 Teaching Special Kids:
Online Resources for Teachers
Whether you teach in a special-education program or in a "regular" classroom, you probably encounter special kids facing special challenges. Education World brings you information about on-line resources that can help you better understand -- and help -- students with special needs.
Today, almost every classroom includes a number of students who are dealing
with a disability -- either physical, educational, emotional, or a combination
of all three. As a teacher, you probably find yourself looking for information
and resources that will help you effectively teach those students and
help them learn successfully.
However, the number of special-education Web sites for teachers can
be overwhelming -- so overwhelming that it's hard to sort through them
all.
Education World searched the Web for sites that provide information
about specific disabilities and suggest activities for classroom use.
Although most are intended primarily for use with students who have disabilities,
many can be adapted for use with all students.
Teachers
Helping Teachers is a terrific site for all teachers, but its Special
Education section provides a number of activities that are specifically
geared toward teaching basic skills to special students. The activities,
for students from kindergarten through high school, are submitted by classroom
teachers from around the country and include lessons in reading, math,
geography, current events, and study skills. The activity Weird Letters,
for example, helps students with learning disabilities identify and remember
letters that don't always look they way they're supposed to. Using Newspapers
is a functional activity designed to teach social studies or language
arts to special-education students. This site also includes information
on inclusion and mainstreaming and The Guest Book, a forum where
teachers exchange ideas and advice.
If you teach younger students, you might want to visit Resources
for Early Childhood Special Education. This site's Teaching
section includes a large number of activity ideas arranged by theme --
from Animals to Valentine's Day. In addition, the preschool special-education
teacher who maintains this site has included two additional sections.
Jump provides links to other great sites containing preschool special-education
research and activities, and Technology provides activities that
can be downloaded for regular or special-education preschool students.
Special
Needs, Special Kids, created by a special-needs mediator, provides
an abundance of information about specific disabilities, such as autism,
cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, epilepsy, and spinal bifida. In addition,
the site provides educational resources, including games and suggestions
for adapting them to children with a variety of disabilities, activities
for developing fine-motor skills, and discussions of a variety of special-education
issues. The site provides insights into such topics as American Sign Language
and wheelchair etiquette, as well as resources for 98 Ways to Say "Very
Good" and the Ten Commandments for Educators. This is a well-written,
easily navigable site that provides a wide variety of useful resources.
If you're looking for something a little different, Music
Therapy for Young Children With Special Needs provides a number of
suggestions for using music to help young students overcome or cope with
a variety of disabilities. Although addressed to parents, all the Activities
to Do at Home can also be done successfully in the classroom.
Finally, you may want to promote home-school interaction by sharing
Very
Special Home Pages with families of special students. This site provides
free home pages for children and adults with special needs. Each biography,
written by a parent or caregiver, displays the talents, hobbies, and personality
of the person with special needs and allows visitors to see beyond the
disability.
INFORMATIONAL RESOURCES
The greatest number of disability-related sites do not include many
lessons or activities. They are, however, excellent sources for information
on special-education programs, policies, resources, organizations, educational
strategies, and specific disabilities. Many also provide links to sites
where you'll find activities that can be adapted for use with special-education
students.
Outside the Box,
a site for parents and teachers of all types of special-needs children,
includes Resources for All Teachers, a list of links to content-specific
sites for language arts, fine arts, social studies, math, and science.
The linked sites provide information, lesson plans, and activities. There's
a lot here, so be sure to check out the site map so you won't miss anything.
A number of other worthwhile sites that provide information on specific
disabilities also include ideas and suggestions that can be used with
students who have other disabilities.
- The
Behavior Home Page includes links to information and resources to
help teachers deal with children who have behavioral disorders. Many
of the sites provide helpful strategies for improving general classroom
discipline.
- United
Cerebral Palsy provides information and resources about cerebral
palsy and a number of other disabilities. Click Resource Center
to learn about the Americans With Disabilities Act, assistive technology,
employment, parent information, and more. This site includes a number
of valuable links for parents and teachers.
- The Arc Home Page
contains information and resources for parents and teachers of people
with retardation and other developmental disabilities. The site includes
research and government reports, fact sheets, a discussion board, a
search engine, links to state and local chapters, and much more.
- Suggested
Classroom Interventions for Children With ADD & Learning Disabilities
contains a chart, Suggested Classroom Accommodations for Specific
Behaviors, of specific strategies for dealing with 35 common classroom
behaviors. Do you know what to do for a student who has difficulty prioritizing?
If not, you'll find out here!
If you still haven't found what you're looking for, explore one
of the sites below. Each contains extensive lists of links to sites on
disabilities and special education.
- Internet Resources for Special Children This site includes
links to sites providing information, help, and specialty products for
people with conditions ranging from amputation to Tourette's syndrome.
- Internet
Resource Sites for Special Education Alton C. Crews Middle School
in Lawrenceville, Georgia, provides links to sites for exceptional children
and their parents, teachers, and friends. The Language Arts, Math, and
Homework Help links suggest activities you can use with all students,
not just those with special needs.
- School
Psychology Resources Online This site provides links to resources
in a number of areas, including autism, retardation, gifted and talented,
eating disorders, substance abuse, and more!
- Family
Village Web-based resources provide information for people with
disabilities and their families and friends. Click School to
find lots of educationally valuable links about public policy, assistive
technology, disability awareness, IEP guidelines, and more.
- The Instant
Access Treasure Chest: The Foreign Language Teacher's Guide to Learning
Disabilities Although this site includes a section called Foreign
Language and LD, most of the site links are valuable for any teacher
involved in educating special students. The site provides lots and lots
of valuable links to sites on teaching strategies, government resources,
assistive technology, and more.
- Our Kids For
parents of children with almost every type of disability or disorder,
this site includes a number of valuable resources for teachers as well.
Article by Linda Starr
Education World®
Copyright © 2005 Education World
Originally published 05/10/1999; Links Updated 02/26/2009
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