Special Education Abroad

I'm doing research on supplementary education material abroad - a big part of which is targeted towards young learners with special needs - and realized that I knew very little about how countries outside of the US understand "special education."

In the United States, special education has become a large focus of education policy, curriculum development, and the allocation of resources in schools over the past 2 decades. The term itself has evolved from one that described severe acute learning disabilities like autism, to one that now includes emotional trauma, dyslexia and ADHD. And while some argue that the American education system over-diagnoses and over-treats youth, the movement has aided millions of young learners and provided a valuable test-bed for new education techniques and methodologies.

This is a snap-shot of a country that has recently had both the resources and the inclination to address "special education" so defined.

My question is, what does that snap shot look like in your home country?

Tags: Disabilities, Education, Foreign, International, Learning, Needs, Special

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Permalink Reply by Deborah Kerwood on June 20, 2009 at 3:29am

Here in Egypt, special education is mostly unknown. In general, people are unaware of special needs or know very little about them.

I work in a private school in Cairo where parents can pay extra tuition to have their child in the 'learning support center.' Turns out, these are students in need of special education services. The teachers are qualified special education teachers. Otherwise, the program does not look anything like special education in the states. The students do not receive assessments or IEPs, nor do they have special supplies or equipment. They are encouraged to brush up on skills quickly because the support ends after 9th grade.

We are making an effort in the direction of states policies. Next year they will start using IEPs. As far as I know, we are one of only a few schools doing this.

Deborah Kerwood

Feel free to write me if you have more questions.