What do you understand by special education? Why it is needed or explain the meaning and importance of special education.
Needs of Special Education It is true that special facilities and resources are needed for the upliftment of backward and talented children. Hence the importance of special education can be understood.
(1) Special classes are necessary for children with disabilities because special methods and techniques are required for their education.
(2) The intelligence level of gifted children is higher than that of normal children, so gifted children have to face difficulty in adjusting with normal children. Generally it is found that the teacher teaches at his own pace which is suitable for normal children. But the gifted child normally completes his work soon. In such a situation, the problem arises that how the gifted child spends his time while the teacher is busy in completing the same work of normal children. Generally gifted children start doing indiscipline and arrogance in such situation. The curriculum of normal children is so simple that the gifted child becomes monotonous and loses interest in the work. Talented peers do not get motivated towards work.
(3) Gifted children require additional facilities and means to meet social and personal needs. Therefore, such facilities try to reduce the defects in the gifted children with disabilities. In such a situation, excellent children get an opportunity to work according to their talent. In normal classes, the intelligent child finds himself obstructed in doing work. With a little will, he can make a place in the category of gifted children and can raise his level. It is appropriate in its place that more rapid progress is to some extent a deficiency and a weakness.
(4) Experimental data reveals that social mismanagement with gifted students is found to be rampant in general educational institutions. Talented people sit idle due to lack of work or sometimes not, because either they are not burdened with the work or they finish the work soon. In such circumstances his personal behavior is not acceptable. Because they involve themselves in acts of arrogance.
(5) In special classes, intelligent students get an opportunity to progress, but the teacher has to face problems and obstacles in motivating such children to work in the normal classroom. In general, eccentric children are more sensitive than other normal children. Their thinking ability is more and faster. They are careful about the work, so special methods and techniques are needed in their teaching.
(6) In the classes of gifted children, every child knows that he is not only an intelligent student in the class but there are many other students. This idea develops a sense of self-confidence in the children. Special classes also provide an opportunity to the children to progress as a guide in special streams of teaching to a greater extent. Some in the same group take interest in such branches as children, poetry, drama, sports and general knowledge. In the coming times, suitable training and special education programs for children can prove to be helpful. Children are fully trained in various social environments by experts from different branches.
(7) Selective placement is done by special education, analysis, evaluation and determination are done in categories. Physical examination and pricing • Determination by experts of different fields like mental, psychologist, doctor, hearing, eye, brain, bone and educationists etc. is very necessary for the selected placement of talented children.
(8) Specialized education also requires other services. Such as physical, vocational and regular physical examination of children with disabilities. Some gifted children also require definite and regular medical care. From time to time, blind children and children with hearing impairment may need to be tested. Professional and physical, mental, psychological etc. services are very necessary for some special children. It is fair to say that some specialized equipment and additional training is necessary for academics and sometimes it is quite expensive. But in reality, reducing the care of physically handicapped and special children is more expensive than proper training.
(9) The importance of special children can be understood from the difficulties faced by the educationists in the normal classroom. In the general class, there are handicapped and general and other different categories of students. They are physically handicapped and ordinary or gifted and normal. The educationist has to adopt such methods at the time of educating them, which are suitable for the above different categories of children. But the educationist has to face some difficulties in the classroom while giving education to the children, because the students find it difficult to understand the instruction given to them. Some students underestimate the measure of meaningfulness of instruction. In such a situation the need for special classes is seriously understood. In a way, the meaning of special education is not only to help the gifted children but also to reach some result for the general class teachers.
(10) It is said that education begins from the place where medicines end. Providing hearing aids to the hearing impaired child is the work of medical science. But using the ability of children to see and hear is undoubtedly the field of education. If hearing impairments are corrected, then this is the area of medicine, and if this is not done then it is a matter of concern for education. Academics have to think about this, what can be done? Such as providing 'Brail' or related resources for completely blind children, training through travel and explaining through discussions, etc., through specialized education is provided by the services of education experts.
