Interventions
“Special education is, first of all, purposeful intervention designed to prevent, eliminate, and/or overcome the obstacles that might keep a child with disabilities from learning and from full and active participation in school and society.” (Heward, 2009) These interventions come in multiple forms but the three basic forms are: preventative, remedial, and compensatory. Without these interventions, and the different strategies associated with them, the number of students identified with disabilities would increase, symptoms of disabilities would go unattended, and some disabilities would worsen.
Preventative Intervention:
The first type of intervention is preventative. The purpose of preventative intervention is to keep small problems from becoming disabilities. As stated on the disabilities page, a disability only occurs when an impairment, which is the reduction in ability of a limb or body part, impacts an individual’s ability to complete a task. Prevention can stop something from happening, or reduce the negative impact, of the disability. There are three levels to prevention intervention; first, primary intervention attempts to reduce the number of new cases of a disability by reacting to the potential causes of a child’s disability. (Heward, 2009) This type of intervention is proactive and can be exemplified by a school-wide positive behavior system. A school-wide behavioral program can help reduce the number of behavioral problems through the different systems and programs such a program would entail; this would be tier one of a SWPBS. Secondary prevention is intended to help student with risk-factors by reacting to the impact of those factors. A student with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) or other environmental factors would be assisted by the secondary tier of the SWPBS model. Finally, tertiary prevention is meant to halt the worsening of a disability. Students with chronic or severe emotional or behavioral disorders would have individualized plans based on evidence and a team analysis. The school’s team can build a personalized plan for the individual student, tailored to stem development of a disability. Preventive intervention is most effective when begun early. For students with autism or AD/HD applied behavior analysis can help reduce the impact or the symptoms, but it is most productive then it is started at an early age. (Heward, 2009)
Remedial Intervention:
The second type of intervention is remedial. Rather than trying to reduce or remove the impact of a disability, “remediation attempts to eliminate specific effects of a disability.” (Heward, 2009) The role of remediation in special education is to teach individuals the skills needed to reduce the impact of their disability. Learning disorders may be remediated with reading, writing, or study strategies. A child with autism may receive a remedial education in social interactions through social stories or being involved in a general education classroom. Students with severe intellectual disorders may receive a remedial education in self-care like eating and dressing. (Heward, 2009) The underlying belief is that students need specialized instruction that will give them the ability to interact and succeed in a regular setting.
Compensatory Intervention:
The final type of intervention is compensatory. When remediation is not possible, and an individual cannot reduce the impact from their disability, a special education teacher will teach how to complete a task despite their disability. A student born without arms would be given a compensatory education on how to write with their feet. Individuals without the disability would be able to complete the task under a specific method; a person with a disability would require an alternative method of completing the task. Assistive technologies like keyboard and speaking and reading devices are often times used as compensatory interventions for students with disabilities. (Heward, 2009)
Special education is about the instruction of individuals using preventative, remedial, and compensatory interventions. Like the LRE debate, the focus of interventions is to provide the students with a disability every opportunity to function with as few restrictions as possible. Stopping, reducing, remediating, and compensating for disabilities gives individuals the chance to live independent and autonomous lives.
Preventative Intervention:
The first type of intervention is preventative. The purpose of preventative intervention is to keep small problems from becoming disabilities. As stated on the disabilities page, a disability only occurs when an impairment, which is the reduction in ability of a limb or body part, impacts an individual’s ability to complete a task. Prevention can stop something from happening, or reduce the negative impact, of the disability. There are three levels to prevention intervention; first, primary intervention attempts to reduce the number of new cases of a disability by reacting to the potential causes of a child’s disability. (Heward, 2009) This type of intervention is proactive and can be exemplified by a school-wide positive behavior system. A school-wide behavioral program can help reduce the number of behavioral problems through the different systems and programs such a program would entail; this would be tier one of a SWPBS. Secondary prevention is intended to help student with risk-factors by reacting to the impact of those factors. A student with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) or other environmental factors would be assisted by the secondary tier of the SWPBS model. Finally, tertiary prevention is meant to halt the worsening of a disability. Students with chronic or severe emotional or behavioral disorders would have individualized plans based on evidence and a team analysis. The school’s team can build a personalized plan for the individual student, tailored to stem development of a disability. Preventive intervention is most effective when begun early. For students with autism or AD/HD applied behavior analysis can help reduce the impact or the symptoms, but it is most productive then it is started at an early age. (Heward, 2009)
Remedial Intervention:
The second type of intervention is remedial. Rather than trying to reduce or remove the impact of a disability, “remediation attempts to eliminate specific effects of a disability.” (Heward, 2009) The role of remediation in special education is to teach individuals the skills needed to reduce the impact of their disability. Learning disorders may be remediated with reading, writing, or study strategies. A child with autism may receive a remedial education in social interactions through social stories or being involved in a general education classroom. Students with severe intellectual disorders may receive a remedial education in self-care like eating and dressing. (Heward, 2009) The underlying belief is that students need specialized instruction that will give them the ability to interact and succeed in a regular setting.
Compensatory Intervention:
The final type of intervention is compensatory. When remediation is not possible, and an individual cannot reduce the impact from their disability, a special education teacher will teach how to complete a task despite their disability. A student born without arms would be given a compensatory education on how to write with their feet. Individuals without the disability would be able to complete the task under a specific method; a person with a disability would require an alternative method of completing the task. Assistive technologies like keyboard and speaking and reading devices are often times used as compensatory interventions for students with disabilities. (Heward, 2009)
Special education is about the instruction of individuals using preventative, remedial, and compensatory interventions. Like the LRE debate, the focus of interventions is to provide the students with a disability every opportunity to function with as few restrictions as possible. Stopping, reducing, remediating, and compensating for disabilities gives individuals the chance to live independent and autonomous lives.