Knowledge of Self Identity for a Special Needs Child

The role of parents should be to help harness the good qualities of the special needs child so that he/she gets encouraged to become a useful and productive individual in the society and in the classroom. Parents should also help them to tide over their weaknesses and shortcomings in a friendly and amiable manner. Parents should help a special needs child to have positive interactions with other children. Students should be taught how to be expressive in feelings in a manner that is appropriate and proactive with peers and adult staff. The special needs of students should be identified by the parents in a proper and timely manner for more effective teacher engagement and support. Steps may be taken by the parents to make students more independent in daily activities and independence can help students become self sufficient individuals and better motivated in the classroom.

Teachers should have sufficient training and experience in the handling of students with disabilities. Teachers should make use of the experience and training in identifying the qualities and weaknesses of the special needs children using their IEP (individualized Education Programs). They may adopt strategic instructional methods and teaching techniques to identify and utilize the qualities of special needs children. Students can be divided into specialized groups and may be given training in different professional and academic skills to help them create independent living scenarios which can create greater self-esteem and self-identity. Awards may be instituted for creating competition in positive student behavior to promote excellence in individual student projects and behavior.

Society should come to the help of the special needs children by being collaborative with school communities in their upbringing, education and independent productive living. Our society may help special needs children by opening special institutes for education and attainment of skills. In this case they can get empowerment through education and make their life better. Craft/skill training may be the major subject matter in the training institutes meant for special needs children. By having training in various vocational education trades and skills, students can get good employment in different fields of life and can become independent individuals with their own self identity and self esteem.