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What
is Special Education? (About.com)
Special education is governed by federal law in most educational
jurisdictions. Under Indviduals with Disabilities Education
Act (IDEA), Special Education is defined as: "Specially
designed instruction, at no cost to parents, to meet the unique
needs of a child with a disability."
Special education
is in place to provide additional services, support, programs,
specialized placements or environments to ensure that all
students' educational needs are provided for. Special education
is provided to qualifying students at no cost to the parents.
There are many students who have special learning needs and
these needs are addressed through special education. The range
of special education support will vary based on need and educational
jurisdictions. Each country, state or educational jurisdiction
will have different policies, rules, regulations and legislation
that governs what special education is. In the US, the governing
law is: Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Typically, the
types of exceptionalities/disabilities will be clearly identified
in the jurisdiction's law surrounding special education. Students
qualifying for special education support have needs that will
often require support that goes beyond what is normally offered
or received in the regular school/classroom setting.
Learning
Disability (Wikipedia)
Learning disability (sometimes called a learning disorder
or learning difficulty), is a classification including several
disorders in which a person has difficulty learning in a typical
manner, usually caused by an unknown factor or factors. The
unknown factor is the disorder that affects the brain's ability
to receive and process information. This disorder can make
it problematic for a person to learn as quickly or in the
same way as someone who isn't affected by a learning disability.
Learning disability is not indicative of intelligence level.
Rather, people with a learning disability have trouble performing
specific types of skills or completing tasks if left to figure
things out by themselves or if taught in conventional ways.
A learning
disability cannot be cured or fixed. With the right support
and intervention, however, people with learning disabilities
can succeed in school and go on to be successful later in
life.
Developmental
Disability (Wikipedia)
Developmental
disability is a term used in the United States to describe
life-long, disabilities attributable to mental and/or physical
impairments, manifested prior to age 18.
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