Expert: Patricia Ireland-Williams - 6/21/2008

Question
I grew up learning disabled in a school that was a private school without much LD help when I wasn't in a wonderful special education program. For high school I went away to boarding school for LD. I wondered if schools now are better prepared in general for students with special needs then they were around 1995 which is when I was struggling. I know the Catholic Schools where I live in the Washington, DC area have gotten better and I wonder if all schools were generally getting better nationwide even though some are better then others. When I say better I mean in training teachers and preparing them to work with LD situations or ADHD situations.

Answer
Michael,

The situation you described is typical of private schools........many are ill equipped to support the needs of SPED students.  This is NOT the case in public school.  The IDEA (Individuals with Disability Act) became law in the early 90's and requires that services be delivered to all students with learning disabilities.  This is carefully monitored via an IEP (Individual Educational Plan) delivery system.  All SPED teachers delivering services to students with an IEP must be well prepared and have on going training.  Additionally, many programs across the nation now have SPED students integrated into the "regular" classroom as much as possible rather than isolating them in a self contained classroom.
As a result, classroom teachers are given training on how to meet the needs of the SPED identified students in their classroom.  

You might be interested to know that ADHD is NOT considered to be a handicapping condition according to IDEA and as a result, these students often do not receive special services unless they are multiply handicapped.  Most classroom teachers, however, recieve a considerable amount of training in ADHD strategies since this population continues to increase year after year.

Best wishes on your research,

Patricia