Burger Queen Blog: Special Education "AT" School

As a Special Education Major, "STEM for People with Disabilities" allowed me to expand my resources and tools for my future SPED classroom and my future students. It enabled me to look for the future of my students beyond high school and how to better prepare them for their future careers they would choose for themselves. This video allows prospect educators, including those who aren't majoring in Special Education, to ignite the mindset of including students with disabilities in the STEM classroom. Whilst this video instills the feeling of hope and promise to many students with disabilities and their parents, the issue of availability of services still linger. Unfortunately, while it is the law for public schools to provide services to students with unique needs, our island has a limited number of resources.

This video only included students whom are high functioning, verbal students. The absence of nonverbal students spiked my curiosity and had me ponder about the hidden message the video might send out to students with low functioning disabilities or students whom are nonverbal. For students whom are unable to communicate verbally, due to disabilities such as being mute or autism, may have the impression that they do not have the skills or services available for such students to attend STEM classes or universities and colleges for their future careers. While this video is quite interesting and empowering for many students with disabilities, I also find it quite controversial.

This video implies that STEM isn't offered in a Special Education classroom, and that it is only available in general education classrooms. However, a Special Education teacher generally teaches all the subjects in their classroom to students with disabilities of various grade levels. Usually Special Education teachers who teaches one main subject work at schools who have enough Special Education teachers to teach the other subjects. Special Education teachers have certification that allows them to teach from kindergarten to 12th grade because students in SPED have specific needs that aren't necessarily at grade level with their peers. STEM is offered in a Special Education classroom, but it is modified to accommodate their unique needs.

Regardless, I feel that this video has allowed my classmates in this class to have a better understanding of how to include students with disabilities in their future classrooms. This assignment has required our classmates to write about how they feel about students with disabilities using assistive technology in their classroom and including students with disabilities in their STEM classes. This video has provided my classmates the starting point in how to accommodate these students in the classroom. My classmates and I had an informal discussion about ways to teach students with special needs that doesn't just include graphic organizers but also tactile manipulatives and appropriate teaching strategies to supplement their learning. As future educators, it's important to remember that assistive technology only aids the student with special needs. We must also ensure that our instruction is of high quality, scientifically based classroom instruction.

In a lesson plan, a general education teacher must pay special attention to the section labeled "Accommodations/Modifications." This is the section in which teachers, for both Special Education and general education, are able to modify the lesson for students with disabilities and how they can accommodate to their unique needs. Modifications refer to how teachers can scaffold the lesson plan content to students with disabilities or learning difficulties. Accommodations are ways teachers can attend to students' unique needs, such as offering a computer for students with limited mobility for their writing assignments. According to the video, "Academic preparation lays the groundwork for STEM careers. For students with disabilities to perform on a level playing field, STEM learning environments must be designed to fully include them and reasonable accommodations need to be provided. Considerations should include:

assistive technology and software supports that help students with disabilities utilize technology that other students have access to, as well as use it as a compensatory tool
physical access to laboratories and equipment for individuals with mobility impairments
alternative formats to printed texts and visual aids for students with visual impairments
organizational tools for students with learning disabilities
visual options for material presented orally for students with hearing impairments
multiple learning and testing options which benefit people with learning and other disabilities."

Ms. Katherine Stewart, a general education Chemistry teacher, had a student whom was visually impaired. According to Stewart (2018), "from a teaching point of view, it was a challenge at times to explain a concept that was very visual from a conventional perspective. However, this resulted in thinking about these concepts in a different way. In some cases, the analogies and explanations given to help the student who was visually impaired understand the concept, also improved the understanding of other students in the class (not to mention that it also forced the instructor to be clearer and think/ anticipate in advance)." In the beginning, Ms. Stewart had difficulty teaching Chemistry to a student with visual impairments. However, this teaching experience has allowed her to experiment with different teaching strategies that can allow the student to understand the content that was being taught.

Including students with disabilities in learning activities of a general education classroom requires discussions, meetings, careful observations and interviews about the student with disability to figure out ways in which a student learns, cooperates, and finds interests in regards to learning. Through this, the teachers can find some information to put into the student's profile, which includes information about their gender, age, language knowledge, teaching and learning strategies, and reinforcements that work with the child. This process helps teachers tailor their teaching to match the student's unique needs for their modifications and accommodations in a lesson plan. Similar to the modifications and accommodations that are made for the students with disabilities in your classroom, you must use assessments to ensure its appropriateness for their grade level.

About a year ago, my SPED Cohort and I attended a GSAT conference in which we presented our assistive technology. The ten of us collaborated and created six tools that can be used for students with disabilities. My friend created stress balls made out of balloons that were filled with either rice, flour, and cornstarch. She specifically chose ingredients that were not toxic, just in case it were to break and its contents may be ingested. Another friend created a book holder out of pipes and pipe connectors. The book holder was strong enough to hold a large textbook. Another friend created a faucet extender for students with mobility issues to have easier access to water. Another friend created page turners by taping fuzzy balls to the corners of the page of each book. This allows students with fine motor problems to turn the page with more ease. Another friend created a laundry folder out of tape and a cardboard box. This allows the user to fold their clothes neatly. And finally, I created an orthopedic pillow that helps students in wheelchairs to have comfort for their back. It helps the user sit up straight, and it is easily adjustable. We had brought our tools for students and individuals with disabilities to test out our products, and it was rewarding to see them enjoy and use what we had made. We wanted to created assistive technology that wasn't expensive and used recyclable products for teachers, parents, and families to create at home.

All in all, I feel that this video allowed me to see how I can include students with disabilities and special needs from a general education teacher's point of view. It had allowed me to see through the window of understanding that showed me how some general education teacher's aren't as aware of teaching and learning strategies for students with disabilities, and that's why some of them have difficulty including these students when they are mainstreamed into their classroom. According to Carter and Rice (2016), "meeting the needs of the students with disabilities largely emerged as highlighting the features of the online environment as accommodation." It showed me how important it is for teachers and paraprofessionals to collaborate in meetings about the student's progress. It's given me an incentive on ways I can communicate with teachers whom need help with teaching and including students with disabilities in their classroom.