All students have the right to be safe at school. Regulations mandate that schools must establish procedures to ensure the safety of all students during emergency situations. Twenty years ago, a Midwestern school district created Individualized Emergency Evacuation Plans (IEEPs) to address unique safety needs of students with disabilities. A mixed…

Person-centred reviews (PCRs) can enable children with special needs -- even very young children -- to be equal partners in the team that determines what support they need and how it should be carried out. With its critical psychology perspective, and informed by an extensive empirical research study with children, young people and their families,…

Due to the major advances in technology and the sciences, advances in the medical treatment options for children with chronic conditions are being made at an astonishing rate. In the health care field, "children with chronic conditions" is a generic phrase that typically refers to children with physical, developmental, behavioral, or…

To implement Response to Intervention with intermediate-grade struggling readers, there is a need for interventions that are responsive to individual student needs, and sufficiently comprehensive to support the many dimensions of the reading process. This research examined the efficacy of such an intervention, the Interactive Strategies…

Recently, consensus among researchers and professionals has emerged about factors that contribute to postschool success of youth with disabilities. Prominent among these factors are targeted academic preparation, family involvement, youth empowerment, and service collaboration and linkages. Work experience and paid employment have been identified…

In this article the author provides legal explanations to the following concerns: (1) Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) and Individualized Education Programs (IEPs); (2) Functional Behavior Assessments (FBAs) and Behavior Intervention Plans (BIPs); (3) Manifestation Determinations under Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA);…

It is the position of the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) that students whose healthcare needs affect or have the potential to affect safe and optimal school attendance and academic performance require the professional school nurse to write an Individualized Healthcare Plan (IHP), in collaboration with the student, family, educators,…

Alberta Education provides programming support and funding to school authorities to develop and implement special education programming for ECS children and students in grades 1 to 12. "Special Education Coding Criteria 2009/2010" outlines criteria within specific categories to help school authorities identify those children and students…

Twelve-year-old Aaron Zibricky, a member of the Lucky Clovers 4-H Club, entered his prize sheep, Star, in the 2005 Will County Fair in Illinois. Zibricky, who is diagnosed with autism, had worked and strived for this moment, putting in long hours feeding, cleaning and shearing the sheep and learning showmanship skills. No one was more elated at…

In December of 2004, the reauthorization of IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) was signed into law and went into effect on July 1, 2005, making dramatic changes in the area of transition from school to post-secondary life. The President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education created recommendations that influenced the new…

Implications of implementing full integration of special needs students are considered, noting the goal's basis in the belief that every child is unique, valued, and can learn. Responsibilities of participants in inclusive programs are identified, and two methods (adaptations and modifications) for altering the educational programs of students…

This paper lists practices recommended by the Council for Exceptional Children's Division for Early Childhood concerning Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSPs) and Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) in early intervention and early childhood special education (EI/ECSE) programs for infants and young children with special needs and their…

This article reviews some ways of differentiating classroom methods for special needs students in Great Britain, including differentiation of content, interests, pace, level, access, response, sequence, structure, teacher time, teaching style, and grouping. The most effective methods of differentiation are felt to be grouping, structure, and…

Describes the Learning Support Center (LSC), an inclusive program that provides support services to at-risk and marginal high school students. The LSC uses nontraditional staffing (including sources from outside the school), establishes schoolwide ownership via staff involvement, and uses educational instruments such as the Personalized Learning…

This paper suggests a variety of ways of assessing the curriculum and assessing pupils so that tasks can be matched to special needs learners in the process of curriculum differentiation. The emphasis is on formative and diagnostic assessment but summative assessment is also discussed. (Author/JDD)