EDUC 3- FACILITATING LEARNER-CENTERED TEACHING

Module 6: Leaners with Exceptionalities

Take the Challenge!

In this module, challenge yourself to:
 describe the basic categories of exceptional learners.
 define and distinguish the terms disability and handicap.
 demonstrate "people first" language when referring to exceptional learners and
advocate for its use.

Introduction

One significant factor that highlights individual differences and diversity in learning
is the presence of exceptionalities. We commonly refer to learners with exceptionalities
as persons who are different in some way from the "normal" or "average". The term
"exceptional learners" includes those with special needs related to cognitive abilities,
behavior, social functioning, physical and sensory impairments, emotional disturbances,
and giftedness. Most of these learners require a lot of understanding and patience as
well as special education and related services if they are to reach their full potential of
development.

Advance Organizer
 Activity
Watch any of the following films
The Rain Man
I am Sam
Son-rise a Miracle of Love
The Life of Helen Keller

Analysis
1. Describe the main character in the movie you watched.
The main character of the movie “I AM SAM” is Sam. He is a man with an
intellectual disability which is autism, and a single father of Lucy.

2. What was his/her exceptionality? Describe

Sam has an intellectual disability which is autism.  Autism is a variable
developmental disorder that appears by age three and is characterized especially
by difficulties in forming and maintaining social relationships, by impairment of
the ability to communicate verbally or nonverbally, and by repetitive behavior
patterns, restricted interests and activities.
3. What problems/difficulties did the main character experience?
Sam faces a huge challenge on his life and has to raise his little girl all by himself,
while also dealing with the challenges from his autism. Throughout the movie he
faces a lot of challenges including repeating words and phrases and having
uncontrollable actions and movements. He has also gets distracted and
overwhelmed very easily. He has an obsession over the Beatles and has trouble
in answering some elusive questions, he can also be forgetful and has difficulty
in Math and numbers.

4. Who provided support? What support did he/she get from his/her environment?
Sam has support from his friends who advised and helped him to hire a lawyer.
Rita Harrison is the lawyer and the one who helped Sam to fight for his rights to
his daughter. Also, Sam has the support from Godmother Annie who takes care
of Lucy when Sam cannot and he has also the support from his neighbors. The
foster mom was going to testify against Sam, but in the end she testifies for Sam.
Abstraction/Generalization

From the movie you watched you saw the challenges that confront a person with
special needs. The person's adjustment entails the support of the people around him.
As a future teacher, you would probably encounter learners with special needs, more so
if special education is your major. It is therefore necessary that you have both the right
information and proper attitude in dealing with special learners. This will help you
perform your task to facilitate learning. Let us begin by differentiating the words
disability and handicap.
 Disability. A disability is a measurable impairment or limitation that 'interferes with
a person's ability, for example, to walk, lift, hear, or learn. It may refer to a physical,
sensory, or mental condition" (Schiefelbusch Institute, 1996). The word disability has
become the more accepted term, having replaced the word handicap in federal laws in
the US, one of which is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). IDEA
is the law that provides comprehensive service and support for exceptional learners.
Our very own 1987 Philippine Constitution, Article XIV, Sec. 2, uses the word "disabled"
in paragraph (5) "Provide adult citizens, the disabled, and out-of-school youth with
training.

Handicap. The word handicap does not have the same meaning as disability. A
handicap is a disadvantage that occurs as a result of a disability or impairment. The
degree of disadvantage (or the extent of the handicap) is often dependent on the
adjustment made by both the person and his environment. Therefore, the extent to
which a disability handicaps an individual can vary greatly. Two persons may have the
same disability but not the same degree of being handicapped. For example, they both
have a hearing impairment, one knows sign language and can read lips while the other
cannot. The first individual would not have as much handicap as the second one.
Another example, two persons who move around on a wheel chair, the one studying in
a school campus with wheelchair accessibility in all areas would be less handicapped
than one in a school without wheel chair accessibility.
Categories of Exceptionalities
There are different ways of presenting categories of exceptionalities. Special
education practitioners would have varying terms and categories. For this short
introduction of categories, we are basing it on the categories found in Omrod's
Educational Psychology. (2000)
Specific Cognitive or Academic Difficulties
Learning Disabilities. Learning disabilities involve difficulties in specific cognitive
processes like perception, language, memory, or metacognition that are not due to
other disabilities like mental retardation, emotional or behavioral disorders, or sensory
impairments. Examples of learning disabilities include dyslexia (reading), dyscalculia
(number operations) and dysgraphia (writing).
Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. ADHD is manifested in either or both
of these (l) difficulty in focusing and maintaining attention and (2) recurrent hyperactive
and impulsive behavior.
Speech and Communication Disorders. There is difficulty in spoken language
including voice disorders, inability to produce the sounds correctly, stuttering, difficulty in
spoken language comprehension that significantly .hamper classroom performance.
Social/Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties
 Autism. Autism is a condition manifested by different levels of impaired social
interaction and communication, repetitive behaviors and limited interests. Individuals
with autism usually have an intense need for routine and a predictable environment.
Mental Retardation. Mental retardation refers to significant sub-average
intelligence and deficits in adaptive behavior. There is difficulty in managing activities of
daily living and in conducting themselves appropriately in social situations.
Emotional/Conduct Disorders. This involves the presence of emotional states like
depression and aggression over a considerable amount of time that they notably disturb
learning and performance in school.

Physical Disabilities and Health Impairments

Physical and health impairments. This involves physical or medical conditions
(usually long-term) including one or more of these:
(l) limited energy and strength,
(2) reduced mental alertness, and/or
(3) little muscle control.

Severe and Multiple Disabilities. This refers to the presence of two or more
different types of disability, at times at a profound level. The combination of disabilities
makes it necessary to make specific adaptations and have more specialized
educational programs.
Sensory Impairments
Visual Impairments. These are conditions when there is malfunction of the eyes
or optic nerves that prevent normal vision even with corrective lenses.
Hearing Impairments. These involves malfunction of the ear or auditory nerves
that hinder perception of sounds within the frequency range of normal speech.
Giftedness
Giftedness. This involves a significantly high level of cognitive development. There
is unusually high ability or aptitude in one or more of these aspects: intellectual ability,
aptitude in academic subjects, creativity, visual or performing arts or leadership

People—First Language
What is People-First Language? Just as the term would imply, this language trend
involves putting the person first, not the disability (e.g. a person with a disability, not a
disabled person). Thus, people-first language tells us what conditions people have, not
what they are (Schiefelbusch Institute, 1996). This is similar to saying "person with
AIDS, rather than "AIDS victim". Other suggestions for referring to those with disabilities
include:
 avoiding generic labels (people with mental retardation is preferable to the
mentally retarded);
  emphasizing abilities, not limitations (for instance, uses a wheelchair is
preferable to confined to a wheelchair);
 avoiding euphemisms (such as physically challenged) which are regarded as
condescending and avoid the real issues that result from a disability;
 and avoiding implying illness or suffering (had polio is preferable to is a polio
victim, and has multiple sclerosis is preferable to suffers from multiple sclerosis)
(Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 2000; Schiefelbusch
Institute, 1996).
Using people-first language and applying the guidelines above will remind you to
have a more respectful and accepting attitude toward learners with exceptionalities. The
presence of impairments requires them. to exert more effort to do things that others like
us find quite easy. They are learners who may turn to you for assistance. Beginning with
the right attitude, one of compassion (not of pity nor ridicule) will make you a more
effective teacher, one with the hand and the heart who can facilitate their learning and
adjustment.

Name: RODEL C. CARPENTERO Degree Program: BSED BIO-SCIENCE Set: A

Revise the following sentences to adhere to the people-first language and the
other guidelines given in this module.

1. The teacher thought of many strategies to teach the mentally challenged.

The teacher thought of many strategies to teach the people with learning
disabilities or mental retardation.

2. Their brother is mentally retarded.

Their brother has mental retardation.

3. Their organization is for the autistic.

Their organization is for people with autism.
4. He is a polio victim who currently suffers form post-polio syndrome.
He had polio who currently suffers form post-polio syndrome.

5. There was a blind girl in my psychology class.

There was a girl with visual impairment in my psychology class.

6. I attended a seminar about learning disabled children.

I attended a seminar about learning children with disability.

7. That classroom was designed for the deaf and blind.

 That classroom was designed for people with hearing and visual impairments.

8. I like to read books about handicapped.

I like to read books about disadvantages that occur in a result of disability or
impairment.

9. When she was suffering from a spinal cord injury, in a car accident, she became a
paraplegic and was confined to a wheelchair.
When she was suffering from a spinal cord injury, in a car accident, she became a
paraplegic and now uses a wheelchair.

10.He is behaving like that because he is abnormal.

He is behaving like that because he has disability.