1. Working with Special
Needs Students
“Everyone is Differently Abled”
A song by Danny Deardorff

2. ADD !! English Language Learners
! Autism !! ! Gifted! ! ADHD
WE all have different ways of learning, but
some of us are more challenged than
others......physically, emotionally, cognitively.

3. Simply speaking, special needs students are
those students who require accommodations,
modifications, and/or assistive technology
devices in the teaching and learning process
in order to be successful.
How?

4. The Individualized
Education Plan
Students with delayed skills or other
disabilities might be eligible for special services
that provide individualized education
programs in public schools, free of charge to
families. Students who have difficulty
learning and functioning and have been
identified as a special needs student is a
candidate for an Individualized Education
Plan or an IEP.

5. An IEP may identify support services which allow students to
be taught in a special way. The services and goals outlined in an
IEP can be provided in a standard school environment like the
regular classroom or in a special resource room. The resource
room can serve a group of students with similar needs who are
brought together for help.

6. Students who need intense intervention may be
taught in a special school environment. These classes
have fewer students per teacher which allows more
time for individualized attention. The teacher usually
has specific training. The students spend most of their
day in a special classroom and join the regular classes
for nonacademic activities or in academic activities in
which they don’t need extra help.

7. Students who need intense intervention may be taught in a
special environment with fewer students per teacher, allowing
for more individualized attention. The teacher usually has
specific training. The students spend most of their day in a
special classroom and join the regular classes for nonacademic
activities or in academic activities in which they don’t need
extra help.

8. Because the goal of the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 2004) is to
ensure that each child is educated in the
least restrictive environment possible, effort is
made to help students in a regular
classroom.

9. Inclusion considers that all students are full
members of the school community and are
entitled to the opportunities and responsibilities
that are available to all students in the school.
In an inclusive school setting, special needs
students are provided specially designed
instruction in their least restrictive environment.

10. When special needs students are being served in a regular
education classroom, it is often the responsibility of the regular
education teacher to make the necessary accommodations,
modifications, and/or assistive technology devices to ensure
success for these students.
It is the purpose of this presentation to provide you with
examples of how instruction is differentiated for the special
needs students in Ms. Lee’s 3rd grade class.

11. The following special needs students are
enrolled in Mrs. Lee’s class:
1. Three students diagnosed as ADHD.
2. One student with an auditory disability.
3. Several students with mild learning
disabilities.

12. When serving special needs students in a regular
education setting, the regular education teacher must
become familiar with the specific needs of the students
and identify resources and instructional practices to meet
those needs. The Technology-Related Assistance for
Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1988 was designed to
enhance the availability and quality of assistive
technology (AT) devices and services to all individuals
and their families throughout the United States.

13. The Tech Act defines AT devices as any item, piece of
equipment, or product system (whether acquired off the shelf,
modified, or customized) that is used to increase, maintain, or
improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities.
AT devices may be categorized as high technology and low
technology.
Ms. Lee uses AT devices to aide the special education students
in her classroom.

14. Let’s discuss how Ms. Lee meets the needs of her special
education students using accommodations, modifications, and
AT devices.
First, we’ll describe the students’ disabilities.
Students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
(ADHD) are characterized by a persistent pattern of
inattention and/or hyperactivity.

15. All of Ms. Lee’s third grade students with ADHD have
benefited from the following modifications:
* moving the desk to the front of the classroom
* breaking assignments into smaller, more manageable
parts
* limiting lectures to short segments
* allowing the students to get up and move before, during
and/or after a lesson is taught

16. Auditory Disabilitity
Students who are deaf or who have hearing loss are at a great educational disadvantage.
Ms. Lee’s students who have an auditory disability are assisted using the following
accommodations, modifications or AT devices:
* Preferential seating to enhance access to auditory information
* Use of picture symbol using Boardmaker and Writing with Symbols (Mayer Johnson) to
illustrate key points.
* Use of written language to supplement spoken language.
* Use of personal amplification device to amplify speaker’s voice.
* Manual sign language or oral interpreter to interpret speaker’s messages.
* Headphones
* Envision (using video camera on computer to communicate

17. Learning disabled (LD) students are those who
demonstrate a significant discrepancy (which is not the
result of some other handicap) between academic
achievement and intellectual abilities in one or more of the
areas of oral expression, listening comprehension, written
expression, basic reading skills, reading comprehension,
mathematical calculation, mathematics reasoning or
spelling.

18. Ms. Lee has several students in her class with mild learning disabilities. The following
accommodations or modifications have proven helpful:
* Presenting tests and reading materials in an oral format.
* Frequent progress checks to let them know how well they are progressing.
* Immediate feedback so that they see quickly the relationship between what is taught
and what was learned.
* Concise and short activities whenever possible.
* Using concrete objects and events - items they can touch, hear, smell, etc - whenever
possible.
* Using specific praising comments that link the activity with the recognition.
* Repeating instructions or offering information in both written and verbal formats.
* Using cooperative learning activities when possible.
18

19. Ms. Lee’s LD students have benefited from the following AT
devices:
* Word processing software for writing, grammar/spellcheckers,
dictionaries, and thesaurus programs
* Voice synthesizer to read teacher’s notes
* Videotaping class sessions for review of material
* Calculators for math problems
* Application program software for instructing through tutorials
* CD-based books for reading

20. In conclusion, regular education teachers must meet the needs of all of their
students. With the push to involve all students in the regular classroom, the
dynamics of the classroom has changed. Regular education teachers will
experience more success with their special education students when they take
the time to explore and learn about their unique needs. By law, we must
provide the accommodations, modifications and AT devices outlined in our
special needs students’ IEP.
This presentation was meant to provide a basic overview of special education
and to share the accommodations, modifications and AT devices that have been
successful in Ms. Lee’s classroom. Hopefully, the audience will use this
information and build on this knowledge to be more successful with the special
needs students in their own classrooms. Take a look at the resources on the last
slide and explore them in more depth to expand on your knowledge.

21. References
Assistive Listening Devices
http://www.asha.org/public/hearing/treatment/assist_tech.htm
Assistive-Technology: Enabling Dreams
http://www.edutopia.org/assistive-technology-enabling-dreams-video
Assistive Technology for Mild Disabilities
http://www.ericdigests.org/2003-1/assistive.htm
Assistive Technology for Students with Mild Disabilities
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/assistive-technology/teaching-methods/
3791.html
Assistive technology in the classroom for ADHD students
http://www.examiner.com/x-13056-West-Palm-Beach-K12-Education-

22. Examples of Products
http://www.synapseadaptive.com/edmark/prod/tw/default.htm
Georgia Project for Assistive Technology
http://www.gpat.org/resources.aspx?PageReq=GPATImp
Guidelines to choosing Assistive Technology
http://www.1donline.org/article/8088
Inclusive Learning Environments for Students with Special Needs
http://www.newhorizons.org/spneeds/inclusion/front_inclusion.htm
Individualized Education Plans (IEPs)
http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/learning/iep.html

23. Ramp Up to Access: Assistive Technology
http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~wilbur/access/assistive.html
Students with Special Needs
http://www.newhorizons.org/spneeds/front_spneeds.html
Trends in working with special needs students
http://www.allbusiness.com/agriculture-forestry-fishing-hunting/
944685-1.html
Wikipedia’s Definition of Assistive Technology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assistive_technology