Quote:
Originally Posted by Gdeaver
What do teams do about students that apply that have "special needs".
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First I want to preface my advice by saying that every school, student, team, and mentor is different. This is what I have found works when I have been in that situation but this might not work for you.
• If you are associated with a school*, check how their IEP (Individual Education Plan) Program works. So to allow the students to be as included as possible most IEP’s have a section to address how the student will participate in extra-curricular activities. In the past I have seen this in the form of the school needing to provide a faculty member trained in special education to the meetings. (*Private schools are not required to provide IEP’s)
• If the IEP does not cover your meeting, see if you can pair each of the special needs students with a more senior team member to be their buddy.
• You can also ask the parents if they would be able to come to the meeting to help ground their child(ren)
I understand that special needs students provide additional challenges, however those students are often greatly benefited by this program, so in my opinion, all avenues should be exhausted before barring a special needs students from the team.