Rethinking the Need for Special Education

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Who truly needs special education?

In United States public schools, students of color are overdiagnosed (at a rate over 2x that of white students4) with disabilities and subsequently forced into special education classrooms as a disciplinary measure. In contrast, neurodivergent students are often kept out of special education classrooms and left in general education classrooms with no accommodations whatsoever. These issues stem from problems in special education guidelines at the highest level, as “technical experts” in the U.S. Department of Education have attempted to make schools and classrooms more accommodating without taking input from neurodivergent students.

Social Model analyses of educational systems in other countries reveal that our own significantly lacks accommodations in general education classrooms, which would improve quality of life and learning for all students, not just neurodivergent students. As such, we provide:

  1. New guidelines to determine whether a given student belongs in special educations
  2. Trainings/scenarios to familiarize educators with our standards
  3. Resources to ensure general education classrooms provide as many accommodations as possible

We ask school administrators, psychologists, counselors, and teachers to implement our guidelines and ensure they are providing the most accommodating education possible to all of their students.

Read more about our resources below:

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About Us

Ben Candee

Ben is a sophomore majoring in Mathematics and minoring in Secondary Education. They hope to be a high school math teacher.

“I feel a connection to this topic because of my own educational experience and having to play the game of asking for help vs. not ruining future opportunities. Additionally, the way in which my younger sibling’s disability was handled in our public school system has scarred them permanently.”

Grace Irioogbe

Grace is a senior majoring in learning and education studies. She hopes to be a social worker in the future.

“I decided to choose this topic because many students with disabilities aren’t treated well in the school system. Many of them lack the proper resources to receive the best education they possibly can.”

Yareth Barreto

Yareth is a sophomore majoring in Special Education in the University of Illinois. She hopes in the future to be a teacher in middle or high school and later become a social worker.

“I decided to choose this topic because I think that it will help me when I’m in the field of being a Special Education Teacher, but also during high school as being a student with a disability I couldn’t get the support that I needed so I want to see if we can make a change.”