Types of correctional schools for children with disabilities. Schools for children with disabilities
In modern society, one of the most important problems of the modern education system is its accessibility, including for social groups with limited starting conditions.
Disabled children occupy a particularly important place among them. Today, there are often obstacles to obtaining a high-quality education in a general education school. They are associated primarily with social inequality. Conducted for almost 50 years in Europe and Russia, large-scale studies prove that so far education emphasizes social discrimination more than contributes to its eradication. Responsibility for the level of education lies primarily with teachers, as a result, they tend to pay maximum attention to capable students, and children with disabilities find themselves at the bottom of the unspoken school hierarchy.
Sociologists' research has revealed facts of infringement of the rights of children with disabilities outside the school walls. Most educational institutions create conditions for the preservation and reproduction of inequality. We can confidently say that the educational system reflects both social and class differences that exist outside of it. Family and social circumstances have the strongest influence on learning outcomes, which further determines the level of income. The effectiveness of education largely depends on the social background of the child, which underlies inequality. All these studies have led to the conclusion that it is necessary to create an inclusive education system for children from different groups and strata, including students with disabilities.
The term “inclusive education” refers to the development of the general education system towards accessibility for all children and adaptation to the special needs of students with disabilities or special needs. This system develops a methodology that considers each child as an individual with their own needs in the learning process. It should be flexible enough to meet the requirements of different categories of students. Inclusive education needs to be introduced within the framework of the general education school, which will have a positive impact not only on the status of children with disabilities, but also on all other students.
For almost 40 years, many countries have been developing and implementing regulations aimed at expanding the educational opportunities of children with disabilities. The work is carried out mainly in the following areas: measures to expand access to education, integration, inclusion (inclusion), mainstreaming, which involves the inclusion of children with disabilities in the classes of a general education school and their communication with peers during festive events, as part of leisure programs with the aim of obtaining education and expanding opportunities for social contacts.
To achieve integration, work is underway to bring the needs of children with disabilities into line with the general education system, which itself does not change. Children with physical or mental disabilities may attend mainstream schools but are not required to attend the same classes as all other children.
In terms of inclusion, it means redesigning and reforming spaces to meet the needs, requirements and needs of absolutely all children. Inclusive education also includes measures to bring the continuum of services (including the educational environment) into line with the needs of children with disabilities. This principle means that all students, without exception, from the very beginning must be integrated into the social and educational life of the educational institution in their place of residence.
One of the main tasks of an inclusive school is to build a system that meets the needs of everyone without exception. In educational institutions of this type, not only children with disabilities, but everyone else, receive support that allows them to realize themselves, feel confident, their own significance. The main goal of such a school is not education in itself, but to ensure a full-fledged social life, active communication with peers, and mutual assistance. All this allows students to develop as a result of communication, making joint decisions regarding the management of educational processes and other areas of school life.
Teachers with some experience in inclusive general education schools offer the following integration measures:
- accept children with disabilities in the classroom, like everyone else - on a general basis;
- offer them the same activities, but set different tasks;
- try to involve all students in solving problems on the basis of a group approach and include them in collective types of learning;
- apply different forms of collective participation: joint projects, games, field or laboratory research.
Inclusive education significantly shifts the emphasis in the role of the teacher, which in this case is more versatile: the teacher actively interacts with students, learns much more about each of them, activates contacts with society outside the educational institution. At the end of the 90s of the last century, articles were published on the tasks of self-organization of families with disabled children, social activity of older disabled people and defenders of their rights. They pointed to the need to give children with disabilities more chances in life and to go beyond a purely medical approach to the rehabilitation and social protection of this group.
Thanks to these works, active disputes have begun about the rights of children with disabilities to receive education in the most favorable conditions for their social integration. In addition, the aspect of the effectiveness of the inclusive education option is also studied based on the study of financial costs, as well as the results of academic performance. In European countries and the United States, general education schools are extremely interested in the inclusion of as many children with disabilities as possible, since they receive solid state funding for them.
As a summary of the Western experience, it can be said with certainty that in many countries the understanding of the importance of the integration of children with disabilities has already been achieved at the state level. The basic principles of inclusive education are set out in monographs, scientific journals, textbooks, practical guides for teachers, social workers, doctors, politicians, since this problem can only be solved with a comprehensive approach.
Practice shows that organizational and methodological changes that are carried out to improve the situation of a special category of children (in this case, disabled people) lead to changes that lead to the optimization of the educational system as a whole. For Russia, these problems are especially complex and relevant given the sharply increased number of children with disabilities. Against the backdrop of the reform of the entire educational system and under the influence of established market relations, educational institutions of various levels are being transformed, in which the need for inclusive education must be taken into account, despite the sharp divergence of opinions on this issue in different sectors of society.
The role of joint (inclusive) education is quite significant, which allows to reduce the marginalization of children with disabilities to a large extent. But there are many obstacles before its application in practice: these are problems with the organization, and the creation of a barrier-free environment (one-story buildings for schools, ramps, the presence of sign language interpreters, special equipment for common areas). It is also necessary to take into account social barriers: stereotypical thinking and prejudices in society, the willingness of the teaching staff to teach children with disabilities and the willingness of the children themselves and their parents to accept this form of educational system.
Studies were conducted to clarify the attitude of teachers, parents and schoolchildren themselves to the issue of co-education with schoolchildren who have difficulties with movement, who have various disorders of mental development, vision, and speech. Based on the data obtained, it became clear that ordinary students most easily establish contacts with children who have impaired musculoskeletal system or suffer from mental retardation. It was difficult to establish contacts with schoolchildren with visual, speech or hearing impairments. The general picture is as follows: approximately 70% of the respondents showed a greater or lesser degree of awareness of the problem of “Children with disabilities in school”. In total, about 1/3 of all students had personal contact with a child with developmental disabilities, and this is also a consequence of the incorrect organization of the education system.
Respondents - students showed a great willingness to study in the same class with sick children with disorders of the musculoskeletal system. The least tolerance was shown towards children with hearing or vision problems. And the minimum degree of tolerance was expressed in relation to children who are mentally retarded: more than 50% of the students expressed their unwillingness to sit at the same desk with them.
It is obvious that in this case we are talking about the manifestation of an ingrained stereotype that creates an insurmountable barrier to the integration of children into the environment of their peers. Despite these statistics, there is a steady trend in society towards the adoption of a law on equal rights for children with disabilities. This point of view is especially characteristic of those who had the opportunity to contact them personally once or periodically.
Most of the parents surveyed believe that educational integration with sick children is quite possible and even necessary, but among teachers no more than 40% share the same opinion, and again, the least tolerance was expressed in relation to those children who had speech, hearing or vision. A very low percentage of teachers expressed their willingness to work with such students on an equal basis with ordinary students.
Statistics clearly show the need for additional retraining of teaching staff in the event of expanding the scope of inclusive education for children with disabilities. Only 1/5 of teachers believe that their level of qualification will allow them to work with children with special needs. Even with the scanty (so far) scale of integration that exists today, the need for retraining of the teaching staff and social teachers is obvious. Currently, there are many barriers to the inclusion of children with disabilities in mainstream schools. In this matter, parents and teachers expressed their solidarity.
The most significant of the barriers is the unsuitability of the surrounding space for comfortable learning of disabled children. This also applies to school buildings and classrooms, and teaching staff, and the availability of professionals with the necessary qualifications (sign language interpreters, speech therapists, etc.).
For teachers, the absence of the necessary educational programs, the insufficient level of their own preparedness, as well as the lack of funding and the lack of special regulatory support are also of great importance. Of course, documentation alone is not enough to create equal opportunities: it is necessary to create a special educational environment, the presence of a personal tutor, as well as special elevators, conveyors, special keyboards for children with visual impairments, devices for students with hearing impairments.
All these issues should be resolved at the state level by approving the standard for the rehabilitation of disabled children in order to create conditions for them to receive a general education.
If it suddenly becomes clear to parents that their child is developing not like everyone else, but in a special way, in their own way, or if the verdict issued by doctors and other specialists indicates that it is impossible to teach a child in a general education school, you should seriously think about a suitable
educational institution.
How to choose the right school
This is a rather complicated problem, since the intellectual and psychological level, social adaptation and further employment of such children completely depend on the environment in which they study, on specially trained teachers and individual development programs. The main problem of teaching "special" children is that they are all different, completely different from each other, each has their own health problems and their own oddities, there are no specific clichés for them. Before determining the final diagnosis, I really want to advise parents to contact two or three, or even a dozen specialists. Diagnoses such as deafness and blindness are unambiguous, but "attention deficit disorder" or "infantile autism", "hyperactivity" can become a label for a child for life, although, in fact, it can be a banal reason for ridding a comprehensive school of playful a child who brings additional trouble to teachers and educators.
Types of correctional schools
As a rule, educational institutions for disabled children are boarding schools. Therefore, when choosing a second home for their child, parents are advised to carefully study all existing types of correctional schools, and stop at the most suitable for your child in terms of the specifics of the disease and its individual characteristics. Currently, in official documents, the names of schools do not carry diagnostic characteristics, but are called serial numbers. Today, all types of correctional schools are divided into 8 main types. The education and upbringing of completely deaf children is carried out by specialized correctional general education schools of the 1st type. In schools of 2 types, children with hearing disabilities, late deaf or hard of hearing from birth, are trained. A special, correctional institution of the 3rd type is a boarding school for blind children, while the visually impaired study in schools of the 4th type. For children with stuttering and severe speech disorders, you should choose a school belonging to the 5th type. Schools of the 6th type are created for children with disorders of the musculoskeletal system, cerebral palsy, craniocerebral and spinal
injuries. Correctional school of the 7th type deals with children with mental retardation, mental retardation and learning difficulties, and, upon achieving certain results, they can be transferred to a secondary school. Correctional school of the 8th type is intended for mentally retarded children, for whom the path to further education is closed, therefore the primary task of such schools is to teach reading, counting and writing. Much attention is paid to the adaptation to adult life and social adaptation of children through enhanced labor training, in such schools there are sewing, carpentry, locksmith workshops. Graduates of schools of the 8th type leave school with a certain profession that allows them to earn a living in the future.
How to live on
All types of correctional schools have been teaching their pupils for 12 years in a boarding school, so it is very important when entering society not to leave a child alone with difficulties, the task of parents is to facilitate the process of adaptation in a new world for them as much as possible.
A child with a disability, upon reaching a certain age, has the opportunity to go to school. The school should not refuse to accept a child with disabilities, but at the same time, it should not create special conditions for him, that is, the child is trained in the same way as all children.
At school, disabled children have some benefits, which is manifested more in material compensation and minimal physical exertion. In terms of psychological assistance, the school should provide sessions of a psychologist who will help to adapt to the team and have a conversation with other children in the class.
It is worth noting that often children at school can have poor contact, due to the fact that a disabled child is not like everyone else. However, if there is a good atmosphere in the classroom and the class teacher pays attention to the behavior of their students, the learning process can be quite effective.
A disabled child has the right to free meals at school, preferential conditions for passing exams, while the child himself chooses the format of this exam. And also a disabled child may not attend physical education classes if there are restrictions on physical activity.
The right to choose how their child will receive secondary education. If the child is unable to attend school, the choice is between two options, homeschooling or in a special boarding school. When teaching at home, parents must either conduct classes with the child themselves, or hire a teacher who can work with the child in special conditions.
When teaching a child at home, parents are entitled to compensation for the costs of educating the child. Since by law every child is entitled to free secondary education, the state is obliged to compensate for all material expenses for the education of the child, even if it takes place at home.
The advantage of this type of education is the ability to protect the child from violent children who can cause moral injury to the child, and the opportunity to receive education under the supervision of parents.
Free admission to art school for gifted children
Since many people with disabilities often show their talents in artistic directions, the state gives them the opportunity to study free of charge at an art school.
Such training can take place both in a school at an educational institution, and in those schools that have the status of an independent art school. In order to cover all expenses for the art school, parents simply need to provide a health certificate for their child. But it is worth noting that even in such schools there are no special conditions for disabled children.
Education takes place on the same terms with other children, both in terms of exactingness and in terms of all amenities.
School certification. What are the conditions for disabled children
In schools, tests are carried out on a general basis, with disabilities writes it without any special conditions. If the training is carried out at home, then the child must contact the teacher via video call, and the teacher must see the entire workplace of the student.
It is not allowed to write off and use additional materials. If the student performs tasks slowly, then the control can be taken in several stages, while the teacher does not have the right to rush the child.
When entering a university, he is given 90 minutes to prepare for the exam, the form of the exam cannot be different, oral or written.
And after the child is enrolled for training, the program is compiled individually for each child with disabilities, which is agreed with the psychologist and doctors.
How to enter the university. Is a child with a disability entitled to benefits?
- Disabled children have the right to enroll in a higher educational institution out of competition, that is, on the budget. At the same time, he also passes the exam, and if the number of points meets the minimum conditions, then the child successfully passes the certification. When passing the exam, a disabled child has one advantage over other children - 90 minutes to prepare.
- Disabled children of the 1st and 2nd groups who have no contraindications to study have the right to attend universities. In some cases, the child has the right to be accompanied by his parents if independent movement causes inconvenience.
- In order to receive compensation for homeschooling a child, parents must apply to the social security authorities with a special certificate stating that the child is attending a homeschooling program. Parents can receive financial assistance after the child reaches the age of six and a half years, it is from this age that the child's education at school begins.
The most important thing for parents is to show that he is the same as all children, has the right to education and additional hobbies in art schools. And the state will contribute to the education and self-development of such a child in every sense.
About choosing a school for a disabled child in the video:
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Dear parents!
The Department of Education of Moscow and the Board of Directors of the Moscow branch of the Association of Non-Commercial Educational Organizations of Russian Regions (ASNOOR) initiate from September 1, 2017. a new project aimed at expanding educational opportunities and improving the learning environment for children with disabilities in the educational space of Moscow.
Your children are special. This word is often used to more delicately name disabled children, but we interpret it differently, considering that every child is special, but a child with health problems is doubly so. We understand that these problems often impose certain (sometimes very large) restrictions on everyday life, but also, often, they lead to the fact that mentally and intellectually a disabled child is in many ways superior to ordinary children, being deeper, brighter and often "beacon" for their peers.
From September 1, 2017, the Department of Education will begin to subsidize the education of disabled children in private educational institutions in the same amount as in public educational institutions for ALL levels of education (this also applies to preschoolers !!).
What can private educational organizations of the capital offer to children with disabilities?
training in small groups (occupancy of classes in PSE from 8 to 12 people)
taking into account the individual capabilities and needs of the child in the learning process
development (if necessary) of individual curricula - this implies not only the simplification of the program in some cases, but also work on the development of giftedness, early career guidance in accordance with the capabilities of a particular child
individual correctional and developmental work (with a psychologist, speech therapist, defectologist)
a wide range of additional education: classes in circles, electives and sections of various directions