Asha M.

Creary
EDUC 5310
Professor Hostin
Exceptionalities Chart
Exceptionality

Learning Disabilities

Characteristics

Reading disorder- reading

difficulties related to
decoding words,
comprehending texts, and
having appropriate speed
and fluency
Written language issues
occur in areas of
handwriting, spelling,
productivity, text structure,
sentence structure, word
usage, and composition
Math difficulties can range
from mild to severe and may
include procedural
problems, semantic memory
problems, and visual-spatial
problems
Average or above- average
intelligence
Heterogeneous population
with varied academic
problems related to math,

Educational Setting

47.4% of all students with

disabilities
of all students with
disabilities experience
challenges related to social
adjustment

Effective
Differentiation
Models
Embedded learning
opportunities involve keyskills instruction that is
embedded in other routines
or tasks
Differentiation of content
and instructional strategies
to ensure that all students in
the classroom have the
ability to learn
Learning strategies
instructions provides the
opportunity for students to
acquire learning-to-learn
strategies that impact
knowledge acquisition,
information, storage and
retrieval, and other higherorder cognitive functions

Legislative
Stipulations

IDEA:
Specific learning disabilitydisorder of 1 or more of the
basic psychological
processes involved in
understanding or in using
language, spoken or written

Asha M. Creary
EDUC 5310
Professor Hostin
reading, and written
language
Have difficulty with shortterm, long-term, and
working memory
Challenges include focusing
attention, being organized,
engaged in future planning,
and solving problems
Difficulty with social skills
and poor self-concepts

Communication Disorders

Speech disorder is an
impairment of ones
articulation of speech
sounds, fluency or voice.
Language disorders reflects
problems in receiving
information, understanding
it, and formulating spoken,
written, or symbolic
response
Expressive language
disorder- difficulty
formulating ideas and
information
Communication disorders
can affect a students
academic, social, and
emotional development

5-10% of population has a

communication disorder

Graphic organizers and story

webs can be helpful

88% of children who receive

speech and language
services spend 21% or less
of their time outside the
general education classroom

System for Augmenting

Language

1.7% of all students aged 612 are identified as having a

speech-language disability

Issues with receiving,

understanding, and
expressing information,
feelings and ideas
ASHA:
Communication disorders
can relate to the components
of the process both affected:
speech, language, or both

Asha M. Creary
EDUC 5310
Professor Hostin
Emotional/Behavioral
Disorders

Emotional characteristics
include the different anxiety
disorders:
Separation anxiety disorder,
generalized anxiety disorder,
phobia, panic disorder,
obsessive-compulsive
disorder, and post-traumatic
stress disorder
Mood disorder- an extreme
deviation in either a
depressed or elevated
direction and sometimes
both
Oppositional defiant
disorder- pattern of
negativistic, hostile,
disobedient, and defiant
behaviors
Conduct disorder- persistent
pattern of antisocial
behavior that significantly
interferes with others rights,
schools, or communities
behavioral expectations
Schizophrenia
Behavioral characteristics
Externalizing- persistently
aggressive or involve acting
out and non-compliant

7% of all students with

disabilities have emotional
or behavior disabilities
White males 3.8 times as
likely as white females to be
identified
Black females are 1.4 times
as likely as white females to
be identified
Black males display the
largest disproportionality

Begin early and use all tools

available
Service-learning strategies
provide a means for students
with emotional or behavioral
disorder to learn important
skills and contribute to their
communities
Need acquired conflictresolution skills

Emotional disturbancecondition accompanied by

one or more of the following
characteristics over a long
time and to a marked degree
that adversely affects a
childs educational
performance:

Inability to learn
Inability to build or
maintain
interpersonal
relationships with
peers
Inappropriate
behaviors
Pervasive mood of
unhappiness or
depression
Tendency to
develop physical
symptoms or fears
associated with
personal or school
problems.

Asha M. Creary
EDUC 5310
Professor Hostin
behaviors.
Internalizing- withdrawal,
depression, anxiety,
obsessions and compulsions

ADD/ADHD

Predominately inattentive
type- must exhibit 6 or more
characteristics in order to be
classified as this type

Fails to give close

attention to details
Difficulty
sustaining attention
Not seem to listen
when spoken
directly to
Does not finish
tasks or
assignments
Difficulty
organizing tasks
and activities
Avoids, dislikes, or
reluctant to engage
in tasks that require
sustained mental
effort
Often lose
necessary materials
needed to complete
a task
Easily distracted by

Approximately 3-8% of the

general population are
identified as AD/HD

Students that do not qualify

for SPED services may
benefit from a section of the
504 accommodation plan
Arrange students seats to
take away distractibility,
post daily schedule, arrange
the classroom to facilitate
smooth transitions
Teach students with AD/HD
organization, goal-setting,
and attainment skills
Benefit from multimodal
treatments
Video of self-modeling is
effective in teaching selfregulation

DSM-IV-TR:
Persistent pattern of
inattention and/or
hyperactivity-impulsivity
that is more frequently
displayed and severe then is
typically observed in
individuals at a comparable
level of development

Asha M. Creary
EDUC 5310
Professor Hostin

extraneous stimuli
Forgetful in daily
activities

Predominately hyperactiveimpulsive type- 6 or more of

specific characteristics
Hyperactivity

Fidgety
Inability to stay
seated
Often runs or
climbs excessively
Difficulty playing
or engaging in
leisure activities
quietly
Often on the go
or driven by
motor

Impulsivity

Blurts out before

questions or
statements are
completed
Difficulty in
waiting for their
turn
Interrupts or

Asha M. Creary
EDUC 5310
Professor Hostin
intrude on others
Combined type- have
features of both
inattentiveness and
hyperactivity-impulsivity
Typically have low selfesteem, higher rates of
alcohol and tobacco usage,
increased risky behavior,
and conflicts with parents,
teachers, or peers

Intellectual Disability

Limitations in intellectual
functioning and limitations
in adaptive behavior
Mild MR- IQ 50-70
Moderate MR- IQ 35-55
Severe MR- IQ 20-40
Profound MR- IQ 20-25

In 2006, approximately
0.08% of students were
classified as having an
intellectual disability

Student achieve higher

academic and social when
they are included in general
education classes
Students in transitioning
programs benefit from
community based
instruction
Elementary and secondary
students develop their
abilities to function
effectively in school and
postschool environments by
using the self-determined
learning model
Pre-school and early

AAIDD
characterized by
significant limitations both
in intellectual functioning
and adaptive behavior as
expressed in conceptual,
social, and practical adaptive
skills. Originates before the
age of 18
IDEA:
Mental Retardationsignificantly subaverage
general intellectual
functioning, existing
concurrently with deficits in
adaptive behaviors and

Asha M. Creary
EDUC 5310
Professor Hostin
education students benefit
from prelinguistic milieu
teaching to elicit
communication and
language from them

manifests during the

developmental period, that
adversely affects a childs
educational performance.

Assistive technologies
equipped with software are
used to improve students
literacy skills.

Severe and Multiple

Disabilities

Impairments in intellectual
functioning, adaptive skills,
motor development, sensory
functioning and
communication skills
Most students with
intellectual functioning
disabilities have an average
IQ score of 35 below normal
or 65 or below
Adaptive skills include
conceptual, social, and
practical competencies
Motor development issues
are sever and include
physical challenges
Sensory functioning include
hearing and visual
impairments and are very
common of individuals with

Approximately 0.2% of all

students aged 6-12 were
classified as having multiple
disabilities.

Teachers should use

inclusion and infuse content
information into the typical
preschool social context
Partial participation enables
students with multiple
disabilities to participate to
the maximum extent
possible for each of them in
school, home, and
community environments.
Student-directed learning
strategies should include
antecedent cue regulation,
self-instruction and selfmonitoring are helpful for
enhancing self-regulated
learning.
Peer tutoring and
technological devices have
been proven to be beneficial

IDEA:
Multiple disabilities mean
concomitant impairments in
which the combinations of
which cause such severe
educational needs that
cannot be accommodated by
special education.

Asha M. Creary
EDUC 5310
Professor Hostin
multiple disabilities

of students with multiple

and severe disabilities.

Almost all students with

multiple disabilities have
communication issues.

Autism

Many individuals with

autism function
intellectually as though they
have an intellectual
disability (some have savant
syndrome)
Caused by abnormalities in
brain development,
neurochemistry, and genetic
factors; cause is unknown

Affects 10-60 per 10,000

children
0.073% of children aged 621 were classified as autistic
Asperger syndrome is 2.5
per 10,000

Social stories are effective

ways to teach young
children with autism a
number of skills
Positive behavior support
decrease problematic
behavior and improve
opportunities of learning
Discrete trial teaching
applies learning principles
from operant psychology to
provide an effective way of
teaching skills to students
with autism.

Developmental disability
significantly affecting verbal
and nonverbal
communication and
typically occurs before the
age of 3
DCM-IV includes as part of
pervasive developmental
disorders as five discrete
conditions that have their
onset in childhood

Mnemonic strategies are

effective curriculum
adaptations and
augmentations that enable
students with autism to
succeed in general
curriculum

Physical Handicapping
Disabilities

Physical disabilitychallenge of mobility

limitations

Prevalence is hard to
determine.
0.01% of all students aged

Should benefit from a

comprehensive health plan
that specifies the health
supports and

IDEA:
Orthopedic impairment that
affects the childs
educational performance.

Asha M. Creary
EDUC 5310
Professor Hostin
Cerebral palsy- disorder of
movement or posture
occurring when the brain is
in its early stages of
development caused by
prenatal, perinatal, or
postnatal factors. (Damage
is not progressive or
hereditary)

6-21 in special education

were classified as having an
orthopedic impairment

IEP teams should use

switches to provide greater
access to general curriculum
for students with physical
disabilities

Physical exercise is
important for all children.

Experience physical changes

from non-existent to severe.
(Ataxia, spasticity, and
rigidity)

Falls account for 28%

Cognitive when it is a mild

TBI students may not
exhibit any learning
impairments. When TBI is
severe students will have
significant academic
difficulties

Events of being
struck/against 19%

Emotional, behavioral, and

social changes can be
problematic and lead to melt
downs. Severe TBI may not
experience changes until 2

The term includes

impairments caused by
congenital anomaly, disease,
and other causes.

Electronic and digital texts

allows for deliverance of
material in multiple ways

Spina bifida- malformation

of the spinal cord caused by
interaction of environmental
and genetic factors

Brain Injury

accommodations that will

enable them to experience
successful inclusion

Automobile accidents
account for 20%

Assaults 11%
Child abuse accounts for 1/5
hospital admissions in
children younger than 6 1/2
And 1/3 admissions in
children younger than 3

Educators need to team with

medical and other
rehabilitative personnel.
Use technology to provide
support for students to be
more independent and to
minimize memory
impairments
Instructional pacing
Appropriate planning and
student input on
accommodations
Keep a routine schedule
Mark when to start/end task

IDEA:
acquired injuries to the
brain caused by external
force but does not include
brain injuries that are
congenital, degenerative, or
included at birth

Asha M. Creary
EDUC 5310
Professor Hostin
years post injury

Visual Impairments and

Hearing Loss

Have limited ability to

learn incidentally from
the environment sand
must be directly
exposed to or taught
much of what they need
to know.

Various measures used,

so it is difficult to get an
accurate count
In 2008-2009, 0.04% of
the special education
population were
receiving services for
visual impairments

TVIs meet the functional

and life-skill needs of
students to facilitate their
eventual integration and full
participation in adult
society.
Instruction must focus on
the skills acquired
incidentally by sighted
students and those skills that
are specific to students who
have visual impairments.

IDEA:
an impairment in vision
that even with correction,
adversely affects a childs
educational performance
Legal Definition:
Acuity is determined by
having individual read the
letters on a chart, each line
of which is composed of
letters written with a certain
size of print

Emphasis on teaching
through tactile methods,
practice skills that facilitate
inclusion, and developing
orientation and mobility and
self-advocacy skills.

Gifted and Talented Students

High general intellect

Prodigy
Intelligence
Quotient (IQ)
can range from
125 to 200
Creativity
Intuitive
Physical/Sensing
Affective/Feeling
Rational/Reasoning
High leadership ability

More prevalent in girls than

boys

Adding instruction on
disciplines or complex
material to present content
Using more challenging or
complex material to present
content
Using an expanded range of

Federal governmental
definition 1978:
Children that possess
demonstrated or potential
abilities that give evidence
of high performance
capabilities in areas such as
intellect, creativity, specific
academics, leadership
ability, or performing and
visual arts, who by reason

Asha M. Creary
EDUC 5310
Professor Hostin
Talents in visual and
performing arts
Challenges in social and
emotional
characteristics

instructional strategies
Teaching critical thinking
and problem solving skills

require services or activities

not ordinarily provided by
the school.
(Gifted and Talented
Childrens Education Act,
1978)

References
Turnbull, R. Turnbull, A., & Wehmeyer, M. (2013). Exceptional lives: Special education in todays schools, (7th ed.) Upper Saddle
river, NJ: Pearson.