Working with Children with Special Needs

Working with Children with Special Needs

I observed a child with special needs during my internship. While observing, I noted several differences and similarities that made me have an educative experience between special needs learners and other learners in class. Notably, Machado states that a child is considered a special needs student when they have special educational wants and when they have a learning disability or problem that makes it more challenging for them to learn than a majority of children or learners of their age (225). Therefore, the child I observed was a physically challenged learner with hearing impairment. Consequently, I realized from the observation that children with disability have problems with communication, behavior, or schoolwork, and the biggest support system should be parents, teachers, and specialists. The primary similarity I learned about the child with special needs and other children is that both or all of these children are learners who desire to have fun and learn, and they expect their needs to be met equally. Another similarity noted was that the learners with special needs and those without want to be heard and seen as valuable individuals by their teachers and friends.

Some of the differences I noted were children with special needs learn differently than those without special needs. Machado says since learners with special needs have problems with behavior, communication, or schoolwork, they cannot learn the same way as those with special needs (229). The other difference is that the children with special needs found it challenging to access and fully interact with their environment because they often needed to learn in a more stimulating environment to be able to learn the same thing as the other children in the class.

The observation helped me understand that children with special needs are similar to those without special needs because they all desire to learn and have fun and want their learning needs to be met equally. I learned that all children should be treated equally, whether they have special needs or not. Accordingly, the experience taught me to remember to embrace equality in my class in the future. Lastly, this experience taught me that special needs learners are unique learners, just like their name suggests; they require more attention and time to be able to learn in the same way as normal learners.

Works Cited

Machado, Jeanne M., and Helen Meyer Botnarescue. Student teaching: Early childhood practicum guide. Cengage Learning, 2001.

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Read Chapter 7: Working with Children with Special Needs
Observe a child in your classroom, or another in the site where you are interning, who has special needs. Spend a few hours observing the child and take notes as you observe. What similarities or differences do you find between the child with special needs and the other children in the classroom? How did this experience help you understand that children with special needs are alike as well as different from other children?
Discuss your observation and the answers to the questions posed here on at least 1 page.
The book is: Student Teaching: Early Childhood Practicum Guide, Cengage.