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As many
as 270,000 students receive special education support in Ontario. That's
about 12.5 per cent of the students in the province's publicly funded
schools.
An exceptional
pupil is one, according to the Education Act, "whose behavioural,
communicational, intellectual, physical or multiple exceptionalities are
such that he or she is considered to need placement in a special education
program."
IPRC and IEP
Each school's Identification, Placement and Review Committee (IPRC) decides
if a child should be identified as exceptional, identifies the areas of
exceptionality, decides on an appropriate placement, and reviews each
child's identification and placement at least once a year.
An Individual Education Plan (IEP) is developed for each child, in consultation
with parents. It includes specific educational expectations, an outline
of the program and services to be received, a statement about the methods
for reviewing progress and, for students 14 and older (except those identified
only as gifted), a plan for transition to postsecondary school activities.
Exceptionalities
Behaviour: Learning disorder characterized by specific behaviour
problems that, over time, adversely affect educational performance.
Communication: Autism, deaf, hard-of-hearing, language impairment,
speech impairment or a learning disability that is defined as a significant
discrepancy between academic achievement and assessed intellectual
ability.
Intellectual: Giftedness, mild intellectual disability or developmental
disability.
Physical: Physical disability or blind or low-vision .
Multiple: May include a combination of learning disability
and other disorders, impairments or physical disabilities |
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