Imagine its the beginning of the school year and, along with your class roll, you are handed a large stack of IEPs to look through and then you are expected to come up with a game plane to teach 3-5 special needs children all of whom have different special needs. This situation is becoming more common as more special needs children are mainstreamed into the classroom.

Teaching a special needs students can be daunting. I taught in the public school systems where I had a hearing impaired child, a child with Cystic Fibrosis, a Diabetic, and many children with severe Learning Disabilities and Emotional Disturbances. I also have a child of my own with Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome and another child with Down Syndrome, so I can see both sides of the picture. Yes, it is difficult sometimes to come up with lesson plans to accommodate everyone in your class, but, if it was your child, you would want that teacher to do everything in his or her power to make sure that your son or daughter was receiving the best educational experience possible. The best way to do this is to educate yourself. Learn as much as you can about the child’s disability. Attend the IEP meeting if you can. Show a genuine interest in the well being of that child. You could be the best teacher that that child ever had all because you took a little extra time to educate yourself so that you could educate them.

Listed below are some web articles, resources, and lesson plans that you might find helpful. Be sure to check out our Specific Educational Resources for more information on specific disorders and syndromes. Also, please feel free to ask any questions that you might have in our forum. Parents are usually more than happy to answer the questions of a teacher who wants to be actively involved in the education of a special needs student.

Articles, Resources, and Lesson Plans

Information on Inclusive Learning Environments

Disabilities, Teaching Strategies, and Resources Includes ADD, Learning Disabilities, Behavioral Disorders, Intellectual Disorders, Communication Disorders, Motor/Orthopedic, Hearing Impairment, and Vision Impairment

Inclusive Education

US Department of Education

Special Education Lesson Plans from Teach-nology.com

Special Needs Resources and Lesson Plans from TeacherVision.com

Teachersnetwork.org: Lesson Plans: Special Education

Lessonplanz.com: Special Education Lesson Plans

Kodak Education – Special Education Lesson Plans

Special Education Lesson Plans from the Awsome Library