Criticism about Special Education Programs

Special education is the standard arrangement in public school systems for children with physical, mental or learning disabilities and also for gifted children. Years ago children with special education needs were completely segregated from children with typical learning abilities and placed in special education classrooms. Now most schools integrate children with special education needs into regular classrooms and pull them out for part of the day to a special education class that focuses on their particular needs.

There has always been a lot of criticism about the special education programs in schools from parents, students, mental health professionals, and many others who are both for and against the integration of students into regular classroom settings as well as for complete segregation of students to a special education class.

The criticism about integrating children into the regular classroom setting is mostly about the needs of the children being met, as well as the focus on the special needs children in the regular classrooms. Children with special education needs in a regular classroom may require more individual attention from the teacher and many critics feel that this takes the necessary attention away from the other students in the class. To rectify this, some schools have special education teachers that come into the regular classrooms to work with children with special needs.

The main concern with segregating children to special education classrooms is that they may not really need to be in the special education class at all. The criticism is more about the criteria that identifies a child as a special needs child. Some children with ADHD, OCD, Anxiety Disorder, and other mental disorders that are controlled with medication would be just fine in a regular classroom setting and the critics feel that their potential is limited by placing them in a special education environment. On the other side of the coin, children who are in need of special education are often denied based on the criteria.

Regardless of the criticism or the method of providing children with special needs the education they deserve, as long as the child is learning and growing at a reasonable pace based on their limitations, and not pushed to the point of failure, then the special education system is working. There will be flaws in any system. We, as parents of special needs children, need to get involved in our children’s education and make sure that they are getting the very best education that the system has to offer them.