Week 5 Reflection.

The assignment that had the biggest impact on me was the Case Study, as I was acting as the "Attorney for the Family", is was easy to put myself in the families shoes, I feel that because there are so many laws that protect families and give them resources, the families will usually always win over the school district. Even in the Least Restrictive Environment students can benefit from being in a classroom with their peers, so they are stretched, challenged, and met half way. I appreciate all those that are advocates for children with disabilities, now understanding where the law was in the past and where it is today it gives me confidence that we can always do more for the fmaily to accommodate them. It gives me courage to also be an advocate. I feel that the more I know about the history of special education, the stronger my voice becomes when speaking out for them. 

Learning about the High Incidence Disabilities was interesting to me, these are disabilities that are :hard to distinguish from other peers, behavioral/emotional/social/academic issues, they benefit from structure intervention. There is always something simple we can do in our classrooms to help them strengthen their social skills, academic skills, and behavioral skills. We can influence them by structuring our lessons around opportunities to do group work. They are able to practice interaction and working with their peers. To help with behavior we can set goals with them. We can recognize their strengths and praise them. It also helps to give students responsibilities within the classroom. The simple task of helping increases their confidence and ability to see strengths within themselves. When they feel apart of a community there is motivation, and the satisfaction of success, especially around their peers.I feel that in any situation we should take opportunities to give specific responsibilities and jobs to the children with special needs.