Exceptional ChildrenChapter 1: The Purpose and Promise of Special Education

&

Chapter 5: Learning Disabilities

Who are exceptional children?▪ children with learning and/or behavior problems, children with physical disabilities or sensory impairments, and children who are intellectually gifted

Key terms

Disability: exists when an impairment limits the ability to

perform certain tasks

Impairment: the loss or reduced

function of a body part or

organ

Handicap: a problem encountered

when interacting with the environment

At Risk: children who have a greater-than-usual chance

of developing a disability

Categories of Exceptionality

Prevalence

▪ Intellectual disabilities (mental retardation)▪ Learning Disabilities▪ Emotional or behavioral disorders▪ Autism▪ Speech or language impairments▪ Hearing impairments▪ Visual impairments▪ Physical or health impairments▪ Traumatic brain injury▪ Multiple disabilities▪ Giftedness and special talents

• Children in special education represent approximately 12% of the school age population.

• About twice as many males as females receive special education.

• The number of children and youth who receive special education has grown every year since a national count was begun in the 1976-1977 school year.

• The four largest categories are learning disabilities, speech and language impairments, mental retardation, and emotional disturbance.

• Many children are affected by more than one disability condition.

What is Special Education?

Purposeful intervention designed to prevent, eliminate, and/or overcome the obstacles

that might keep a child with disabilities from learning and

from full participation in school and society

Majority of children with disabilities spend most of the

school day in general education classrooms, others are in separate classrooms or

separate residential and day schools

Special education is individually planned,

specialized, intensive, goal-directed instruction

What are the advantages of labeling students with

exceptionalities?

What are the disadvantages of labeling

students with exceptionalities?

Why do we label and classify exceptional children?

If disability labels do not tell us what and

how to teach, why are they used in special

education?

When is special Education

needed? How do we know?

• Specialized

Types of Special Education!

• Individually Planned

Teaching methods and instructional materials selected

for each student

Incorporates a variety of instructional materials and

supports, natural and contrived, to help students acquire and use targeted learning objectives

• Guided by student performance

Types of Special Education!

• Research type-based methods

Instructional programs and teaching procedures selected on basis of research support

Frequent measure of student learning used to inform

modifications in instruction

• Goal-Directed

Types of Special Education!

• Intensive

Instruction presented with attention to detail, precision,

structure, clarity, and repeated practice

Purposeful instruction intended to help student achieve the greatest possible personal self-sufficiency

and success in the present and future

Focus QuestionsWhy have court cases and federal legislation been required to ensure that children with disabilities receive a free appropriate education?

Focus Questions

How can special education provide all 3 kinds of intervention on behalf of a child?Preventative/Remedial/Compensatory

Focus Questions

In what ways do general and special education differ? Are those differences important? If so, why and how?

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

• Originally passed in 1975, this law has been amended five times and was finally renamed in 1990.

• ▪ IDEA has had a profound influence in every school in the country and has changed the roles and responsibilities of general and special educators, school administrators, parents, and students with disabilities in the educational process.

Six Major Principles of IDEA

• Zero reject

• Nondiscriminatory identification and evaluation

• Free appropriate public education

• Least restrictive environment

• Due process safeguards

• Parent and student participation and shared decision making

Legal Challenges Based on IDEA

• Extended school year

• Related services

• Disciplining students with disabilities

• Right to education

Related Legislation

• Gifted and Talented Children• Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973

• Americans with Disabilities Act• Accountability for Student Learning

• Emphasis on What Works Based on Scientific Research • Implications for Students with Disabilities

Who are exceptional students?

Meet Jack!

What is a learning disability?

• NJCLD-A continuation of the IDEA definition, but NJCLD

addresses the weaknesses of the above definition. The

mentioned imperfect abilities are disorders which are

intrinsic to the individual, and are presumed to be due to

central nervous system dysfunction, and may occur

across the life span.

IDEA-a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological

processes involved in understanding or using

language. May manifest itself in an imperfect ability to: listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do math. Does not include learning problems that are the result of other disabilities or environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.

Characteristics • Learning disabilities are associated with problems in

listening, reasoning, memory, attention, selecting and focusing on relevant stimuli, and the perception and processing of visual and/or auditory information.

• READING PROBLEMS

• WRITTEN LANGUAGE DEFICITS

• MATH UNDERACHIEVEMENT

• SOCIAL SKILLS DEFICITS

• ATTENTION PROBLEMS AND HYPERACTIVITY

• BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS

• LOW RATINGS OF SELF-EFFICACY

THE DEFINING CHARACTERISTIC

• -ALTHOUGH STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES ARE AN EXTREMELY HETEROGENEOUS GROUP, IT IS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT THE FUNDAMENTAL, DEFINING CHARACTERISTIC OF STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES IS THE PRESENCE OF SPECIFIC AND SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENT DEFICITS SEEMINGLY IN SPITE OF ADEQUATE OVERALL INTELLIGENCE.

• THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHAT STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES “ARE EXPECTED TO DO AND WHAT THEY CAN DO…..GROWS LARGER AND LARGER.”

Prevalence

• LEARNING DISABILITIES MAKE UP THE LARGEST CATEGORY IN SPECIAL EDUCATION. STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES REPRESENT ALMOST ONE HALF OF ALL STUDENTS RECEIVING SPECIAL EDUCATION

• ABOUT THREE TIMES AS MANY BOYS AS GIRLS ARE IDENTIFIED AS LEARNING DISABLED

• THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS IDENTIFIED WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES GREW TREMENDOUSLY FROM 1976-1977, THE FIRST SCHOOL YEAR THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT REPORTED SUCH DATA

Causes

• IN MOST CASES THE CAUSE OF A CHILD’S LD IS UNKNOWN

OTHER CAUSES HAVE BEEN PROPOSED

• BRAIN DAMAGE

• HEREDITY

• BIOCHEMICAL IMBALANCE

• ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

Identification and Assessment

COMMON ASSESSMENTS

• STANDARDIZED INTELLIGENCE AND ACHIEVEMENT TESTS

• CRITERION-REFERENCED TESTS

• CURRICULUM-BASED MEASUREMENT

• DIRECT AND DAILY MEASUREMENT

Response to Intervention (RTI)

• Tier 1

• Tier 2

• Tier 3

What are the benefits of RTI?

What are some concerns?

Educational Approaches

• Content Enhancements

• Graphic Organizers and Visual Displays

• Mnemonics

• Note-taking strategies

a) Strategic note taking

b) Guided notes

Educational Placement Alternatives1) General Education Classroom

2) Consultant Teacher

3) Resource Room

4) Separate Classroom