Lesson 1: Introduction to Exceptional Children

Exceptional

extremely good or impressive in unusual way; much more or greater than usual; not likely to happen very often.

Exceptional children

• differ from the norm, either above or below, in physical attributes or learning ability to such an extent that they need specialized educational services or physical accommodations to benefit fully from schooling (Heward, 2012).

• includes children who experience difficulties in learning as well as those whose performance is so advanced.

Inclusive term

• The term students with disabilities is more restrictive than exceptional children because it does not include gifted and talented children.

• The term exceptional children includes children who experience difficulties in learning as well as those whose performance is so advanced.

Impairment

• refers to the loss or reduced function of a particular body part or organ (e.g., missing limb).

• functional lost

• organ level

Disability

• exists when an impairment limits a person’s ability to perform certain tasks (e.g., walk, see, read).

• Condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do a certain activities.

• activity or limitation

• person level

It may be:

• Cognitive

• Developmental

• Intellectual

• Mental

• Physical

• Sensory

• Or a combination of multiple factors

Handicap

• refers to a problem or a disadvantage a person with a disability or impairment encounters when interacting with the environment.

• Deprives the person of having access to facilities which are available to non disabled persons thereby limiting their function.

• social disadvantages

• social level

At risk

• refers to children who are considered to have a greater than usual chance of developing a disability.

• Educators often apply the term to infants and preschoolers who, because of biological conditions, events surrounding their births, or environmental deprivation, may be expected to experience developmental problems at a later time.

Intellectually Exceptional Child

The gifted child or the child with superior intellect. Gifted children exceed, in terms of intelligence quotient, 125 or 130 and generally fall within the range between 1Q, 130 and 180 or above.

Slow learners

are those children whose measured intelligence quotient is somewhere between 80 and 95.

Mentally handicapped

or the educable mentally retarded pupils possess I.Q., between approximately 50 to 75.

Mentally difficult or trainable.

Mentally retarded children have been defined as possessing I.Q., scores between 30 and 50.

Physically Handicapped Child

• Children with impaired vision

• Children with impaired hearing

• Children with speech handicaps

• Children with orthopedic and neurological impairment

Emotionally Disturbed Child

include those with behaviour problems and those who are socially maladjusted or the delinquents.

Multi-handicapped or multiple-handicapped child

• has a problem of exceptionality which is highly complicated. Children may be mentally retarded as well as speech handicapped. They may be at the time suffering from epilepsy.

• They may have cerebral palsy with mental retardation and epilepsy. They may be deaf, blind and mentally handicapped. They may be mentally defective, speech handicapped and suffer at the same time from behaviour disturbances.

1.6 million

The recent study of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF, 2022) estimates that there are about _____ Filipino children with disabilities.

Mainstreamed

Based on the Department of Education (DepEd) data for school year (SY) 2016-2017, 232,975 learners with disabilities or learning exceptionalities were ____ in regular classes.

Region IV-A and NCR

____ with 34,644 or 14.9% and the _____ with 33,977 or 14.6% recorded the highest number of learners with exceptionality who were mainstreamed in regular classes (Table 2).

BARMM and CARAGA

Region XI (17,601 or 7.6%) and Region III (17,295 or 7.4%) followed while the ____ and the ____ regions recorded the lowest number of learners with exceptionality (2,568 and 4,227 or 1.1% and 1.8% respectively).

91%

SPED Teachers. DepEd teachers who underwent formal training in SPED at the national, regional and division level and who are presently teaching children with special needs are considered as SPED teaching.

Chart 1 shows that as of School Year 2019-2020, there is a total of 4487 SPED teachers in public schools, ___ or 4,094 of whom are elementary teachers (K-G6).

898

SPED Centers. Data from the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) shows that there are ____ SPED Centers in the country – 683 are public or DepEd schools while 215 are private entities (Table 3). The DepEd classifies SPED Center as a regular class of learners with three or more learners with exceptionality.

NCR

By region, the ___ has the most number of SPED Centers with 247 (27.5%), followed by Region IV-A with 94 (10%), Region VIII with 74 (8.2%) and Region VII with 70 (7.8%). On the other hand, the BARMM has the least number of SPED Centers (2 or 0.2%) followed by CAR (14 or 1.5%).

General Appropriation Act (GAA)

SPED Budget. While the SPED program was mainstreamed in DepEd programs as early as 1997 in support of RA 7277, the budget for the program was allotted in the annual _____ (GAA) only in 2020 onwards. Table 5 shows the annual budget for SPED and its share under the Inclusive Education Program. SPED budget shares in 2021 and 2022 were much lower with more resources allotted to Flexible Learning Options Program in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Impairment

an abnormality in the way organs or systems function (e.g., a medical condition, eye disease, a heart problem)

Disability

The functional consequence of an impairment (e.g., an intellectual disability due to brain impairment; low vision; deafness)

Handicap

The social or environmental consequence of a disability (e.g., a person with a wheelchair is not handicapped when paths and buildings are wheelchair accessible)

Foreman

People first, disability second (____, 2000)

Labeling

• recognizes meaningful differences in learning or behavior and is a first and necessary step in responding responsibly to those differences.

• can provide access to accommodations and services not available to people without the label.

• may lead to a protective response in which peers are more accepting of the atypical behavior of a child with disabilities.

• Classification helps practitioners and researchers communicate with one another and classify and evaluate research findings (e.g., National Autism Center, 2011).

• enable disability-specific advocacy groups to promote specific programs and spur legislative action (e.g., Autism Speaks, American Federation for the Blind).

• helps make exceptional children’s special needs more visible to policymakers and the public.

Possible Disadvantages of Labeling and Classification

• Because the labels used in special education usually focus on disability, impairment, or performance deficits, they may lead some people to think only in terms of what the individual cannot do instead of what she can do or might be capable of doing.

• Labels may stigmatize the child and lead peers to reject or ridicule the labeled child

• Teachers may hold low expectations for a labeled student and treat her differentially as a result. Such differential treatment could impede the rate at which a child learns new skills and contribute to a level of performance consistent with the label’s prediction.

• Labels may negatively affect the child’s self-esteem

Why use labels?

• Leads to treatment, it open doors for resources

• Leads to specific intervention that will facilitate learning

• helps identify and address child’s particular needs

• promotes awareness and understanding of particular difficulties

• Increases recognition and awareness may lead to “increased tolerance” that helps teacher and children understand particular difficulties

• Provide clear communication devices for professional exchanges of information

• Provide comfort to children and families by “explaining” their difficulties

• Provide people with social identity: a sense of belonging to a group

Labeling and classification system

• are essential for research, communication and advocacy.

• The true issue is not the labeling system, but the society’s lack of understanding on disability issues, on people with disabilities, and also a lack of empathy to other human beings who might be different from oneself.