Special education II [Illustration by Shinod A. P.]
There are a variety of courses offered in the field of special education. Since the techniques of working with each disability are different, the courses are also specific. Hence a special educator would either be trained to work with the Mentally Challenged or the Hearing Impaired or the Visually Impaired and so on and so forth.
The various courses offered are:
- Diploma in Special Education for Mentally Challenged DSE(MR)
- Diploma in Special Education for Visually Impaired DSE(VI)
- Diploma in Special Education for Hearing Impaired DSE(HI)
- Diploma in Hearing Language and Speech DHLS
- Bachelor in Special Education for Mentally Challenged B.Ed (Spl.Ed) MR
- Bachelor in Special Education for Visually Impaired B.Ed (Spl.Ed) VI
- Bachelor in Special Education for Hearing Impaired B.Ed (Spl.Ed) HI
- Post Graduate Diploma in Special Education for Multiple PGD (Spl.Ed)
- Disability Physically Disabled and Neurologically Impaired
- Post Graduate Diploma in Special Education for Learning PGD (Spl.Ed) L.D.
Disabled - Masters in Special Education M.Ed (Spl.Ed)
- Bachelor in Mental Retardation B.M.R.
- Masters in Rehabilitation Science M.R.Sc
- Bachelors in Hearing, Language & Speech B.Sc.(HLS)
- Masters in Hearing, Language & Speech M.Sc.(HLS)
General Areas Covered by all Courses:
- Normal Child Development – Since disability is a deviation from normal development it is important to know what normal development involves so that deviations can be accurately sighted and dealt with.
- Medico Social aspect of the disability and its effect on learning and development – A comprehensive view of the disability is necessary to see how the person’s functioning is limited.
- Assessment and Management of Mental, Physical, Functional and Communication Disorders – Various assessment methods exist to help assert a child’s developmental level. These are important tools to be familiar with to make an educational program which is pitched at the right level since the mental and chronological age are usually so different.
- Behavior Assessment -Behaviour assessment is essential before deciding what to teach the child especially if the child is mentally challenged. Behaviour assessment involves gathering information using various methods regarding what a child can do and cannot do. This helps determine the current level of skill behaviour and problems in the child’s behavior.
- Special education techniques for schooling and work – Specific teaching skills are taught. Each lesson has to be adapted to the level of the child and has to take into consideration his or her limitations. The Special Educator will have to make an Individualized Education Program IEP for each child. Thus in a class of 15 children there would be at least 10 different lesson plans working simultaneously.
- Counselling Skills– Counselling is not just limited to the disabled person who goes through a lot of social and emotional pressure but is also extended to the family who go through a lot of turmoil dealing with their child’s condition and take a long time to accept it.
- Learning of Specific assistive communicative aids like Braille or sign language
- Introduction to all related areas– This includes areas like physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and audiology
- First aid and emergency medical aid – The special educator needs to know how to deal with certain emergency medical conditions like epileptic fits. What are the immediate steps that have to be taken?
- Community Based Rehabilitation(CBR) – This is a decentralized approach to rehabilitation which works primarily towards community participation and empowerment.Most special education courses are run by schools who also work with children with disabilities. This provides an opportunity for hands on experience. Besides covering the above mentioned theoretical aspects there is a lot of stress on practical training. The students are required to do hands on teaching practicals as well as detailed assessments and case studies. Most of the courses have a placement module in which the students are required to visit a similar institute and work with them for a stipulated period of time.
Registration:
To be a practicing Special Educator it is mandatory to be registered with the Rehabilitation Council of India. The courses mentioned below are all recognized by the Rehabilitation Council of India.
