Getting up to SpEED: Special Education Embodied Design for Sensorially Equitable Inclusion

We present the implications of a novel approach to design-based research, Special Education Embodied Design (SpEED), for inclusive education. SpEED is a new way of thinking about how Special Education students can learn through whole-body participation (Tancredi et al., in press). The goal of SpEED is to update our thinking about special education and inclusion based on the latest developments in cognitive science. We illustrate the utility of embodied design to teaching and research on issues affecting learners in Special Education through examples centering different Special Education populations, including Deaf learners, learners on the autism spectrum, and sensory-seeking learners. Each project focuses on deepening the learning opportunities we offer students by using learners' existing embodied resources. We conclude with a commentary on considerations for implementing SpEED within the Italian educational system.

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A educação especial as políticas educacionais brasileiras: Uma abordagem histórica

Education Policy Analysis Archives ◽

10.14507/epaa.27.3073 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 27 ◽

pp. 21

Author(s):

Luana Leal Ribeiro ◽

Renata Maldonado Da Silva

Keyword(s):

Special Education ◽

20Th Century ◽

Inclusive Education ◽

Document Analysis ◽

Special Education Students ◽

Disabled People ◽

Education Students ◽

Educational Legislation ◽

Historical Times ◽

The Subject

Historically, the schooling of people with disabilities was offered in a precarious and segregated way from the students considered as "normal". As a result of the advancement of concepts, regulations and new perspectives on special education students, the educational practices offered to such individuals were reformulated in the last decades of the 20th century. The present work seeks to present some of the main world milestones in different historical times on how the issue of disability and disabled people were treated, showing the evolution in the treatment given, in relation to the achievements and effects of rights directed to them. Together with the main historical milestones, this work focus on the first signs of the schooling of the person with disabilities and the paths taken by them before the conception of an inclusive perspective in regular schools. In order to reach this objective, references were used to discuss the subject, and an extensive document analysis of the norms present in the Brazilian educational legislation was conducted. Despite the advances and norms that contemplate the guidelines of the concept of inclusive education, it is worth emphasizing that it is still necessary to question the effectiveness of the existing actions planned for special education, and if they are in agreement with the established precepts about what actually contemplates an education that is in fact inclusive.

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“We Kind of do not Dare to Tell Everybody that we are in a Program for Disabled Students, Because Some are Afraid that they will be Made Fun of.”

Journal of Disability Studies in Education ◽

10.1163/25888803-bja10012 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-24

Author(s):

Anna Björk Sverrisdóttir ◽

Geert Van Hove

Keyword(s):

Special Education ◽

Students With Disabilities ◽

Inclusive Education ◽

Power Relations ◽

Special Education Students ◽

Education Students ◽

Disabled Students ◽

The World ◽

Common Thread ◽

The Way

Abstract Implementing inclusive education has proven problematic all over the world. The reasons are multiple, but one of them can presumably be related to the way students with disabilities are “created”, viewed, and responded to as “special education students” within schools. To challenge this, we need to understand students’ position within the school. In this article, the focus is on identifying the position of students who receive special education in schools in Iceland by mapping their power relations and resistance within the discursive norm of special education. We use the method of thinking with theory and read data in accordance with Foucault’s theories of power relations and resistance and Deleuze and Guattari’s concepts of line of flight and becoming. Findings show that power relations affect students variously and although students’ resistance is manifested differently between individuals, a common thread is visible when resisting their static position as special education students.

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Effects and Motivation/Engagement of an Interactive Digital Game for Special Education Students in Elementary School: A Case Study Analysis

10.33790/jrpr1100118 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Jon-Chao Hong ◽

Chia-Yin Chuang ◽

Yung-ji Sher

Keyword(s):

Special Education ◽

Elementary School ◽

Learning Effect ◽

Course Design ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Special Education Students ◽

Digital Game ◽

Education Students ◽

Learning Interest

Objective: The rapid changes in and development of information technology have made life convenient. Tablets are used in classrooms, allowing students to learn through digital games. This study aimed to explore the learning effects and learning interests of special education students, to whom a lively interactive digital game along with an appropriate course design were applied. Materials and Methods: This study applied the case study method to eight students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and cerebral palsy from a special education class in an elementary school. The effects of an interactive digital game on learning outcomes and learning interest (motivation/engagement) were analyzed through observation and documentation by the researchers. Results: The findings revealed that the composition of the special education students was highly heterogeneous, and the learning effect varied among individuals. The learning effect and time-series analyses on participants’ learning interest indicated more or fewer effects and outcomes in the eight participants. In addition to discovering the learning traits of each case, behavioral patterns and characters that differed from those in traditional teaching were observed for each participant, and involved some facets the researchers had never observed in other courses. In addition, the students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder were observed to sit well on their seats to operate the game; they watched with concentration, and their eyes moved following the protagonist in the game. In addition to operating the tablets in their hands, they occasionally looked at other classmates to see the parts they were playing, and they were attentive to others. Conclusion: All of them could accomplish the mission by following game instructions, and their motivation and engagement significantly improved during the game.

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Inclusive Education in Finland: Present and Future Perspectives

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.1994.75.3f.1519 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 75 (3_suppl) ◽

pp. 1519-1522

Author(s):

Sakari Moberg ◽

Marshall Zumberg

Keyword(s):

Special Education ◽

Inclusive Education ◽

Special Education Students ◽

Future Perspectives ◽

Education Students ◽

Special Schools ◽

Full Inclusion ◽

Factors Affecting ◽

Part Time ◽

The 1960S

The movement to integrate special education students into normal school classes started to develop in Finland in the 1960s. At the same time, the number of students labeled “special” in the Finnish comprehensive school system exploded from 2% to 17% of all school children. Presently, 84% of all special education placements are part-time placements. Special schools and special classes comprise 15% of all special education placements, while full inclusion is only 1% of all special education placements. Some factors affecting the current integration of special students and the development of integration are discussed.

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