Read the following text. Use dictionary if necessary. Preschool special education is a state and federal mandated program for three- and four-year-old children who meet state eligibility criteria of developmental

Preschool special education is a state and federal mandated program for three- and four-year-old children who meet state eligibility criteria of developmental delay or disability and are experiencing challenges in their learning and development. The children are eligible if they have a significant delay in one or more areas of development, such as learning, speaking or playing.

Special education can be provided to preschool children in a number of ways. Special education for the child may be provided in the child’s home by a traveling teacher. Special education may be provided in your neighborhood elementary school where there are opportunities for interaction with other children during the school day. Center-based programs involve bringing children to a special educational center for a preschool class. The lessons usually last for two hours a day for three, four, or five days a week.

Five year-old children with disabilities may participate in a regular kindergarten program with supplementary special educational program. Some children may be placed both in kindergarten and in a preschool special educational class.

The Individual Educational Program (IEP) must be reviewed and rewritten at least annually. A comprehensive reevaluation of the child’s strengths and weaknesses must be conducted at least every three years. Parents or teacher can ask for a reevaluation at any time. Special education and related services for preschool children must be provided by qualified personnel. These professionals must be trained to have the license in the following specialties: school psychology, speech therapy, special education, physical or occupational therapy.

As a child’s sixth birthday comes closer a number of important decisions have to be made. First of all, if the child has been identified as a “child with disabilities, ” that generic classification must be specified to one of the disabling condition found in special education law for school-aged children.

Educators generally say that some children with special needs are not good candidates for inclusion. Inclusion in education is an approach to educating children with special educational needs. Under the inclusion model, children with special needs spend most or all of their time with non-disabled children. Implementation of these practices varies. Schools most frequently use them for selected children with mild to severe special needs. Many schools expect a fully included student to be working at or near grade level, but more fundamental requirements exist:

First, being included requires that the student is able to attend school. Children that are entirely excluded from school (for example, due to long-term hospitalization), or who are educated outside of schools (for example, due to enrollment in a distance education program) cannot attempt inclusion.

Additionally children with severe behavioral problems, such that they represent a serious physical danger to others, are poor candidates for inclusion, because the school has a duty to provide a safe environment to all children and staff. Also, some children are not good candidates for inclusion because the normal activities in a general education classroom will prevent them from learning. For example, a student with severe attention difficulties or extreme sensory processing disorders might be highly distracted or distressed by the presence of other children working at their desks. Inclusion needs to be appropriate to the child's unique needs.

The children that are most commonly included are those with physical disabilities that have no or little effect on their academic work (diabetes, epilepsy, food allergies, paralysis), children with all types of mild disabilities, and children whose disabilities require relatively few specialized services.

Inclusion has two sub-types: the first is sometimes called regular inclusion or partial inclusion, and the other is full inclusion.

Partial inclusion is a form of integration, when children with special needs are educated in regular classes for nearly all of the day, or at least for more than half of the day. The student is treated like a full member of the class. However, most specialized services are provided outside a regular classroom, particularly if these services require special equipment or might be disruptive to the rest of the class (such as speech therapy). In this case, the student occasionally leaves the regular classroom to attend smaller, more intensive instructional sessions in a resource room, or to receive other related services, such as speech and language therapy, occupational and/or physical therapy, and social work.

Full inclusion is the integration of all children, even those that require the most substantial educational and behavioral supports and services to be successful in regular classes and the elimination of segregated special education classes. Some educators say this might be more effective for the children with special needs. However, this approach to full inclusion is somewhat controversial, and it is not widely understood or applied to date. Much more commonly, local educational agencies provide a variety of settings, form special classrooms to mainstreaming to inclusion, and assign children to the system that seems most likely to help the student achieve his or her individual educational goals.

 

Ш. 1. Answer the questions:

1) What is preschool special education?

2) In what ways can special education be provided to preschool children?

3) How often must a comprehensive reevaluation of the child’s strengths and weaknesses be conducted?

4) In what specialties must the professionals be trained?

5) What factors make child a good candidate for inclusion?

6) What are the reasons of not being included?

7) How can you characterize partial inclusion?

8) What specialized services are provided for children with special needs outside a regular classroom?

9) Give the definition of full inclusion.

10) Is full inclusion widely applied nowadays?

 

2. Say whether the following statements are true or false:

1) Preschool special education is a state and federal mandated program for three- and four-year-old children who meet state eligibility criteria of developmental progress.

2) Special education for the child may be provided in the child’s home by a traveling teacher.

3) Five year-old children with disabilities cannot participate in a regular kindergarten program with supplementary special educational program.

4) A comprehensive reevaluation of the child’s strengths and weaknesses must be conducted every five years.

5) Educators generally say that all children with special needs are good candidates for inclusion.

6) Children that are entirely excluded from school (for example, due to long-term hospitalization), or who are educated outside of schools (for example, due to enrollment in a distance education program) cannot attempt inclusion.

7) Children with severe behavioral problems, such that they represent a serious physical danger to others, are good candidates for inclusion.

8) A student with severe attention difficulties or extreme sensory processing disorders might be highly distracted or distressed by the presence of other children working at their desks.

9) Partial inclusion is a form of integration, when children with special needs are educated in regular classes for nearly all of the day, or at least for more than half of the day.

10) Full inclusion is the integration of all children, even those that require the most substantial educational and behavioral supports.

11) Much more commonly, local educational agencies provide a variety of settings, form special classrooms to mainstreaming to inclusion, and assign children to the system that seems most likely to help the student achieve his or her individual educational goals.

 

3. Continue the sentences:

1) The children are eligible …

2) Center-based programs involve …

3) The Individual Educational Program must be…

4) First of all, if the child has been identified as a “child with disabilities”…

5) Under the inclusion model …

6) Also, some children are not good candidates for inclusion…

7) The children that are most commonly included are …

8) Partial inclusion is a form of integration, when …

9) Full inclusion is the integration of …

10) Much more commonly, local educational agencies provide …

4. Which word in the list is odd?

1) challenges in learning and development, significant delay in speaking or playing, problems with parents;

2) long-term hospitalization, comprehensive reevaluation, education outside of school, enrollment in a distance education program;

3) diabetes, mental deficiency, epilepsy, food allergies, paralysis;

4) school psychology, biology, speech therapy, special education, physical or occupational therapy;

5. Fill in the blanks with the words from the text:

Special education for the child may be provided in the child’s home by a …...

… … of the child’s strengths and weaknesses must be conducted at least every three years. Parents or teacher can ask for a reevaluation at any time.

First of all, if the child has been identified as a “child with disabilities, ” that … … must be specified to one of the disabling condition found in … … … for …...

Children that are entirely excluded from school (for example, due to … …), or who are educated outside of schools (for example, due to enrollment in a … … …) cannot attempt inclusion.

Additionally children with severe behavioral problems, such that they represent a serious physical danger to others, are … … for inclusion.

… … is a form of integration, when children with special needs are educated in regular classes. However, most specialized services are provided outside a regular classroom, particularly if these services require special equipment or might be … to the rest of the class. In this case, the student occasionally leaves the regular classroom to attend smaller, more … … … in a … …

… … is the integration of all children, even those that require the most substantial educational and behavioral supports and services to be successful in regular classes and the elimination of segregated special education classes.

 

6. Give synonyms from the text:

- to be acceptable;

- difficulties in learning;

- personnel (teachers);

- the duration of a stay in a hospital;

- inappropriate candidate.

7. Make up the plan of the text. Here are the titles in the wrong order. Make the order correct:

1) The definition of full inclusion.

2) The conduction of a comprehensive reevaluation of the child’s strengths and weaknesses.

3) The definition of preschool special education.

4) The reasons of not being included.

5) The ways in which special education can be provided to preschool children.

6) The professionals training.

7) The factors that make child a good candidate for inclusion.

8) Partial inclusion and the specialized services that are provided for children with special needs outside a regular classroom.