Special Education

Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD)

★ Specific Learning Disabilities represents a heterogeneous group of students who, despite adequate cognitive functioning and the ability to learn some skills and strategies relatively quickly and easy, have great difficulty learning other skills and strategies. (Vaughn,Boss, & Schumm, 2014) 

Types of Leaning Disabilities

•  Dyslexia- refers to severe difficulty in learning to read, particularly as it relates to       phonological awareness, decoding, fluent reading, and spelling.
  
• Dysgraphia- refers to severe difficulty in learning to write, including handwriting. Individuals with dysgraphia often struggle with accurate letter formation and writing fluently. 
• Dyscalculia- refers to severe difficulty in learning mathematical concepts and computation.
  

(Vaughn,Boss, & Schumm, 2014)

Attention deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) 

★ Is one of the most common mental disorders affecting children. Symptoms of ADHD include inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsive.

Types of ADHD 

•  ADHD, Predominantly Inattentive Type Teachers recognize these students as daydreamers who are often forgetful and easily distracted. 
  
• ADHD, Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive Type This type of ADHD is predominantly characterized by hyperactive-impulsive behavior. These students have difficulty sitting still, talk out of turn, are the most challenging to parents and teachers, and are more likely to develop oppositional and defiant disorder or conduct disorder in adolescence.
  
• ADHD, Combined Type Combined type describes students who have features of both                                                                                                            inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity. It is estimated that 85% of students with ADHD are                                                                                                         classified as having the combined type (Barkley, 2006).
  

Communication Disorders/ Speech and Language Impairments (SLI)

• Communication Disorders- difficulties with exchanging knowledge, ideas, opinions, desires, and feelings.
  
• Speech Disorders- disorders that involve unintelligible or unpleasant communication
  
• Articulation Disorders- occur when students are unable to produce the sounds and sound combinations of language.

• Fluency Disorders - difficulty with the rate and flow of speech  

• Language Disorders - students may have developmental delays in comprehension or receptive language

• Voice Disorders - the quality (pitch and intensity) of the voice itself

Other Health Impairment (OHI)

★ According to IDEA is defined as having limited strength, vitality, or alertness to environmental stimuli, that results in limited alertness with respect to the educational environment, that is due to chronic or acute health problems. The acute health problems include but are not limited to: Asthma, ADD/ ADHD, Diabetes, Epilepsy, a heart condition, Hemophilia, Lead Poisoning, Leukemia, Nephritis, Rheumatic Fever, Sickle Cell Anemia and Tourette Syndrome. (IDEA 300.8) 

Types of Other Health Impairments 

• Asthma; lack of energy and requires frequent breathing treatments, avoid physical activity
•  Cerebral Palsy; lack of coordination, speech disorders, motor problems and extreme weakness 
  
• Diabetes; Increased thirst and urination, weight loss, fatigue and slow healing of sores 
• Lead Poisoning; Impulsive, attention concerns, and learning difficulties 
• Epilepsy; recurrent seizures, abnormal discharges of neurons accompanied by alteration                                                                                                   in motor, sensory function. 
  

(Vaughn,Boss, & Schumm, 2014)

Emotional and Behavioral Disorders-Emotional Disturbance(ED)

★ Individuals with Disabilities Education Act(IDEA) defines emotional disturbance as follows: “ A condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a child’s educational performance” 

A. An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors; 

B. An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers;

C. Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances;

D. A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression; or 

E.A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems. 

    Types of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders Anxiety Disorder- This can cause worry and concern. These types of students can be usually seen as "loners."

 • Mood Disorders- Some causes are irritability and sadness. Depression and Bipolar Disorder fall into this category. 

• Depression can be defined as "prolonged and persistent feelings of dejection that interfere with life functioning."

 • Bipolar Disorder directly deals with feelings of extreme happiness, then extreme lows. 

• Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)- Students that do not follow rules, misbehave in order to be defiant, ignore those in authority, and do not take responsibility for their actions can fall in this category. (Vaughn, Bos, & Schumm, 2011)

• Conduct disorder- Students that are overly aggressive towards their peers/animals, very destructive, and can be thieves.

 • Socialized aggression- This can be referred to as "gangs" where students come together to cause havoc. Another term in relation to this is "group behavior."

 • Schizophrenia- Can be defined as “a chronic, severe, and disabling brain disorder that has been recognized throughout recorded history." This disorder usually is associated with hallucinations or feelings of being possessed.

(Vaughn,Boss, & Schumm, 2014)

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Autism Spectrum (AU)

Autism- a developmental disability that typically appears during the first 3 years of life.

Early signs of Autism 

• Delayed or lack of speech

• Repetitive movement of body such as arms and head

• Impaired social skills 

• Interest in activities 

Asperger Syndrome- The next most common PDD. Despite serious impairments in social skills, abstract thinking, and the ability to relate and identify emotions their IQ range may have extensive abilities.

• Rett Syndrome- a child must have normal prenatal and perinatal development, normal psycho-motor development for the first 5 moths, and normal head circumference at birth. (Only occurs in Females)

                                                                                                                                                                                             (Vaughn,Boss, & Schumm, 2014) 

Intellectual Disabilities

★ The federal law defines intellectual disabilities as “significant sub-average general intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifesting during the developmental period, that adversely affects child’s education performance.” 

Characteristics Associate with Intellectual Disabilities 

■ Significant limitations in adaptive behaviors such as : Self-care, Socializing , Communicating 

■ Slow learners 

■ Often fail to notice relevant features of what is being taught.

■ Do not demonstrate learned skills spontaneously

■ Difficulty learning complex skills and abstract concepts

                                                                                                          ■ Difficulties with memory 

(Vaughn,Boss, & Schumm, 2014)

Visual Impairments, including Blindness (VI)

“An impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child’s educational performance. The term includes both partial sight and blindness.”

Total blindness refers to a very small majority of individuals who have vision impairments and who are unable to see anything, including object or light sources.

“Partially Sighted is usually used in educational contexts to describe a visual impairment that requires special education services. The partially sighted student meets the challenge of disability in much the same way as a totally blind student.” 

Characteristics:

1. Red-rimmed, swollen, or encrusted eyes 2. Excessive blinking 

3. Itchy eyes

4. Eyes that are tearing

 5. One or both eyes turned inward,outward, upward, or downward 

6. Extreme sensitivity to light 

7. Tilting or turning the head to one side to see and object 

8. Squinting 

9.Covering one eye to view an object 

10.headaches, fatigue, or dizziness after doing close work

(Vaughn,Boss, & Schumm, 2014)

Gifted and Talented (GT)

“A gifted and talented student means that a child or youth adult who performs at or shows the potential for performing at a remarkably high level of accomplishment when compared to others of the same age, experience, or environment and who exhibits high performance capability; possesses an unusual capacity for leadership; or excels in a specific academic field.”(nagc, 2016)

Gifted and talented children are really diverse, because of this not all the students exhibit all characteristics all the time. 

 Approximately 6%-10% of the student population are gifted and talented.

Characteristics of GT

 • Unusual alertness, even in infancy 

 • Rapid learner; puts thoughts together quickly 

• Excellent memory

 • Unusually large vocabulary and complex sentence structure for age 

 • Advanced comprehension of word nuances, metaphors and abstract ideas

 • Enjoys solving problems, especially with numbers and puzzles.

• Often self-taught reading and writing skills as preschooler

 • Deep, intense feelings and reactions

• Highly sensitive

 • Thinking is abstract, complex, logical and insightful 

• Idealism and sense of justice at early age 

• Concern with social and political issues and injustices 

• Longer attention span and intense concentration 

• Preoccupied with own thought-day dreamer

 • Learn basic skills quickly and with little practice 

• Asks probing questions 

• Highly develop curiosity 

• Interest in experimenting and doing things differently 

• Puts ideas or things together that are not typical 

• Keen or unusual sense of humor 

• Desire to organize people or things through games or complex schemas 

• Vivid imaginations (imaginary playmates when in preschool) 

(Vaughn,Boss, & Schumm, 2014)

Hearing Impairments Including Deafness (HI)

➔Deafness A hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.

 ➔Hearing impairment An impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.

Hearing Loss Referred as… 

➔Conductive When the outer and diddle ears do not transfer enough acoustic energy to the inner ear fluids.

➔Sensorineural When there is damage to the cochlea (inner ear) of to the auditory nerve.                                                                                                          This type of hearing loss is usually permanent.

                                                                                                  ➔Mixed Hearing Loss When the loss is both conductive and sensorineural.

Characteristics of Students with Hearing Loss 

➔ Normal hearing falls within the range of 0-15 dB. Hearing losses are described by degree minimal in terms such as minimal, mild, moderate, severe and profound:  

➔16-25 dB = minimal loss

 ➔ 25-40 dB= mild hearing loss

 ➔ 40-65 dB= moderate hearing loss

 ➔ 65-90 dB= severe hearing loss 

➔ Greater than 90 dB= profound hearing loss 

(Vaughn,Boss, & Schumm, 2014)

Orthopedic Impairments

A severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a child’s education performance. The term includes impairment caused by congenital anomaly (e.g., clubfoot, absence of some members, etc.), impairments caused by disease (e.g., poliomyelitis, bone tuberculosis, etc.). And impairments from other causes (e.g., cerebral palsy, amputations, and fractures or burns that cause contractures). IDEA 300.8 [c] [8]

Examples of Potential Causes of Orthopedic Impairment

 • Genetic Abnormality 

• Disease (Poliomyelitis & Bone Tuberculosis) 

• Injury 

• Birth Trauma

 • Amputation 

• Burns

 • Fractures or other causes, such as Cerebral Palsy 

• Muscular Dystrophy 

• Spinal Cord Injuries; 

• Spina Bifida. 

Examples of Some Characteristics 

• A child with a spinal cord injury could have immobility limited to one side of their body, just the arms or legs, or it can be total paralysis

 • A child with cerebral palsy may have movement but need a wheelchair because the student is slow, has uncontrolled movements that make it difficult to walk. 

• Difficulties with motor skills, for example with basic writing tools, turning pages, trouble holding a book, or participating in typical classroom activities or lessons. 

• Some students have speech impairments or multiple disabilities that may give them issues with some academic areas.

• The student may lack common experiences and knowledge or common places, items, and activities as compared with general education students.

(Vaughn,Boss, & Schumm, 2014)