Module 3: Categories of Children with Special Needs PDF

Module 3 Categories of Children with Special Needs PEFSI Foundation of Special and Inclusive Education to your third module! Dr. Delia P. Jadaone, LPT Instructor No part of this module may be reproduced in any form...

Module 3 Categories of Children with Special Needs PEFSI Foundation of Special and Inclusive Education to your third module! Dr. Delia P. Jadaone, LPT Instructor No part of this module may be reproduced in any form without prior permission in writing from the Instructor/Author.  FOUNDATION OF SPECIAL AND INCLUSIVE EDUCATION MODULE 3 Categories of Children with Special Needs LEARNING OBJECTIVES At the end of this module you are expected to: I. compare and contrast the categories of Children with Special Needs (CSN); II. discuss the points of view of “labeling”, its advantages, and disadvantages; and III. manifest enthusiasm in learning the concepts. INPUT INFORMATION Foundation of Special and Inclusive Education MODULE 3 INTRODUCTION Categories of Children with Special Needs Children with established risk are those with cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, and other conditions that started during pregnancy. Children with biological risk are those who are born prematurely, underweight at birth, whose mother contracted diabetes or rubella during the first trimester of pregnancy, or who had bacterial infections like meningitis and HIV. Environmental risk results from extreme poverty, child abuse, absence of adequate shelter and medical care, parental substance abuse, limited opportunities for nurturance and social stimulation. What Are the Categories of Exceptionalities Among Children and Youth with Special Needs? 1. Mental retardation refers to substantial limitations in present functioning. It is character by significantly average intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with related limitations in two or more of the following applicable adaptive skill areas: communication, self-care, home living, social skills, community use, self-direction, health and safety, functional academics, leisure and work. Mental retardation manifests before age I8 (American Association of Mental Retardation, 1992). 2. Giftedness and talent refers to high performance in intellectual, creative or artistic areas, unusual leadership capacity, and excellence in specific academic field (US Government). Giftedness refers to the traits of above average general abilities, high level task commitment, and creativity (Renzulli, 1978). Giftedness emphasizes talent as the primary defining characteristic (Feldhusen, 1992). Giftedness shows in superior memory, observational powers, curiosity, creativity, and ability to learn (Porto, 1994). 3. Specific learning disability means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen think, speak, read, write, spell or to do mathematical calculations. San Mateo Municipal College Module 3 /PEFSI/ Page 2 College of Education Prepared by: Dr. Delia P. Jadaone It includes such conditions as perceptual handicaps, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. 4. The term emotional and behavioral disorders means a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree, which adversely affects educational performance: an inability to learn which cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, and health factors: an inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers; inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances: a general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression, or a tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems. 5. Speech and language disorders or communication disorders exist when the impact that a communication pattern has on a person's life meets any one of the following criteria: the transmission and/or perception of messages is faulty; the person is placed at a learning disadvantage; there is negative impact on the person’s emotional growth; the problem causes physical damage or endangers the health of the person (Emerick and Haynes, 1986). 6. Hearing Impairment is a generic term that includes hearing disabilities ranging from mild to profound, thus encompassing children who are deaf and those who are hard of hearing. 7. Students with visual impairment display a wide range of visual disabilities - from total blindness to relatively good residual (remaining) vision. A child who is blinds totally without sight or has so little vision that he or she learns primarily through the other senses, such as touch to read braille. A child with low Vision is able to learn through the visual channel and generally leads to read print. 8. Physical impairments may be orthopedic impairments that involve the skeletal system - the bones, joints, limbs, and associated muscles. Or they may be neurological impairments that involve the nervous system affecting the ability to move, use, foil, or control certain parts of the body. 9. The term severe disabilities generally encompass individuals with severe and profound disabilities in intellectual physical and social functioning. Is It Correct to Use Disability Category Labels? Two point of view regarding the use of labels: The first point of view frowns on labeling these children as mentally retarded, learning disabled, emotionally disturbed, socially maladapted, blind, deaf or physically disabled. The second and less popular point of view is that it is necessary to use workable disability category labels in order to describe the exceptional learning needs for a systematic provision of special education services. Pros and Possible Benefits of Labeling Categories can relate diagnosis to specific types of education and treatment Labeling may lead to protective response in which children are more accepting of the atypical behavior by a peer with disabilities than they would be if that same behavior were emitted by a child without disabilities Labeling helps professionals communicate with one another and classify and assess research findings. Funding of special education programs is often based on specific categories of exceptionality Labels enable disability-specific advocacy groups to promote specific programs and to spur legislative action. San Mateo Municipal College Module 3 /PEFSI/ Page 3 College of Education Prepared by: Dr. Delia P. Jadaone  Labeling helps make exceptional children's special needs more visible to the public. Possible Disadvantages of Labeling Because labels usually focus on disability, impairment, and performance deficits, some people may think only in terms of what the individual cannot do instead of what he or she can or might be able to learn to do.  Labels may cause others to hold low expectations for and to differentially treat a child on the basis of the label, which may result to a "self-fulfilling prophecy." For example, in one study, student teachers gave a child labeled "autistic" more praise and rewards and less verbal correction for incorrect responses than they gave a child labeled "normal." Such differential treatment could hamper a child's acquisition of new skills and contribute to the development and maintenance of a level of performance consistent with the label's prediction.  Labels that describe a child's performance deficit often mistakenly acquire the role of explanatory constructs. For example, "Sherry acts that way because she is emotionally disturbed. “  Labels suggest that learning problems are primarily the result of something wrong within the child, thereby reducing the systematic examination of and accountability for instructional variables as the cause o performance deficits. This is especially damaging outcome when the label provides educators with a built-in excuse for ineffective instruction. For example, "Jalen hasn't learned to read because he's )  A labeled child may develop poor self-concept.  Labels may lead peers to reject or ridicule the labeled child.  Special education labels have a certain permanence; once labeled, it is difficult for a child to ever again achieve the status of simply being "just another kid."  Labels often provide a basis for keeping children out of the regular classroom. A disproportionate number of children from diverse cultural, ethnic and linguistic groups have been inaccurately labeled as disabled, especially under the category mild mental retardation. Words of wisdom: “Do all small things with great love-Mother Theresa.” See you in the next module… LEARNING ACTIVITIES I. Deep reading, understanding, and exploring of Module 3 content. II. Clarifications/enrichment of inexplicit concepts from the module during synchronous meeting. San Mateo Municipal College Module 3 /PEFSI/ Page 4 College of Education Prepared by: Dr. Delia P. Jadaone ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION a. Recitation’ b. Quiz 3 Good Luck! ASSIGNMENT 1. Share your insights on how you can contribute to the welfare of special children while you are still a student. 2. Have an advanced reading on the Biological and Environmental causes of developmental disabilities. LEARNING RESOURCES o https://www.pbwslaw.com/special-needs-children-rights/ o https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/special-services/special-education-basics/conditions-covered-under-idea o https://www.understandingspecialeducation.com/13-categories-of-special-education.html o http://sinche.uom.gr/sites/default/files/14_disability_categories_under_idea.pdf o https://www.parentcenterhub.org/categories/ o https://goldmanmaurer.com/special-education-law/types-of-classifications-of-children-with-a-disability San Mateo Municipal College Module 3 /PEFSI/ Page 5 College of Education Prepared by: Dr. Delia P. Jadaone