Detection of Need for Special Education

Special education is the opposite of general education. It is the opposite of the standard curriculum which is presented using standard teaching methods and without supplemental supports. Detecting special learning needs in children is done at the early stages of life.

• Early Detection – Many children are conveniently detected to have needs for special education based on their medical records. New born children are passed through screening before leaving the hospital after they were born and their genetic condition can indicate whether they have the tendency to develop special needs later. Mental retardation, brain damage, developmental disorder, disabilities of the senses essential in learning and other disabilities can be detected at this stage.

• Models for Detection – Very young learners or students who have or may develop needs for special education can either be screened using discrepancy model and the model of response to intervention. In the discrepancy model, teachers use their observation to notice students who achieve very far from what is expected of what learners of their age usually does. On the other hand, the model using response to intervention encourages early intervention.

• Discrepancy Model – Under the use of the discrepancy model, a child with special learning needs is given the services for a specific learning difficulty or SLD only under the circumstances that he or she has at least normal intelligence and underachieves based on his or her IQ. The discrepancy model has been widely used in years but it is still subjected to a good amount of criticism from researchers because, among others, these critics have asserted that diagnosing SLDs based on discrepancy between achievement and IQ does not predict the effectiveness of treatment. According to them, students who achieve low and also have low IQ also seem to benefit from treatment just like students who achieve low and have normal or high intelligence.