Abstract:

This study has its origin in common interest in the special needs education arranged in Vaasa. The latest topic that has aroused discussion has been the outline prepared in the Ministry of Education. It follows the government's program of action and is intended to change the law on basic education concerning special needs education. If put into practice, it would change the arrangements of special needs education so that the decision on special support for students, in other words, on transfers to special needs education would be for a fixed term and for a period of two years at most at a time, unless the grounds for the decision are an obvious need for special needs education, such as disability. The decision could be made during pre-primary education or the first grades. It would be an administrative decision and it could be appealed against, but the HOJKS (IEP) drawn up for the student would not be eligible for appeal. The alteration in the law sounds like a reduction, which is aimed at basic education and in which a decrease in the amount of special needs education is striven for.

The reason for transfer or acceptance to special needs education is not always learning difficulties or diagnoses. If the whole family is feeling badly, the children are usually the first to react. Problems may show at school as behaviour disorders of the child or as other kinds of difficulties at school. The affairs of the child and the family are, however, usually tackled too late. Early involvement and stopping children from becoming displaced would be important. According to Lämsä's research (2009) children in danger of becoming displaced lack the opportunity for support especially from adults, which is an indispensable precondition for healthy and balanced growth. The one to recognize the need for support can be a parent or a teacher. This is made easier if the daily activity of the school is properly arranged. By this we mean groups of students which are of the right size and formed systematically, and students' opportunity to receive attention and individual instruction. Special needs education should also be sufficient and varied for those who need it. It would also be beneficial to use strategies that match students' talent for learning and promote learning as well as methods of individual pedagogic in instruction.

Keywords:

Small-group instruction, special needs education, inclusion, integration, multi-professional co-operation.