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Module 6. Learners With Exceptionalities

This document discusses learners with exceptionalities. It defines exceptional learners as those with special needs related to cognitive abilities, behavior, physical/sensory impairments, or giftedness. The document outlines various categories of exceptionalities including specific learning disabilities, autism, intellectual disabilities, and physical or health impairments. It also discusses the terms "disability" and "handicap" and advocates using "people-first" language when referring to learners with exceptionalities.

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Hania Abdul
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279 views

Module 6. Learners With Exceptionalities

This document discusses learners with exceptionalities. It defines exceptional learners as those with special needs related to cognitive abilities, behavior, physical/sensory impairments, or giftedness. The document outlines various categories of exceptionalities including specific learning disabilities, autism, intellectual disabilities, and physical or health impairments. It also discusses the terms "disability" and "handicap" and advocates using "people-first" language when referring to learners with exceptionalities.

Uploaded by

Hania Abdul
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Module 6 Learners with Exceptionalities

Learning Outcomes

✓ Describe the basic categories of exceptional learners.

✓ Define and the terms disability and handicap.

✓ Demonstrate “people first” language when referring to exceptional learners


and advocate for its use.

Introduction

One significant factor that highlights individual differences and diversity in learning
is the presence of exceptionalities. We commonly refer to 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, social functioning, physical and sensory impairments, emotional disturbances,
and giftedness. Most of these 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.
Advance Organizer

Physical Disabilities Emotional and


and Behavioral
Health Impairments Disorders

Learning Sensory
Dsabalities Impairments

Mental
Autism Exceptionalities
Retardation

Explain

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

Handicap

➢ 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.
Categories of Exceptionalities

❖ Specific Cognitive or Academic Difficulties

• Learning Disabilities
➢ involve difficulties in specific cognitive processes like perception,
language, memory or metacognition that are not due to other
disabilities.
Examples: Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, and Dysgraphia

• Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder


➢ Manifested by difficulty in focusing and maintaining attention and
recurrent hyperactive and impulsive behavior.

• Speech and Communication Disorders


➢ difficulty in spoken language that significantly hamper classroom
performance.
Examples: Voice disorder, stuttering, and inability to produce sounds

❖ Social/Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties

• Autism
➢ a condition manifested by different levels of impaired social interaction
and communication, repetitive behaviors and limited interests.

• Mental Retardation
➢ refers to significant subaverage 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
➢ 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: (I) limited energy and
strength, (2) reduced mental alertness, and/or little muscle control.

⚫ Severe and Multiple Disabilities. This refers to the presence of two or more
different types of disability, at times to a profound level.
❖ Sensory Impairments

• Visual Impairments
➢ These are conditions when there is malfunction of the eyes or optic
nerves that prevent normal vision even with corrective lenses.

• Hearing Impairments

➢ These involve malfunction of the ear 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

People-first language
➢ is a language trend that involves putting the person first, not the disability
(e.g., a person with a disability, not a disabled person).

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 preferable 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 a more respectful and accepting attitude toward learners
with exceptionalities. 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 and adjustments.

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