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Special Education

Notes (iv) ....................... to provide special education to handicapped children started in 19th century in
Europe and America.
(v) The historical roots of special education are found in ..................... .

3.3 Types of Special Education
Today, special education is a complex system for meeting the special learning needs of exceptional
students. Three types of assistance are generally available: direct services, indirect or consultative
services, and related services.
Direct services are provided by working with students themselves to correct or compensate for the
conditions that have caused them to fall behind in school or to enrich or accelerate the progress they
are making in school. Teaching a student who is deaf to use sign language, a student with a learning
disability to read using a special method of instruction, or a gifted fourth-grader to do algebra are
examples of direct services provided by teachers.
Indirect or consultative services are provided to classroom teachers and others who work with
exceptional students over a period of time to help meet the needs of the students. Helping a teacher
identify the best method for teaching a student with learning disabilities to read, or showing a teacher
how to reposition a student with a physical disability, are examples of indirect services provided by
teachers and other professionals.
Related services are provided by specially trained personnel directly to students or indirectly to
those who work with exceptional students. Related services include psychological testing and
counseling, school social work, educational/occupational therapy, adapted physical education, school
health services, and transportation. Related services may also include assistive technology, which
means equipment designed to improve or maintain the functional abilities of students with disabilities.
For instance, the provision of electronic communication aids is often considered a related service.
The types of service students receive as part of their special education program vary according to the
level of their learning needs. Placements may also differ for different conditions. Sometimes the
children are taken out of regular education classes to other settings to serve them. Sometimes services
are taken to the student. Resource rooms are settings used to provide special education outside the
regular education classroom for 21 to 60 percent of the school day. Special classes are settings in
which students receive special education and related services outside the regular classroom for more
than 60 percent of the school day. Students may be placed in special classrooms with part-time
instruction in regular classes or placed in special classes full time on a regular school campus.
Even when students require full-time special services, there are different degrees of "restrictiveness."
Some students spend all their time in special education classrooms. Others, because of illness or
other medical problems, are educated in hospitals or at home. Still others are taught in residential
(institutional) settings, in classes run and staffed by personnel from local school districts. In the most
restrictive setting, students live in a residential school or institution and are taught by staff members
of that school or institution. We show the continuum of settings in which students receive special
education, and report the most recent figures on the numbers or proportions of students with
disabilities who are educated in each setting.
Table Percentage of Students who receive special education services in six main educational
environments

Environment Students (%) Description
Regular Class 337 Students receive a majority of their education in a regular
classroom and receive special education and related service
outside the regular classroom for less than 21 percent of
the school day. This option includes children placed in a
regular class and receiving special education within the
regular class as well as children placed in a regular class
and receiving special education outside the regular class.

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