Overview
Adhyayan serves the entire family with stress management training and counseling for parents of kids with autism and other special needs. Supporting parents navigating their child’s diagnosis can lead to better outcomes when parents learn to manage their own stress.
We also have a program to assist children and teens on the spectrum and with other diagnoses, with emotional regulation, communication and coping skills. Additionally, we offer counseling for siblings to help them navigate their unique and sometimes overwhelming world.
Importance
There are many types of children with disabilities and other requirements. Students may be unable to perform in school activities, like sports or simple reading exercises, due to their inherent special needs.
Here are just some examples of disabilities a child may have:
- Anxiety disorder
- Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
- Dyslexia, dyscalculia, and other learning disabilities
- Hearing, visual, and other sensory impairment
- Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD)
- Physical disabilities
- Speech and language disorders
Special students with special needs also include those with an advanced intellect. The talented and special students with special needs often possess leadership, creativity, communication skills, and intelligence well beyond what’s expected of their age. They often feel underwhelmed by the lack of challenge in their schools.
But children with mental and physical disabilities aren’t your only kind of special students with special needs. Those who are at a disadvantage or have a harder time learning because their brains cannot take it are also special students who have special needs.Now, and especially during the pandemic, education continues to be special and a privilege.
Special Students who have special needs need superior connectivity to the internet to join classes and find resources. They should also have at least one gadget of their own to submit class requirements
Benefits
Counseling for the Needs of Special Students At School
First, counseling can help in identifying special students with special needs. With their background, they can pick up on actions and social cues signaling a student's difficulty integrating with a group.
Students with special learning disabilities may look as if they're the same as other ordinary kids. They may only begin to show signs of their disability when reading, writing, or solving problems. So, while they may seem well-adjusted at first, special needs students with learning disabilities who have special needs may progress slower in time.
Children with special needs who have developmental disorders like attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) also often have difficulty processing their thoughts and feelings.
Because of this, they may need specialized care. Fortunately, they can learn about and develop thought processes and expressions. Counseling can help children with ADHD to learn how to express themselves better.
Another example would be the children having disabilities. While their conditions aren't limitations themselves, they can still hinder them from socializing in fear of being different. This fear may be hard to identify, especially if a child is already very reserved.
Unfortunately, special students who have special needs with advanced talents and intelligence may feel undervalued. This feeling can then lead to demotivation as they continue to learn for mediocre test scores. Studies also show that this demotivation may result in underachieving and underdeveloped children.
Luckily, a counselor can identify these challenges in children with special needs. Identifying problems may only be the first step, but it's essential in helping children with special needs.
Once counselors identify which students have disabilities and which special needs they require, they can start working on these limitations.
For special students having learning disabilities, counselors can help them slowly learn techniques to make academic requirements bearable.
They can also help them improve their focus and concentration. Through counseling, special students can learn about their condition while adapting to their inherent limitations.
On the other hand, counselors can also design special education programs for special disabled students. During counseling, counselors can also evaluate the benefits and detriments of their special education programs. Special education programs may include these changes:
- Assistive learning devices
- Educational and psychological assessments
- Classroom environment
Thus, students can learn the same lessons as their classmates, thanks to new teaching methods that consider their limitations.
All of this development wouldn't happen during one-on-one sessions with a counselor. However, counseling can help special students feel more secure in the group.
During such sessions, students who have special needs can improve on their social, communication, and other interpersonal skills. They can also build friendships in small counseling groups. Students having special needs can then rely on this newly-found relationship for support, even after counseling ends.
Lastly, counseling can help students who have special needs under special education gain self-acceptance. Counselors can also help these children learn more about their respective condition.
One of the hot discussions for the disabled community is the identity-first language. To identify first language encourages one's aim to break any stigma or negative connotations previously associated with terms such as "disabled" or "autistic." This movement thus promotes the use of such terms when identifying a disabled person.
On the other hand, some people prefer the person-first language. This movement, on the other hand, seeks to recognize people first before their disabilities.
Regardless of their day-to-day in question serves to teach how they want to be referred. Counseling can help children discover their strengths and weaknesses. With the proper education about their limitations, children can learn to accept their condition and build an identity from there.
In conclusion, counselors in the school setting do more than just talking to students in detention or those who have discipline infractions. But also, counselors help the disabled, marginalized, and gifted children.