Importance for Guidance and Counselling for Students with Special Needs
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Importance for Guidance and Counselling for Students with Special Needs
Guidance is when a person gets helpful advice or information from an experienced or qualified matter to solve or improve a serious problem. Guidance helps individuals to understand their true self and the potential they possess to do things. Guidance helps one to identify their talents and abilities. It gives direction to a person for where they want to be in life and how to reach there.
Definitions of Guidance by Authors
• Ruth Strang stated,
“Guidance is a process of helping every individual, through his own efforts, to discover and develop his potentialities for his personal happiness and social usefulness.”
• According to A.J. Jones,
“Guidance involves personal help given by a competent person; it is designed to assist a person in deciding where he wants to go, what he wants to do, or how he can best accomplish his purposes; it assists him in solving problems that arise in his life. It does not solve problems for the individual, but helps him to solve them. The focus of guidance is the individual and not the problem; its purpose is to promote the growth of the individual in self-direction.”
• According to Knapps,
“Learning about the individual student, helping him to understand himself, effecting changes in him and in his environment which will help him to grow and develop as much as possible – these are the elements of guidance.”
Counselling is a way of receiving professional assistance through talking therapy from trainer personnel. It is done for the purpose of identifying one’s goals or solutions to personal problems. Counselling can be received individually, with partner or family depending upon the situation. Counselling is confidential and non-judgmental no matter the issue. It is to help individuals overcome the negativity and problems in life and improve their mental health.
Definition of Counselling by Authors
• According to Webster’s Dictionary,
“Counselling means consultation, mutual interchange of opinion, deliberating together.”
• Harriman defined,
“Counselling is the psychotherapeutic relationship in which an individual receives direct help from an adviser or finds an opportunity to release negative feelings and thus clear the way for positive growth in personality.”
• Ruth Strang stated,
“Counselling is a face to face relationship in which growth takes place in the counsellor as well as the counsellee.”
Importance of Guidance and Counselling for Special Needs Students
The importance of guidance and counselling for students with special needs are for the following reasons:
1). Students are given guidance on how to deal with psychological problems.
2). It helps students to adjust and adapt with their surroundings.
3). It makes these students feel belonged and accepted by the society.
4). To make these students realise their potential and help them grow more and more in life.
5). To help the students get a better understanding of themselves and the environment.
6). It mainly helps students to accept themselves and feel comfortable with themselves as the way they are born.
7). To make the these children feel confident and accepted in their own skin.
8). To make these students understand it is okay to make mistakes and ask for help when required.
9). To assist these children whenever it is needed without any compromise.
10). To help students overcome all kinds of difficulties and problems they are facing.
11). It improves the student’s ability to function emotionally and socially.
12). To help the students in moulding their character and behaviour to the best interest .
13). To help the students understand their interests, preferences and needs.
Thus, the need of guidance and counselling is essential for students with special needs make them accept themselves the way they are, understand themselves better, and overall discover their capabilities of doing things,
