Functional Education

There are many buzzwords in the teaching field. Parents are familiar with standardized testing, state standards, and grade level requirements. Those with mentally challenged children even have their own unique lingo with words such as inclusion, Individual Educational Plan, and modifications. Now there is a new buzz word in the special education field called Functional Education.

Functional education is mainly used in two types of classrooms. Those who teach autistic children and trainable mentally handicapped children, prefer this form of education. Now days, people are familiar with autism, but may not know the criteria for a child to be placed in a trainable mentally handicapped classroom. High functioning autistic children with disabilities are often in regular classrooms, or assigned an aide that assists them. However, trainable mentally handicapped children are always in a special classroom. In order to be in a trainable mentally handicapped (TMH)classroom, a child's IQ would be between 55 and 35 on a standardized intelligence test. The lower end of the scale can vary depending on the school district. The idea behind functional education is to teach these children daily living and social skills that will be used in every day life.

Functional education demands that the skills taught be ' concrete and usable.' Teaching a child to figure out the main idea of an article would be an abstract skill. Teaching a child to tie his shoes would be concrete. Most education that takes place in classrooms would not be labeled as concrete. A student in a regular classroom advances as each new skill or concept is learned. A child in a classroom with a functional approach, will have steps broken down into smaller steps and may never fully learn a skill. Repetition is essential in this type of education.

A teacher in this type of classroom teachers differently than her peers in standard classrooms. Functional education is hands on, visual, structured, and repetitive. Visual cues are a huge part of this type of classroom. Teachers often use visual aid programs such as Board maker and other c communication software programs. Visual schedules, to do lists, and task lists abound in the functional classroom. Teachers rely heavily on these programs for visual aids, as most students can not read, and rely on visual cues.

Education strategies will usually be hands on. Puzzles, manipulatives, and hands on learning aids are used in the classroom. Teachers also rely on adaptive learning equipment such as buttons and switches on devices and toys. The most used education tool in the functional classroom are task boxes or task completion charts. The task boxes are bought or self made tasks that are broken down into individual steps. A child will have a visual list to mark off when they ave completed each part of the task. A child might sort color blocks into the same color box. Or they might follow steps on a visual chart to tie shoes. The tasks have very limited steps, so completion is easier for the student. A teacher or aide will be available to provide encouragement or hands on support if a student is lost on a task.

Functional education teaches a special needs child the everyday skills they will need to be independent and function in society,. Children learn quicker with visual aids, task boxes and repetitive tasks. In the long run, they feel better about themselves for a job well done.

http://www.janpalmer.ca/classroom_startup.html
http://www.mayer-johnson.com/category/boardmaker-family/
http://www.specialed.us/autism/structure/str12.htm