Thesis on "Social Perception of Special Education Students Identified as Learning Disabled"

Thesis 6 pages (1874 words) Sources: 10 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Perception of LD students

The development of special education in many ways has been relatively moderate since the beginning of legal reforms that attempted to provide equal and adequate education for those with diagnosable learning disabilities. Special education, historically has been isolated from other "regular" instruction and can be subsidiary or primary sources of education. In the past many of these students (and their teachers) were isolated to special education classes that were dominated by limited expectations and skill level development that was hopefully designed to meet the needs and abilities of individuals with learning disabilities. A more recent trend has stressed inclusion of these students into the regular classroom, as much as possible to reduce exclusionary situations. This trend has both positive and negative outcomes and depending on the environment can be either helpful to the positive perception of these children or destructive to self-esteem as they (and others) compare their abilities to other children without the burden of specific learning disabilities. "The term 'learning disabled' describes a heterogeneous group of individuals who are unable to learn specific academic skills often despite having normal or above normal intelligence." (Stage & Milne, 1996, p. 426)

The inclusion of learning disabled children with diagnosable conditions into regular classrooms can both help and hurt perception, and especially peer perception of them, as on the one hand these children are then given the opportunity to be viewed as socially and emotionally similar to "normal" children and therefore worthy of inclusion in social activities, while on the other hand when academic performance is used as a guide fore perception these children may also be rejected by "normal" children as a result of failed educational interjections. (Mcleskey, Henry & Axelrod, 1999, p. 55) Additionally, many general educators do not feel prepared to deal with full inclusion and therefore resist it or feel inadequate with regard to educating children with specific learning disabilities and therefore feel ill equipped to teach them let alone interject positive perceptions of LD children to help promote positive perceptions among their peers.

During the past 50 years, numerous studies have focused on the public's attitudes toward people with intellectual disabilities (ID). As the move toward educating children in the least restrictive environment gained momentum following the initial passage of Public Law 94-142 in 1975, much of this research addressed the attitudes of children and youth. The consistent findings have been, with few exceptions, that children and youth hold negative attitudes toward their peers with ID (Nowicki (Siperstein, Parker, Bardon & Widaman, 2007, p. 435)

Lack of understanding regarding specific learning disabilities also feeds the fire of negative perceptions of both teachers and students, of children with LDs. Sadly many do not fully understand that children with LDs are likely to have equal or even in some cases superior intelligences to those who do not have diagnosable LDs. Even teachers of special education might feel considerably overwhelmed in their beginning years with the needs of multi-level children, with varied abilities, socio-emotional adaptability andother needs and perceptions.

First-year teachers of students with learning disabilities (LD) are faced with multiple challenges. Although their primary responsibility is the education of students with academic delays, other elements frequently play a role in determining whether they view their vocational efforts as successful or unsuccessful. (Busch, Pederson, Espin & Weissenburger, 2001, p. 92)

Development of inclusion, as well as consistent negatively biased perceptions of LD children persist despite the fact that much research has been conducted showing that self-value and self-determination of children with intellectual as well as physical disabilities will help then perform much better in the long-term and even into adulthood. "The increasingly evident relationship between self-determination and more positive adult outcomes has produced an emphasis on instruction to promote self-determination and enhanced student involvement (Wehman, 1998)." (Zhang, Wehmeyer & Chen, 2005) There is in fact so much evidence of this that even former learning disabled students are seeking out employment as LD teachers to help foster improvements from what they experienced as children with regard to teacher and peer perception of them while they were in school. (Gerber, 1992, pp. 213-214) This trend though exceedingly helpful is hardly encompassing enough to reverse the trend of significant and broad negative perceptions of students with LDs, almost regardless of their severity and type. Real change must be fostered intrinsically across a broad spectrum of the education system, with a top town challenge to real "full inclusion" and "least restrictive learning environments." From administrators to teachers to students, people need excessive evidence and instruction as the reality of specific learning disabilities and the nature of the problem, as apposed to continuing to equate the disability with the individual and seeing them both as flawed and therefore worthy of discrimination and deprivation. This pervasive attitude, associated with internalizing deficiencies of all types upon the individual child has even become as consistent research base, which needs alteration, in order to stress the external, socio-emotional environment of the classroom and peer groups, in other words what can be done about the environment to help these children rather than attempting to change the child.

In analyzing the factors that contribute to the socioemotional adjustment of children with development problems, Luthar and Cicchetti (2000) described vulnerability factors and protective factors at the individual, family, and community levels. Most studies of children with learning disorders have emphasized the effect of children's individual characteristics on socioemotional maladjustment (see Culbertson, 1998, for a review). These internal factors include alterations in central nervous system functioning (i.e., information-processing disorder), impulsivity, performance and production deficits, emotional reactivity, low self-esteem, and denial of the disorder. Personal factors that protect children with learning disorders from maladjustment outcomes are high verbal skills, high self-esteem, and a delineated understanding of the nature and course of the disorder (Yagon & Mikulincer, 2004, p. 111)

Again, this is despite the fact that a great deal even of this biased research has determined that external inclusion, on an emotional peer and adult level greatly improves the adjustment and therefore innate and learned abilities of children with specific LDs.

One significant negative perception on the part of educators, parents of "normal" children and peers of LD students is that all LDs demonstrate disruptive behaviors, either as a consequence of their inability to concentrate on work or their need for additional attention with regard to academic preparation. This is not true of all LD diagnosis and should never be assumed. If such occurrences happen it is the obligation of teachers and supportive administrators to codify these needs and bring in additional resource room assistance to the classroom. (Houston-Wilson & Lieberman, 1999, p. 60) Where resources or diagnostic criteria do not allow such investment additional time from the teacher must be downplayed to such a degree that the other students do not feel as if the teacher is always obliged to assist the LD student(s) over other students in the classroom. Sadly, lack of resources for special needs children often plagues classrooms, schools and districts, and issue that must soon be resolved for the sake of successful student programming and optimal development of successful teachers and more importantly well rounded and successful students, as children and adults. (Kaufhold, Alverez & Arnold, 2006, p. 159) This is often noted concern regarding teachers feelings of success and ability to teach in and outside inclusive systems.

Clearly one of the most profound problems associated with poor adjustment of both staff, peers and LD students is the high rate of high school drop outs among the LD population.

Students with learning disabilities (LD) are at particular risk for dropping out of school (Deshler et al., 2001; President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education, 2002). By definition, students with LD demonstrate low academic achievement -- a feature that generally worsens as they get older (see, e.g., Higgins, Boone, & Lovitt, 2002; Zigmond, 2003) and course content becomes more complex (Deshler et al., 2001). High school students with LD also exhibit a greater number of behavioral problems compared to their peers without LD (Sabornie & deBettencourt, 2004). Poor academic achievement and greater behavior problems are two of the strongest predictors of not completing high school (Cairns, Cairns, & Neckerman, 1989). Thus, it should not be surprising that a larger percentage of students with LD than without LD fail to complete high school. (Bear, Kortering & Braziel, 2006, p. 293)

Resolving this problem should be an essential goal of all educators, parent sand students as achievement of success within the confined of secondary education is much more likely to produce well adapted and capable individual students with LD who move forward in work and possibly post-secondary education and become fully functioning adult members of society.

Conclusion

The development of fully functioning LD students, both in and outside of the classroom is a surmountable goal of the education system. This reality is hardly being reached at this time, due in large part to the development of poor perception of these students at every level of school and… READ MORE

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