As the years went on, students were brought back to their home schools and instructed in special learning support rooms, where most of the curriculum was taught to this small group away from their same-aged peers except for recess and lunch. They were still isolated from what was happening in a regular school classroom.

Today, most learning disabled students spend their day in the regular classroom with their peers and are supported there by a special education teacher or instructional aide. They may leave for short amounts of time to be instructed in small groups in the learning support room.

There are advantages to both scenarios. In the regular classroom, they are exposed to literature and vocabulary they would not see in books they are capable of reading. In the learning support room, they may learn phonics rules and practice them in passages at their reading level. Special education teachers can preview new vocabulary and concepts that will be introduced in their homerooms in the coming week. This gives students a more even playing field when they are in the classroom.

Another important step in the attempt to help struggling students is "response to intervention" (RTI). With RTI, all elementary students are assessed three times a year. Students found deficient in reading or math are instructed in their areas of weakness for a period of time each day. If, after a certain amount of intervention, progress is not significant, they can be referred for testing and special education.

One plan does not fit all students with special needs. Anytime someone tells you that all special needs students should have such and such, run for the hills.

Suzanna Brehm

Suzanna Brehm is a learning support teacher/intervention specialist in the Middletown Area School District. She has been involved with special education since the early 1970s.