MODULE 6

LEARNERS WITH EXCEPTIONALITIES

OBJECTIVE

At the end of the unit, the students are able to:

1. describe the basic categories of exceptional learners;
2. define and distinguish the terms disability and handicap; and
3. demonstrate “people first” language when referring to exceptional learners
and advocate for its use.

One significant factor that highlights individual differences and diversity in

learning is the presence of exceptionalities. We commonly refer learners with
exceptionalities as persons who are different in some way from the “normal” or
“average”. The term “exceptional learners” includes those with special needs related
to cognitive abilities, behavior or social functioning, physical and sensory
impairments, emotional disturbances, and giftedness. Most of these learners require
a lot of understanding and patience as well as special education and related services if
they are to reach their full potential of development.

ACTIVATING YOUR PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

1. Watch any of the following films:

• The Rain Man
• I am Sam
• Son-rise a Miracle of Love
• The Life of Helen Keller

2. Describe the main character in the movie you watched.

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3. What was his/ her exceptionality. Describe.

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4. Who provided support? What support did he/she get from his/ her
environment?
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EXPANDING YOUR KNOWLEDGE

As a future teacher, you would probably encounter learners with special

needs, more so if special education is your major. It is therefore necessary that you
have both the right information and proper attitude in dealing with special learners.
This will help you perform your task to facilitate learning. Let us begin by
differentiating the words disability and handicap.
Disability. A disability is a measurable impairment or limitation that
“interferes with a person’s ability, for example, to walk, lift, hear, or learn. It may refer
to a physical, sensory, or mental condition” (Schiefelbusch Institute, 1996). The word
disability has become the more accepted term, having replaced the word handicap in
federal laws in the US, one of which is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA). IDEA is the law that provides comprehensive service and support for
exceptional learners. Our very own 1987 Philippine Constitution, Article XIV, Sec. 2,
uses the word “disabled” in paragraph (5) “Provide adult citizens, the disabled, and
out-of-school youth with training…”
Handicap. The word handicap does not have the same meaning as disability. A
handicap is a disadvantage that occurs as a result of a disability or impairment. The
degree of disadvantage ( or the extent of the handicap) is often dependent on the
adjustment made by both the person and his environment. Therefore, the extent to
which a disability handicaps an individual can vary greatly. Two persons may have the
same disability but not the same degree of being handicapped. For example, they both
have a hearing impairment; one knows a sign language and can read lips while the
other cannot. The first individual would not have as much as handicap as the second
one. Another example, two persons who move around on a wheel chair, the one is
studying in a school campus with wheel chair accessibility in all areas would be less
handicapped than the one in a school without wheel chair accessibility
.
Categories of Exceptionalities

These are different ways of presenting categories of exceptionalities. Special

education practitioners would have varying terms and categories. For this short
introduction of categories, we are basing it on the categories found in Omrod ‘s
Educational Psychology (2000).

Specific Cognitive or Academic Difficulties

Learning Disabilities. Learning disabilities involve difficulties in specific

cognitive processes like perception, language, memory or metacognition that are not
due to other disabilities like mental retardation, emotional or behavioral disorders, or
sensory impairments. Examples of learning disabilities include dyslexia (reading),
dyscalculia (number operations) and dysgraphia (writing).
Attention- Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). ADHD is manifested in
either or both of these: (1) difficulty in focusing and maintaining attention and (2)
recurrent hyperactive and impulsive behavior.
Speech and Communication Disorders. There is difficulty in spoken language
including voice disorders, inability to produce the sounds correctly, stuttering, and
difficulty in spoken language comprehension that significantly hamper classroom
performance.

Social/ Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties

Autism. Autism is a condition manifested by different levels of impaired social

interaction and communication, repetitive behaviors and limited interest. Individuals
with autism usually have an intense need for routine and a predictable environment.
Mental Retardation. Mental retardation refers to significant sub- average
intelligence and deficits in adaptive behavior. There is difficulty in managing activities
of daily living and in conducting themselves appropriately in social situations.
Emotional/ Conduct Disorders. This involves the presence of emotional states
like depression and aggression over a considerable amount of time that they notably
disturb learning and performance in school.

Physical Disabilities and Health Impairments

Physical and health impairments. This involves physical or medical conditions

(usually long- term) including one or more of these: (1) limited energy and strength,
(2) reduced mental alertness, and/or (3) little muscle control.
Severe and Multiple Disabilities. This refers to the presence of two or more
different types of disability, at times at a profound level. The combination of
disabilities makes it necessary to make specific adaptations and have more
specialized educational programs.

Sensory Impairments

Visual impairments. These are conditions when there is malfunction of the

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eyes or optic nerves that prevent normal vision even with corrective lenses.
Hearing impairments. These involve malfunction of the ear or auditory nerves
that hinders perception of sounds within the frequency range of normal speech.

Giftedness

Giftedness. This involves a significantly high level of cognitive development.

There is unusually high ability or aptitude in one or more of these aspects: intellectual
ability, aptitude in academic subjects, creativity, visual or performing arts or
leadership.

People- First Language

What is People- First Language? Just as the term would imply, the language
trend involves putting the person first, not the disability (e.g., a person with disability,
not a disabled person). Thus, people- first language tells us what conditions people
have, not what they are (Schiefelbusch Institute, 1996). This is similar to saying
“person with AIDS, rather that “AIDS victim”. Other suggestions for referring to those
with disabilities include:

• avoiding generic labels (people with mental retardation is preferable to the

mentally retarded);
• emphasizing abilities, not limitations for instance, uses a wheelchair is
preferable to confined to a wheelchair);
• avoiding euphemisms (such as physically- challenged) which are regarded
as condescending and avoid the real issues that result from a disability; and
• avoiding implying illness or suffering (had polio is preferable to is a polio
victim, and has multiple sclerosis is preferab;e to suffers from multiple
sclerosis) (Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 2000;
Schiefelbusch Institute, 1996).

Using people- first language and applying the guidelines above will remind you
to have more respectful and accepting attitude toward learners with
exceptionalities. The presence of impairments requires them to exert more
effort to do things that others like us find quite easy to do. They are learners who
may turn to you for assistance. Beginning with the right attitude, one of
compassion (not of pity nor ridicule), will make you a more effective teacher,
one with the hand and the heart who can facilitate their learning adjustment.

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SYNTHESIZING YOUR KNOWLEDGE

Activity # 1

Revise the following sentences to adhere the people- first language and the
other guidelines given in this Module.

1. The teacher thought of many strategies to teach the mentally challenged.

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2. Their brother is mentally retarded.

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3. The organization is for the autistic.

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4. He is a polio victim who currently suffers from post- polio syndrome.

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5. There was a blind girl in my psychology class.

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6. I attended a seminar about teaching disabled children.

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7. That classroom was designed for the deaf and bilnd.

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8. I like to read books about the handicapped.

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9. When she was suffering from spinal cord injury, in a car accident, she became
a paraplegic and was confined to a wheelchair.
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10. He is behaving like that because he is abnormal.

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Activity #2

1. How do handicap and disability differ?

2. By means of a graphic organizer presnt the basic categories of exceptional
learners and describe each category briefly.
3. Surf the internet for the Son- Rise Program for autism. It is based on the life-
changing experience of Ron Kauffman who had autism but recovered. Most
practitioners believe that autism is incurable, but the Son- Rise Program has
another approach. Read about it and write your reaction about it.

Activity #3

From the module on Learners with Exceptionalities, I realized that …

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