CEC+Standard+2


 * CEC Standard 2: Development and Characteristics of Learners **

Special educators know and demonstrate respect for their students first as unique human beings. Special educators understand the similarities and differences in human development and the characteristics between and among individuals with and without exceptional learning needs (ELN) [|1]. Moreover, special educators understand how exceptional conditions can interact with the domains of human development and they use this knowledge to respond to the varying abilities and behaviors of individual’s with ELN. Special educators understand how the experiences of individuals with ELN can impact families, as well as the individual’s ability to learn, interact socially, and live as fulfilled contributing members of the community.

All individuals with disabilities are different through their learning characteristics and behaviors. Throughout this program I came to realize that instruction should be individualized to the needs of the individuals in order to reach their true potential. Since my students are not successful in the general developmental curriculum I always had to work close with the families or other professionals at school in order to build a comprehensive inventory of the skills that an individual posses. Therefore, the curriculum is based on a multiple level information that includes physical and medical concerns, information about the processing capabilities of the individual, personal and family’s needs as well as preference inventories. One example that illustrates specific needs of individuals with disabilities was when I worked with a 1st grade student diagnosed with autism. The main concern for him was that he was choking his peers when they were out on the playground. After a functional behavior assessment I realized that the problem was caused by lack of communication and social skills. For example, every time my student wanted to play he did not initiate contact with the child he wanted to play with. Instead he was grabbing or chocking them. Therefore the function of his behavior was attention seeking as well as getting a peer to play with him. As a consequence the intervention was set to teach him how to ask appropriately to play and also how to play different games such as Frisbee, tag or basketball. Another key element that I learned throughout this program is that sometimes the nature of disability requires different levels of support. This way some of the students receive related services such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech and different medical assistance. Even though these services represent different areas, they are all related to the educational domain and to the way the individual is able to learn. Therefore it is my belief that understanding basic concepts from these domain as well as a strong collaboration with these professionals will ultimately have a positive effect on the instruction of my students.

Artifact: The project I chose for this particular standard emphasizes the way that a disability such as autism affects how an individual is processing the information. The focus is on characteristic of learners with autism, the need for social skills interventions, different strategies to promote learning as well as collaboration with families and other professionals.

Social skills interventions