Over the past 40 plus years, special education has evolved into a massive myriad of complex and mostly difficult to understand services. The number of special education options available today for children with special needs is expansive and most offer great reward for those who enroll.
Beyond the typical classroom environment, many special education resources have been created as a way to supplement learning and development. Specialized options such as therapy, special education tutoring and assistive technology have produced tremendous results for millions of children with special needs.
Special Education Resources
When most parents think of special education resources, they visualize the various options within the classroom environment. Whether it be a one-on-one aide for your child, a self-contained classroom environment or an additional special education service offered through the public school system, these are only a small fraction of the special education resources available today. The truth is, available special education resources expand way beyond the 4 walls of a school, and as technology continues to evolve additional options are becoming available at a rate never before witnessed.
Special Education Therapy Options
Just like other special education resources, therapy has evolved significantly over the past 4 decades. The traditional options of physical and occupational therapy now make up only a fraction of what’s available. As we learn more about what makes children tick and more importantly how to assist, new special needs segments are created. When new segments become better understood, special education therapy options become much more specialized to help guide and education children toward success.
While the list is long, there are 4 therapy options for children with special needs that have become extremely popular in recent years;
Assistive Technology
Technology has evolved more in the past 20 years than at any other time in history. It seems like ages ago where you actually had to utilize a phone directory, pick up the clunky receiver from the wall and make a call in order to receive information. It wasn’t that long ago that most information we consumed and resources we turned to were only available through newspapers and magazines. Our new world includes smart phones, mp3 players, computers, tablets, smart TV’s, internet, social media, video sharing, picture sharing and instant access to anything and everything as a way of life. So why does it still seem like valuable information and special education resources are so difficult to find?
Is there such a thing as too much information? A quick internet search for “special education resources” turns up 347 million results! That’s 347 million different articles, websites, videos, blogs, pictures and other resources designed to inform, guide and teach parents and educators the world of special education.
Now while it’s never realistic to think you can read through or ever even click on all of those different special education resources, it’s important to understand that you’re not alone in your quest to find viable options designed to help you and your child with special needs.
Assistive technology is an incredible tool and resource for today’s children with special needs. The term assistive technology as defined by IDEA (2004) is… “Any item, piece of equipment or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of children with disabilities.” Newer tools such as tablets have revolutionized the ability for children of all ages to supplement their learning in ways never before imaginable.
There are hundreds if not thousands of learning apps available that teach children everything from the alphabet to pilot training. As an example, ABC Mouse is a program we use at Special Education Resource as a way to help children who struggle with learning letters to reading.
Special Education Tutoring
Children of all ages benefit from additional help and guidance. The need for services like Special Education Tutoring has exploded over the past 20 years due to the drastic increase in classroom sizes and decline in district budgets.
Due to the rapid development of technology, there are more options available for special education tutoring than ever before. Traditionally, a child would meet one-on-one with a special education tutor at their home or in a public setting. One issue that’s difficult to overcome with this type of interaction is the social struggle a lot of children with special needs face. It’s can be difficult for children to establish new relationships with people, which can lead to slow progress especially the first few tutoring sessions.
Technology has helped destroy this natural barrier. Online one-on-one special education tutoring has become a popular option for thousands of children with special needs nationwide. Most of today’s children have grown up with technology and have zero problems navigating a computer. Special education tutoring conducted through video chat eliminates most of the relationship building issues common with face-to-face tutoring. This revolutionary approach leads to faster results, along with decreased behavior issues commonly associated with the frustration caused by being overwhelmed academically.
To find out more on how one-on-one special education tutoring works, reach out to us for a free consultation with a special education tutor.
Online Special Education Resources
Aside from the options discussed in this article; therapy, assistive technology and special education tutoring, there are thousands of additional special education resources out there. From full time online special education schools, to supplemental classes designed to help with an individual special need, the options truly are limitless.
Special education resources are a lot like children with special needs. Every single one of them, require different tools and processes to be successful. As a parent, it’s important to understand that each special education resource has it’s own purpose, own niche and can help children excel in a very specific area.
It’s impossible to write an article that details every single option available, it would be a million pages long. If you were unable to find an answer to your question while reading this article, please reach out to us.
Special Education Resource was created to help children with special needs reach their excellence. We do offer special education tutoring, but we also spend a lot of time simply answering questions and offering guidance to those that ask.
The more you know about and understand about the special education resource options available, the better equipped you will be to ensure excellence for your child!
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