Intellectually challenged students

Special needs is an umbrella term for a wide array of diagnoses, from those that resolve quickly to those that will be a challenge for life and those that are relatively mild to those that are profound. Children with special needs may have developmental delays, medical conditions, psychiatric conditions, and congenital conditions. These special needs require accommodations so children can reach their potential. No matter the reason, the special needs designation is useful. It can help you obtain needed services, set appropriate goals, and gain an understanding of child and the stresses your family may face. Some of the biggest challenges of working with special needs students are as follows:

  • LACK OF PARENTAL SUPPORT-You can pour your heart and soul into your efforts as a special education teacher but if the child’s parents are not on board, all of that work could be for nothing. Having a positive relationship with the parents of your students is essential.
  • LACK OF APPRECIATION-Teachers do not teach because it is prestigious or high paying career they do it for love of the students. Still, a little appreciation goes a long way, especially in a challenging and stressful field like special education.
  • TOO MUCH PAPERWORK-Every special needs child needs an Individual Education Plan and each one can easily reach 10 to 20 pages long. Not only do these plans take time to develop, but there is a lot of documentation that needs to take place. This is all on top of your regular teaching duties which include curriculum planning, progress reports, lesson planning and more.
  • SCHEDULING CHALLENGES-Many special needs students have special schedules for their school day depending on which classes they are able to take and taking into account their needs for additional services like occupational or speech therapy.
  • WORKING WITH OTHER TEACHERS-As a special education teacher, you have to develop your own curriculum for your students, but you also need to know the general education curriculum so you can work with your students to help them with their regular classes. Collaborating with other teachers can be very difficult, especially if they do not understand the challenges of special education.
  • TOO MUCH DOCUMENTATION-In addition to develop each student’s IEP, you also need to collect data and provide evidence of student growth. If you claim that your student is struggling in a particular area, you need hard data to back up that claim and then you need to develop a plan for improvement.

Things you should keep in mind while dealing with special needs children:

  1. IDENTIFY-When you’re introduced to a child with a disability for the first time it’s very important you find out what it is that may impair them. It can be difficult to identify the impairment , particularly in young children. All of this information will help you first interact with the child and understand why they may react in specific ways.
  2. CONSISTENTLY INTERACT-Don’t be intimated or hesitant to interact! Sometimes it takes a few tries and methods to find the right one that appropriately engages that child but it’s imperative that you presist! Remember to introduce yourself, try and make eye contact as much as possible and explain the activity clearly.
  3. OBSERVE-It’s important to take notice of what works and what may not when it comes to each children with special needs. You need to observe everything about the child.
  4. BE PATIENT-Sometimes it’s frustrating, and often it can feel as if any progression you do make is very quickly lost. Don’t be disheartened by this! Developmental delays are common, and it’s important to continue with the methods you’ve found to work, communicate with the parents if possible and most importantly allow the child to build their trust in you.
  5. COMMUNICATION-Whether it’s talking to the child themselves, their parents or other figures of authority in the child’s life and open communication is essential. Particularly if the child is mute or has a behavioural or learning disability, it can be challenging to receive any feedback from them. Try speaking to the individual child’s parents or teachers to gauge some form of feedback as well as to share any headway you may have made.