IMEE C.

GREGORIO

SPED 301: FOUNDATIONS OF SPED

COVERAGE OF THE REPORT

● Support Services for Children with Special Needs

What is Special Education?
Who are Exceptional Children or Youth with Special Needs?
The Basic Terms in Special Education
The Categories of Exceptionalities Among Children and Youth with Special Needs

What is Special Education?

● Special education refers to a range of educational and social services provided by the public school system and
other educational institutions to individuals with disabilities who are between three and 21 years of age.
● Special education is designed to ensure that students with disabilities are provided with an environment that
allows them to be educated effectively.
● Special education can include a range of support services, depending on the special needs of the student.
Support services may involve physical assistance and therapy, counseling and psychotherapy, modified learning
environments and assistive learning devices, educational and psychological assessments, and behavioral
modification techniques.
● Special education means instruction that is specially designed to meet the unique needs of children and youth
who are exceptional. Special education requires a team effort. Support services refer to those services that
permit a child who is exceptional to benefit from special education.

Who are Exceptional Children or Youth with Special Needs?

● 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). 
● The term “exceptional” has often been used to describe unusual, unique, or outstanding qualities of people or
objects. Consider the following phrases: “His artwork is exceptional” and “She is exceptionally bright.” In this
case, the term “exceptional” refers to students who learn and develop differently from most others or students
who have exceptional learning styles, exceptional talents, or exceptional behaviors. Exceptional students are
those who fall outside of the normal range of development.
● The term is more often used in the special education community than by medical and psychological
professionals, and includes children whose performance is superior and who require enrichment of curriculum
and more challenging instruction in order to achieve their maximum potential, as well as those with learning
difficulties, physical or sensory impairments or behavior problems that require modification of the education
regimen in order to help them learn.

The Basic Terms in Special Education

• Accommodations: Changes that allow a person with a disability to participate fully in an activity. Examples
include, extended time, different test format, and alterations to a classroom.

• Assessment or Evaluation: Term used to describe the testing and diagnostic processes leading up to the
development of an appropriate IEP for a student with special education needs.

• Disability: Physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.
• Assessments (Standard): Tests given to all students to check their progress in school. Students with disabilities
may need accommodations for these tests, which will be written in the IEP.  Certain students may need
alternate assessments, depending on their disability.

• LRE: Least Restrictive Environment: The IDEA law requires that students with disabilities must be taught with
their non-disabled peers as much as possible.  The closest they can get to being in a typical classroom is called
the "least restrictive environment," or LRE.

• Early Intervention: Programs for developmentally delayed infants and toddlers through 35 months of age;
designed to help prevent problems as the child matures.

• Inclusion: Term used to describe services that place students with disabilities in general education classrooms
with appropriate support services. Student may receive instruction from both a general education teacher and
a special education teacher.

• Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 2004): The original legislation was written in 1975
guaranteeing students with disabilities a free and appropriate public education and the right to be educated
with their non-disabled peers.

• Individualized Education Plan (IEP): Special education term outlined by IDEA to define the written document
that states the disabled child's goals, objectives and services for students receiving special education.

• Individualized Education Program Team: Term used to describe the committee of parents, teachers,
administrators and school personnel that provides services to the student. 

• Mainstreaming: Term used to describe the integration of children with special needs into regular classrooms for
part of the school day. The remainder of the day is in a special education classroom.

• Occupational Therapists: Provide consultation and support to staff to improve a student’s educational

performance related to fine motor, gross motor and sensory integration development.

• Placement: The school or type of classroom where your child will be taught.  Based on your child's needs, these
range from the regular classroom in the child's regular school to a special-needs classroom, a separate school, or
a special program in the home or a hospital.

• FAPE: Free Appropriate Public Education: Public school districts are required to provide a “free appropriate
public education” to school-age students with disabilities who are in their jurisdiction (ages 3-21), regardless of
the nature or severity of the disability. 

The Categories of Exceptionalities Among Children and Youth with Special Needs

Classification and Major Categories of Exceptionality

• children and youth with mild disorders to learning, which include communication disorders, learning disabilities,
and mild mental retardation.

• children and youth with behavioural disorders, which includes conduct disorders, social maladjustment and
delinquency, anxiety and withdrawal, and Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder.

• children and youth who are intellectually superior.

• children and youth with sensory disabilities, which include hearing impairments and visual impairments.

• children and youth with significant or pervasive disabilities, which include a broad range, from
physical disabilities and impaired health to pervasive developmental disorders.

There are 13 categories of special education as defined by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). 
In order to qualify for special education, the IEP team must determine that a child has one of the following:

Autism Multiple Disabilities

Blindness Orthopedic Impairment

Deafness Specific Learning Disability

Emotional Disturbance Visual Impairment

 Hearing Impairment Traumatic Brain Injury

Intellectual Disability Speech or Language Impairment

Other Health Impaired

Autism

• A child develops more slowly. He walks, talks, potty trains, or feeds himself later than other children.

• A child might have troubles eating or sleeping. He might be sensitive to lights, sounds, tastes or smells.

• He might appear to not hear you. He might stare off into space.

• He might be fascinated by things that move, like fans or wheels.

• He might have trouble playing with other children. He might have trouble understanding or relating to other
people

Deafness - Hearing Impairment

• A child has trouble hearing. She does not talk or her speech is still hard to understand after she turns two years
old.

• She might be sensitive to very loud sounds. She might not hear soft sounds. Her voice might get louder when
she talks.

• She might turn up the TV or radio to hear it.

• She might point, pull, or touch instead of talk.

• She might get upset or nervous in very loud places.

Emotional Disturbance

• A child has trouble controlling his emotions.

• He might be aggressive. He might act out, fight, or hurt himself. He might get in trouble a lot at home and
school.

• He might be hyper. He might have a short attention span. He might act without thinking.

• He might have trouble making friends. He might be afraid or nervous around other people.

• He might act immature. He might cry a lot or throw temper tantrums.

Mental Retardation

• A child has a low IQ, generally below 70.

• A child’s doctor will often diagnose this at a young age.

• A child cannot learn as fast or as much as other children her age.

• She might walk, talk, dress, or feed herself later than other children.

Orthopedic Impairment

• A child has trouble using (or is missing) her fingers, hands, arms, legs, or feet.

• A child might need a wheelchair or other help to move around the school.

Other Health Impairment

 • A child has medical problems that make it hard to participate in regular classroom activities.

• A child’s doctor must diagnose a medical problem.

Examples include asthma, attention deficit disorder (ADD) or attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD),
diabetes, epilepsy, a heart condition, hemophilia, lead poisoning, leukemia, nephritis, rheumatic fever, sickle cell
anemia, and Tourette Syndrome.

Learning Disabilities

● Learning disabilities are due to genetic and/or neurobiological factors that alter brain functioning in a manner
which affects one or more cognitive processes related to learning. These processing problems can interfere with
learning basic skills such as reading, writing and/or math.  

• Learning disabilities should not be confused with learning problems which are primarily the result of visual,
hearing, or motor handicaps; of intellectual disability; of emotional disturbance; or of environmental, cultural or
economic disadvantages.

A. Dyscalculia

A specific learning disability that affects a person’s ability to understand numbers and learn math facts

B. Dysgraphia

A specific learning disability that affects a person’s handwriting ability and fine motor skills.

C. Dyslexia

A specific learning disability that affects reading and related language-based processing skills.

D. Non-Verbal Learning Disabilities

Has trouble interpreting nonverbal cues like facial expressions or body language and may have poor

coordination.

E. Oral / Written Language Disorder and Specific Reading Comprehension Deficit

Learning disabilities that affect an individual’s understanding of what they read or of spoken language.

The ability to express one’s self with oral language may also be impacted.

F. ADHD

A disorder that includes difficulty staying focused and paying attention, controlling behavior and
hyperactivity.

G. Dyspraxia

A disorder which causes problems with movement and coordination, language and speech.

Specific Learning Disability

• She might have problems in reading, writing, or math. She might have problems listening, talking, or thinking.

• She might do very well or learn quickly in some subjects, but do very poorly in others.

• She might have trouble writing down what she is thinking. She might make mistakes when she reads out loud.

• She might have trouble following directions. She might have trouble figuring out how to start a task.

Speech Impairment

• A child has trouble speaking or is hard for others to understand.

• He might not say all his letters correctly. He might mix up sounds. He might have a hard time getting out the
word he is trying to say.
 • Communications Disorders is when children aren’t able to properly talk or express themselves. They might have
difficulties making the proper sounds, and may also include stuttering and other speech impediments.

• 1 in 12 children might suffer from some degree of communications disorder.

Traumatic Brain Injury

• A child’s brain has been hurt in an accident or other injury.

• She might have trouble speaking, hearing, seeing, or thinking.

• She might have problems remembering.

• She might not be able to concentrate.

• She might have a short attention span.

• She might get tired easily.

• She might have bad mood swings.

Visual Impairment

• A child has trouble seeing, even with glasses or contacts.

• He might squint while reading, watching TV, playing computer games, or playing video games. He might get
headaches while doing these activities.

• He might have some sight or be legally blind.

Multiple Disabilities                             

• A child has more than one of the problems already listed in the chart.

• She might have physical problems.

• She might have a hard time moving around the school.

• She probably has trouble communicating with others.

• She probably has behavior problems.

• She might forget skills that she does not use a lot.

• She might have to relearn things she has already been taught.

Let’s remember that…

Thank You!