Learning Disability in School or Emotionally Handicapped in School. Children with the physical disabilities have to meet real challenge when they approach the middle school level. The transition from elementary to middle school causes a number of questions for all children and especially for the children with disabilities. The article (Erik W. Carter, Nitasha M. Clark , Lisa Cushing, Craig H.
Kennedy) explains the problems which may arise during the transition and their possible solutions. The first stage of such transition is the preparation for the transition. The community of elementary school is smaller than that of the middle school. First of all, children face the uncertainty of how they would be able to adapt themselves to a new environment. This adaptation may include such crucial problems as making new friends, keeping up academically etc. The academic process is more demanding in the middle school than in the elementary one.
The process of preparation to the middle school should include the information provision for children and for their parents. The educators from the middle schools are advised to contact the elementary schools in order to provide the necessary information for children and their parents on peculiarities of the middle school environment. The proper communication is one of the main activities in such transition. The next important issue is the adaptation of children with disabilities in the middle school. Two additional sides should be involved in such process, namely the parents and the children schoolmates. As for the parents, the question is understandable. The schools are advised to promote the programs of the peer support for the students with disabilities both in academic and social adaptation.
The Term Paper on Children with Disabilities and Their Shot at Education
The widening gap between the rich and the poor attest to the saying that “the rich is getting richer and the poor is getting poorer” (Houck, 2006). The book Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America which was written by Barbara Ehrenreich showed a vivid picture of how those occupying blue collar jobs fail to make ends meet with a meager income. The irony here lies in the fact that these ...
One of the main ideas of the article is that the preparation process should be the shared responsibility of the educators from the both schools and parents. The children with the disabilities should get acquainted with their future environment prior to transition by studying the pictures of teachers, narrations of the schools, visiting their future schools. All simple actions like going to lunch, adoption the school regulations etc. may become real problems for the children with severe disabilities. All these issues should be clarified for the children. The more clarification is, the better adaptation will be.
Another crucial issue is the attitude of the educators towards the children with the severe disabilities. The behavior of such children should be monitored very thoroughly in order not to miss possible moments when children may just lock themselves in respond to the faced problems. A lot of children with the severe disabilities may experience the deficit of communication skills. Such things may occur even with simple for other children issues like those connected with the ordinary services access, namely the libraries, restrooms, canteens etc. All these issues should be predicted beforehand and explained to the children. The children with the disabilities should be involved into extra curriculum activities for their better social adaptation.
The article by Erik W. Carter and co-authors is extremely useful for the future educators. It explains step by step actions of all parties involved into the transition of the children with the disabilities from the elementary to middle school. Such transition may be roughly divided into the following stages. (1) Communication in the elementary school in order to dissolve all uncertainties regarding the further step of education. (2) Creating friendly social environment for the children with severe disabilities in the middle school.
The Essay on The Time When Children With Disabilities Could Legally Be Prevented
The time when children with disabilities could legally be prevented from attending public schools is long past. A series of federal laws has guaranteed children with disabilities an education in the public school. But while it is against the law to discriminate those who are disabled, it is very hard to adopt the mentality of the population and to make them see disabled as equals. Raising a child ...
(3) Preparation to the social adaptation of the children in the middle school. The adaptation should be targeted both to the disabled children and to the school and people communicating with children, parents, teachers, schoolmates etc. Children with severe disabilities are highly dependable upon the external support of the adults. One more crucial issue is encouragement of the students independence. Children with the disabilities should be taught to develop their greater independence by using special means like special calendars, checklists etc. The article is extremely useful.
It gives the action plan for the transition of students with the disabilities to the middle school level. All the provisions of the article may be and should be implemented in the full scope in planning the transition from the elementary school to a middle one. It is difficult to disagree with the ideas presented in the given article. Bibliography Erik W. Carter, Nitasha M. Clark , Lisa Cushing, Craig H. Kennedy, Moving From Elementary to Middle School: Supporting a Smooth Transition for Students With Severe Disabilities, TEACHING EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN, JAN/FEB 2005, pp.
8 14, available at http://journals.sped.org/TEC/Articles/Carter37-3.p df.
