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Inclusive Education for Exclusive and Special Kids

20th January 2022

Inclusive classrooms have been one of the most proven methods that have helped special children with communication skills. Inclusive education is a classic approach where every kind of child is there inside a classroom and thus children with special education get along with the mainstream classroom session.

Students with limited expressive language skills really get a lot of help from these inclusive classrooms. Special educators who have successfully finished off special education courses for teachers implement teaching strategies for special education students. This course is available online and educators can avail of it easily as it is flexible by time and space.

If you are a special educator and want to make your classroom more inclusive you should first understand what your students' batch is comprised of. You should be able to figure out what special gifts your students have got. There can be children with autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, expressive language disorder, or learning disorder.

A special education teacher has said that she once saw a kid using a device where he was typing something on his device and audio was spelling his sentences out. Such gadgets are always useful for kids because they act as translators.

According to speech-language pathologists, speech therapy is a very important tool that helps students with speech problems. Using gestures like pointing out certain things or low-tech options like writing on a paper board and so have been proven quite useful.

Many have the same opinion that these options often limit the abilities of special children to communicate easily.

Then again, if handled with care and special attention, this methodology can be really effective for kids having speech problems. In an inclusive classroom, if special kids can get along with other students conveniently using gestures and sign language, it is of no harm. In fact, sign language is essential and other ordinary students can also learn it gradually.

It is always vital to make the special child believe that his/her challenges are very common and there are plenty of other kids who fight and win against those. Gifted children have delicate hearts and they are extremely sensitive. Being a special ed teacher, if you can show them movies portraying motivational scenarios like ADHD, Autism, Learning disabilities, speech problems, etc., they will become stronger than before.

Once they learn that they're not the only kids fighting against odds, their confidence level will be high and they will become more efficient in communicating with other students. There are certain movies that can be played to motivate the mental strength of special kids. Those are:

Listen (2021): A short film made by and with nonspeaking autistic people.

The Reason I Jump (2021): A feature-length film based on the biography of Naoki Higashida, who is autistic and nonspeaking.

Loop (2020): A short film by Pixar and Disney highlights Renee, a nonspeaking autistic girl who makes friends with Marcus, a speaking boy when the two go canoeing together at camp.

Thasya (2012): This iconic short film is the story of Thasya Lumingkewas, an 8-year-old autistic girl.

Carr Brackett (2008): In this short film, Carr, a young man with Down syndrome, uses his gestures and sign languages to support his communication needs in a general education classroom.

Hence, these methods can be used to support special children with their limited verbal capabilities. Special education courses for teacherswill help! Inclusive classrooms have always helped gifted kids to learn more because the more they get along with other students the better they learn how to communicate easily.

Written By: Sheetal Sharma