Children with Spina Bifida in the Classroom

We are now in our third week of our Understanding Special Needs series and today we will be talking about Spina Bifida. If you are a regular classroom teacher, you may not encounter a child with Spina Bifida in your classroom, but you might have a disabilities class at your school with students with Spina Bifida.

Let’s start with the statistics. . .

• It’s the most common disability birth defect in the United States
• It affects 1,500 births each year
• Three out of 10,000 babies are born with Spina Bifida in the state of Florida

What exactly is Spina Bifida?

Spina Bifida is when someone has a cleft spine, which is an incomplete closure in the spinal column. Spina Bifida can range from mild to severe in three types:

• Spina Bifida Occulta: There is an opening in one or more of the vertebrae of the spinal column without damage to the spinal cord.
• Meningocele: The protective covering around the spinal cord, has pushed through the opening in the vertebrae in a sac. The spinal cord remains intact.
• Myelomeningocele: This is the most severe in which a portion of the spinal cord protrudes through the back.

What can teachers do to help?

If you are a special needs teacher, more than likely your classroom has a majority of physically challenged students and have been placed in their own classroom. If not, make sure your classroom is on the ground level of your school or is easily accessible by elevator. Spina Bifida causes muscle weakness or paralysis which means some children may have wheel chairs. Teachers need to be aware that children with Spina Bifida usually have had a loss of bowel and bladder control and must have a series of operations throughout their childhood to relearn how to meet their basic needs independently.

Many children with Spina Bifida have trouble paying attention, expressing or understanding language, and grasping reading and math. Successful integration of a student into a regular school classroom requires changes in school equipment and curriculum because Spina Bifida can have profound effects on a child’s emotional and social development.

Take your time and introduce things at a slow pace and build up their independence.

* Research was taken from the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities

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