By Sandra Harris, School Improvement Representative
Think of a time when you wanted to ask for assistance but didn’t feel comfortable in doing so! Now, think of a moment when you just needed extra time to perform a given task, but as you looked around, everyone else completed it! Now, think of how it made you FEEL! Did it make you feel “less than” when individuals in your proximity understood the same information and were able to complete the same task immediately? It’s not what you said or didn’t say, but how you made me FEEL! It’s not always what we say to students, but it is always how we make students FEEL! Encounters such as this will have a negative or positive mental impact on a student for the rest of their life!
Words Matter:
Special Education or Special Needs both have a negative connotation towards our students and families, as well as using labels such as (low/high functioning). Start today with more inclusive terms focusing on support, inclusion, and self-esteem such as: Additional Support Needs (ASN), Learning Differences and Exceptional Student Education. Terms such as these promote respect and focus on the individual, not just their challenges, recognizing that respectful, precise language empowers students and fosters true belonging.
Reinforcing how Exceptional Student Education (ESE) supports our students:
ESE provides specially designed instruction and support for students with disabilities and gifted students, adapting education to meet individual needs beyond the standard curriculum, often through services like Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) to help students reach their full potential in academics, life skills, and career transitions.
What it is:
Inclusive Approach: ESE (also known as Special Education) serves learners who have unique learning profiles due to disabilities (learning, physical, emotional, intellectual) or giftedness. Tailored Support: It involves modifying lessons, providing assistive technology, and offering related services (like speech therapy) to ensure students can access education effectively.
Who it serves (Exceptional Learners):
Students with learning disabilities, autism, ADHD, communication disorders, emotional/behavioral issues, and physical/sensory impairments. Gifted students with superior intellectual development or high-performance capabilities.
Key Components:
Individualized Education Program (IEP): A legal document outlining goals, services, and accommodations for a student with a disability. Transition Services: Programs (like internships) that help older students with disabilities develop job skills and independence for adult life. Assistive Technology: Tools and materials to help students overcome barriers.
Purpose:
To maximize a student’s functioning and success by adapting education to their specific strengths and challenges, ensuring they can participate in school and life.
Exceptional Student Education Supports in Reading:
Supporting exceptional learners in reading, use multisensory, explicit instruction focusing on phonics and background knowledge, provide assistive tech (audiobooks, text-to-speech), differentiate materials (shorter texts, visual aids, summaries), build confidence with positive reinforcement, allow extra time, and use flexible grouping like literature circles to foster engagement and peer support, ensuring a safe space for mistakes.
Exceptional Student Education Supports in Writing:
Supporting exceptional learners in writing involves a multifaceted approach that is individualized, motivating, and integrates effective strategies and technology to address their specific needs.
Key strategies include:
- Foundational Strategies
- Provide explicit, systematic instruction
- Make it meaningful and engaging
- Offer alternatives to handwriting
- Creating a supportive environment
- The Writing Process; pre-writing and planning, drafting, and composing, revising, and editing
- Assistive Technology and Tools
- Word processors with spell-check and grammar checks
- Word prediction software to reduce keystrokes
- Speech-to-text software for students with physical writing difficulties
- Digital dictionaries and thesauruses to expand vocabulary
Exceptional Student Education Supports in Mathematics:
Supporting exceptional learners in math involves explicit instruction, hands-on manipulatives, real-world connections, and fostering a growth mindset, tailoring approaches for both struggling students (breaking down steps, using visual aids, repeated practice) and gifted students (deep dives into topics, complex problems, real-world applications) to build conceptual understanding, confidence, and engagement.
Words Matter:
While supporting students through their Exceptional Student Education Plan journey, words matter immensely as they shape perceptions, create inclusive or exclusionary environments, and impact student dignity.
References
A guide to the Individualized Education Program. (2000). [Washington, DC]: Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, U.S. Dept. of Education: Office of Educational Research and Improvement, Educational Resources Information Center.
Brittany Hott, Laura Isbell, Teresa Montani Year: 2014URL: https://council-for-learningdisabilities.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Math_Disabilities_Support.pdf.
Hallahan, Daniel P., Kauffman, James M., Pullen, Paige C. (2009). Exceptional Learners: An Introduction to Special Education, 11th ed. (11).