Special Needs Education

Children with Special needs or who are differently abled require a specific way of dealing in all walks of life. Education is no different. These children find it very difficult to get accommodated in the traditional set ups & curriculum.  Hence, education modules should be so defined and designed taking into consideration such a child’s needs and limitations. Thus, Special Education or special needs education is nothing but ways to the educated children whose learning needs cannot be met by a standard school curriculum. Within this stream of education, the child is involved using individually planned teaching procedures such as Special instructional methodology, techniques and materials and is monitored by a trained professional in a comfortable setting to ensure the comfort of the child. Also, adaptive equipment’s and methods such as audio, visual, tactile (touch) and kin-aesthetic (by doing) may be used.

 As it is rightly said “If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn”. Special needs institutions aim to promote the level of personal self-sufficiency in the lives of children to make them more successful. One such schools we are aware of is, SAARTHI School for Special Children in Mumbai. It is a Non-profit organization which provides academic, vocational, medical and psychological support to the exceptional children especially those coming from the lower socio-economic strata. SAARTHI aspires to provide integrated care to the exceptional children of all sections of society. To name a few more are ADAPT, Apang Maitree , Aseema School, Dilkhush Special School , Kshithij etc.

It has only been over the past years that special needs education has been gaining impetus in India and educational facilities provided to children with disabilities have grown gradually. These ones range from development of special schools to Inclusive education in the traditional setup. But have we given it the importance it deserves? Or Have taken the necessary steps to ensure that children with special needs are given the best education and trained on how to venture forth into the real world?