Today was my first day volunteering at Stock Stock as a volunteer aid. Stock School is a neighborhood Chicago Public School that mainstreams children with disabilities in general education classrooms. One their website, Stock School speaks of striving to meet the emotional, social, learning and self-help needs of every student. They feel that a nurturing and supportive school environment will help maximize each child's achievement and love for learning. They also envision a school climate that is warm, loving, stimulating, positive and productive.
After reading the assigned chapters, completing the interactive lecture, and also volunteering with a select group of children with disabilities, I have come to see first hand, the definition of Special Education. Special Education is an instructional program that is designed specifically to meet the specific needs of an individual, only used when the individual's needs cannot be met in a general education program. While working in my assigned classroom this morning, I was privileged to observe the professional mannerisms and work ethic exhibited by the special education teacher, the aides, and also of the children. Each child has different specified learning goals and each have a separate individual learning plan. While working with these children this morning, I experienced a "hands-on" image for the content I have learned and read so far in this class. I read about the importance of service delivery teams and witnessed a team in action in order to assist the children in all categories. These team members may include a speech pathologist, occupational therapist, special education teacher, pet therapy, and teachers aids, for example.
I found an article on the ABC News website about a boy who suffered a brain injury from a lightning strike, who is now wheelchair bound and can no longer speak. This boy has experienced both mainstream education before his accident and now he participates in special education due to his disabilities from the accident. A few of the students I worked with today reminded me of the boy in the article, in that they are unable to speak and are also confined to wheelchairs. So not only are they there for the formal education experience, they are also being taught communication skills via sign language, hand over hand signals, and voice animation tools in regards to daily tasks such as drinking, eating, and communicating with others around them, such as in "circle time" with all of the students. During "circle time", the students with disabilities interacted with the other students and teachers as equals, without being treated any different than every other student. The picture below depicts the efforts of Stock School regarding mainstreaming students with disabilities.
www.stock.cps.k12.il.us/mv.html
www.stock.cps.k12.il.us/mv.html