The Challenge of Traditional Schooling for Children with Special Needs
School is complicated enough for the average student. For a student with disabilities of any kind, the entire process can become a maddening, frustrating experience. In some cases, the challenges that these children face can frustrate them enough to cause behavioral issues to arise or to escalate to the point of disrupting the learning process not only for themselves but for the entire classroom. There are alternatives to these traditional classrooms that can help the student with challenges to not only meet their educational standards but to fully shine and to excel.
The Cons of the Public School Setting for Students with Disabilities
All students face some challenges during their K-12 education, whether it is getting up too early in the morning or trying to focus during classes that they do not enjoy. Students with have certain disabilities may face additional problems, having trouble understanding their teacher, difficulty reading the board, or sensory challenges that may make just sitting in a room full of others unbearable. For some of these students, the simple act of walking through a packed hallway may be more than they can take at one time. Changes to their routine such as with a fire drill or an assembly can cause emotional breakdowns. This is not to mention the issues of over-discipline that they face, which can worsen their social abilities.
Classrooms tend to be filled to capacity and beyond which can also lead to frustrations. The teacher needs to be able to teach the entire class and students that may need extra time, or one on one tutoring may fall through the cracks.
How Virtual Schooling Can Help
The option of sending your child with disabilities to a particular school may not be available in your area, or the option may be out of the budget if it is a private school. Going to school from home through a computer is a viable option and one that can serve many students, especially kids with disabilities, well. You can make sure learning materials are properly captioned or transcripted. Classes can be reviewed via recordings, so if something is missed the first time, it can be listened to several times for clarity. Online schooling can even take into account the time of day that the student is most likely to be ready and able to learn rather than forcing him into someone else’s schedule. It isn’t cheating for your child to need extra help in some areas, it just means that they operate a little differently.
Whether your child has special needs or is just not succeeding in a traditional school setting, either online schools or homeschooling may be what will be best for your child (where there are plenty of resources and a vibrant community willing to help out).
