Chapter 6: Learners With Additional Needs

Introduction
Children learn every day. This happens in various settings and different ways. Learning at times
happen intentionally and with great effort while there are situations where it happens effortlessly.
This chapter focuses on learners with additional needs, highlighting the Definition,
Identification, Learning Characteristics and General Education Adaptation.

I. Learner who are gifted and talented

Definition
Learner who are gifted and talented are students with higher abilities than average and are often
referred to as gifted students. This group refers to students whose talent, abilities, and potentials
are developmentally advanced. They also often finish task ahead and might ask for more creative
task or exercising, thus making presenting a unique challenge to teachers.
Giftedness refers to students with extraordinary abilities in various academic areas. However,
talent focuses on students with extraordinary abilities in specific area.
Multiple intelligences by Gardner
Identification
To identify gifted and talented students, one must do the following:
• Located the students domain of giftedness
• Describe the students level of giftedness
• Describe the students field of talent
C. Learning Characteristics
Common manifestations of gifted and talented learners
 High level of intellectual  Independence in learning
curiosity  Good comprehension of complex
 Reads actively context
 High degree of task commitment  Strong, well-developed
 Keen power of observation imagination
 Highly verbal  Looks for new ways to do things
 Gets bored easily  Often gives uncommon
 Can retain recall information responses to common questions
 Excited about learning new
concepts
d. General education adaptations
Suggested strategies for teaching gifted students:
• Teachers may give enrichment exercises that will allow learners to study the same topic
at more advance level.
• Acceleration can let students who are gifted and talented can move at their own pace thus
resulting at times to in completing two grade levels in one school year.
• Open-ended activities with no right or wrong answers can be provided, emphasizing on
divergent thinking wherein there are more possibilities than pre- determined answers.
• Leadership roles can be given to gifted students since studies have show that gifted
students are often socially immature.
• Extensive reading on subjects of their own interest may be coordinated with the school
librarian to further broaden their knowledge.
• Long- term activities may be provided, that will give the gifted students an opportunity to
be engage for an extended period of time.
II. Learner with difficulty seeing
A. Definition
Students in the classroom will exhibit different levels of clarity of eyesight or visual acuity.
There may be some students with hampered of restricted vision. Learners with difficulty seeing
are those with issues regarding sight that interfere with academics. The definition from
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) states that "an impairment in vision that,
even with correction, adversely affects a child's educational performance, which includes both
partial sight and blindness." These students may need to have their eyesight corrected by wearing
glasses or other optical devices.
B. Identification
Learners with difficulty seeing often have physical signs, such as crossed eyes, squinting, and
eyes that turn outwards. They may also be clumsy, usually bumping into objects which causes
them to fall down. They like to sit near the instructional materials or at times would stand up and
go near the visual aids..
Learners with difficulty seeing may also show poor eye-hand coordination. This can be seen in
their handwriting or poor performance in sporting activities. Another indication is poor academic
performance as these students might have difficulty reading as well as writing.
C. Learning Characteristics
Good visual ability is critical in learning. Most school lessons are done through blackboard
writing, presentations, or handouts, in most major subjects. Visual impairments, whether mild,
moderate, or severe, affect the student's ability to participate in normal classroom activities. In
the past, students who are visually impaired are placed in special institutions. Nowadays, most
are enrolled with other children who are not visually
Learners with difficulty seeing have restricted ways to learn incidentally from their surroundings
since most of them learn through visual clues. Because of this, the other senses are used to
acquire knowledge. Due to the limited ability to explore the environment, low motivation to
discover is present.
D. General Educational Adaptations
Modification in teaching is needed to accommodate students with difficulty seeing. The
following strategies may be considered.
 If the use of books is part of your lesson, students with difficulty seeing should be
informed ahead of time so that they can be ordered in braille or in an audio recorded
format.
 Portions of textbooks and other printed materials may be recorded so that visually-
impaired students can listen instead of focusing on the visual presentation.
  All words written on the board should be read clearly.
 Students with difficulty seeing should be seated near the board so that they can easily
move close to the instructional materials used during the lesson.
 A buddy can be assigned to a student with difficulty seeing as needed. This can be crucial
to assist in the mobility of the student such as going to the other places in school during
the day.
 Students with difficulty seeing might need more time to complete a task or homework.
This might be on a case to case basis.
 Teachers should be aware of terminology that would require visual acuity (such as over
there or like this one) which the impaired student may not possess.
 Teachers should monitor the students closely to know who needs extra time in
completing tasks.

III. Learners with difficulty Hearing

This refers to students with an issue regarding hearing that interferes with academics. The
definition from Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) defines it as "an impairment
in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child's educational
performance but is not included under the definition of 'deafness"." Deafness is considered when
hearing loss is above 90 decibels. A hearing loss below 90 decibels is called hearing impairment.
The main challenge of hearing-impaired students is communication, since most of them have
varying ways of communicating. The factors affecting the development of communication skills
include intelligence, personality, the degree and nature of deafness and residual hearing, family
environment, and the age of onset.
B. Identification
To identify learners with difficulty hearing, observe a student and see if he/she does the
following items below.
Speaking loudly
Positioning ear toward the direction of the one speaking
Asking for information to be repeated again and again
Delayed development of speech
Watching the face of the speaker intently
Favoring one ear
Not responding when called
Has difficulty following directions
Does not mind loud noises
Leaning close to the source of sounds
C. Learning Characteristics

Since much of learning is acquired through hearing, students with hearing problems have

deficiencies in language and in their experiences. Since they may miss out on daily
conversations, they may miss crucial information that non-hearing-impaired students learn
incidentally. Students may overcome these problems by investing time, energy, and combined

effort by both parents and educators.

Most learners with difficulty hearing use various methods of communication. The most common is the
use of hearing aids, combined with lip-reading. These students are referred to as "oral" since they can
communicate thru speech as opposed to sign language. They might have delayed communication skills
since the development of vocabulary is slower. They understand concepts when the sentence structure
is simpler. Interacting with students can be a challenge so they prefer to work on their own.

D. General Educational Adaptations

There is an assumption that the only adjustment for hearing impaired students is to make all
instructional materials and techniques in written format. These are other ways to adapt to hearing-
impaired students

• Teachers should help students with difficulty hearing to use the residual hearing they may have.

• Teachers should help students develop the ability for speech reading or watching others' lips,
mouth, and expressions.

• Teachers should be mindful to face the class at all times when presenting information while
ensuring that the students with difficulty hearing sit near them.

• Exaggerating the pronunciation of words should not be done for it just makes it difficult for the
student with difficulty hearing.

• Directions, as well as important parts of the lesson, should always be written on the board.

• Written or pictorial directions instead of verbal directions may be given.

• Steps to an activity may be physically acted out instead of verbally given.

• A variety of multi-sensory activities should be given to allow the students to focus on their
learning strengths.

• Teachers should be more patient when waiting to hear a response from a hearing-impaired
student which may take longer than usual.
 IV. LEARNERS WITH DIFFICULTY COMMUNICATING
Some learners are observed to have difficulty communicating, either verbally expressing
their ideas and needs and/or in understanding what others are saying. Some may have had
a clinical diagnosis of a disability while others display developmental delays and
difficulty in the speech and language domain. To have a clearer understanding of students
who have difficulty communicating, we will begin with a definition of communication
and its accompanying concepts: how learners with communications difficulties are
identified, their learning characteristics, and ways how to help them manage and become
successful in an inclusive setting.
A. Definition: Types of Communication Impairments and Disorders
• Communication is the Interactive exchange of information, ideas feelings, needs, and
desires between and among people (Heward, 2013 Communication is used to serve
several functions, particularly to narrate, explain, inform, request (mand), and express

feelings and opinions. Speech is the expression of language with sounds, or oral
production Speech is produced through precise physiological and neuromuscular
coordination:
1 respiration (act of breathing),
2 phonation (production of sound by the laryns and vocal folds),
3) rticulation (use of lips, tongue, teeth, and hard and soft palates to speak)
• Language is used for communication, a formalized code used by a group of people to
communicate with one another, that is primarily arbitrary (Heward, 2013). People decide
an symbols, their corresponding meaning and rules that make up a language. There are
five dimensions of language that describe its form (i.e, phonology, morphology, syntax,
content, and use (pragmatics). Table 6.1 provides a description for each dimension.
• Phonology refers to the sound system of a language. A phoneme is the smallest unit of
sound within a language. For instance, the word dog is made up of three phonemes,
namely /d/-/o/-/g/ while beans has four phonemes, /b/-/ea/- /n/-/s/.
• Morphology of a language refers to the smallest unit of language that has meaning and
which are used to combine words. Sounds, syllables, or whole words are examples of
morphemes.
• Syntax is the system of rules governing the meaningful arrangement of words, which
also include grammar rules. For instance, the sentence, Ready get for the exam does not
make sense until arranged in the right sequence as Get ready for the exam.
• Semantics refers to the meanings associated with words and combination of words in a
language. This also includes vocabulary, concept development, connotative meanings of
words, and categories.
• Pragmatics revolves around the social use of language, knowing what, when, and how to
communicate and use language in specific context. There are three kinds of pragmatics
skills: (1) using language for different purposes (e.g., narrating, explaining, requesting,
etc.), (2) changing language according to the context (e.g., talking to a peer as compared
to speaking to a well-respected professor), and (3) following rules for conversations and
story-telling (e.g., taking turns, rephrasing when unclear, how to use facial expressions
and eye contact, etc.) (American Speech- Language Hearing Association, 2011 cited in
Heward, 2013).
Speech Impairment
Articulation disorder
Phonological disorder
Fluency disorder
Voice disorder
• Language Disorders involve problems in one or more of the five components of
language and are often classified as expressive or receptive. Language disorders are
characterized by persistent difficulties in acquiring use of language that result from
deficits in comprehension that include reduced vocabulary, limited sentence structure,
and impairments in discourse, that limit a child's functioning (American Psychiatric
Association 2013).To receive a diagnosis of language disorder, the difficulties must not
be due to an accompanying medical or neurological condition and other developmental
disability (i.e., intellectual disability or global developmental delay).
• There are different types of language disorder-expressive, receptive, and a combination
of the two.
• An expressive language disorder interferes with the production of language. A child may
have very limited vocabulary that impacts communications skills or misuses words and
phrases in sentences. A receptive language disorder interferes with the understanding of
language. A child may have difficulty understanding spoken sentences or following the
 directions a teacher gives. Some children may be found to have a combination of
receptive and expressive language disorder.
At this point, it is also essential to mention that students with Autism Spectrum Disorder
(ASD) also display speech and language difficulties. ASD is an umbrella term for related
disorders that affect social development and communication (Kirk et al. 2015). Students
with ASD display a triad of impairments in social relationships, social communication,
and social understanding. Other disorders that are subsumed under ASD are Rett
Syndrome, Pervasive Developmental Disorder, and Asperger's Syndrome. Oftentimes,
students with ASD display deficits in the pragmatic use of language that impact their
social relationships

Identification
Communication difficulty is oftentimes one of the most common red flags observed by
family members, daycare workers, and early childhood teachers. Noted absence, delays,
and difficulties in speech and/or language often prompt family members to consult their
general pediatrician who then makes referrals to developmental pediatricians and other
specialists.
To screen children with communication difficulties, early childhood professionals use
questionnaires and developmental checklists to determine the severity of the delay as
compared with typical language development. Upon screening, a child may receive
educational supports and accommodations to help address the delay.
How do specialists determine a speech and/or language problem?
Case history and physical examination- Assessment always begins with the case
history that provides the specialist the necessary background about the child's birth and
developmental history, health record, achievement test scores, and adjustment in school.
The specialist examines the child's Oral-Peripheral Mechanism which includes the
mouth, noting Irregularities in the tongue, lips, teeth, palate, or other structures that may
affect speech production.
• Hearing – is tested to determine whether an organic hearing problem is the cause of the
suspected communication disorder, as discussed in the previous section.
• Articulation - A child's articulation skills are assessed, which includes identifying speech
errors (see Table 6.2).
• Phonological awareness and processing- Children with difficulties in processing sounds
in language as well as in hearing, segmenting, and identifying phonemes in words may
experience problems with expressive and receptive spoken language as well as in
learning how to read
• Overall language development and vocabulary- Formal tests may be used to measure
a child's overall language development and vocabulary as these affect how well a child is
able to understand and use language in spontaneous speech and in academic settings.
• Assessment of language function- Language is used to serve several functions such as
to request, name, imitate, ask, and converse among others. B. F. Skinner (Sundberg 2007
cited in Heward 2013), emphasized how language is used rather than the structure and
form of language.
• Language samples and observation in natural settings- Language difficulties may also
be identified through play-based, authentic assessment where a specialist plays with a
child during which spontaneous speech and verbalizations can be elicited. Observations
in natural settings, such as a child's home or school, allows the specialist to sample the
child's language in daily activities and observe parent and child interaction and
communication as part of holistic assessment.
Assessments in speech, language, and communication must take into consideration the
student's cultural and language context, particularly for children growing up in bilingual
environments. At this point, it is essential differentiate English Language Learners (ELL)
from children with diagnosed communication disorder. Ells are proficient in their mother
tongue or first language in both expressive and receptive language tasks, on the other
hand they display difficulties in understanding and speaking the second language such as
English.
C. Learning Characteristic
Children with communication disorders frequently struggle across social settings,
whether at home, school, or in other places in the community. Some of the difficulties
that characterize communication disorders are presented in Table 6.3.

Expressive Language Difficulties Receptive Language Difficulties

Limited vocabulary Following oral directions

Incorrect grammar or syntax Understanding humor or figurative
language
Expressive repetition of information
Comprehending compound a
Difficulty in formulating questions
complex sentences
Difficulty constructing sentences
Responding to questions
appropriately
 • Children with communication disorders may also experience behavioral difficulties.
Because they struggle in expressing their needs and ideas, some children resort to
inappropriate behaviors out of frustration or to get the attention of significant others. For
instance, a five-year old child with expressive language disorder may resort to grabbing
toys and hitting his peers who try to take the toy he was playing with the day before.
While typically developing children will be able. to say, "May I please borrow?" or "It's
my turn now," a child with communication difficulties may not be able to utter these
accurately and instead resort to using actions resulting to physical aggression. Thus, it is
essential that teachers and professionals take this into consideration when working with
children with communication disorders and difficulties. Such feelings of frustration may
even become worse when peers or adults are unable to understand them (Gregg 2016).
• Despite these language difficulties, children with communication disorders are known to
have their own strengths and abilities. This can be best understood using the theory of
multiple intelligences (Gardner 1983 cited in Armstrong 2012), as explained in Chapter 5,
that shows the different strengths and abilities children have. In Gardner's theory, children
may have abilities in different areas or domains, which makes it necessary for parents and
teachers to provide opportunities for such strengths and abilities to be displayed. Children
with communication disorders may have limitations in the linguistic and interpersonal
areas but may possess good spatial, musical, and bodily-kinesthetic abilities. In other
words, a child may struggle with communication but can be very good in playing musical
instruments, be very creative and artistic, and/or excel in sports. As parents, teachers, and
practitioners, knowing a student's strength and highlighting such abilities in an inclusive
classroom is as important as knowing and understanding his/her communication disorder.
• D. General Educational Adaptations
• Different strategies and accommodations may be used to provide a level playing field for
children with communication difficulties or disorders.
• This section discusses the use of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and practical tips
to be used in the classroom.
1. Universal Design for Learning
Use of UDL in the classroom allows children to learn information, demonstrate
understanding, and stay engaged in multiple ways (i.e., multiple means of presentation,
expression, and engagement).
-Because of weaknesses resulting from communication difficulties or disorders, teaching
and learning practices as well as assessment should be presented in different modalities,
such as visual, auditory, and kinesthetic-motor or tactile.
2. Practical Tips for the Classroom
In addition to using UDL, there are practical tips and techniques that teachers can use to provide
students with communication difficulties the support they need in order to be successful.
-The following list provides practical suggestions that teachers can use in the classroom.
1. Allow the child to sit near the teacher and the blackboard, away from auditory and visual
distractions such as the window and the door.
2. Get the child's attention before giving directions.
3. Use pictures, charts, and other visual aids when explaining content to supplement
auditory information.
4. Speak slowly and clearly without exaggerating speech.
5. Simplify directions into short steps.
6. Provide a written copy of directions for a task so the child can refer back to it at his/her
own pace.
7. Use gestures to clarify information.
8. Use peer-mediated instruction
9. Provide extra time to prepare for oral language activities.
10. Model correct language forms and use appropriate wait times (3-5 seconds or more)
to give the child time to think and respond.
11. Explicitly teach vocabulary that is needed in the learning context to promote better
comprehension.
Universal Design for Learning, alongside different accommodations (i.e., presentation,
response, setting, and timing) that are appropriate to the child, and collaboration between the
general education teacher and special education professional, will all help ensure that
children with communication difficulties/disorders have a chance to be successful in an
inclusive classroom.