(known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, special ed., SEN or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that provides accommodations that address their individual differences, disabilities, and special needs. Ideally, this process involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials, and accessible settings. These interventions are designed to help individuals with special needs achieve a higher level of personal self-sufficiency and success in school and in their community which may not be available if the student were only given access to a typical classroom education. Special Education is separate from a 504 plan, as a 504 plan allows students with disabilities to participate in the general education classroom and special education services involve a special classroom (or a resource room) that has a class of students only with disabilities that receive special education services. Some students with an IEP go into a special classroom, and some students with an IEP can participate in general education classes with accommodations and/or modifications. 

Education for All Handicapped Children Act, 1975

In 1975, Congress enacted Public Law 94-142, more commonly known as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA). The goal of EHA was to ensure children with disabilities gained access to a free and appropriate public education. This law provided local and statewide support and protection to children and youth with disabilities, as well as their families.

Under EHA, all public schools were granted federal funding that provided equal access to education for children with physical and/or mental disabilities. Schools were required to evaluate children and create an educational plan that paralleled the academic experience of their non-disabled peers. EHA requirements also provided parents and families the necessary support systems to ensure their child received appropriate and adequate services, along with the services needed to dispute decisions made on behalf of the child.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA) was amended in 1997 and is now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The amendments made in IDEA provide children and youth with disabilities access to a higher quality of education-related services, ensuring all students the complete access to the most appropriate education within the least restrictive environment.

Under IDEA’s legislation, all states receiving federal funding must:

• Provide all students with disabilities between the ages of three and 21 with access to an appropriate and free public education
• Identify, locate and evaluate children labeled with disabilities
• Develop an Individualized Education Program (IEP) for each child
• Educate children with disabilities within their "least restrictive environment." This environment is ideally with their typically developing peers but is dependent on individual circumstances
• Provide those students enrolled in early-intervention (EI) programs with a positive and effective transition into an appropriate preschool program
• Provide special education services for those children enrolled in private schools
• Ensure teachers are adequately qualified and certified to teach special education
• Ensure that children with disabilities are not suspended or expelled at rates higher than their typically developing peers

Above all, these federal provisions enacted by IDEA ensure that all children with disabilities are provided with the adequate services and resources necessary for them to succeed within and beyond the educational system alongside their non-disabled peers.

Types of Disabilities Covered in Special Education

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Autism Spectrum Disorder refers to a developmental disability that significantly affects communication (both verbal and nonverbal) and social interaction. These symptoms are typically evident before the age of three and adversely affect a child’s educational performance. Other identifying characteristics of those with ASD are engagement in repetitive activities/stereotyped movements, resistance to change in environment and daily routine and unusual responses to sensory stimuli.

Deaf-Blindness

Deaf-blindness refers to concomitant visual and hearing impairments. This combination causes severe communication, developmental and educational needs that cannot be accommodated through special education programs solely for those children with blindness or deafness.

Deafness/Hearing Impairment

Deafness means a child’s hearing impairment is so severe that it impacts the processing of linguistic information with or without amplification and adversely affects a child’s educational performance. Hearing impairment refers to an impairment (fluctuating or permanent) that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.

Developmental Delay

Developmental delay is a term designated for children birth to age nine, and is defined as a delay in one or more of the following areas: cognitive development, physical development, socio-emotional development, behavioral development or communication.

Emotional Disturbance

Emotional disturbance refers to a condition that exhibits one or more of the following characteristics both over an extended period of time and to an exceptional degree that adversely affects a child’s educational performance:

• An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory or health factors
• An inability to build and/or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers
• Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances
• A general pervasive mood of unhappiness/depression
• A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems

Emotional disturbance does not apply to children who are socially maladjusted unless they are determined to have an emotional disturbance as per IDEA’s regulations.

Intellectual Disability

Intellectual disability is defined as a significantly below average functioning of overall intelligence that exists alongside deficits in adaptive behavior and is manifested during the child’s developmental period causing adverse affects on the child’s educational performance.

Multiple Disabilities

Children with multiple disabilities are those with concomitant impairments such as intellectual disability and blindness or intellectual disability and orthopedic impairment(s). This combination causes severe educational needs that cannot be met through programs designed for children with a single impairment. (Deaf-blindness is not identified as a multiple disability and is outlined separately by IDEA.)

Orthopedic Impairment

Orthopedic impairment(s) refer to severe orthopedic impairments that adversely affect a child’s academic performance. Orthopedic impairment(s) include those caused by congenital anomalies and diseases, as well impairments by other causes (i.e. Cerebral Palsy).

Other Health Impairment(s)

Other health impairments refer to a limitation in strength, vitality or alertness, resulting in limited alertness to one’s educational environment. These impairments are often due to chronic or acute health problems — including ADD/ADHD, epilepsy, and Tourette’s syndrome — and adversely affect the child’s educational performance.

Specific Learning Disability

Specific learning disability refers to a range of disorders in which one or more basic psychological processes involved in the comprehensive/usage of language — both spoken or written — establishes an impairment in one’s ability to listen, think, read, write, spell and/or complete mathematical calculations. Included are conditions such as perceptual disabilities, dyslexia (also dyscalculia, dysgraphia), brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction and developmental aphasia. Specific learning disabilities do not include learning problems that are the result of visual, auditory or motor disabilities, intellectual disability, emotional disturbance or those who are placed at an environmental/economic disadvantage.

Speech/Language Impairment

Speech or language impairments refer to communications disorders such as stuttering, impaired articulation or language/voice impairments that have an adverse effect on a child’s educational performance.

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Traumatic brain injury refers to an acquired injury to the brain caused by external physical forces. This injury is one that results in a partial or complete functional disability and/or psychosocial impairment and must adversely affect the child’s educational performance. TBI does not include congenital or degenerative conditions or those caused by birth-related trauma. TBI applies to injuries that result in impairments in one or more of the following areas: cognition, language, memory, attention, reasoning, abstract thinking, judgment, problem-solving, psychosocial behavior, physical functions, information processing, and speech.

Visual Impairment (Including Blindness)

Visual impairment, which includes blindness, refers to impairment in one’s vision that, even after correction, adversely affects a child’s educational performance. The term “visual impairment” is inclusive of those with partial sight and blindness.

In order to be deemed eligible for state special education services, IDEA states that a student’s disability must adversely affect his or her academic achievement and/or overall educational performance. While defining these adverse effects are dependent on a student’s categorical disability, eligibility is determined through a process of evaluations by professionals such as a child’s pediatrician/specialists, school psychologists and social workers. After a student is deemed able to receive such services, their progress is annually reviewed.

Just as with general education certification, becoming a certified Special Education teacher allows you to work with a wide range of student ages, grade levels, and abilities. Special Education programs are designed to meet the specific and unique instructional needs of each child, allowing students to be grouped homogeneously by developmental stage (ability) rather than by age. This unique aspect of Special Education allows teachers to provide aid and instruction based on the students' skill level, rather than biological age. This unique aspect of Special Education allows educators to provide aid and instruction based on a child’s interest and ability, rather than biological age. However, most certification programs are categorized by the student’s age, allowing teachers to become certified for the following age groups:

• Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education programs: Birth - Age 4
• Childhood Special Education: Kindergarten - 6th Grade
• Secondary Special Education: 7th - 12th Grade
• A number of special education certification programs offer a general certification from birth to 21 years old, allowing educators to work with virtually any age demographic

Special Education Certification

Once you've made your decision of which age group to become certified in, consider which degree you want to earn to teach special education.

Undergraduate: B.Ed. Special Education

Earning your bachelor’s degree in education is your first step in becoming a certified teacher. Typical undergraduate programs in education are four years and provide students with the resources, qualifications, and experience needed to become certified teachers in their respective states. Average course loads include theory, fieldwork and practical application of skill. If your school offers a Bachelor’s in Special Education, coursework will include theory and practice in both general education and Special Education theory. While not all university programs offer a Bachelor’s in Special Education, earning your undergraduate degree in general education allows you to pursue your master's degree in special education.

Graduate: Special Education

Graduate degrees in Special Education are offered for both certified teachers looking to further validate their credentials, as well as those looking to complete their initial certification. Depending on your school’s program and/or course schedule, a Master's in Education is typically completed in a two-year period and are scheduled to accommodate your work schedules — typically offering night and weekend classes. While not all states require a master’s degree in order to become a teacher, an advanced degree typically earns a higher salary and makes you eligible for more employment opportunities.

Earning a master’s degree in Special Education allows you to reach a wide range of students in a variety of both academic environments and disciplines. Depending on the programs offered at your local colleges/universities, a Master’s in Special Education degree may offer programs in the following areas:

• Learning Disabilities
• Behavior Disorders
• Intellectual Disabilities
• Autism Spectrum Disorders
• Low-Incidence Disabilities (blindness, deafness, deaf-blindness, multiple disabilities)
• Early Intervention, Early Childhood Special Education

Where Can Special Education Teachers Work?

Deciding on a career in special education allows you to work with a wide range of children of different ages and abilities, as well as a number of unique work environments. Special education teachers are able to work in a number of environments, including but not limited to the traditional classroom. It is a unique ability of special education teachers to reach students outside of the traditional classroom, allowing the needs of a broader population of children to be met.

Work environments for those certified in Special Education may include:

• Specialized/self-contained schools
• Self-contained classes among general education settings (may include Resource Room, ELL classes, Alternative Education programs)
• General education classrooms (both public and private schools) operating under an inclusion/CTT model
• Self-contained and Inclusion model preschool programs
• Early Intervention programs — includes both at-home and at-site services
• Residential facilities
• Home programs
• Health agencies and clinics
• Hospitals