teaching such children is that the teacher’s praise should be directed towards the activity of that disabled child. All attempts should be made to spur them on, and they should not be allowed to lose hope at all, as this would result in a complete downfall of the disabled child’s progress and hence it is vital that the teacher gives extra praise such students in their daily activities (Brooks, , 2004). Work Cited Brooks, Andrew. The teacher’s handbook to cooperative learning. Brampton: Northeast Publishing. 2004. Print Fredericks, Anthony D. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Success as a Teacher. New York, N.Y.: Alpha, 2005. Print Terrie-Lynn Daley. "SCHOOL INTEGRATION AND THE DISABLED CHILD." Suite101.com: Online Magazine and Writers' Network. 4 July 1999. Web. 14 June 2010. . Quinn, Frederick. A teaching guide for overcoming student disability. 1. New York: Blueberry Publishers, 2003. Print Read More