SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION WITHIN THE EDUCATION SYSTEM

Early intervention
Above all, early intervention aims at fostering the child, supporting his or her family, and establishing interdisciplinary collaboration. What kind of support is given depends mainly on the child’s and his or her family’s needs, and is based upon individual, holistic approaches which take into account especially the family's and the child's resources.


Interdisciplinary work fosters the teamwork of all family members who help to rear a child with a disability. Early intervention also includes mediation and assistance services for families to provide adequate help, information and financial support.

All supportive measures shall aim at giving children who present or are in danger of developing a disability the highest possible degree of autonomy. Another aim of early intervention is to enable parents to help themselves, so that in the long run they can organise those supportive provisions that they need for themselves. This means that early intervention, above all, builds on the capabilities, skills and resources of the child and the family, and not on the deficits.

Kindergarten
The Kindergarten Acts of the provinces (i.a. the Day Care Act and the Children’s Day Care Centre Act) distinguish between mainstream kindergartens, inclusive kindergartens (inclusive groups) and special kindergartens. These types coincide in their definition of kindergarten and the definition of the tasks of kindergarten. In some provinces, they also refer to inclusion. There are differences in the provinces’ legal regulations for kindergartens as to the maximum number of children in a group (which is, in most provinces, approximately 25 children per group). There are also differences in the minimum number of children in a group, the number of pedagogically trained staff and assistants per group, the hourly quota devoted to further training, preparation etc. - in case these items are referred to at all in the individual provincial legislation.

Models for Inclusion
- Inclusive groups in mainstream kindergarten
- Individual inclusion in mainstream kindergartens
- Inclusive groups in remedial kindergartens

Special Needs Support at Compulsory School

Special Needs Support in Schools of General Education / Inclusion
Inclusive education for pupils with special educational needs is currently legally regulated in primary, lower secondary school, and the lower grades of schools of general secondary education. Three models of joint education are applied there:
- Inclusive classes: Pupils with and without special educational needs are instructed in all lessons by a team of teachers.
- Classes with support teachers:   Mainstream classes where one or two SEN pupils receive extra support by a special school teacher for a few hours per week (depending on their disability).
- Co-operation classes:  Primary, lower secondary, and pre-vocational school classes are generally separated from special school classes in terms of organisation. The teachers involved agree upon a plan according to which pupils are instructed together, either some of the time, or all the time.

The Co-ordinative Tasks of Special Education Centres
Special Education Centres have the task of providing and co-ordinating all measures of special needs education to ensure through inclusive education that children with special educational needs can be educated at mainstream schools in the best possible way. These tasks include:
- The issuing of expert opinions to identify special educational needs (special needs opinion)
- Co-operation with regional schools of compulsory education, other Special Education Centres, school authorities, the district school inspector, the special school inspector, regional non-school institutions etc.
- Support of inclusive education through educational and organisational counselling, assistance for the setup of teacher teams
- Information for parents, public relations, exchange of experience and further training
- Administration

Co-operation with Other Institutions
The Special Education Centres are responsible for co-operation with other institutions to support children and their parents in the best possible way. For example, if other institutions require additional assistance, therapy, training programmes, diagnoses, or the like, the Special Education Centre establishes contact with the competent bodies and procures the respective provisions.

Source:
Mörwald Brigitte, Pannos Judith: "Sonderpädagogische Zentren, Drehscheibe der Integration" in "Integration in der Sekundarstufe I", BMUK , Klagenfurt 1996

More information can be found in the publications of the Federal Ministry for Education, the Arts and Culture, which can be downloaded at www.cisonline.at.

Please also take note of the chapters “Development of Integration/Inclusive Education” and “Quality Indicators of Special Needs Support” for more information on measures of inclusive education. 

Special Needs Support at Special School
Special schools have the task of fostering children with physical or psychological disabilities according to their type of disability, and to give them – as far as possible – a degree of education which corresponds to primary school, lower secondary school or pre-vocational school, and – in the case of the job preparation year - to make them ready for integration in the labour market.

There are 10 different types of special schools with a focus on different types of disabilities (for example, special school for children with learning disabilities, visual or physical disabilities etc.) Specially trained teachers instruct their pupils in smaller classes; the curriculum, and the methods and materials are adapted to the abilities of the children.

In these schools, pupils are either educated according to the curriculum of primary or lower secondary school, or to a curriculum of the respective special school type.

Special schools that are conducted according to the curriculum of primary or lower secondary school have to enable children – depending on their interests, orientations, talents and abilities – to carry on in schools of higher secondary education.

The curricula and further information on special schools in German can be found at: www.cisonline.at

Education at special schools comprises compulsory schooling (9 years of school attendance). However, if necessary, it is also possible to prolong attendance at special school to max. 12 years.

The maximum number of pupils per class is between 8 (for example, in a special school for children with hearing disabilities) and 15 (general special school).

Job Orientation and Job Preparation Year at Special Schools
In the school year 1998/99 the obligatory course “job orientation” was also introduced in special school to better support young people in finding a job. This obligatory course is intended to foster the pupils’ ability to decide for him or herself on an occupation.

Another possible way to prepare young people for the labour market is the “job preparation year” in the ninth grade of special school.

More information on job orientation and the job preparation year can be found at www.cisonline.at/nahtstelle-schuleberuf.html.

Mobile Special Education Service
The mobile special education service provides the support for children and adolescents with diverse disabilities through advisory and support teachers for pupils with visual and hearing disabilities, behavioural difficulties, speech disabilities and for children in hospital. This additional service is provided outside the classroom depending on the child’s needs.