Special Education Tools, Concepts and Design for Children in Need

AbstractOne of the main aims of the modern world is the education of children, maybe because they represent the hope of our future. Giving a special attention to the way we educate and form our children, we are responsible for the future generation achievements or failures. Nowadays, researchers from different fields (psychology, education, sociology, architecture, urbanism, politics, economics, etc.) are paying a special attention to the situation of children in need. Unfortunately, we can distinguish a special category, with bigger problems- the street children. In 1989 UNICEF estimated the number of the children who live on the streets at 100 million; fourteen years later UNICEF reported: “Latest estimates raise the number of street children at over 100 million”. (UNICEF 2002) Nowadays estimations are not optimistic at all: “The precise number of street children is almost impossible to quantify, but this number comes close to tens of millions worldwide and is very likely that this number will still increase” (UNICEF 2005). Unfortunately these children have a really low percent of recovery, less than 1%. Based on the assumption that it is easier to prevent the appearance of other street children than to recover them, this article aims to analyse the situation of children with special education needs, from Lugoj, a city in Timis County, Romania. For a better understanding of the situation and the solutions found for the education of these children, this paper presents the project, the premises and the results of a centre, under construction since 2012, dedicated to the children in need from Lugoj