Neumann 1

Nikki Neumann

Dr. C

English 2

Research Essay

8 November 2018

The Absence of Public Support and Empathy on Special Education

“Seven boys and two girls ran around the room in circles, dropped objects from windows,

peed in closets, threw a football at the back of visitor’s head, tossed slices of bologna onto the

ceiling, pushed and punched and yelled at one another and did occasional schoolwork” (Max).

Max is one of the many individuals who overcame all odds. Josh Max reached his full potential

after he was taken out of the special education program. The program was supposed to teach him

valuable life skills that would help him learn with his disability. The lack of support and empathy

in special education programs are one of the reasons behind Josh Max’s traumatizing memories

in special education. Josh was put in the program for Hyperactivity in elementary school.

On Josh Max’s second day in special ed, a big kid named Darryl split his lip with his fist

after a small argument. During the fourth week, a teenager in the bathroom cornered him and

ordered Max to get naked. Max ran his head into the kid's stomach and sprinted around him and

ran back to the classroom. A group of boys quickly got together and went back to the bathroom.

They grabbed the kid’s arms and legs who demanded Josh to strip. They carried him down the

hall and threw him out the second-floor window. No one ever saw him again. In the sixth grade,

he completely stopped talking. His parents didn’t know he ever stopped, no one told them, and

no one at school confronted him about it, so he kept silent for the entire year. In the 8th grade, he

was sent to “Typical school”. At this point, he never learned how to complete school work or sit
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in a classroom and deal with his hyperactivity. His time out of the special education program, he

spent months wandering the halls with knives in his pockets just in case someone tried to attack

him like in the past. Josh forgot his lunch one day in typical school, and he didn't tell anyone

because he did not want to be made fun of for being “stupid”. After one kid noticed he forgot his

lunch, multiple kids in the lunchroom gave him part of their lunches without being asked and

without making fun of him. He was so overwhelmed with the feelings of being cared about he

got up and ran to a random teacher and just hugged her while he cried.

He worked harder when he wasn't excluded from the rest of the kids his age. He

excelled out of the special education program when students and teachers empathised with him.

After school Max became a writer for the New York Times. He questions the setbacks the special

education program caused him and wonders how he would be if he was never a part of the

program. When he struggles with the overwhelming pressures of life he goes back to smashin his

hands against his face. The special education program taught him very little and threw him in a

building with no boundaries. Josh Max was never brought to the public attention or even to the

attention of the school. He fell under the radar until he was let out of the program. Max took

matters into his own hands and became the person who he is today.

As Josh’s experiences illustrate, and others confirm, special education programs will help

more students reach their full potential without traumatizing setbacks if the public paid attention

to the individuals with exceptionalities instead of ignoring them. Special education needs to be

brought to the public's attention because of the lack of support and empathy it has gotten over

time. The lack of support allows these individuals to fall through the cracks and be forgotten.

This denies individuals with exceptionalities their personal right to reach their full potential.
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I have always held special education close to my heart. I have not been in the program,

but I have surrounded myself around it. I started volunteering in the sixth grade in a program

called Friendship Club. This program emphasized the importance of inclusion for children with

exceptionalities. In this club, we would play basketball, read books, work on homework together,

and have fun. I did Friendship Club throughout middle school. In the eighth grade, I got my first

babysitting job working with a child with exceptionalities. I was watching after a little boy

named Dylan Kammer. Dylan is blind, mute, and has cerebral palsy. He is also a very sweet boy

who shaped my life and changed my perspective on special education entirely. He inspired me to

work hard so, I could get my degree to help kids like him every single day and to inform people

of the importance of special education. I continue to work with kids who have exceptionalities.

Over time I started to work with a teenager named Gretchen, who has down syndrome, and a

young boy named Danny, who is autistic.

While working with Dylan, Gretchen, and Danny, I started to realize how important

special education is for society. There are many Special education programs for students ages 3

to 21. In the article “Does Brown v. Board of Education Play a Prominent Role in Special

Education Law?” Journal of Law & Education, vol. 34, Perry A. Zirkel talks about the multiple

laws that impact special education. Zirkel has over forty years of experience as an impartial

specialist in education law, with a sub-specialty in special education law. Special education is

guided by many federal and state requirements. The federal requirements are referred to as the

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). IDEA is an American legislation that

ensures students with a disabilities are provided with public education that is tailored to their

individual needs. IDEA consists of six main subjects. The multiple elements of IDEA consist of

the Individualized Education Program (IEP), Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE),
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Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), Appropriate Evaluation, Parent and Teacher Participation,

and Procedural Safeguards. These very important elements of IDEA that legally give students

with exceptionalities basic rights. IEP is an individually prescribed instructional plan that

involves the teachers, parents, therapists, administration, and sometime the student themself.

FAPE stands for Free Appropriate Public Education. This is the educational right of all children

in the United States. LRE stands for least restrictive environment that gives students with

disabilities in order to protect their rights as students and the rights of their parents. (Special

Education | Ohio Department of Education). Although Special education is now guided by many

laws created in the past few decades, it has not always been brought to public attention.

The first law made on special education was made on a technicality. The Supreme Court's

decision in Brown V. Board of Education has impacted special education greatly. The Brown V

Board of education was held on May 17, 1954. It was the first law made for special education but

the original purpose of Brown V Board of education was for equal opportunities in segregated

schools. Topeka, Kansas, had state-sanctioned segregation of public schools which went against

the 14th amendment. The Brown V. Board of education made equal opportunity in education

through the law. This impacted special education by giving individuals with exceptionalities an

opportunity in education when they were not given a chance before 1954. The Article

summarizes the Brown decision. It also states education will not be limited based on racial nor

disability grounds (Zirkel).

Although there are laws and regulations to help prosper special education program, they

tend to scrape by with the bare minimum. Laws and regulations do not emphasize the importance

of inclusion. Society needs to realize the importance of special education at a humanities level.

Supporting the program and the students in the program will push the individuals in these
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programs to succeed even more than they want to. Studies like The Nurturing Program: An

Intervention for Parents of Children with Special Needs study talks about family interventions

that enhance empathy and empowerment that are particularly beneficial to families of children

who have developmental disabilities. This study was conducted by Rosalinda Strano Burton.

Burton is the head of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Texas Health Science

Center in San Antonio Texas. This study proved the effectiveness of an intervention called the

Nurturing Program for Parents and Their Children with Special Needs and Health Challenges.

Eighty-seven families were enrolled and randomly assigned to a control or treatment group.

Forty-six families in the control group received individualized case management services and 41

families in the treatment group were assigned to 12 sessions of the Nurturing Program for

Parents and Their Children with Special Needs and Health Challenges curriculum along with

case management services. Before and after the intervention, participants in both conditions

completed the Adult and Adolescent Parenting test which assessed the parents’ attitudes toward

their children by using the Family Empowerment Scale which measures the family

empowerment. Caregivers in the intervention condition improved in empathy towards children’s

needs, and all families. The control group and treatment group, improved their attitudes towards

the use of corporal punishment by posttest. Also, all caregivers increased in their empowerment

over the study, as did participants not completing all Nurturing Program for Parents and Their

Children with Special Needs and Health Challenges sessions. Findings suggest that early

interventions catering to families of children with developmental disabilities have a positive

impact on parenting (Burton, Rosalinda Strano).

If society took the idea of this study and required teachers to give more empathy to the

students with exceptionalities schools all over would see the individuals apart of this program
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reach their full potential. Not only should teachers and parents with students with

exceptionalities show more empathy but other community members should show empathy by

supporting their programs by volunteering and/or donating to the special education department.

“It is easiest to build empathy with the people to whom we are closest and with whom we have

similarities. Building empathy with someone with autism presents itself as a larger challenge.

People with autism often, act, think, speak, and even look different. This causes someone

unfamiliar with autism to be intimidated by their first experiences working with someone with

autism”(Aaron Neal). This quote was written beautifully by Aaron O’Neal. Neal is the program

director of High Road School of Wright City. High Road School of Wright City is a Private

Special Education Day Facility that partners with school districts to meet the needs of

exceptional students. High Road School of Wright City applied behavior analysis, pedagogy,

curriculum, and research to learn how to teach. High Road School of Wright City separates itself

from other schools by focusing on one key value; empathy. Empathy is what separates them

from other schools. Teachers who value empathy will push individuals with exceptionalities to

reach their full potential.

Although there is still a long way to go to get more public support for special education

some programs are starting to excel. For example, Hadley E Watts Middle School special

education program is including students with exceptionalities in as many mainstream classes as

the student can mentally and physically handle. A close friend of mine Gretchen attends Watts

middle school which is apart of the Centerville school system. Gretchen is a great young girl

who has Down Syndrome. Down Syndrome is a congenital disorder that is caused by a

chromosome defect. The extra chromosome causes intellectual impairment and physical

abnormalities. Gretchen has just recently turned 15. Gretchen told me about her everyday
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schedule; She does basic math and English with her instructor in the mornings and then gets to

go to her favorite class, gym. Gretchen loves gym because she gets to participate in a game of

basketball with many students. After gym class, she goes to home ec. In this class, they teach her

basic lessons how to bake brownies, how to wash windows, how to wash your clothes, and how

to do personal hygiene. This course also teaches her many life skills that will help her with her

exceptionalities later on in life. After her home ec class she gets to go to lunch. Then she does a

speech/reading class. It is not a speech therapy class but almost as a communication class. She

gets taught good conversation skills and appropriate conversations topics for certain groups of

people. Gretchen then gets to head home to hang out with her many siblings. Gretchen has many

friends in the special education program and out of it. Gretchen even has a boyfriend who is just

a year older than her. Not only is the Watts special education program great because of the

inclusion aspect but because of the great staff and strong parental role. The administration,

teachers, parents, and even other student shows great amounts of empathy towards one another.

Having empathy as a strong core value in special education helps students and individuals with

exceptionalities thrive in school.

Special education needs to be brought back to the public's attention because of the lack of

support and empathy it has received over time. Schools can get public attention on their special

education programs by hosting small fundraisers. At these fundraisers, the students can sell

bakery items that the students learned how to make themselves. This would also help the

students with the following instruction. The fundraisers could also consist of small games for

anyone and all ages to play. The money earned can go to the special education program. With the

money earned, they can put money into art, music, athletics for students with exceptionalities.

Putting money into these programs will start to build an inclusive environment. Citizens in the
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local community can also volunteer to help host the Special Olympics of Greater Dayton. The

special program also participates in small activities throughout the year. Individuals and

volunteers will be participating in Springboro Christmas Festival Parade this year on November

17th, 2018. The participation in small fundraisers and festivals impacts students with

exceptionalities greatly. Showing empathy and being in inclusive environments helps students

with exceptionalities to overcome odds. http://specialolympicsdayton.org/about.html - Click the

bottom right corner if you would like to become a volunteer for the Special Olympics for Ohio

Greater Dayton.

Inclusion based environments are based on comprehensive approach to educate students

with exceptionalities that provides a total, systematic, and coordinated web of services. Inclusive

environments put students with exceptionalities and typical students together to the extent they

can both handle without putting students learning at risk. Exclusive environments or also known

as self-contained settings are when students with exceptionalities are put in different classrooms

and sometimes even buildings. A lot of the times when typical students are not a part of

programs who include students with exceptionalities are less tolerable and lack empathy. This is

also shown with individuals with exceptionalities that are apart of exclusive environments.

Students with disabilities tend to pick on other kids with disabilities instead of the unifying pack

they tend to make in inclusive programs. Lynn Prado is a student who did a research project over

bullying in schools and focused specifically on the bullying of students with exceptionalities.

Students without disabilities are victimized by bullying at 12% and the bullies of students

without disabilities makeup 10.2%. Students with disabilities in inclusive settings are victimized

by bullying at 18.5% and the bullies make up 15.6%.Students with disabilities in self-contained

settings are victimized by bullying at 21.7% and the bullies make up 20.9%. These percentages
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represents how students with disabilities are bullied more often than typical kids. These

percentages also represent the bullying of students increases when put in self-contained settings

(Prado).

This image is provided by Prado.

Bullying students with exceptionalities can be brought back to the ideal of the lack of

empathy in education. When students are apart of the self-contained programs in schools it keeps

them away from typical students. When typical students do not grow up around students with

disabilities they never have to learn that people are different from them. Typical student do not

learn empathy nor the acception of others while in exclusive programs. Typical students who
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attending inclusion programs are taught to be accepting of one another; no matter the deformities

that separate the students from each other. Inclusion programs help students at a young age learn

to empathise with individuals with exceptionalities.

The absence of public support and empathy in special education allows students with

exceptionalities to fall through the cracks and be forgotten about. Inclusive programs with a

strong core value of empathy will push students with exceptionalities to want to reach their full

potential. Schools and communities that increase public support and empathy in their special

education programs will excel by helping more students with exceptionalities reach their full

potential and go beyond what's expected without traumatizing setbacks. These schools will also

excel in teaching their typical students the importance of empathy and being kind to one another.

This will make the school a positive environment for learning for all students.
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Works Cited

Burton, Rosalinda Strano1,2, Linda.stranoburton@gmail.co., et al. “The Nurturing Program: An

Intervention for Parents of Children with Special Needs.” Journal of Child & Family

Studies, vol. 27, no. 4, Apr. 2018, pp. 1137–1149. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s10826-017-

0966-3.

Gretchen Myer. Age 15. 8th grader apart of the Centerville Special Education Program.

Max, Josh. “Opinion | A Special Education.” The New York Times, 26 Sept. 2015. NYTimes.com,

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/27/opinion/sunday/a-special-education.html.

Neal, Arron. “The Importance of Empathy in Our Work with Students with Special

Needs.” Catapult Learning, 18 Apr. 2018,

https://catapultlearning.com/2018/04/18/importance-empathy-work-students-special-

needs/.

Prado Lynn. Bullying and the Special Education Student.

https://www.slideshare.net/lbprado/bullying-and-the-special-education-student.

Special Education | Ohio Department of Education. http://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Special-

Education. Accessed 22 Oct. 2018.

Zirkel, Perry A. “Does Brown v. Board of Education Play a Prominent Role in Special Education

Law?” Journal of Law & Education, vol. 34, no. 2, Apr. 2005, pp. 255–271. EBSCOhost,

sinclair.ohionet.org:80/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&d

b=i3h&AN=16730210&site=eds-live.