How do you know if your child is special needs

7 Early Signs That Your Child Has Special Needs

In the United States, approximately 12.8 percent of children age 18 and younger have special needs. This includes conditions like autism, Asperger’s, and down syndrome.

For children with special needs, the sooner they can be diagnosed by a medical professional, the easier it is for them to get the treatment they need to feel their best and enjoy a high quality of life. Listed below are 7 of the most common signs of special needs that parents ought to watch for.

Missing Developmental Milestones

One of the earliest warning signs that a child has special needs is missing development milestones. There are specific actions and behaviors that children should be able to practice when they reach certain ages.

For example, at 2 months, a baby should be starting to smile at others or following things with their eyes. At 1 year, they should be able to play simple games (such as peek-a-boo) and pull themselves up to a standing position.

If a child is missing several developmental milestones, that can be an indicator that they have a disability and need to see a doctor.

Difficulty Focusing and Controlling Impulses

All children have trouble focusing or practicing impulse control from time to time. However, if a child seems to never be able to focus or is extremely hyperactive in a wide range of settings, there’s a chance that they have Attention-Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (or ADHD).

Children who ADHD may have a hard time keeping up in school because they’re more easily distracted or have trouble sitting still. With proper accommodations, though, they can perform on par with, if not ahead of, their peers.

Difficulty Making Eye Contact and Responsiveness

Most children start making eye contact at a young age (around 6-8 weeks). Their visual perception and communication also become more advanced around 16 weeks.

If a child is having trouble making eye contact after they’ve passed this point, this could be an indicator that they’re dealing with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or another disability.

Children with autism tend to struggle to make eye contact, and they may also show a lack of responsiveness to others. For example, they may not smile, speak, or respond to their name.

Autism Spectrum Disorders range greatly in severity, and it’s important to work with a team of doctors and therapists to provide your child with adequate support, especially if their symptoms fall on the more severe end.

Difficulty Speaking

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder often have trouble speaking. They may not start speaking at the same time as their peers, for example, or they may not speak at all.

Difficulty speaking can also be an indicator of various phonemic awareness-based learning disabilities. These disabilities can be seen in very young children who have trouble pronouncing words, rhyming, or handling other language skills that kids their age are capable of.

Children who have a family history of reading or writing challenges should also be closely monitored when they reach preschool or kindergarten age. They may be more likely to struggle with these issues and will need extra support.

Difficulty Reading and Spelling

As they get older and start attending school, some children may have a difficult time reading, pronouncing words, and spelling words correctly. In some cases, this can be a sign of dyslexia, a disability that affects a person’s ability to consistently link written words and letters with the sounds they make.

Dyslexia does not affect a person’s intelligence, but it can make reading very challenging. It may be characterized by late talking, being slow to learn new words, and a delay in learning how to read.

Difficulty Understanding Lessons or Retaining Information

Some children struggle with learning disabilities. This, in turn, makes it hard for them to understand school lessons or retain information as it’s relayed to them.

Some signs that a child is dealing with a learning disability include not being able to recognize letters, not being interested in reading or writing, not understand instructions, or having difficulty holding and writing with a pencil. This challenges may also be accompanied by difficulty sitting still or staying focused.

Poor Muscle, Speech, and Vision Control

Cerebral palsy is a brain disorder that affects coordination, movement, and posture. It often is not diagnosed until a child is age 2 or older.

One of the most common warning signs of cerebral palsy is missing key developmental milestones like sitting up, holding up one’s head, and crawling. Difficulties with speaking and vision are common, too.

How to Support a Child with Special Needs

Do any of these warnings signs stand out to you? Do you suspect your child has special needs? If so, it’s important to consult their pediatrician right away.

If your child is diagnosed with autism, dyslexia, cerebral palsy, or any other type of disability, their pediatrician can refer you to other professionals who can help them (and you) manage their condition and overcome many of the challenges they’re facing. This list includes speech therapists, occupational therapists, and physical therapists, as well as private tutors and in-home caregivers.

As a parent to a child with special needs, it’s also important to advocate for your child when they start attending school. Learn all you can about their condition and encourage their teachers to have a look at various resources as well. This ensures everyone is on the same page and makes it easier to create a game plan to give your child the support and attention they need.

Do You Suspect You Have a Special Needs Child?

Children with special needs often can and do lead healthy, happy, and productive lives. The key is getting them the support they need sooner rather than later.

If, after reading through the signs listed above, you suspect your child has special needs, reach out to a healthcare professional right away. They can perform the proper tests and refer you to other professionals for a more complete diagnosis.

In the meantime, if you want to learn more about caring for and supporting a child with special needs, check out the Children’s Health section of our site today.

How to know if your child has special needs

By: Parenting Desk New Delhi | November 16, 2020 5:19:26 pm

Excessive talking, fidgetiness, out of seat behaviour and difficulty with quiet play. Constantly interrupting conversations, inability to wait turn, blurting out answers out of turn. This child may seem to be constantly “on the go”. (Source: Pixabay)

By Piya Marker

There are many types of special needs that are obvious and visible when you see the child. However, there are many times we need to look for signs that may be indicative of a problem or those that need our intervention.

Having disabilities like visual impairment, cerebral palsy, hearing impairment may be easier to detect. Learning disabilities like dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, attention deficit disorder and sometimes even autism may be harder to detect at first.

Every child develops at his own pace, however there are key milestones that are important to monitor. Motor development, language and sensory delays could be identified in the first year of the child’s life.

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Repeated tantrums that the child is unable to control or self-soothe, head-banging, self-biting and other inappropriate or exaggerated reactions to situations would give you an indication of possible behaviour issues.

Below are a few signs or symptoms to throw light on a possibility of special education needs. The list is not exhaustive nor comprehensive, just a few indicators that if noticed in most situations and if observed to be sustained over an extended period of time is recommended to warrant further investigation.

ALSO READ | Diagnosed with ADHD, this kid outdid his peers in class 10 board exams

The disabilities that are hard to identify are typically learning disabilities and attention deficit disorders. It is for this reason that they are known as hidden disabilities. Before one takes the step to assess formally the presence of a disability or special needs, it is important to observe the child in all situations to see the pervasiveness of the issue at hand.

Some indicators of attention deficit could be:

Failing to give attention to tasks or notice details, sustain attention over activities; even play, not seeming to listen when spoken to directly.
One may even observe that the child is not following through on instructions and failing to finish academic work, basic chores, or duties. He may struggle with organisational skills.
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Reluctance or avoidance of tasks that require sustained attention or concentration. Being easily distracted, forgetful and careless are also noticed.
Excessive talking, fidgetiness, out of seat behaviour and difficulty with quiet play. Constantly interrupting conversations, inability to wait turn, blurting out answers out of turn. This child may seem to be constantly “on the go”
Language-based learning disabilities may be identified by the child’s inability to read age appropriate material, oral language or spelling skills that are not matched to an expected age or grade level.
Children who have family members that have struggled with reading, writing and spelling need to be monitored more closely. Problems with written expression; letter formations, discrepancy between the child’s oral expression and written expression is also an indicator of possible dysgraphia.
Dyscalculia or math-based difficulties may be identified by difficulties in recognising numbers or learning to count, struggling with connecting the value with the word or numerical symbols. Recognising patterns is difficult, loses track when counting, needs physical cues to compute, finds mental math tough, estimation of time is also a challenge sometimes.
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Struggles to process visual-spatial concepts like graphs and charts and other pictorial representations of Math.

ALSO READ | Why parents should stop obsessing over their child’s academic learnings

The key to a better prognosis is always early intervention, as with any challenge and problem we may be faced with. The faster we identify, accept and seek help, the better our final outcome will be.

(The writer is Director – Head of School, The Aditya Birla Integrated School – TABIS)

First published on: 16-11-2020 at 05:19:26 pm

Students under EWS category beat odds to weave success stories at NEET, JEE

Children with special educational needs in the system of concepts of cultural-historical psychology

Kukushkina O. I. Leningrad State University A.S. Pushkin, St. Petersburg
Nikolskaya O.S. Institute of Correctional Pedagogy of the Russian Academy of Education, Moscow
E.L. Goncharova Leningrad State University A.S. Pushkin, St. Petersburg

“Child with special educational needs” is a relatively new, but already fairly well-established term that arises in all countries of the world during the transition from a unitary to an open civil society, when it realizes the need to reflect in the language its changing attitude towards children with developmental disabilities, new understanding of their rights.

The lexeme replaced the previously used terms “abnormal child”, “child with developmental disabilities”, “child with developmental disabilities” and the special terms specifying them (“autistic”, “down”, “spastic”, “alalik ”, “dysarthria”, etc.), which since the end of the twentieth century have been perceived by society as words with a negative connotation.

In the modern sense, a child with special educational needs is a child who needs special conditions for education and upbringing for his maximum possible development, education, introduction to the culture of the community and family.

Fixing the refusal of the legislator and society to divide people into a full majority and a minority with limited rights, the new term fixes the shift in emphasis in the characteristics of these children from shortcomings, violations, deviations from the norm to fixing their special social and educational needs. The new definition emphasizes the responsibility of the legislator and society to identify and implement these needs.

The term "child with special educational needs" is used in both broad social and professional and scientific contexts. In a professional context, this term is important because it guides specialists to identify special educational needs and determine ways to meet them in relation to all categories and groups of children with disabilities, taking into account the range of options for their development. In a scientific context, this term is also important because it indicates the “permeability” of the boundaries between the sciences of children with normative and deviant development, since special educational needs can be caused not only by health limitations, but also by sociocultural factors.

Despite the fact that this term appears in Russia later than in the United States and Western Europe, its introduction into domestic science cannot be qualified as a direct borrowing of the Western term “Children with Special Needs”. Mastering the new term, the Russian scientific school determined its content, based on the classic laid down by L.S. Vygotsky’s understanding of the “abnormal” child as a child with secondary developmental disorders, in need of “detours” of cultural development, training and education, and special educational conditions.

The Russian Scientific School identifies special educational needs:

common to all children with disabilities;
specific for each category of children with disabilities;
individual educational needs determined by the unique history of life, upbringing and education of a particular child;

The following special educational needs are common to all children with disabilities:

Time to start training – the need for the earliest (in the first years of a child's life) identification of developmental difficulties and the immediate deployment of psychological and pedagogical assistance, taking into account the special needs of the child. So, if a child’s hearing or vision impairment is detected at the end of the first month of his life, then special education should immediately begin. Unproductive for the development of the child is the situation when, after the identification of the primary violation, all the efforts of adults are directed exclusively to the treatment of the child, i.e. rehabilitation by means of medicine. The identified violation of organs and systems limits the interaction of the child with the world, makes it specific, as a result of which urgent psychological and pedagogical prevention or correction of already existing secondary developmental disorders is required.
Content of education - the need to introduce special sections into the curriculum that are not present in the content of education for children with normative development. Examples are such sections as spatial and social orientation for blind, deaf-blind and mentally retarded children; correctional work with children with mental retardation on the formation of mechanisms for conscious regulation of their own behavior and interaction with people around them; purposeful development of emotional and social interaction in children with autism and ASD, etc.
Teaching methods and tools - the need to build "detours", use specific methods and teaching aids, in more differentiated, "step by step" learning than is usually required for children with normative development. An example is the use of dactylology and sign language in teaching the deaf, the use of embossed Braille in teaching the blind, much earlier than normal, teaching deaf children to read and write, special methods of teaching literacy to children with autism, etc.
Organization of education - the need for greater variability in the forms of organization of education and its qualitative individualization, in a special spatial, temporal and semantic organization of the educational environment. So, for example, children with autism need a special structuring of the educational space, which makes it easier for them to understand the meaning of what is happening, giving them the opportunity to predict the course of events and plan their behavior.
Borders of educational space - the need for the maximum expansion of the educational space, going beyond the educational institution for the formation of life competence and the development of the ability to apply the acquired knowledge in everyday life.
Years of education - the need for continuing and special needs education: throughout life, taking into account changing and increasing social and educational challenges.
Circle of people involved in education and their interaction - the need to include the family in the process of rehabilitation of the child by means of education and its special training by specialists; the need for the coordinated participation of qualified specialists of various profiles (special psychologists and teachers, social workers, doctors of various specialties, neuro- and psychophysiologists, etc.).

Along with those common to all children with disabilities, there are special educational needs specific to each category of children, each age stage, mental development options observed in each category, as well as individual needs determined by the unique history of life, upbringing and education child.

The concept of a “child with special educational needs” needs further development. It seems necessary to scientifically substantiate and differentiated description, definition and understanding of the special educational needs of each category of children with disabilities, each age stage of development and level of education. A modern achievement is a scientifically based description of the special educational needs of children with autism of primary school age, differentiated according to the four most typical developmental options, which served as the basis for the creation of a differentiated Federal State Educational Standard for Primary General Education for this category of students.

Here is a description of the special educational needs of one of the groups of autistic children. The development of ties between an autistic child with a loved one and society as a whole is disrupted and is not carried out in the same way as in the norm, and not in the same way as in other children with disabilities. Mental development in autism is not just delayed or impaired, it is distorted, since the mental functions of such a child do not develop in line with social interaction and solving real life problems, but to a large extent as a means of auto-stimulation, a means of limiting, rather than developing interaction with the environment and other people .

Distortion of development is characteristically manifested in a change in the ratio of a child who is easy to learn and difficult to learn. He may have fragmentary ideas about the environment, not distinguish and comprehend the simplest connections in what is happening in everyday life, which is not specifically taught to an ordinary child. May not accumulate elementary everyday life experience, but show competence in more formal, abstract areas of knowledge - highlight colors, geometric shapes, be interested in numbers, letters, grammatical forms, etc. It is difficult for this child to actively adapt to changing conditions, new circumstances, therefore, the abilities that such children have and even the skills and accumulated knowledge already developed are poorly implemented in life.

The transfer of social experience to such children, their introduction into culture is a particular difficulty. Establishing emotional contact and involving the child in developmental practical interaction, in a joint understanding of what is happening is the basic task of special psychological and pedagogical assistance for autism.

The special educational needs of children with autism during the primary school years include, in addition to those common to all children with disabilities, the following specific needs:

in a significant number of cases * at the beginning of training, it becomes necessary to gradually and individually dosed introduction of the child into the situation of learning in the classroom. Class attendance should be regular, but adjusted according to the child's ability to cope with anxiety, fatigue, satiety and overexcitation. As the child gets used to the situation of learning in the classroom, it should approach his full inclusion in the process of primary schooling;
the choice of lessons that the child begins to attend should begin with those where he feels most successful and interested and gradually, if possible, include all the others;
the majority of children with autism are significantly delayed in the development of self-care and life support skills: it is necessary to be prepared for the child’s possible domestic helplessness and slowness, problems with going to the toilet, dining, with selectivity in food, difficulties with changing clothes, with the fact that he does not know how to ask a question , complain, ask for help. Entering school usually motivates the child to overcome these difficulties, and his attempts should be supported by special remedial work to develop social and everyday skills;
special support is needed for children (individual and when working in the classroom) in developing the possibilities of verbal and non-verbal communication - the formation of the ability to seek information, express their attitude, assessment, consent or refusal, share impressions;
there may be a need for temporary and individually dosed support by the tutor for the organization of the entire stay of the child at school and his learning behavior in the classroom; support should be gradually reduced and removed as the child gets used to it, masters the order of school life, rules of conduct at school and in the classroom, skills of social adaptation and communication;
at the beginning of training, if necessary *, along with attending a class, the child must be provided with additional individual lessons with a teacher to develop forms of adequate learning behavior, the ability to communicate and interact with the teacher, adequately perceive praise and comments;
periodic individual pedagogical sessions (cycles of classes) are necessary for a child with autism, even with adequate educational behavior, to control the development of new educational material in the classroom (which may be difficult for him during the period of getting used to school) and, if necessary, to provide individual corrective assistance in mastering the educational program;
it is necessary to create a particularly clear and orderly temporal-spatial structure of the lessons and the entire stay of the child at school, giving him support for understanding what is happening and self-organization;
special work is needed to bring the child to the possibility of frontal organization in the lesson: planning a mandatory period of transition from individual verbal and non-verbal instructions to frontal;
in using forms of praise that take into account the characteristics of children with autism and developing the ability to adequately perceive comments addressed to oneself and to classmates;
in organizing the education of such a child and assessing his achievements, it is necessary to take into account the specifics of mastering skills and mastering information, the features of mastering “simple” and “complex”;
it is necessary to introduce special sections of remedial education that help overcome the fragmentation of ideas about the environment, develop means of communication, social and everyday skills;
special corrective work is needed to comprehend, streamline and differentiate the child's individual life experience, which is extremely incomplete and fragmented; assisting him in working out impressions, memories, ideas about the future, developing the ability to plan, choose, compare;
children with autism need special assistance in ordering and comprehending acquired knowledge and skills, which does not allow their mechanical formal accumulation and use for autostimulation;
a child with autism needs, at least at first, a special organization at recess*, involving him in his usual activities, allowing him to rest and, if possible, engage in interaction with other children;
children with autism for primary education need to create learning conditions that provide an environment of sensory and emotional comfort (no sudden mood swings, even and warm tone of the teacher’s voice in relation to any student in the class), orderliness and predictability of what is happening;
the teacher needs a special attitude to develop emotional contact with the child, to maintain in him the confidence that he is accepted, sympathized with him, that he is successful in the classroom;
the teacher should try to convey this attitude to the classmates of a child with autism, not emphasizing his specialness, but showing his strengths and arousing sympathy for him with his attitude, involve children in accessible interaction;
it is necessary to develop children's attention to the manifestations of close adults and fellow students and special assistance in understanding situations that occur with other people, their relationships;
for the social development of the child, it is necessary to use his existing electoral abilities;
the learning process in primary school should be supported by psychological support that optimizes the interaction of the child with teachers and fellow students, family and school;
children with autism already in the period of primary education need an individually dosed and gradual expansion of the educational space outside the educational institution.

An equally accurate, detailed, evidence-based definition of the special educational needs of each category of children with disabilities, in relation to each age, developmental variant and stage of education, is required.

Children with Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Until recently, boys and girls in schools were required to follow the goals set by adults, and anyone who went beyond the norm was simply rejected. Although there were special education schools, these were only for the most severe cases. Even older than There were not even special schools for children with special educational needs (SEN).

Fortunately, this changes over time, and the learning process takes into account the individual needs of each student, possible violations and more individual learning, so that the real abilities of each student, regardless of existing needs, can be increased in this way. An attempt was made to establish the necessary resources and materials in schools and homes. so that the student's education with or without SEN will be satisfactory.

Index

1 What are special educational needs
2 What does “special educational needs” mean?
3 How schools can help children with special educational needs
4 Your child's success
5 How to get help for your child
6 Talk to your child's school
7 School care

What are your child's special educational needs

have special educational needs if they have a learning disability or disability that makes it difficult for them to learn, and they do not develop in the same way as children their age.

They may have learning, social or behavioral problems. Parents can get help and advice from professionals, teachers and community organizations.

What does "special educational needs" mean?

"Special Educational Needs" is a legal definition and refers to children with learning disabilities or disabilities that make it harder for them to learn than most children of the same age. These are children who require special aids and resources that other children do not need to develop their individual abilities.

How schools can help children with special educational needs

The school can usually provide assistance and sometimes uses specialists. If your child has special educational needs, they may need extra help with:

Schoolwork
Read, write, work with numbers or understand information
Express yourself or understand what others are saying
Make friends or associate with adults
Organization

They may also have sensory or physical needs at school.

Your child's progress

Children progress at different rates and have different ways of learning better, but the resources used in their learning will be needed to be able to maximize the abilities they may have in the environment. When planning lessons, your child's teacher will take this into account by carefully observing how they organize lessons, classrooms, books and materials.

The teacher will select appropriate ways to help your child learn. If your child is progressing more slowly or has specific problems in one area, additional classes or other lessons may be offered.

The fact that your child is progressing more slowly than expected, or that teachers provide different kinds of support, help, or classroom activities, This does not necessarily mean that your child has special educational needs.

How to get help for your child

The first years of your child's life are a very important time for their physical, emotional, intellectual and social development. When a doctor or health visitor performs a routine checkup, they may assume that there is a problem. If you have concerns of your own, seek advice immediately.

You should ask your child's class teacher, the person in the school responsible for helping children with special educational needs, or the principal. You can ask them:

The school thinks your child has problems
Your child can work at the same level as others of his age
Your child is already receiving extra help
You can help your son

If the school recognizes that your child has special needs in some areas, they will use a good care protocol. Identification and coordination with other professionals is important to be able to determine if a child does have SEN.

Talk to your child's school

There are a few basic principles that everyone involved in your children's education in school will consider:

If your child has special needs, they must be met and receive a comprehensive, balanced and related education.
Your views must always be taken into account and your child's wishes must be heard.
Your child's needs are usually met in a mainstream school, sometimes with outside help.
You must be consulted on all decisions that affect your child.
You have a vital role to play in your child's education.

Parents need to have as much information as possible so that they can understand exactly what is happening with their child and how they can help him lead a more balanced life in accordance with his abilities. Remember that students with SEN must learn to live in a society that is not always inclusive, although society ideally encourages the inclusion of people who require a different type of training due to their needs and personal characteristics.

School care

Children learn differently and may have different needs. The school may find it necessary to bring in specialized experts to help with problems the child may have. This approach is enshrined in school protocol. The school needs to know how to tell you if your child can always get the help they need.

School care may be related to:

Another way of teaching certain things
Extra help from an adult
Use of equipment such as a dedicated computer or table

Your child may need help for a short time or for years. You should inquire with the school about the resources and practices available, and which professionals will visit you on a regular basis for your special educational needs.

In some cases, it is also necessary to create an individual school curriculum plan with specific goals and exclusively for students representing SEN. These goals must also be completed from home and will not be the same as the goals of the rest of the class.