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Special Education

Notes will help in realistic appraisal of the situation of their child. The multidimensional assessment will
give clear directions and action plan to the rehabilitation professionals and most important to the
parents.
1. It will help to anticipate further necessary action that needs from parents.
2. It will help parents to look for possible resources required in the rehabilitation process of their
child.
3. It will also help them to clarify their role in rehabilitation process that can save their energy
from unnecessary efforts.
4. It will increase the feeling of certainty regarding their child among parent that can reduce
further stress.
Self Assessment
2. State whether the following statements are 'True' or 'False':
(i) Epstein describes six major levels of involvement.
(ii) According to Brito and Waller (1994) parent involvement is not a concept that can include
many different activities.
(iii) It is important to communicate parents that the responsibility rest not only with the
professionals but also with parents.
(iv) Parents may not feel that it is 'rescuer time' for them who their child is in sheltered workshop.
(v) Rehabilitation professionals should see the child with disability as an individual.

31.3 Role of Peers

The impact of peer influence on exceptional children is generally associated with negative
connotations. The use of the peer group as a vehicle for problem-solving development has not been
fully utilized, even though it presents significant opportunities for childcare practitioners and
educators.
It is widely accepted that membership in peer groups is a powerful force in exceptional children
education. These groups provide an important developmental point of reference through which
special children gain an understanding of the world outside of their families. Failure to develop
close relationships with agemates, however, often results in a variety of problems for special children
- from delinquency and substance abuse to higher peer stress and less companionship support from
peers has been associated with a lower social self-concept in special education.
As children progress special education, they build knowledge bases that help them navigate social
situations. An abundance of literature has suggested that there is considerable individual variation
regarding cognitive skill development in special education as it relates to peer influence. Dodge's
(1993) research indicated that poor peer relationships were closely associated with social cognitive
skill deficits. He found that exceptional children who had developed positive peer relationships
generated more alternative solutions to problems, proposed more mature solutions, and were less
aggressive than youth who had developed negative peer relationships. Along those same lines, found
that adolescents who compared themselves negatively in reference to their peers experienced a
reduction in attention to problem-solving tasks.
Peer Influence as a Behavior Management Tool: Most public and private childcare systems continue
to overlook peer influence despite the growing body of literature indicating that it represents a
powerful force in maintaining orderly, productive, and positive academic and rehabilitative
environments. Schools all but ignore the incorporation of peer group strategies as a vehicle for
developing problem-solving skills in the classroom, focusing instead on individual memorization of
facts and concepts (while removing "problem" children from the classroom). One only needs to review
the contents of school proficiency tests to realize that education administrators have become more
interested in teaching children "what" to think than "how" to think.

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