Special Therapy

Special education serves the needs of those children who have physical, mental behavioural or sensory characteristics that differ from the majority of children such that they required special education and related services to develop to their maximum potential. This may include children with very high intelligence.
Special education implies instructions designed to respond to the unique characteristics of children who have needs that cannot be met by the standard school curriculum.

Team Work

1) Psychologist

Psychologist is a professional, trained in the science of human behaviour and learning and is competent in assessment and management of cognitive behaviour, emotional an social aspects of a persons in need of help. A psychologist conducts intellectual assessment, gathers relevant background information from the family, carries out other assessments involving socio-emotional, vocational aspects and reports. He/she is also competent to counsel parents suitably regarding the child’s condition and guide them for intervention. Children with ASD may have behaviour problems. As a team member the psychologist assist in management of such behaviours scientifically. However, the psychologist will have to base his/her management of behaviours on a clear understanding of autism.

2) Medical Professionals

The person with ASD may require the services of a number of medical professionals in follow-up interventions. A pediatrician in concerned with management of medical problems. A neurologist deals with issues such as epilepsy. An ophthalmologist, dentist, or ENT specialist may sometimes be part of the team based on the ASD person’s needs.

3) Therapists

Speech and language pathologists, physiotherapists and occupational therapists may also from part of the team.

4) Vocational Instructor

For adolescents in their later years and adults, the vocational instructor takes the role of case coordination. He is responsible for training in vocations after finding out the aptitude and interest of the client. He is responsible for job identification, placement and follow-up. Programming for low functioning, non-employable person with ASD is a challenging task which is carried out by the vocational instructor with team support, especially, the occupational therapist and special educator.

7) Special Educator

The special educator is the case coordinator for children of school- going age. he/she is responsible for special educational programmer after contacting the various team members and planning the programmer of intervention. His/her constant contact with the team members is essential for a programmer that is beneficial for the child. However, all individuals with ASD will not need the help of all team members. In low resourced settings, such as rural areas in a developing country the special educator often functions as therapist, social worker and educator all rolled into one. In a developing counter, the importance of holistic training is crucial in order to reach services to the largest number of persons with ASD.
History of Special Education: Multidisciplinary, Transdisciplinary and Interdisciplinary
The approach or model in interacting with family or the concerned others for the programming for the client vary. The approaches can be -(1) multidisciplinary approaches, (2) interdisciplinary approaches and (3) trans disciplinary.