Q: How Far has Special Education come?
A: Over the years everyone has become more patient and understanding when it comes to Special Ed. Students. We have also been able to teach our students basic life skills such as dinner table skills, hygiene skills, and just the overall basic needs, according to Navarrette.
As far as Special Education goes, we have come a long way. One of the best things that we have improved on is getting the students involved in more general education classes according to Perrin.
Kathy Fickett said, “Over the years not only the students, but the school community outside of the program have become more accepting and patient of those whoare in the program” and I think that really helps give the equality of those who are in the General Education."
Q: What limitations or weaknesses exist in our Special Education Programs?
A: “The system is constantly changing. The curriculum, the laws, and the paper work change every year, and I feel like it really affects the students,”stated Genevieve Perrin. Alyssa Niemic stated that even if the system is pretty good the way it is now, her main concerns is that different students have different needs and aren’t placed or helped in the way that they need to be, not geared to each individual's needs. Both agreed the paperwork is an issue as the perwork takes them away from their own students. This could be solved by reducing the amount of paper work required.
Another huge problem that people in Special Education are running into is the struggle of students who can't read. One solution could be incoperating a reading program for those in need in order to increase their reading level. Fickett said that when the teacher has to take time out of teaching to work with one student in particular, the students who were already fully engaged and ready to go may lose interest.
Q: How can we better our Special Education Programs?
A: One of the ways we can further better the way things are now, according to Navarrette, is by getting Special Education students involved more with other students. We need to find a way to place all students better. During an interview with Perrin we discussed further educating other students on the mindsets and ways of Special Ed. Students. Doing this, will help better the environment. It will make others know how to handle situations and students in Special Ed. Another thing we discussed was getting the parents more involved so the home environ-ment isn’t so different from school.
Even though the system has and will proceed in a positive direction, there are some flaws that we need to look into as soon as we can. There are things that the government isn’t noticing that are becoming problematic for both the teachers and the students. As discussed with the interviewees, there are ways to fix them.
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