The psychological, educational, social, and communicative needs of exceptional children and theories of

behaviorism and cognitive psychology as they relate to methods of instruction. All categories of
exceptionality are covered, with emphasis on cultural and linguistic diversity. Students are required to
spend 10 hours in a variety of special education settings collaborating with teachers, parents, and
professionals from multidisciplinary teams to broaden their experiences with the practices and services
available to students with disabilities.

Children with special needs may have mild learning disabilities or profound cognitive impairment; food
allergies or terminal illness; developmental delays that catch up quickly or remain entrenched; occasional
panic attacks or serious psychiatric problems.

Thus, exceptional children is an inclusive term that refers to children with learning and/or behavior
problems, children with physical disabilities or sensory impairments, and children who are intellectually
gifted or have a special talent.

The term 'special educational needs' has a legal definition, referring to children who have learning problems
or disabilities that make it harder for them to learn than most children of the same age.

A special school is a school catering for students who have special educational needs due to severe learning
difficulties, physical disabilities or behavioral problems. Special schools may be specifically designed, staffed
and resourced to provide appropriate special education for children with additional needs.

Meeting the needs of students with special educational needs

To meet the needs of students is one of the most essential aims for the teacher. For all teachers,
either teaching SEN students or not, because each class is a heterogeneous place full of individuals with
different motivation, intelligence, strengths and weaknesses. There can be said that each teacher teaches
in a mixed ability class in fact. - 13 - European Commission report (Special Educational Needs in Europe.
Teaching Languages to Learners with Special Needs. January 2005. 22 Dec. 2006. ) points out the teacher
should adopt an eclectic approach, which means to provide an active response to diverse foreign
language learning styles. The same the report maintains that the use of words such as difficulty and
disorder may be counter-productive when considering equality of access to foreign language learning in
SEN. An alternative approach involves not having predominant focus on learning disorders and disabilities,
but rather on different kinds of learning ability (Special Educational Needs in Europe. Teaching Languages
to Learners with Special Needs. January 2005. 22 Dec. 2006. ) and recommends to make schools foreign
language programme flexible, so that it can meet the wide range of student needs. As argued in a UNESCO
guide (2000) all pupils gain when teachers adapt the curricula and their teaching styles to suit the range
of diversity that is found among children in any class. Usually these adaptations require little extra
equipment but lots of creativity. (McConkey, R. 2000. 22 Dec. 2006. ) I remind that instructional methods
used with SEN students are proved to be usually good teaching practices to use with all learners. As there
is variety of students there is variety of language teaching methods. Nevertheless, there are some of the
methods that are recommended as highly useful and effective for SEN students.

Accommodation for students with special educational needs

One of the most important questions connected with teaching students with special educational
needs is the way to do it. How to teach a SEN student in an inclusive classroom, including students of all
skill levels, so he or she would be not only successful but also would feel motivated to make an effort in the
learning process. I found many materials dealing with ways of teaching, teaching methods, alternative
approaches, some of which could be more helpful in Czech conditions more than the others. Yet, with
regard to the aim and the extent of the thesis, I focus on such essential items that would be fundamental
for an applicable and productive teaching process, both for students with and without special educational
needs. As Schneider and Crombio maintain "when students see that they are successful, they are more
likely to invest energy in the subject in the future because they received positive feedback for their efforts."
(Schneider, Crombio 2003: 47). There are some really important things that can not be omitted within each
lesson of each subject. One is a positive and pleasant school climate. Such a climate should devote attention
to the philosophy that all students can learn and a teacher should do as much as possible towards this. So,
"in order to become a better teacher it seems important to be aware of as many options as possible. This
may enable a teacher to generate his or her own rules and guidelines as to what works and what doesnt."
(Scrivener 1998: vi). A teacher should perceive the needs of students in the class and try to meet them.