PLAYA ANCHA UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF EDUCATION SCIENCES

CAREER OF PEDAGOGY IN DIFFERENTIAL EDUCATION WITH DEGREE IN

SUPPORT MODULE FOR THE TEACHING OF THE SUBJECT:

“THEORIES OF SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS”

Prepared by the teacher: Dr. Teresa Margarita Bruna Valiente.

Assistant: Mr. Felipe Araya Romero.

Valparaíso, August 2005

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 INDEX pages

Presentation of the module................................................... .................................................. .....4

Assignment program.............................................. .................................................. ...5

1. Psychological Theories of Learning................................................ .......................14

2. Complementary Reading to the entry contents of this Module................................18

2.1 “Paradigms or research programs in Learning Psychology..............18

2.2 Behaviorism and Information Processing................................................ ........twenty
2.3 Learning theories................................................. ............................................22
2.4 acquisition of concepts................................................. .........................................2.
3
2.5 Computational
theories................................................ ............................................24
2.6 Learning mechanisms in the ACT................................................ .......................25
2.7 Application of ACT to the formation of
concepts................................................ ...........26
2.8 Learning by modification and generation of
schemas................................................27
2.9 Learning by pragmatic induction................................................ .......................29
2.10 Conclusion................................................. .................................................. ..........3
0
2.11 Bibliography................................................. .................................................. ..........
32

3. Theory of Special Educational Needs................................................ .....3. 4

3.1 Key Concepts: Theory/ Educational Needs/ Educational Needs
Specials:................................................ .................................................. ...........3. 4
3.2 Diversity and Special Educational Needs:.............................................. .....3. 4
3.3 The implication of the concept of students with special educational
needs:................................................. .................................................. .......................35
3.4 Special Education: on the path of school integration................................................37
3.5 Special Schools................................................ ...................................................41
3.6 Learning or school adaptation problems................................................... ....43
3.7 Contribution of specific learning resources................................................ .............44

4. Critical review of some false conceptions about the linguistic competence, values
and culture of boys and girls from poor families..........

5.Learning difficulties or teaching difficulties?................................................... 53

6. Learning difficulties............................................... .......................................56

6.1 General learning problems................................................. ...................................56
6.2 Specific Learning Disorders................................................... ......................58

7. Intervention Strategies in learning difficulties...................................60

8. Types of Specific Disorders................................................ ................................60

8.1 Dyslexia................................................. .................................................. ...................60
8.2 Dysgraphia................................................. .................................................. ................62
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8.3 Writing disorders................................................ ............................................64
8.4 Dyscalculia................................................. .................................................. .............64

9. Mental Retardation................................................ .................................................. ......67

10. Mental Deficiency................................................ .................................................. ....69

11. Down syndrome................................................ .................................................. ...72

12. Autism................................................ .................................................. .............73

13. Hearing and Language Disorders................................................... .......................74

Deafness................................................ .................................................. .............74
Speech and Language Disorders................................................... ................................83
Vision Disorders................................................ ................................................87
Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorders................................................... ............92

14. Epilepsy................................................ .................................................. ...........96

15. Portfolio Evaluation Guidelines................................................ ................................99

16. Lines of action of the Special Educational Policy................................................... ..101

3
 PRESENTATION OF THE MODULE

Dear students:

You are all welcome to the subject of Theory of Special Educational Needs of the
Differential Education career of our Playa Ancha University of Educational Sciences

In this module, you will have relevant information for the development of this
subject. Firstly, they will find the program developed for its development and secondly,
they will have the documents for personal reading, which will allow them to form the basic
conceptual framework for the explanation and identification of the topic of special
educational needs.

This material is delivered as a complement to face-to-face classes and I hope it is of

interest to you.

Wishing each of you academic and personal success, I cordially greet you.

Prof. Teresa Bruna Valente

State Professor in Differential Education
Master in Educational Administration
Doctor in Psychological Interventions in Educational Contexts

4
 SUBJECT PROGRAM

I.- IDENTIFICATION:

Name: Theory of Special Educational Needs

Program: Differential Education Career
Key: EED 2211
Quarter: Second Semester/ First year 2005
Faculty: Educational Sciences
Professor: Dr. Teresa Margarita Bruna Valiente.
Ad-Honorem Assistant: Felipe Araya.

II.- DESCRIPTION OF THE SUBJECT:

A theoretical subject that aims to contribute to the basic conceptual framework that
allows students to identify special educational needs as well as the theories that underlie
them.

Foundation and basic conceptualization:

Differential education requires, in order to comply with its vector principles

of normalization and educational and social integration, the solidly specialized training of a
professional who theoretically dominates his or her field of action. To do so, it
fundamentally requires extensive and specialized knowledge within the framework of
educational needs. special concept that recently emerged in our country (1990s).
Having knowledge of explanatory theories that underlie special educational
needs will allow adequate decision-making at all levels of psychopedagogical intervention
(detection, prevention, diagnosis, curricular adjustments, monitoring and counseling).

Contextualization of the subject:

This subject is located in the second semester of the study plan. It requires prior
knowledge of the system and its school organization. Of the current educational policies
expressed in the Chilean educational reform and the link with the environment, in the
educational field to more appropriately associate theory with practical experience.

III.- a) GENERAL OBJECTIVES

 Know the theoretical foundations from a psychopedagogical point of view

that allow identifying and explaining special educational needs.

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  Value specialized training for quality professional practice.

b) SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:

 Possess extensive and up-to-date knowledge in the field of special educational

needs.

 Develop communication strategies that allow you to express specialized knowledge

to perform your role with excellence in professional and multidisciplinary dialogue.

 Promote rigorous activity in the reception and search, selection and processing of
information related to special educational needs.

IV.- CONTENTS

First Unit: Conceptual Framework of learning in Special Educational Needs and in

Special Educational Needs not derived from disability

Synoptic Table of Psychological Theories of Learning.

Research paradigms in learning theories.
Warnock Report.
Diversity and Special educational needs.
Implication of the concept of students with special educational needs
Special Education Modality for the Ministry of Education in Chile
False conceptions regarding boys and girls from poor families.
Learning difficulties or teaching difficulties?
Learning difficulties
Concept and Classification
General Learning Problems
Specific Learning Disorders
Factors that intervene in ASD
Intervention Strategies in Learning Difficulties
Types of ASD: Dyslexia and Reading Delay
Dyslexia Treatment
Dysgraphia
Treatment of Dysgraphia
Dyscalculia

Second Unit: Theories of difficulties in school learning and educational needs

derived from disabilities.

Mental Retardation
Mental deficiency
Classification
Causes
Educational Intervention Possibilities
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Down's Syndrome
Autism
Hearing and Language Disorder
The deafness
Causes
Classifications
Guidance for parents
Speech and language disorders
Definition, Incidence, characteristics
Educational Repercussions
Vision disorders
Definitions, Magnitude of the problem, frequency, effectiveness of treatment
Terminology definitions
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Epilepsy
Cerebral palsy

Third Unit: Classification of special educational needs and new approaches to

attention to diversity

Educational needs derived from a disability.

Educational needs not derived from a disabled person.
Integrative and inclusive approaches to attention to diversity

V.- METHODOLOGY.

The following learning strategies will be used:

Expository: Conference.
Interactive: Scheduled reading workshop, panels
Student presentations of bibliographic research work.
Briefcase

VI.- EVALUATION

The following evaluation modalities will be used:

Training:
Self-assessments.
Deferred evaluation.
Cross-shared evaluation.
Group evaluation.
Summatives:
Individuals: Coef tests. 2 (integrals of each Unit)
Groups: Executive workshop reports and group portfolio

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VII.- Mandatory BIBIOGRAPHY

 Teaching Support Module in the Subject of Theory of Special Educational Needs.

Prepared by Professor Dr. Teresa Bruna Valiente.
 Salamanca Declaration. World Conference on special educational needs: Access
and Quality on 10-6-94.
 Bravo Valdivieso (1995). Psychology of School Difficulties. University Publishing.
Santiago. Chili.
 Wang, M. (1995). Attention to student diversity. Madrid. Narcea.

Mandatory WEB Sites:

http://www.upa.cl/educacion/index.htm

(Diversity support portal)

http://www.mineduc.cl
Ministry of Education

http://www.paidos.com
You will find information related to special education

http://paidos.rediris.es/needirectorio/
Directory of educational needs in special education.

http://www.reduc.cl
Latin American education network

http://www.congreso.cl/biblioteca

National Congress Library of Chile

Further reading:

Brenan, W (1998). The curriculum for children with special needs. Madrid: MEC XXI
century.

Casanova , Mª A. (1990) Special Education: Towards integration, Madrid: Spanish School

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Coll, C. (1987). Psychology and Curriculum. Barcelona. Ed. Laia

Heward L, W. Et al (1992) Special Education Programs Volumes I and II. Barcelona.

CEAC.

Miranda Casa A. (1998). Learning Difficulties in reading, writing and calculation Valencia:
Promolibro.

WEB sites as complementary references

http://www.intersalud.net/wwwboard/messages/18.html

Article on the History of Mental Illnesses

http://www. Servimedia.es/reportajes.html

Education for the disabled: In normal or specific centers?

http://empresas .mundivia.es/downcan/neuro.html
down syndrome foundation

http://www.lafacu.com/apuntes/educacion/educa es
Topic 1: Hearing Impairment, Special Educational Needs

http://www,tomatis.cl/metodo.htm
Tomatis Method, Mozart effect and autism

http://
www.dcc.uchile.cl/-mlumbrer/tesismag/m02.html
Interactive Hyper Story for Blind Children –
Mauricio Fabián Lumbreras (Theoretical Framework)

http://www.mipediatra.com.mx/juegos.htm
Importance and relationship between Playing and growing, Dr. Sergio Muñoz Fernández

http://www.tid.es/presencia/boletin/boletin6/art003.htm
Problems of use of telecommunications and
Articles related to visual impairment and
Auditory

9
10
11
12
13
 First Unit: Conceptual Framework of learning in Special Educational Needs
and in Special Educational Needs not derived from disability.

 Synoptic Table of Psychological Theories of

Learning.

Psychological Theories of Learning: This information and the following article

are part of the content prior to this module, and correspond to knowledge
associated with the professional skills of a qualified educator. This table is
presented with the aim that participants remember this framework. prior to
Special Educational Needs. This information will be explored in depth with the
reading article called Paradigms or Research Programs in Learning
Psychology.

Psychological Theories of Learning

14
 By perception Psychic: It is The relationships Epistemic approach: The
(Gestalt) or as a composed of a and links that Construction of scientific
Living space made up Set of cognitive determine it. The knowledge is a
of goal-regions (that systems that are subject is an relationship of continuity
the person wants to constituted as emergent of a and rupture with
achieve or avoid). logical groupings complex web of “common sense” (which
Behavior is the result or structures, such relationships and operates as a starting
of tensions and as intelligence. social ties. point). This “common
conflicts caused by sense” is questioned in
the attempt to reach The affective Psychic Device : search of new, more
certain regions and provides the There is an global, profound,
move away from energy of decision, internal world complete understandings.
Approach another. interest and the where extreme
Epistemic: efforts necessary reality is Research is the
Positivist Epistemic approach to learn. reconstructed protagonist of reality and
: through the educational practice,
Positivist. Intelligence internalization of rescuing the “common
continues in objects and links. sense” of decent people,
Learning: It occurs thinking, the The passage from causing their encounter
from problematic development of the “outside” to the with accumulated
situations that stress which is linked to “inside” of the knowledge using an
and motivate the language, which is bonding structure analyzing device: the
subject to act to necessary for acquires Educators Workshop. In
resolve them. The intelligent actions modalities it, teachers meet with the
perception of the to be internalized determined by purpose of reflecting on
situation in its entirety in operations and fantasy and the their reality and operates
allows us to discover cognitive feeling of on their educational
the relationships structures to be frustration or practices. There, research
between the different reconstructed gratification. is the mechanism to
Learning: it parts and the whole, (which change generate new knowledge
involves which leads to the with each new The set of and reveal ways of
discarding restructuring of the problematic experiences, learning and provoke the
erroneous perceptual/cognitive situation to be knowledge, modification of one's own
behaviors and field, to the resolved). beliefs, attitudes practices. It is when the
conditioning understanding of the and effects with teacher reveals his
From the problem and the path Epistemic which the subject pedagogical conception
answers that leads to the goal approach: thinks or operates and critically analyzes to
What do you (solving the situation Dialectical. in reality is called modify his frame of
want to obtain as aim). It allows the ECRO. reference.
from the passage from a (conceptual,
students? For To do this, it proposes balanced system - referential and The modification of
this, the active teaching in of cognitive operational educational practice does
teaching which the student structures - to schemes). not go through the
methodology is must be his own another system teaching of principles,
based on builder of learning, that is also Epistemic methods, techniques, but
repetition or since he can consider balanced but approach: Poses rather through the
memorization. broader and an objective, “the- liberation of thought in
man-in- learning

15
 Hypotheses and Superior that Situation". It must The personal,
Traditional questions to reorders the be addressed with institutional and social
education investigate possible previous cognitive contributions from fabric that determines
methods are answers. structures different and the elaboration of
based on this disciplines. possible alternatives).
theory. It takes into account A new object of Interdisciplinary
only the current knowledge methodology. It is Teacher's role:
perceived situation produces a conflict seeking a Permanently rethink
and not the subject's in the cognitive totalizing your work of research,
previous experiences. structures and, interpretation of exchange experiences,
through the the relationships permanent learning.
Role of the teacher: processes of between
Teacher's Guide behavior based accommodation socioeconomic
role: on relationships that and assimilation, a structures and
Manipulation of motivate the student balance occurs. psychic life.
the learning to resolve problematic
subject. situations. Learning : It Learning : Always
derives from the occurs in group
intelligent action situations. It
that the subject privileges the
performs on operational group
objects to learn to that, focused on
incorporate them the task, aims to
into their cognitive learn to think by
structure, giving solving difficulties
them meaning. created and
The subject learns manifested in the
knowledge derived group itself.
from his actions
with the To address the
environment. To task it is
know an object-to necessary to
understand it-is to configure an
act on it and ECRO that
transform it. resolves the main
contradictions of
Example: I am in a the group
situation and I members
have a cognitive (ideologies,
structure already attitudes,
formed. fantasies,
I face yet another emotions). This
problem enables greater
cooperation and
contribution to the
task and roles
appear.

. Which puts my Differentiated.

cognitive structure

16
in crisis. Teaching and
learning are
From the identified with
emotional comes inquiring,
the energy to investigating,
solve it. By doing investigating. They
so, another new are a continuous
cognitive structure experience and a
is created based unit (spiral
on the previous learning), where
but more evolved its members,
one. through
interaction,
Teacher's role : discover, learn
Encourage and teach each
students to other. It involves a
question stop with
knowledge for continuous
themselves. feedback from
experience within
a process of
“learning to learn
to think” that
concludes with the
apprehension of
the object of
knowledge, with
which the subject
modifies the object
and modifies
himself.

There is a
dialectical
interaction
between
individuals and the
objects of
knowledge that
makes learning
possible.
Learning is
carrying out a
critical reading of
reality, evaluating
it, transforming it
and

17
 . Adapting to
successive
transformations.

The learning
process develops
within a group
dynamic, building
a new ECRO

Teacher's role:
Guide and
implement group
work strategies,
tactics and
techniques.

First Unit: Conceptual Framework of learning in Special Educational Needs and in

Special Educational Needs not derived from disability

Research paradigms in Learning Theories.

Reading would complement the entry contents of this module.
“Paradigms or Research Programs in Learning Psychology.”

Introduction

During the 20th century, two currents of thought have had a decisive influence on the
Psychology of Learning.

According to Kuhn, these scientific movements will constitute two paradigmatic

revolutions, followed by their corresponding period of normal science. These revolutions
would be given by Behaviorism and Cognitive Psychology.

For Kuhn, a scientific revolution corresponds to the abandonment of one paradigm and
the adoption of a new one, not by an isolated scientist but by the scientific community as
a whole.

Kuhn developed his theory in accordance with the historical situation. A characteristic
feature of his theory is the importance attributed to the revolutionary nature of scientific
progress, in which a revolution involves the abandonment of a theoretical structure and its
replacement by another, incompatible with the previous one.

Also important is the role that the sociological characteristics of scientific communities
play in Kuhn's theory.

According to Kuhn, a paradigm entails a certain conceptual framework through which the
world is seen and in which it is described, and a certain set of experimental and
18
 theoretical techniques to make the paradigm compatible with nature. But there is no
reason to expect a paradigm to be perfect. Therefore, science must contain within itself
the way to move from one paradigm to a better one. This is the function that revolutions
fulfill. When a crisis develops, the revolutionary step of replacing the entire paradigm with
another becomes essential for the effective progress of science.

For Kuhn, paradigms play an important role in guiding observation and experimentation. It is
precisely because paradigms have a persuasive influence on the science that is practiced in them
that their replacement by another must be revolutionary.

In opposition to Popperian falsificationism, Kuhn discredits experimentation as the

fundamental cause of scientific progress. According to his conception, it is not the force of
the data that causes one paradigm to be replaced by another, since paradigms are in
themselves incommensurable; but they are influenced by external generational or social
criteria.

Lakatos disagrees with this last idea, since his methodological falsificationism is in an
intermediate position between the positions of Popper and Kuhn. Lakatos agrees with
Kuhn in the predominance of paradigms - called by him: research programs - over data
but agrees with Popper that it is ultimately the data that constitute the arbiters of change
in scientific theories.

The approaches of Lakatos and Kuhn have in common that they both require their philosophical
conceptions to resist criticism based on the history of science. And the main difference between
the two is Kuhn's emphasis on social factors.

Lakatos developed his idea of science in an attempt to improve Popperian falsificationism

and to overcome the objections made to it.

A Lakatosian research program is a structure that guides future research in both positive
and negative ways. The negative heuristic of a program carries with it the stipulation that
the basic assumptions underlying the program, its central core, cannot be rejected or
modified. It is protected from falsification by a protective belt. The positive heuristic is
composed of guidelines that indicate how the research program can be developed. Such
development will entail completing the central core with additional assumptions in an
attempt to explain previously known phenomena and predict new phenomena. Research
programs will be progressive or degenerative depending on whether or not they lead to
the discovery of new phenomena.

The defining characteristic of a program is its central core. It takes the form of very
general theoretical hypotheses that constitute the basis from which the program is
developed.

The central core of a program becomes inevitable due to the “methodological decision of its
protagonists.” Any insufficiency in the confrontation between an articulated research
program and observational data must not be attributed to the assumptions that constitute
the central core, but to some other part of the theoretical structure, what Lakato calls a
protective belt. It not only consists of explicit auxiliary hypotheses that complete the central
core, but also assumptions underlying the description of the initial conditions and also
observational statements.

19
The negative heuristic of a program consists of the requirement that during the
development of the program the core remains unmodified and intact. Any scientist who
modifies the central core will depart from that particular research program.

The positive heuristic indicates how the central core must be completed so that it is capable
of explaining and predicting real phenomena. The development of a program will not only
involve the addition of the appropriate auxiliary hypotheses, but also the development of
the appropriate mathematical and experimental techniques.

There are two ways to assess the merit of a research program. First, a research program
must have a degree of coherence that involves the development of a defined program for
future research. Secondly, a research program must lead to the discovery of new
phenomena at least from time to time. Both conditions must be satisfied for the program to
be classified as scientific.

According to Lakatos, methodology must be considered from two points of view: one refers
to the work carried out within a single research program, and the other to the comparison of
the merits of rival research programs. The work carried out within a single research
program involves the expansion and modification of its protective belt by adding and
articulating various hypotheses. For Lakatos, scientific methodology should allow these
modifications or additions to the protective belt, as long as they can be independently
verifiable, and as long as the hypotheses are not ad-hoc.

Within the Lakatosian conception of science, order is maintained thanks to the inviolability
of the central core of a program and the positive heuristics that accompany it. The
proliferation of clever conjectures within that framework will lead you to progress as long as
some of the resulting predictions are successful. The results of experimental verifications
They are what determine the decision to maintain or reject a hypothesis.

The relative merits of research programs have to be judged by the extent to which such
programs progress or degenerate.

An important difficulty in the criteria for acceptance or rejection of research programs is

linked to the time factor.

Because of the uncertainty of the outcome of future attempts to develop and test a
research program, it can never be said whether a program has degenerated beyond hope.
It is always possible that some ingenious modification of its protective belt will lead to some
spectacular discovery that will cause the program to revive and enter a progressive phase.

2. Behaviorism and Information Processing.

According to Kuhn, the first paradigmatic revolution gives rise to the emergence of
behaviorism, as a response to subjectivism and the abuse of the introspective method by
structuralism and functioning. And the second revolution would constitute information
processing.

Behaviorism is based on the studies of learning through conditioning, considering the study
of higher mental processes unnecessary for the understanding of human behavior.

The central core of behaviorism is constituted by its associationist conception of knowledge

and learning. Some of the fundamental features of the program are:
20
-knowledge is achieved through the association of ideas according to the principles of
similarity, spatial and temporal contiguity and causality.
-anti-mentalist reductionism, that is, the denial of mental states and processes.
-The principle of correspondence, the mind of existing is just a copy of reality.
-his anti-constructivism.

-its elementalist and atomistic character: all behavior is reducible to a series of associations
between simple elements, such as stimulus-response.

-its environmentalism: learning is always initiated and controlled by the environment.

-its equipotentiality: the laws of learning are equally applicable to all environments, species
and individuals.

In the middle of the century, multiple empirical anomalies and external factors such as new
cybernetic technologies and Communication and Linguistics Theories cause the behaviorist
paradigm to enter into crisis and be replaced by information processing that, based on the
metaphor of the computer, makes possible the study of mental processes that behaviorism
marginalized. In this way, a new period of normal science is entered, under the domain of
Cognitive Psychology, which continues to this day.

For Cognitive Psychology, the subject's action is determined by its representations. For
information processing, these representations are constituted by some type of computation.
The conception of the human being as an information processor is based on the
acceptance of the analogy between the human mind and the functioning of a computer. In
recent decades, psychological research has shown increasing attention to the role of
cognition in human learning. , freeing itself from the most restrictive aspects of behavioral
approaches. Emphasis has been placed on the role of attention, memory, perception,
recognition patterns and the use of language in the learning process.

“The cognitive approach has insisted on how individuals represent the world in which they
live and how they receive information, acting in accordance with it. The subjects are
considered to be preparers or processors of the information.” (Johnson-Laird, 1980)
For the constructivist current, the human being acquires knowledge through a process of
individual and subjective construction, so that the perception of the world is determined by
the subject's expectations.

Higher mental processes, such as concept formation and problem solving, are difficult to
study. The best-known approach has been that of information processing, which uses the
computational metaphor to compare mental operations with computer operations,
investigating how information is encoded, how it is transformed, stored, retrieved and
transmitted to the outside, as if the human being was designed similarly to a computer.
Although the information-processing approach has proven very fruitful in suggesting
explanatory models of human thinking and problem solving in very defined situations, it has
also proven difficult to establish more general models of the functioning of the human mind
following such computer models. .

In the transition from behaviorism to information processing, although the same central
core is preserved, its protective belt has been modified.

21
Behaviorist reductionism is replaced by the acceptance of causal cognitive processes.
Instead of the environmentalist position, information processing defends the interaction of
the subject's variables and the variables of the environmental situation that the subject is
facing. The passive and receptive subject of behaviorism is transformed into an active
information processor.

In contrast to behaviorism, information processing provides a constructivist conception of

the human being.

According to many authors, information processing does not constitute a progressive

program with respect to behaviorism and has received many criticisms due to its
insufficiencies and limitations. According to Siegler and Klahr, the abandonment of
research on learning by information processing is equivalent to the abandonment of mental
processes by behaviorism.

The Learning Theories provided by both behaviorism and information processing do not fit
well with Kuhn's description of scientific progress. The relativity of the explanations makes
the existence of a hegemonic paradigm difficult.

3. Learning theories
Various theories help us understand, predict, and control human behavior and try to explain
how subjects access knowledge. Its study objective focuses on the acquisition of skills and
abilities, reasoning and the acquisition of concepts.

For example, Pavlov's theory of classical conditioning: explains how simultaneous stimuli
come to evoke similar responses, even if such a response was initially evoked by only one
of them. Skinner's theory of instrumental or operant conditioning describes how
reinforcements form and maintain determining behavior. Albert Bandura describes the
conditions under which one learns to imitate models. Piaget's Psychogenetic theory
addresses the way in which subjects construct knowledge taking into account cognitive
development. Information processing theory is also used to understand how problems are
solved using analogies and metaphors.

But when is one theory better than another?

According to LAKATOS (1978), when it meets three conditions:

1. Having an excess of empirical content with respect to the previous theory, that is,
predicting events that it did not predict.

2. Explain the success of the previous theory, that is, explain everything that it
explained.

3. Achieve empirical corroboration of at least part of its excess content.

Consequently, what characterizes a good theory - or, in LAKATOS terminology,

progressive research program - is its ability to predict and incorporate new facts, compared
to those other theories - or regressive research program - that are limited to exploring what
is already known. A program can be progressive theoretically - when it makes new
predictions even if they are not corroborated - or empirically - when it corroborates some of
the predictions. Furthermore, the assessment made of a program in each historical
22
circumstance will depend on the predictions it manages to make at that time. A progressive
program may cease to be progressive when it exhausts its predictive capacity and proves
incapable of extending into new domains. And, conversely, a regressive program can
become progressive if it manages to make new, partially corroborated predictions.
LAKATOS (1978) thinks that a new theory will prevail over another current one when, in
addition to explaining all the relevant facts that it explained, it successfully confronts some
of the anomalies that the previous theory will not be able to take into account. This ensures
continuity between successive theories, whether within the same program or family of
theories (LAUDAN, 1977) or in diverse programs. This continuity is consistent.
It is worth asking then:
Is information processing a progressive program with respect to behaviorism? Are both
approaches part of the same research program or do they constitute two different
programs? Is the predominant cognitive approach capable of generating new predictions
regarding learning processes? Do they have an excess of empirical content in that area
with respect to behaviorism?
According to LAKATOS, the relative merits of two research programs can only be decided
“retrospectively.”

4. Concept acquisition
Learning theories try to explain how meanings are constituted and how new concepts are
learned.
A concept can be defined by searching for meaning and reference, either from above,
depending on the intention of the concept, the place that the object occupies in the
conceptual network that the individual possesses; or from below, alluding to its attributes.
Concepts serve to limit learning, reducing the complexity of the environment; They help us
to identify objects, to order and classify reality, they allow us to predict what is going to
happen.
Until recently, psychologists assumed, following Mill and other empiricist philosophers, that
people acquire concepts through a process of abstraction (inductist theory) that suppresses
the idosyncratic details that differ from one example to another, and that leaves only what is
known. keeps all of them common. This concept, called prototype, is well defined and well
delimited and has its references in each of its attributes. Consequently, most experiments
have used a technique in which subjects have to discover the common element underlying
a concept.
Everyday concepts, on the other hand, do not consist of the conjunction or disjunction of
characteristics, but rather of relationships between them. Another aspect of everyday life
concepts is that their examples may not have a common element. Wittgenstein in his
philosophical investigations: maintained that concepts depend, not on common elements,
but on networks of similarities that are like the similarities between the members of a family.
Everyday concepts are not isolated and independent entities, they are related to each
other. Their limits are established, in part, by the taxonomy in which they appear. The
clearest relationships are the hierarchies generated by the inclusion of one concept within
another.
There are two ways of forming concepts: through the development of the association
(empiricist) and through reconstruction (European current).
For the associationist current there is nothing in the intellect that has not passed through
the senses. All stimuli are neutral. The organisms are all equivalent. Learning is carried out
through the reward-punishment process (theory of behaviorism: it is based on Pavlov's
physiological psychology). He is anti-mentalist. The cut of the object is given by the
behavior, by the observable. The subject is passive and responds to the complexities of the
environment.
23
For European currents, which are based on action and which have one of their supports in
Piaget's Psychogenetic theory, the subject is active. Concepts are not learned but
reconstructed and internalized. What is important is the contextual, not the social.
Information processing streams have something of both. The subject is not passive. A new
cut of the object appears: the mind and its representations. Representations guide the
action. Mental states have intentionality. The program, which has the computer metaphor at
its core, is mentalite; privileges memory.

5. Computational theories.
Within the so-called Computational Theories, some are developed within the framework of
Artificial Intelligence, without seeking compatibility with psychological data; and many other
theories, respecting the limits of the computational metaphor, try to be psychologically
relevant, adapting to the data that is known about human information processing.
This work focuses on theories of psychological origin, and within these, on those that are
applied to the acquisition of meanings by a processing system.
According to Pozo, within the psychologically relevant computational learning theories that
deal with the acquisition of concepts, the most prototypical are the ATC (Adaptive Control
of Thought: Adaptive Control of Behavior) theories of ANDERSON (1982,1983). of the
schemes of RUMELHART AND NORMAN (1978) and the theory of pragmatic induction of
HOLLAND et al.
Syntactic approach: ANDERSON's ACT theory
The ACT is a unitary theory of information processing. The basic idea underlying the theory
is that learning mechanisms are closely related to the rest of the processes, especially with
the way in which information is presented in the system.

“all higher cognitive processes, such as memory, language, problem solving, imagery,
deduction, and induction, are different manifestations of the same underlying system”
(ANDERSON, 1983, p. 1)

The ACT is a processing system composed of three related memories, which interact with
each other: a declarative memory, which contains descriptive knowledge about the world; a
production or procedural memory, which contains information for the execution of the skills
that the system has and a working memory. Declarative and procedural memories store
two different types of knowledge that correspond to the philosophical distinction between
procedural “knowing how.”
Declarative memory is organized in the form of a hierarchical network, composed of
“cognitive units” or nodes and links between those nodes. Declarative knowledge is stable
and usually inactive. Only nodes that are activated in working memory will influence
procedural knowledge.
The concept of activation is central to ATC. Activation can come either from external stimuli
or from the system itself, as a consequence of the execution of an action. The activation
process is continuous. Working memory has a limited capacity, which also limits the
number of nodes that can be active simultaneously, accessing those with greater activation
strength.

“Activation fulfills the function of a relevant associative heuristic in ACT. That is, activation
measures how closely associated a piece of information is with the information currently
used” (ANDERSON, 1983, p. 27).

The nodes are connected to each other by links, therefore the activation of one of them will
propagate through the hierarchical network.
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Procedural memory is based on production systems. The basic idea of these systems is
that knowledge is stored in the form of productions or condition-action pairs. The
productions take the form of a conditional “if…then…”. Productions are not usually stored in
isolation. So that the knowledge that production satisfies the condition of the following.

6. Learning mechanisms in the ACT.

ANDERSON (1982, 1983) proposes a theory of learning based on three successive stages.
Any skill or concept acquired would go through three phases: declarative interpretation,
compilation and adjustment.

According to ANDERSON (1982,1983), all learning begins with a declarative or interpretive

phase. The information received by the system is encoded in declarative memory within a
network of nodes. When the system receives instructions for the solution of a problem or, in
the case of concept formation, information about the categorization of an object, a copy of
that information is formed in declarative memory.

Knowledge automation will increase the effectiveness of the system. This automation is
achieved in the second stage of learning, through the compilation or transformation of
declarative knowledge into procedural knowledge. Compilation involves two subprocesses:
proceduralization and composition. During proceduralization, the information contained in
the active nodes in working memory is translated into productions, causing qualitative
changes in knowledge, which is applied automatically. Complementing this process, during
the composition mechanism, the sequence of productions merges into a single production.
But it is a condition, for the composition, that there is a “logical contiguity” between the
productions, governed by criteria of similarities between their goals.

Once the productions are formed, they will be subjected, as a consequence of practice, to
adjustment processes, which constitute the third state. The adjustment is achieved through
three automatic mechanisms: generalization, discrimination and strengthening. The
generalization of a production consists of increasing its range of application, by replacing
constant values in the production conditions, with variables. Discrimination is a second
mechanism for adjusting productions, by which the scope of their application is restricted.
The system searches for the production variables and randomly chooses one of them as a
basis for discrimination, providing cases of correct and incorrect application of the
production. Neither generalization nor discrimination eliminates original productions. Only,
generate new productions that compete with those. The adjustment processes are
completed with a mechanism to strengthen productions, the strongest ones matching their
conditions more quickly with the information contained in working memory and having a
greater probability of being used.

7. Application of ACT to concept formation

The learning theory based on the ACT is fundamentally oriented towards the acquisition of
unskilled skills (ANDERSON, 1982), but it is not only applicable to relatively simple motor
skills. It also includes other types of more complex skills such as decision making, solving
mathematical problems or generating language.

According to Pozo, ACT can also be considered a theory of concept learning, since no
complex skill can be performed without the intervention of a concept.

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For each instance presented, the ACT designates a production that recognizes and/or
categorizes that instance. Generalizations will be produced by pairwise comparison of
those productions. If information is provided about the correctness of those generalizations,
the discrimination process can be carried out. The operational definition of a concept will be
that series of designations, generalizations and discriminations.

Semantic approach: the theory of schemas.

Schema theory can be considered a theory of the representation and use of concepts
stored in memory. It is a general theory of processing.

“A schema is a data structure for representing generic concepts stored in memory.”

(RUMELHART, 1984, page 163).

According to RUMELHART (1981, 1984), the general theory of schemata deals with how
knowledge is represented and how stored knowledge is used. The basic processing unit
would be the schemas, consisting of “information packages” about generic concepts.
Schemas represent knowledge, they are prototypical representations of concepts.

One of the characteristics of schemas is their position with respect to the distinction
between declarative and procedural knowledge. Schemas have a flexible nature that allows
them to be used both declaratively and procedurally.

Schemas are packages of knowledge in which, in addition to the knowledge itself, there is
information about how that knowledge should be used. The hierarchical nature of the
organization of the schemes necessarily entails the existence of generic concepts of
different levels of abstraction.

8. Learning by modification and generation of schemes.

According to RUMENHART AND NORMAN, from a logical point of view, three types of
learning can be distinguished: growth, restructuring and adjustment. Through growth, new
information accumulates in existing schemas. The laws that govern this growth are
basically associative:

“Whenever new information is encountered, some trace of the comprehension process is

supposed to be stored in memory. This memory trace is the basis of memory. Generally, it
is assumed that these are partial copies of the original updated scheme” (RUMELHART,
1984, p. 181)

Growth is the basic mechanism by which the system acquires the databases with which it
fills the schema variables. Growth does not modify the internal structure of the schemes
nor does it itself generate new schemes. For new concepts to be formed, the action of the
other two mechanisms must occur: adjustment and restructuring.

The modification or evolution of the available schemes takes place through an adjustment
process, which can occur in three ways: a) by modifying the default values of a scheme
based on experience in its application; b) by generalization of the concept; c) by
specialization of the concept.

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The generation or creation of new schemes takes place through the restructuring process
that consists of the “formation of new conceptual structures or new ways of conceiving
things. Through restructuring, conceptual or interpretive structures emerge that were not
previously present in the system. The new scheme can emerge in two ways. Through a
scheduled generation, the new scheme consists of a copy, which is formed by an analog
process, with modifications of a previous scheme.

The second restructuring mechanism, schema induction, would occur when it was detected
that a certain configuration of schemas occurs systematically according to certain spatio-
temporal patterns. It would be a mode of learning by contiguity.

According to RUMELHART AND NORMAN (1978), growth, restructuring and adjustment

coexist and interact throughout the learning cycle of a hierarchical system of concepts, but
their relative importance varies according to a characteristic temporal pattern. At the
beginning of learning in a conceptual area, growth would predominate. The accumulation
of knowledge would end up producing a restructuring of the schemes. A third phase would
be characterized again by a growth in the generated schemes, which would finally lead to a
progressive adjustment of them.

Pragmatic approach: a pragmatic theory of induction.

The theory of induction is a general theory of processing, which presents a series of basic
restrictions that give the inductive process a pragmatic character.

The representation of knowledge through mental models.

The representation system proposed by HOLLAND et al. (1986), like ANDERSON's ACT
(1983), is based on rules or production systems, but it is similar to schema theory in that its
significant units of representation have a rather molar character. They are mental models,
composed of series of rules or production systems.

Schemas constitute stable representations, mental models are built on the occasion of
each specific interaction. They are dynamic and implicit representations in memory, rather
than static and explicit like schemas.

Mental models are made up of sets of related rules activated simultaneously. They consist
of productions or condition-action pairs. Both the condition and the action of the rule can
be composed of several elements. Two fundamental types of rules are distinguished:
empirical and inferential. Empirical rules represent knowledge about the world and are
divided into several types. Synchronous rules represent the typical descriptive information
of semantic memory and are divided into categorical rules, which inform about hierarchical
relationships between categories and are the basis of concept identification judgments, and
associative rules, which relate concepts not linked hierarchically but by their attendance.
Diachronic rules inform about the changes that can be expected in the environment if their
conditions are satisfied. They can be predictive rules, when they provide an expectation,
and effective, when they cause an action by the system.

The rules will be activated when their condition is satisfied by active information in memory,
which is called a message. The actions of the rules will be executed when their conditions
are satisfied and can be directed either externally or internally. In the latter case, the
knowledge system will be modified and learning will occur. The system also has inferential
27
rules that constitute the basic learning mechanisms, and operational rules or general
processing principles of the system, among which is parallel processing (multiple rules
activated at the same time). The system must build mental models based on the
simultaneous activation of related rules. Those that tend to be activated together tend to
relate and constitute categories. These are organized in defective hierarchies, composed
of subordinate and superordinate concepts, where the values of the superordinate
concepts act <<by default>> in the absence of concrete specifications.
The concepts are not defined in memory but only represented in a probabilistic way, and
will be formed from rules with similar conditions.

Despite the parallel process, the rules compete to be activated. In that competition those
rules will triumph that <<(a) provide a description of the current situation (matching), (b)
have a past history of usefulness to the system (strength), (c) produce the most complete
description ( specificity) and (d) have the greatest compatibility with other information at that
time (support)>> (HOLLAND et al., 1986, p. 49).

The support of a rule depends on the activation of other related rules and therefore
depends on the propagation of the activation of the system.

Activation will spread from one concept to another when they share common rules, but not
by simple contiguity or concurrence. Activation, instead of being automatic, is also
pragmatically directed.

According to the theory of HOLLAND et al. (1986), the concepts would be mental models,
formed by rules activated simultaneously depending on the contextual demands and the
goals of the system, and constituted in defective hierarchies that generate expectations and
direct action. Therefore, concept learning consists of the acquisition of new rules and the
relationships between rules. These new rules have their origin, according to the authors, in
pragmatically guided inductive processes.

9. Learning by pragmatic induction.

According to HOLLAND et al. (1986) the system must perform three basic inductive tasks:
(a) evaluate and refine the available rules, (b) generate new rules and (c) form associations
and clusters of rules in order to create broader knowledge structures; and these tasks are
achieved through two inductive mechanisms: the refinement of existing rules and the
generation of new rules.

To the extent that a concept is a <<hierarchical cluster of rules>> it must be formed by a

combination of refinement and the generation of rules.

Rule refinement consists of a constant reevaluation of the strength of the rules based on
their successes and failures.

By having parallel processing, the system must distribute success, or, where appropriate,
failure, among those rules that have been truly responsible for the result obtained. This
process is called <<credit assignment>>.

The strength of a rule acts in a conservative way, preventing the execution of new or
weaker rules.

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The refinement process can change the strength of a rule, and with it its probability of use,
but it cannot introduce new rules. When the system does not have effective rules for a
context, it will be forced to start the rule generation process. The system generates new
rules that give rise to new concepts by activating its inferential rules or its inductive
mechanisms.

Its action is restricted to the presence of certain triggering conditions, such as the failure of
a prediction or the occurrence of an unexpected event. These inferences will be subject to
new restrictions. Some of these restrictions will be based on general rules independent of
any specific domain existing in the system, which collect knowledge about causal,
statistical or reasoning laws. Other restrictions on induction come from limitations in
capacity. Generalization can be achieved in two ways: through a simplification of the
conditions of a rule or from concrete examples, in which certain constants are replaced by
a variable. Specialization is the reverse process whose function is to avoid
overgeneralization, which usually leads to an erroneous prediction.

The formation of categories or concepts depends on the establishment of relationships and

associations between rules through inductive processes. A concept is a cluster of rules
organized into a defective hierarchy. The system tends to associate those rules that are
activated together (synchronous relationship) or successively (diachronic relationship). A
concept is based on synchronous relationships between rules that share a common
element between their conditions. When another rule contains that same element in its
action it will <<be coupled>> to the previous ones, since its execution will satisfy the
conditions of the other rules. The common element to all these rules will become the
concept label.

This inductive process is based on the association and generalization of rules. This
generalization can be abusive. To correct, the system has the rule specialization process,
when a rule leads to an erroneous expectation.

The authors admit the existence of another non-inductive learning mechanism, which would
consist of the insertion of rules from the outside through instruction.

In the terminology of concept formation we would say that conceptual change requires, at
some point, the transition from representations through mental models or exemplars to
representations through explicit concepts or prototypes.

Within a computational theory, restructuring processes must necessarily be reduced to the

simplest processes of growth and adjustment. The only effective way to acquire new rules
is, in addition to external instruction or insertion, induction through generalization and
specialization.

The theory imposes pragmatic restrictions on the inductive process. An induction will be
carried out when it is appropriate to the active knowledge in the system.

10. Conclusion
According to BOLTON (1977), every theory of concept acquisition supposes, explicitly or
implicitly, an option about the nature of reality and an epistemological position.

29
The position adopted by associationist theories regarding nature and the way in which
knowledge is acquired has as its main characteristics elementism, empiricism and realism
or correspondence between reality and knowledge.

Theories treat concepts as if they were real and not nominal entities and are based on the
idea that their definition is given by their referents and not by their meaning or <<upward>>
connection with other concepts. In relation to the learning of concepts, associationism
gives rise to theories of abstraction or induction of concepts.

The exposed theories share three basic assumptions regarding induction or abstraction
(BOLTON, 1977):

Concepts are formed by recognizing similarities between objects.

Progress in the formation of concepts goes from the particular to the general.

Concrete concepts are primary, since they constitute the basis for the acquisition of more
abstract concepts.

The different theories differ in the learning mechanisms that account for this abstraction
and in the results produced by that learning, which give rise to probabilistic concepts or
diffuse structures, or to well-defined concepts.

The ACT theory of concept learning is strictly inductive. Its inductive mechanisms are only
syntactic. Concepts are compiled knowledge and are acquired by generalization and
discrimination from the first formed productions.

A central assumption of Anderson's theory is that all knowledge is initially proportional, but
can be converted into procedures. Learning can occur by adding a new rule to the existing
set.

The ACT is a prototypical example of computational associationism. The three stages of

learning in ACT resort to exclusively associative mechanisms, which allows the continuous
reworking of the theory in its successive versions. Induction is carried out according to
formal or logical criteria.

A specific theory like ACT can obviously be proven false. Production systems, as
hypotheses about the architecture of the mind, are unlikely to be refuted with any type of
empirical data.

ANDERSON, KLINE AND BEASLEY (1980) point out that the only mechanism that
provides the system with truly new knowledge is the designation of new declarative
knowledge.

Generalization is subject to the subject not only to strategic control, but also to conscious
control.

The main difference between ACT and RUMELHART AND NORMAN's (1978) schema
learning theory is the introduction of a restructuring learning process as a way to overcome
the limitations of the associationist principle of correspondence and conceive learning as a
constructive process. .
30
According to VEGA (1984), the schema theory has the problem that it adapts too well to
any data, which generates a somewhat indiscriminate use of the concept.

In the theory of RUMELHART AND NORMAN (1978) there are no restrictions for induction
and it does not explain how "authentically new" schemes appear (PASCUAL-LEONE,
1980.

The theory of schemas presents a static constructivist position since there is a construction
or interpretation of reality based on our knowledge schemas; lacking the dynamic aspect
according to which we not only construct the reality that we know but also the schemes
through which we know it.

The theory of pragmatic induction by HOLLAND and Cols. It brings together many
characteristics of the so-called computational theories, such as: parallel processing, the
use of production systems and the implicit representation of knowledge through mental
models. But pragmatism is reduced to a control of the rules for their consequences, similar
in some way to that defined by SKINNER (1981).

The theories presented present an absence of organization in the psychological subject,

that is, they cannot explain conceptual coherence, and are incapable of explaining the
origin of meanings.

These theories, although they have developed the mechanisms of concept adjustment
through generalization and differentiation, present the limitation that for the system to adjust
its concepts it must previously possess them. Computational systems are incapable of
explaining the origin of this knowledge.

A computing system can simulate that it has knowledge but it cannot simulate that it
acquires it, because to acquire knowledge through internal constructive processes, not
through the insertion of rules, it is necessary to actually have knowledge.

For a computer – or in general a computer system – to learn in a more real sense, it would
be necessary, as HOLLAND et al. wish. (1986, page 359), that "the computational system
does not contain any structure that has not been produced by the inductive mechanisms of
the system"

The insufficiency of syntactic models. The need to take into account semantic or pragmatic
aspects in learning leads to the formulation of mechanisms such as restructuring, insight or
conscious control or semantic or pragmatic restrictions in induction.

11. Bibliography.
Carretero, M.- Limón, M., “Current problems of constructivism. From theory to Practice”, in Rodrigo,
M.-Arnay, J., Piados, Barcelona.
Chalmers, A., What is this thing called science?, Siglo XXI, Madrid, 1984.
Duran, S., Mental Models and Deductive Practices, unpublished, 1997
Laird, J., The computer and the mind, Piados, Barcelona, 1990.
Microsoft, Corp., Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 97.
Pozo, J., Cognitive Theories of Learning, Morata, Madrid, 1994.

1. After reading the previous document comprehensively, use the color

underlining technique, under each unknown word or term, then put together a list as
31
a glossary module and find out its meaning, place in parentheses (author, years) the
source from which you collected the definition. Submit a written report of your new
vocabulary, do not forget to identify the identification data of your work on the cover.
Compare with your teammates and mark those terms that you did not have and verify their
meaning.

2. Design an outline of the contents of reading 2.

3. Submit your group report before starting the next class session. (Tuesdays from 9:45)

3. Write in this box your opinions and evaluations regarding what you have learned.

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33
First Unit: Conceptual Framework of learning in Special Educational Needs and in
Special Educational Needs not derived from disability

Reading 3: Theory of Special Educational Needs

Key concepts:

Theory / Educational needs / Special educational needs.

For decades, the paradigm that explained diversity and under which the norms that
regulated attention to “special” students were formulated was focused on “abnormality”
initially and later on “disability”, in recent decades there has been a change substantial
from the “clinical model” to the “educational” model.

Currently, we can basically approach attention to diversity from two fundamental

perspectives: respect for differences and special educational needs.

The event that determined the conceptual change for differential education was
undoubtedly the Warnock report (1978). Its fundamental contribution lies in understanding
Special Education not as the specific educational response aimed at people with
disabilities but as a whole continuum that goes from the most ordinary educational
actions to the most specific, depending on the educational needs of each student.

This report assumes that a student has educational needs when he or she presents
difficulties greater than the rest of the students in accessing the learning that is indicated in
the curriculum that corresponds to him or her by age (either due to internal causes,
difficulties or deficiencies in the socio-family environment. or due to a mismatched learning
history) and need, to compensate for the aforementioned difficulties, access adaptations or
significant curricular adaptations in various areas of that curriculum (Warnock 1978).

Diversity and Special Educational Needs

For Marchesi and Martín, this term is applied to students who present a problem that
affects their schooling process, a problem that demands more specific attention and more
educational resources than those needed by peers of their age. Although perhaps the term
“problem” is not the most appropriate, since it has negative connotations that do not occur
in most cases due to the characteristics of the student, but rather due to the inability of the
system to assimilate and integrate these students. . Attention to diversity constitutes one of
the main aspirations of compulsory basic education and one of the general principles that
the LOCE establishes. It aims for the educational intervention to gradually adjust to the
individual differences of the students (values, personal expectations, self-concept,

34
Learning styles, interests, motivations, abilities, learning rates, etc.) Therefore, measures
of attention to diversity are basically measures of individualization and personalization of
teaching.

Measures of attention to diversity are measures of individualization of teaching that must

be sought in personalized and adaptive teaching to the characteristics of the students,
both in regular schools and in Special Education schools or centers.

A broad concept of Special Educational Needs would refer to all the students who attend a
classroom, since each of them has unique personal characteristics, which the teacher or
tutor must attend to, generally this term is used to describe those students who are far
from the average student, therefore needing special attention so that they can obtain the
most benefit from their learning. Therefore, students with Special Educational Needs are
those who need individualized programs and resources, both of which are necessary to
provide an appropriate learning environment. Sometimes, despite the great interest shown
by teachers, they may encounter difficult situations, in which the lack of resources can
prevent the student's true integration.

The implication of the concept of students with special educational needs.

The concept of special educational needs has important implications in both educational
theory and practice. There are a series of distinctive notes implicit in the concept of special
educational needs that should be highlighted. First of all, it is a normalizing and non-
discriminatory term. Emphasis is placed on the educational resources that the school
needs to adequately respond to the needs that any student may present throughout their
schooling, whatever their origin (organic personal limitations, sociocultural deprivation,
etc.) and their character. (temporary or transitory). It is also understood that the
educational needs of a student have a relative and interactive nature. The learning
difficulties of students have a fundamentally interactive nature, since it depends both on
the personal characteristics of the student and on the characteristics of the educational
environment in which they operate and the educational response that is offered.

Special educational needs are defined based on the material and personal resources that
certain students may need to achieve the objectives of education. The term students with
special educational needs is not a euphemism to refer to specific groups, but rather a
reference to a situation that may affect any student who, for reasons of personal or social
origin, may present special educational needs, without prejudging their learning capacity.

The manifestations or sources of diversity in the school environment are multiple. The

Differences between individuals and human groups manifest themselves in very varied
aspects, although not all verifiable differences between individuals and groups have the
same relevance for educational intervention. The diversity of experiences and prior
knowledge, of learning styles, of interests, motivations and expectations regarding school
learning, of work rhythms, of abilities, are an expression in the school context of individual
differences that must be taken into account both in the moment of the design or
programming of the educational performance in the classroom, as well as during its
35
development. That is to say, it is about educating from this diversity that can be seen in
any educational activity.

Education in diversity cannot be reduced to specific strategies aimed at specific groups of

students (curriculum diversifications for students over 16 years of age, social guarantee
programs, individualized curricular adaptations) but must be something that permeates the
development of the Curriculum. which is offered to all students at any level of the
educational system.

Specific strategies for attention to diversity are an important part of attention to diversity
but they do not constitute everything. They must have a subsidiary nature. The basic, first
and most important strategies for addressing diversity will be adopted within the
framework of each specific classroom. If in an educational project the only procedure
for addressing student diversity is the adoption of specific measures aimed at specific
groups without a global rethinking of the didactic methodology ordinarily used in classes,
the organization of spaces and times, the tutorial monitoring of student learning, etc., it is
possible that there will be an inadequate and insufficient educational response to pay
attention to individual differences. That is, if in the development of the curriculum rigid and
inflexible positions are maintained in the selection of objectives and contents, if methods
based on the oral presentation and transmission of information predominate in the school,
if only the results and not the processes are evaluated. In short, if the educational system
does not adopt pedagogical and organizational measures in accordance with the
characteristics and educational needs of its students, it will most likely be that the groups
of students who require specific strategies to address diversity will become increasingly
numerous. . Therefore, it is important that each school or high school makes explicit its
global educational approach to attention to diversity and not only the specific strategies for
attention to diversity.

This image tells you that a task or work must be carried out, in this case a
summary of what you have understood regarding special educational needs is requested.
You must submit it in writing at the next in-person session.
Always identify your tasks with your full name and due date. Keep a copy of each
assignment you submit for correction, when you have its return file it in your personal
portfolio.

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The new approach established by the current Educational System in Chile, in relation to
the educational care of students with special educational needs, contemplates the
mechanisms to respond to the diversity of their needs, interests, and motivations.

For the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Chile, it is important to disseminate

information regarding the Special Education modality and respond to the most frequent
queries through its WEB. I invite you to get to know them.

Special Education: on the path of school integration

Special education, a differentiated and interdisciplinary modality of the school system, is

responsible for ensuring compliance with the principle of equal opportunities to access
quality learning for those students with some type of disability, whether sensory, motor or
intellectual. , who have special educational needs, and who receive special aid and
resources, either temporarily or permanently, to facilitate their progress in achieving the
learning established in the school curriculum, in the educational context that corresponds
to them.

The Educational Reform carries out innovations at the different levels and modalities of the
educational system aimed at equalizing the opportunities of boys, girls and young people
to access better learning, and to reduce school exclusion, promoting their participation in
the same educational process with their peers. . To meet these objectives, it is necessary
for educational establishments to offer an educational response that is both wide-ranging
and diversified; that provides a common culture for all students, that avoids discrimination
and inequality of opportunities and that at the same time respects their individual
characteristics and educational needs.

From educational needs to special educational needs

There are common educational needs, shared by all students, that refer to essential
learning for their personal and socialized development, which are expressed in the school
curriculum. However, not all students face the same background and the learning
established therein in the same way; All children and young people have different
aptitudes, interests, rhythms, motivations and experiences that influence their learning
process, making it unique and unrepeatable in each case.

How are individual educational needs different from special educational needs?

All students have their own specific individual educational needs to access the learning
experiences necessary for their socialization. Now, not every individual need is special.
Most individual needs

They can be attended by the teacher of the course. However, in some cases, certain
individual needs require the implementation of a series of special or extraordinary aids,
resources and pedagogical measures, different from those usually required by the majority
of students. We can speak of special educational needs, to refer to “those students who
37
present learning difficulties or gaps in relation to the curriculum that corresponds to them
by age and who require, in order to be attended to, means of access to the curriculum,
adaptations in the curriculum itself, and/or special attention to the social structure and
emotional climate in which the educational event takes place” (Warnock, 1978).

How does special education ensure the principle of equal opportunities?

To ensure compliance with the principle of equal opportunities for those boys, girls and
young people with special educational needs who are inside or outside the school system,
special education has sought ways and strategies to reduce exclusion and increase
access and participation. of them in the educational process together with their peers.

What are the main goals of special education in this transition stage?

The progressive increase in school integration and the gradual transformation of special
schools into resource centers for attention to diversity, constitute its main goals in this
stage of transition, from segregated education to integrative education that responds to the
needs of all students.

What additional resources does special education offer to serve students with special
educational needs in the school system?

It offers a series of additional supports and resources that allow educational

establishments to have support personnel prepared to work in the education of students
with special needs, generate curricular options and have appropriate school environments
to meet the educational needs of these students. Additional resources are those that the
Ministry of Education provides beyond the resources that it generally provides to
educational establishments that do not serve students with special educational needs.

What support do the Reform and special education offer to teacher professional
development?

To promote the professional development of teachers, mainly of teachers, directors and

other professionals at different levels of the school system who work with students with
special educational needs in regular education and in special schools, different types of
improvement programs are offered, technical advice, whether in the workplace itself, at a
local, provincial, regional, local or international level.

38
How can family and community support?

Special education seeks to incorporate the family as co-educator of their children,

associations of parents and friends, municipalities, other ministries and public institutions,
civil society in a work of integrated support for the full development of children, girls and
young people with disabilities, through the establishment of support networks and intra-
and interpersonal work.

School integration projects in basic and secondary education as a strategy to achieve

equalization of educational opportunities for all students with disabilities.

What is integration?

Integration is a continuous and dynamic process, which enables people with disabilities to
participate in the different stages of social, school and work activities, assisted with
specialized support in cases where necessary.

What are the benefits of school integration?

Integrating into the common education system constitutes a valuable cultural and social
experience for children and young people with special educational needs, since it allows
them to develop in better conditions and ways of life, similar to that of every boy or girl.

What does it mean for the educational community and for the teachers of an establishment
to co-commit to the learning of a student with a disability?

It represents a great challenge as an educational community; For teachers, an opportunity

to grow as people and strengthen as a team and to generate changes in the establishment
that will benefit the educational community as a whole. It involves identifying and
incorporating the human, material and technical resources that may exist in the
educational unit and its environment, through support networks that allow the integration
process to be enhanced.

What is the school integration process?

They are actions through which curricular options are provided to satisfy the educational
demands of students with special needs in the regular education system.

What is a school integration project?

A school integration project is a strategy or means available to the system to implement

the incorporation of a child or young person with a disability into the regular educational
system.

Who can provide a school integration project?

Any educational establishment that wants to carry out an integration experience. Parent
associations, education professionals, municipalities and community organizations.
Who can develop a school integration project?

39
Any educational establishment that wants to carry out an integration experience and that
has the interest and commitment of parents, teachers, directors and the supporter of the
educational establishment.

Which boys, girls or young people can be beneficiaries of a school integration project?

Boys, girls and young people who present any of the types of disabilities established in
Decree No. 1 of 1/98 that approves the regulations of Chapter II of Law 19,284: mental
deficiency, visual deficit, hearing deficit, motor disorder or deficit. Serious alterations in the
ability to relate and communicate that can manifest in different forms, namely autism,
serious disorders and/or psychological, emotional, intellect and behavioral deficits. Severe
dysphasia and oral communication disorders associated with a serious compromise in the
expression, understanding and use of language.

What technical and administrative provisions of the school system favor school integration
projects?

Flexibility and curricular adaptation.

Differentiated evaluation.
Specialized pedagogical support.

Why is it necessary to prepare a project and what advantages does signing an agreement
represent?

Because it will ensure and regulate the provision of educational services that benefit the
diversity of students served by the establishment. The agreement, in turn, ensures the
hiring of a specialist professional who provides specific support to the classroom teacher
and the student with special educational needs; guarantees special education
subsidy(4.82 USE + zone assignment percentage); allows for greater material
implementation, in some cases, including job training; facilitates the process of monitoring
and evaluating project activities and actions and guarantees compliance with the stipulated
terms.

How many school integration projects exist today?

There are more than 5,500 students with integration projects in 670 regular education
establishments.

Where can you get more information?

In the Provincial Departments of Education of the country and in the Documents section of
this website (“School Integration Projects. Guidelines 1999”).

40
Special schools:

What type of educational establishment are special schools?

Special schools represent another school option for boys, girls and young people with
special educational needs that require - to be attended to - resources and measures of an
extraordinary nature, temporarily or permanently.

What technical and administrative requirements must special schools meet?

These educational establishments must meet the technical and administrative

requirements common to all educational establishments, in accordance with current
regulations, and must apply, as appropriate, the official curriculum to the plans and
programs approved for the modality by the Ministry of Education.

What are the technical-pedagogical functions that special schools must fulfill?
Make the organization of teaching situations more flexible so that it is possible to
personalize common learning experiences and to achieve the highest possible degree of
interaction and participation of all students, without losing sight of the specific needs of
each one.

Ensure that the student receives the means and precise educational response to navigate
the educational system on equal terms.

Establish a relationship between the individual educational needs and the common
programming of the student's reference group, to ensure their greater participation in the
activities and dynamics of the classroom.

Coordinate the actions of the different professionals and services that intervene with the
student.

Promote the student towards progressively more normalizing situations.

Who are the professionals who work in the special school?

Each school is implemented with a technical office made up of specialist teachers and
non-teaching professionals (psychologist, social worker, speech therapist, occupational
therapist and/or kinesiologist), who work directly with students and families.

Who can enroll in the special school?

People with disabilities between 2 and 26 years of chronological age, whose type of
disability is stipulated in Decree No. 1/98 that regulates Chapter II of Law No. 19284, can
register. depending on age and special needs

41
of education, these people can join courses at the nursery, basic or work level.

Is there any requirement to apply for enrollment in a special school?

The disability of the child or young person must be certified by COMPIN (Council of
Preventive Medicine) and accompanied by an educational diagnosis from a
multiprofessional team of the Ministry of Education or professional registered in the
country's ministerial secretariats of education for this purpose.

What type of financing does the State provide to special schools?

Subsidized education is free. The State provides 4.82 school subsidy units (USE) per
student who attends school without a full school day regime and 6.05 USE with a full
school day regime.

Where can you get more information?

In the country's provincial departments of education

What is offered to promote teacher professional development?

To promote the professional development of teachers and managers who work with
students with special educational needs in the regular classroom, different types of
technical advice and updating of pedagogical practice are offered, either in the workplace
or at the provincial, local or international level. .

What are the forms of support for teacher professional development?

This support takes different forms and can be delivered through the following: days or
workshops to support school integration; technical advice and focused support from the
specialist supervisor; collaborative work of a specialist teacher with the classroom teacher
and with other elementary and middle school colleagues; integrated work with the
multiprofessional teams of the Ministry of Education; participation in the Fundamental
Improvement program and in national supervision and special education days; application
for scholarships and internships within the country or abroad, and participation in the
development, dissemination and implementation of new curricular proposals.

42
Learning or School Adaptation Problems

The purpose of the Differential groups of regular basic education establishments is to

serve students with special educational needs not associated with a disability and who
present learning and/or school adaptation problems, whether temporary or permanent.

On July 12, 1999, Decree No. 291 was approved, which regulates the operation and
organization of the Differential Groups. Instructions No. 5 of November 1999, which
accompanies the decree, provide guidelines for its implementation.

What are your main objectives?

Contribute to the optimization of the quality of learning of all the students of the
establishment, especially those who have special educational needs in the first cycle.

Support student learning in the common classroom, carrying out collaborative work
between the course teacher and the specialist teacher.
Provide specific psycho-pedagogical support in the resource room to students who require
it.
Promote the active incorporation of the students' families into the work carried out by the
educational establishment for the benefit of their sons and daughters.

What is the resource room?

It is that dependency of the educational establishment intended, mainly, for the use of the
differential group. It has a functional physical space and is equipped with furniture and
teaching materials that allow it to respond to the special educational needs of the students
who require it.

What type of financial contribution do they receive?

They receive an annual financial contribution destined to finance specific teaching

materials.

Who is entitled to the special subsidy?

Boys, girls and young people who present any of the types of disabilities established in
Decree No. 1 of 1/98 that approves the regulations of Chapter II of Law 19284: mental
deficiency, visual deficit, hearing deficit, motor disorder or deficit, serious alterations in the
ability to relate and communicate or severe dysphasia and oral communication disorders
associated with a serious compromise in the expression, understanding and use of
language. The disability must be previously certified by the Preventive Medicine
Committee, COMPIN, to be entitled to the special subsidy.

43
Which special schools are entitled to an additional special grant?

Those special schools that serve children with visual, hearing or multi-deficit disabilities
and that for technical-pedagogical reasons must constitute courses of no more than eight
students. This increase per student is two monthly school subsidy units and 2.51 USE if
they are enrolled in the Full School Day.

What other educational improvement programs can special schools participate in?

Special schools can participate in all the programs and innovations that are part of the
Reform. Currently, the vast majority of them participate in Educational Improvement
Projects, PME; in the Full School Day and others.

Contribution of specific learning resources

Since when has this contribution existed?

In 1998, a fund was opened to finance the acquisition of specific teaching materials for
special schools and for basic schools and high schools that are part of a Community
School Integration Project.

What is the objective of this contribution?

It is the acquisition of specific and adapted teaching materials that require the attention of
students with disabilities who attend the establishment.

What is the amount of financing for the acquisition of specific teaching materials for special
schools?

The amount is approximately $900,000 one time until 100% coverage of the schools is
completed.

How many special schools have been favored?

130 special schools that correspond to 50% of the coverage

44
What is the application process?

Each school presents a project to the respective Provincial Department justifying the
acquisition of the teaching material and the relevance of its selection.

What is the contribution to the Common School Integration Projects?

$2,000,000 for one time. To date, 50 community projects have benefited.

Where can you access information regarding current regulations for this educational
subsystem?

To access all the decrees that regulate the operation of the special education
subsystem, go to the WEB of the Ministry of Education of Chile. “Click” on
documentation and select what you need. Save the files in a folder so that you have
the information classified and so you can manage it efficiently. Another resource is
the WEB of our University: www.upa.cl where you must enter the Faculties, from
there, enter the Faculty of Education Sciences and then the diversity attention portal
where you can also access the regulations. current and know documents related to
the subject, a traditional resource is to request the documentation from your
Provincial Directorate of Education.

Remember, we began this module by pointing out that we could basically approach
attention to diversity from two fundamental perspectives:

 Respect for differences and,

 Special educational needs.

To truly respect differences and attend to special educational needs, we must first explore
the educational reality of our country first and then learn about other realities for the
necessary contrast. One of the limitations to respecting differences lies in erroneous
theoretical assumptions on the part of teachers that influence educational practice when
addressing the educational needs of our students.

One of the differences and perhaps the most unfair is the one that derives from the
inequality between boys and girls from rich families and those from poor families.

The differences that teachers establish regarding the culture of students from poor sectors
of our society are often based on erroneous assumptions and these in turn determine our
expectations for educational action. In search of respect for less favored boys and girls
from a socio-economic point of view, I invite you to read the following article by Professor
Mabel Condemarín.

CRITICAL REVIEW OF SOME FALSE CONCEPTIONS ABOUT THE LANGUAGE

COMPETENCE, VALUES AND CULTURE OF BOYS AND GIRLS FROM POOR
FAMILIES

Professor Mabel Condemarín . (Coordinator of the Language area of the Quality

Improvement Program in Basic Schools in Poor Sectors P900). An important fact is that
the renowned researcher died during the first quarter of 2004.
45
CRITICAL REVIEW OF SOME FALSE CONCEPTIONS ABOUT THE LANGUAGE
COMPETENCE, VALUES AND CULTURE OF BOYS AND GIRLS FROM POOR
FAMILIES

CONTENT

According to different studies, one of the factors that influence student learning is
the expectations that their teachers have in this regard. In this sense, there is a
series of prejudices regarding the characteristics of children from poor families
that would affect their learning capacity, especially in the area of linguistic skills.
This article addresses a critical review of these conceptions and warns about their
risk.

The purpose of this article is to critically review four false conceptions about the linguistic
competence, values and culture of boys and girls belonging to poor families in our country,
determining the risks that these false conceptions imply for the development of their
language, thinking. and affectivity and identify some educational actions aimed at
overcoming them.

The approaches described are basically based on the language proposal of the Quality
Improvement Program in Basic Schools in Poor Sectors (P900). The reference to
language generically refers to its four modalities: listening, speaking, reading and writing,
as they support, nourish and provide feedback.

The false conceptions reviewed are the following:

First false conception: “Boys and girls belonging to poor families only manage a limited
range of linguistic functions at the time of entry into the school system.”

This conception is ruled out by the evidence of decades of research that proves that all
boys and girls, regardless of the socioeconomic stratum or ethnicity to which they belong,
manage a wide range of linguistic functions at the time of entry into the school system.
Experiences with language within families may vary, but the process of learning the
different functions of language through sharing meanings and interacting is always the
same for all boys and girls.

Thus, during the first year, before learning words, they already use a repertoire of sounds
to express their needs and relate to others. They start to learn

46
their native language by managing certain language functions and develop a progressive
range of meanings within each function. First, they use particular sounds to get what they
want (instrumental function of language); to regulate their behavior and that of others
(normative regulative function); to relate to those around them (interactive function) and to
make themselves known (personal function). That is, from very early on infants try to
transmit meanings and use their linguistic resources to achieve this. Words and structures
develop progressively, within the context of these meanings.

Towards the end of the first year, boys and girls expand their use of language functions:
they use it to find out what things are (heuristic function) and to tell others the things they
know (informational function). During the second year they develop the imaginative
function, thereby signaling a great qualitative leap since they discover that they can use
language to tell something referring to another time and place.

Around four to five years old, the age at which a percentage of children begin their
schooling, they mostly know the linguistic structure of their native speech, including most
of the grammatical patterns. They intuitively perceive that language is functional and that
they can use it to obtain things, make friends, make complaints, find out about objects and
create imaginary worlds through their own fantasies or dramatizations.

The linguistic competence of children is also evident in their ability to deduce new linguistic
forms by analogy with those they already know. They even often tend to deduce
regularities that do not exist in the language (ya vino por ya vino; no cabo por no quepo,
etc.), forms that they abandon as they acquire greater mastery of their language.

Boys and girls also arrive at school with their personal “installation” in written language. A
growing body of evidence shows that young children living in literate communities know
more about written language than we think. They know traffic signs, labels, drink and ice
cream logos; From television advertising they recognize brands of soap, cookies and
toothpaste. They also presume that graphic signs say something; They differentiate, even
at three years old, between visual marks that are drawings and those that carry a
message; and in their first attempts at writing they tend to invent a spelling system that
follows logical and predictable rules, before they learn conventional forms.

When the wide spectrum of linguistic functions that children handle is unknown, there is a
risk that they will be restricted or underused in the classroom. For example, when only the
informative and normative functions are emphasized, this can translate into too many
explanations and questions focused on the teacher or on the teaching of various
disciplinary rules that do not consider the opinions of the students. The interactive function
can be limited almost exclusively to asking questions and waiting for brief or monosyllabic
responses, considering that conversation and group activity within the classroom are
disorderly acts. There is also the risk of not satisfying children's needs to make
discoveries, search, ask questions (heuristic function) and not give space to fantasy,
dramatization, creation or divergent thinking. (imaginative function).

This limitation of the spectrum of linguistic functions is aggravated when the educator
dedicates most of his time to demanding that children master the formal aspects of the
language, making excessive use of metalanguage (language about language) such as
learning the name of the parts of speech, morphological and syntactic categories, and
other formal aspects presented in isolation or decontextualized form.
47
Thus, overcoming this false conception on the part of teachers implies knowing the wide
spectrum of linguistic functions that their students manage and expanding them within
structured and meaningful situations for them (course projects, writing workshops,
excursions, thematic units, etc.) that allow them to satisfy their needs, interests and
purposes through language. That is, building an environment where language constitutes
the means to interact, make oneself known, investigate, discover, imagine, express humor,
fantasy, divergence, inform their peers and their educators and learn about the language
to improve their linguistic skills and communicative.

Second false conception: “The speech used by poor boys and girls is 'bad
language' and constitutes a poor instrument for developing logical thinking.”

As in the previous point, the evidence given by the research has also proven that there are
no “deficient languages” from the point of view of a specific social stratum or a certain
ethnic group, since all speech constitutes a rich and adequate system in how much it
satisfies the needs of its speakers to construct and share meanings, within the culture of
which they are part.

Thus, the two premises involved in this second false conception involve confusion
between the aspects of children's speech and the deeper aspects of linguistic competence
that are more closely related to conceptual and academic development. The idea that
children who are unfamiliar with the formal culture norm of a language would use a poor
speech register to express logical relationships has been sufficiently refuted by
sociolinguistic research (Labov, 1970).

The false conception described is highly risky, because when it is assumed that children's
language is “bad”, the teacher tends to interrupt the spontaneous oral expression of his
students with excessive corrections referring to the use of the formal cultured norm ( say
“muciérlago” do not say “bat”). These interruptions and corrections imply both an aversion
to natural communication within the classroom, and a devaluation of the family and the
child's environment who also use that same speech register. It also entails two other risks:
one, that teachers label such speakers as having a “learning disorder,” with the
consequent loss of children's self-esteem; and two, that teachers do not assume their
responsibility in stimulating the language of such children because “they would require
specialists.”

Overcoming this misconception implies, first of all, becoming aware that the speech
register used by the majority of children belonging to poor families constitutes their mother
tongue; that is, the language spoken by their parents and their community. The mother
tongue is the child's natural means of expression within his or her environment; Precisely
because it is maternal, it has a high emotional value for him or her; It is their means of
integration into their culture and their community; It is what allows you the process of
capturing the world and understanding it, since through it you register and codify your cultural
experience. Children learn through their mother tongue to think, to pose and solve problems, to
express their emotions and fantasies, to receive and give instructions, to know their history, to
internalize and appropriate the knowledge, tasks and values of their community. .

From a practical point of view, this awareness and valorization of the mother tongue
implies giving ample space for spontaneous and interrupted communication of the
students, listening to them empathetically and using the narratives that they make of their
experiences within their home, of their games and life in their neighborhood, their
48
anecdotes, their family history, their jobs, their news, etc., as topics to be talked about and
commented on; stimulate them to express their “oral culture”, that is, their repertoire of
known songs, their daily anecdotes and experiences, their game formulas, riddles, tongue
twisters, jokes, sayings, etc. And record in writing all those manifestations of their orality to
use them as authentic texts in their learning of written language.

The argument given to challenge the two false conceptions described does not mean an
idealization and therefore an exclusive use in the classroom of the speech register
generally used by children from poor families. This record shows important limitations that
should not be ignored, and are mainly due to their lack of immersion in the world of written
language, from an early age. When children are introduced to the world of written
language, from an early age. When children are provided with early and permanent
experiences with literature, it provides them with a progressive mastery of the formal
culture norm, which allows them to access languages representative of a more universal
culture.

The limitations noted below for poor children are obviously the same as those presented
by children from illiterate homes in the middle or upper classes and are the following:

Lack or restricted use of universally valid scientific, literary or technological terminology. A

peasant girl or boy can perfectly identify with a “chuncho”, but they will also need to know it
as “a type of owl” if they need to study it in greater depth in reference sources.

Limited use in communicative content of collective concrete subject propositions and

general and abstract subject propositions, and greater presence of emotional exclamations
and singular concrete subject propositions. To exemplify the above, the following
communicative situation is valid: upon observing a horse tiringly dragging a heavy load,
someone can only exclaim: -Poor thing! (Emotional exclamation), or: -That horse carries a
lot of load (singular concrete subject proposition), .- They cannot be loaded, they also have
rights that should be respected (general and abstract subject proposition)
Limitation in the flexible management of certain types of discourse organization:
theme/commentary, arguing, or chronological, and greater use of a narrative or descriptive
type of discourse with excessive repetitions and fillers.

These linguistic limitations must be prevented in boys and girls belonging to poor families
through early and permanent stimulation of the different language functions, reading aloud
by the teacher different literary genres of good quality and understandable for the children.
students, the exhibition of representative models of different speech registers and their
expression through dramatizations. They must also be prevented through the intensive
and intentional use of the classroom library, the application of the sustained silent reading
program and the participation of students in creative writing workshops, and in course
projects that simultaneously stimulate the different linguistic modalities. .

Third false conception: “Poor boys and girls come from families lacking not only
material goods, but also ethical and social values.”

This third statement implicitly carries the erroneous conception that poor families belong,
in their entirety, to the sector of hard poverty characterized by their exclusion from basic
social institutions, aggressive emotional communication, marginalization from social
support networks, deteriorated human relationships, violence and various addictions.

49
Faced with this statement, it is necessary to clarify that most poor families only have in
common with the hard poverty sector, their limitation or impossibility of satisfying their
essential needs, but they differ basically in that they have social integration and access
and use, even if it is precarious, to services in education, health, housing. This majority of
families live and subscribe to a set of highly respectable values that shape a dignified way
of existence. The world of values of poor communities with social integration is rich and
varied. It is made up of a set of behaviors and attitudes that regulate what is and is not
allowed to be done: how to treat the elderly, how to ask for help at work, how to greet,
thank, give condolences or show solidarity by giving a hand to someone. who needs it,
how to defend their rights, etc. These behaviors, attitudes and norms imply a defined
ethical dimension.

By identifying poverty only with the hard sector that the majority of poor families with social
integration discriminate negatively due to their antisocial survival strategies, teachers run
the risk of ignoring or dismissing how valid their students' identification figures and real
experiences are. that they live, within their immediate environment.

Overcoming this devaluing conception of poor families must translate, first of all, into
highlighting as exemplary figures present or past members who are legitimized by the
community for their attitudes of solidarity with their neighbors, for their spirit of service in
the face of the needs of others. , for their defense of human rights, for their artistic, craft,
religious or sporting conditions, or for their role as repositories of the oral culture of the
environment.

This valorization prevents teachers from pointing out stereotypical characters that are far
from their real lives as the only valid identification figures or models worthy of being
imitated by students. This valorization must also translate into showing students the value
implicit in their real life experiences such as going out to raise kites on a Sunday with the
family, participating in an entertaining “pichanga” in the neighborhood, visiting
grandparents, going to the circus; and not only present as an ideal way of life a summer
vacation on the beach, birthdays with hats and surprises, shopping in a supermarket or
other typical childhood experiences of the middle and upper classes, which are generally
also presented as the only valid ones, in traditional school textbooks.

Finally, the awareness of the ethical and social values of poor families, these families to
solve, in a creative and autonomous way, the multiple problems they face in their daily
lives. This skill not only implies value, but constitutes a rich source of progressively more
complex learning that must be taken into account by educators.

Fourth false conception: “Members of poor communities lack culture, given that the
“cultured” condition constitutes an attribute typical of people with higher
education.”

This erroneous conception entails a limited definition of the concept “culture” and the
condition of “cultured person” and therefore prevents considering a shellfish harvester or a
peasant woman as repositories and transmitters of a set of ways of life, customs and
knowledge and as representatives of a degree of artistic, scientific, etc. development of
their social group (cf. – Dictionary of the Spanish Language, 1992).

In fact, the knowledge of a shellfish collector or a peasant woman is broad and deep. For
example, the former knows more about tides and weather forecasting than most city
50
college students; A peasant woman knows about sowing, quality of the land, fertilizers,
seeds, medicinal herbs; A worker handles rich and varied knowledge related to the
instruments, functions and relationships of his work. In this sense, all three have a solid
specific linguistic “corpus” and master knowledge within different areas of action. They are
all possessors of “culture” and the differences refer to the type of activity of each one.

In addition to these cultural manifestations, the members of communities poor in material

goods are also possessors of a rich literary heritage made up of a set of traditions,
legends, myths, biography, sayings, proverbs; of a varied register of artistic elements
manifested in poems, songs, dances, payas, toasts, crafts; to name just a few cultural
expressions.

This last erroneous statement is equally limiting as the previous ones for the development
and expansion of language and communication of boys and girls belonging to poor
families. These, already silenced by the lack of expansion of their linguistic functions and
by the continuous corrections to their natural speech, tend to become even more silent in
the classroom, because they feel that they cannot speak either about their real figures of
identification or their daily experiences, nor the knowledge and values that they have
incorporated into their being.

This silencing of children belonging to poor sectors, by not examining and reversing it
through concrete educational actions such as those already described above, translates
into the following vicious circle: teachers confront these boys and girls with a low level of
expectations. of schooling, compared to those in the middle and upper sectors; Their low
level of expectation is confirmed when facing silent children or children with monosyllabic
responses. Under the pretext of “they are not worth the effort”, they are linguistically and
cognitively stimulated less than children from other sectors and they minimize the content
delivered in the classroom and the time dedicated.

51
All of this produces “learned hopelessness” in boys and girls with the consequent lack of
motivation to carry out activities successfully. Thus, the self-fulfilling prophecy is realized
and perpetuated, with evident damage to the self-esteem of the affected group and the
quality of their school learning.

The devaluation of speech and the ethical and cultural components of poor families also
results in teachers considering themselves the only ones responsible for the linguistic
expansion and the value and cultural formation of children. This prevents them from
establishing a collaborative relationship with the family and the community with the
consequent enrichment that this would imply for the students. All the richness of the
mother tongue with which they come to school has been obtained through meaningful
interactions with their peers, with their family and with other adults in their community, and
linguistic competence increases significantly when all of them are viewed by the school as
co-educators.

Incorporating native speech, values and community culture into the school involves
implementing educational actions such as inviting family members to the classroom to
describe and teach their trades; encourage students to learn about the present or past
history, customs or traditions of the community through interviews with old neighbors,
reviewing archives or newspapers; organize visits to interesting places in the locality
asking students to observe with a different perspective what they probably already know;
collect traditions and legends that remain or have been lost in the community, investigate
its flora and fauna, participate in ecological campaigns, etc.; In short, this implies
intensifying learning linked to people's lives, their values, the characteristics of their
community and the coordination of actions to transform their quality of life.

In summary, overcoming the four false conceptions described can only be achieved if the
school incorporates into its thinking the richness and variety of the mother tongue and the
values and culture of its local space and considers them a source of knowledge, of
incorporation of others. actors and expansion of the educational space, using them as a
pretext for children to speak, listen, read, solve problems, learn by doing and integrate
content belonging to national and universal culture. Carrying out concrete educational
actions such as those described will allow boys and girls from poor sectors to build and
expand their learning based on their own linguistic and affective/cognitive schemes. This
“grounding” will constitute a privileged basis for students to compensate for the linguistic
limitations they present when compared to peers belonging to social strata with early
access to the literate world, so that they progressively master other codes related to
access to information. information, especially the understanding and production of written
texts and so that they can use them to build a progressively better world for themselves
and for the people around them. The effort involved in this mission will be rewarded by
helping our boys and girls enjoy the joy that comes from the power of knowledge and that
in the future they will be people capable of accessing useful knowledge to improve their
health, nutrition, recreation, parenting; to adapt to social and cultural changes, to live and
work with dignity, to fully develop their possibilities of progress and well-being. That is,
supporting them to become citizens capable of reconciling their own identity.

given by their mother tongue and their social belonging, with the expansion of their world
and their progress in equity and democracy.

52
 Record in writing the main contributions that have been made for the
benefit of your learning after reading this article. Then comment on your experience
with the course group and with your friends and/or family.

The cause of school failure was for a long time focused on the student. For a few years
now, the educational system has assumed that those of us who serve students in their
learning process are education professionals and therefore why not investigate how this is
done? professional work especially when there are bad results that affect the lives of
human beings from an early age, how then to clarify the following question:

Learning Difficulties or Teaching Difficulties?

There are various pedagogical alternatives to “induce” reflection among education

professionals, on this occasion we have chosen to begin by sharing a case.

The following text has been selected from Internet, to use it as a “trigger” for a few
moments of debate regarding the question: Should the emphasis on an educational
system that is undergoing a process of educational reform in which equity is raised focus
its attention? in the learning difficulties of the students or in the teaching difficulties?

This article has been written by Bárbara Luque Salas, a Spanish 2nd year Pedagogy
student in the year 2000.

Barbara points out that:

It is obvious the great difficulty that is presented

to primary school teachers when they welcome
a child with “learning difficulties” into their class:
I mentioned the latter in quotes, because
throughout the article I will clarify, in a specific
case, if these difficulties are really teaching or
learning. Both things are together, it is difficult to
say which of the two has more weight. I will
simply limit myself to presenting my case to
bring it to the attention of teaching professionals and, I hope that each
one identifies with some of the parts that can always be improved.

Sometimes we attribute learning problems to children who, in my opinion, do not have

them. Even if there is a physical problem or some developmental disorder, there may still
be teaching difficulties and not learning difficulties, since it may happen that teaching does
not adapt to the demands of each child. In the case in question, the teacher limits herself
to “labeling” a child as having learning problems, without worrying about knowing what the
“problem” may be.

53
 I will now focus on a case that I found when I was studying my third year of teaching
and the possibility of “giving a private class” came to my attention. It was a seven-year-old
boy who was in second grade at a charter school in the province of Córdoba. I
immediately started my private classes with R. The first month I had a relatively positive
balance. The boy, certainly, barely knew how to read or write, but we had connected well.
But the following month, the child showed a certain exhaustion, boredom, he never wanted
to teach... and I even noticed that the small advances made until then were gradually
receding. I immediately blamed myself for all that, I thought that I really didn't have
enough preparation, the subject overwhelmed me, I had to teach a seven-year-old child to
read and write but at an accelerated pace because according to the mother, I had to match
him as soon as possible. level of their peers.

After several meetings with the mother, she informed me of some things that
seemed very important to take into account: until now, R had lived in Seville, there he
attended a school where he did not need more educational contributions than the rest of
his classmates. ; However, upon arriving in Córdoba they placed him in other than
ordinary, support and private classes. Because of all this, the mother suspected that
perhaps there could be a lower level at the Seville school. Immediately, the weight I had
dropped a little. There were already more factors that could explain the child's “learning
problem” and exhaustion.

R was moving very slowly, but at least he wasn't stuck. The books
that the teacher had sent bored him tremendously, there were even
pages that he knew by heart. So, we changed it to a children's
literature book and something happened: R felt more motivated and
therefore made more progress.

Little by little, I was asking him things about his life in Seville and
Córdova. Clearly, he was happier there than here. Then, I began to
see things differently, it didn't seem to me that the problem was in
the child's head. From some interviews with the teacher, I obtained
very important data, such as that R had no problem understanding
things, that she was the one who had diagnosed and on the first day of class, that R
needed more experiences. educational because he had not met the minimum
requirements for first year (without taking into account that he had suffered a transfer).
While R was in support class, the other children made progress in reading and writing.
The support teacher was not a special education teacher, but a retired primary school
teacher who provided voluntary service to the center. The teacher did not replan or
restructure anything. Nor did he propose tasks for R to intervene. Despite all this, R
related perfectly to the other children, although he was more childish than the rest. The
teacher also did not take into account that the school from which R. He could have a lower
academic level than yours.

What worried me most was the child's response to the

educational bombardment he was receiving. I thought that
this unfavorably increased his attitude, but at the same
time, if this were not the case, R would always be behind
his classmates and this was what most worried his mother
and teacher, who were equally aware that the child He
was too small for that excessive number of educational
experiences, but they were more concerned about matching him to his classmates.
54
Despite everything, R was aware of his academic gap with respect to his classmates and
this motivated him to continue with his classes. I think that to solve this, the counselor
should intervene together with the teacher, to address R's individual differences. It is clear
that educational responses cannot be standardized; each one needs different attention.

What happens when the teacher forgets that school is a heterogeneous

universe? We must remember that not everyone learns in the same way, each
one learns at their own pace and at their level. New contexts must be created
that adapt to the individualities of each student. Luckily, we are becoming
more and more sensitive to individual differences, but we still encounter some
resistance, as is the case with R. This center welcomes R very well but does
not understand that, lacking a type of explicit deficit, he presents certain
imbalances or greater slowness in his preschool process. In my opinion, we
must ensure the happiness of the students who fall into our hands, since that
is what will affect them the most in their
development as people. R in Seville was a normal child, now here he is one of the worst in
the class and he has to accept it and see his educational experiences increase. All of this
made R have a very low level of self-esteem, he felt undervalued. We must start from what
each person knows how to do, from their potential and not from their difficulties.

I hope I have made it clear with the presentation of my experience that the difficulties we
encounter at school are not always about learning, as we have seen, R learned everything
normally and did not have any problems in his learning, but sometimes (and (not
infrequently) it may be that the difficulty is teaching. R's teacher did not take into account
that he went from a less demanding center to another that was more demanding, he did
not consult with any other professional, etc. She limited herself to passing the
reinforcement task in reading and writing to the support teacher and to me, when perhaps
she could have avoided all that for R, limiting herself to giving him more support in his
classes, not taking him out during the hours when his classmates were reading and
writing. writing and, doing a review at the beginning of the course of everything the other
children had seen last year, because in addition to favoring R, it would be reinforcing the
learning of all the children in the class. The context must be changed, favoring not only R,
but others.

After sharing this case, he invited you to find out on the next page some questions to
share regarding this topic.

Questions for personal reflection and group exchange:

Would this case occur in Chile?
What ethical aspects draw your attention in this article?
What do you think about the question asked when presenting the text?
To what cause is school failure generally attributed in your educational unit?
Will it be necessary to know more about learning difficulties?

Record the main contributions that have emerged from this exchange in the group.
I propose that you consider:

Main ideas or answers:

55
Most recurring ideas:
Main doubts:
Questions resolved:
Aspects to deepen:

Write your answers individually during indirect hours and review them
before submitting them in writing in the next face-to-face session. Don't forget to
write your identification information on each job or task and the delivery date.
Always keep a copy of what you submit for correction.

Learning difficulties

This term carries a very broad and sometimes confusing definition. Sometimes it becomes
a frank threat for many parents who receive the following diagnosis: “Yes, your child has
learning difficulties.” At that moment doubts, questions and strong anxiety arise regarding
the topic.

For this reason, it is necessary to redefine the term and guide it within a context, with a
clarifying perspective for teachers and parents.

In this topic, the emphasis is on therapeutic interventions and rehabilitation strategies

rather than on the definition itself. Why do we propose this perspective?
Because in no way do we want to leave a reality that thousands of children live in static.
Understanding What are learning difficulties? It should sensitize us towards improving and
expanding the capabilities and potential of the human being, whose development is
dynamic and continuous. Children with learning difficulties don't just need an adult who
understands a word trying to explain a term.

They also require active and efficient actions, in a framework impregnated with
commitment by all people involved in the lives of children. We have all had learning
difficulties at some point in our development. However, the doubt is
When to talk about learning difficulties?

Learning difficulties are classified into General Learning Problems and Specific Learning
Disorders.

. GENERAL LEARNING PROBLEMS: A general delay in the entire learning process is

manifested, observing slowness, disinterest, deficiency in attention and concentration,
affecting overall performance.

These characteristics occur in children with normal development and immaturity in the
cognitive or verbal area, which would cause a slowness in learning.

It is also possible to see these manifestations in children with mental retardation, severe
hearing difficulties and alterations in psychomotor skills.

Slow Learning Students These are students who have difficulties following a normal
learning pace, due to problems at the memory level, along with a
56
less capacity to pay attention to verbal and expressive stimuli, and difficulties in evoking
and recovering the learned information.

. These students would not be in the category of mental retardation, nor would they
present ASD or alterations in their sensory or affective development. This group is made
up of children with slower development and a chronically lower learning rate than the rest
of their peers, Bravo 1994.

Educational characterization of Slow Learning children. (Bravo,1994)

1. Slowness to process school information and to keep up with the learning pace of the
rest of their classmates.

2. Inadequacy between the level of development of their cognitive structures and the
degree of complexity of the school content.

3. Low motivation to learn, accompanied by low self-esteem.

4. Inadequacy between their psycholinguistic skills and the language used by the teacher.

Lack of autonomy necessary to establish their own strategies to study and

memorize.

According to Morales (1990) cited in Infante, Marta (1997), the characteristics of AL

children in the classroom would be the following:

1.- Difficulties finishing your tasks

2.- Little attention

3.- Low level of perseverance

4.- Lack of assertiveness in relation to authority and difficulty in being heard.

From the family level, they would be children who have difficulties in carrying out tasks
autonomously and the existence of low parental expectations with respect to their children.

How to approach teaching slow learning children?

 Within the scope of common education, given that the difficulty in learning or whose
delay is not so severe to enter special schools, nor so specific to be rehabilitated in
special schools.
 There is a need for flexibility and adaptability of the school system. Adapt the
programmatic demands to their abilities and interests and the number of students per
course
 Respect your own learning pace
 Carry out a prior evaluation of the cognitive and verbal level of entry, which allows
planning learning in accordance with the level of development of each child. (On this
level the learning of instrumental learning skills will be planned)

57
 Consider that the majority of students can achieve an adequate level of learning if they
receive graduated instruction based on the previously diagnosed level of functions.
Likewise, if they receive an opportunity help, through the development of cognitive
strategies, time necessary for learning.

For Bloom, there would be three basic variables that must be considered to apply this
educational scheme:

1. The degree to which the student possesses the basic learning skills that must be met

2. The extent to which the child is or can be motivated to engage in his or her own
learning.

3. The extent to which the instruction given is appropriate for the child

The central thesis of this educational scheme for slow-learning children is that the pace of
teaching students takes into account: the development of basic skills, the speed of
learning and the motivation that these children have.

SPECIFIC LEARNING DISORDER

They manifest in children with normal or around normal intelligence who lack severe
sensorimotor or emotional alterations. Its sociocultural and educational environment is
satisfactory.

They do not achieve normal school performance and present repeated difficulties in
certain areas of learning, functioning well in some and poorly in others. These difficulties
depend on alterations in development, psychological and neurological maturation.

The presence of difficulties occurs at different levels of learning: reception, understanding,

retention and creativity in relation to their metal age and absence of serious sensory
alterations. They learn in quantity and quality that is lower than expected in relation to their
ability. This gap between potential and learning capacity is produced by
psychoneurological alterations.

Example: Less development in mathematical understanding due to alterations in the

classification and serialization processes. In reality, it is difficult in some cases to strictly
indicate whether the difficulty responds to a general or specific pattern of problems since
they present characteristics of both categories. Likewise, there are children who manifest
general problems associated with a specific disorder.

58
 FACTORS INVOLVING IN ASD (According to Bravo Valdivieso, 1991)

Dysfunctional Genetics (CNS damage or dysfunction)

Etiological factors (Anomalies in the left cerebral hemispheres, brain connections,
(They alter the functioning of speed of information transmission, etc.)
the CNS) Alteration in the configuration of neural networks, which
intervenes in the perceptual and cognitive activities of
language
Maturational: Delay in the development of basic
Psychological factors functions prior to learning Alterations in the processing of
(Intrinsically alter the information in its different stages (perception, attention,
learning process) memory, language, etc.).

Concomitant or correlative  Psychomotors

factors (they frequently
accompany ASD but do not  Intellectual (slowness, disparity)
cause it)
 Emotional and/or behavioral

 Somatics
Intervening Factors (They
constitute “risks” and/or alter  Sociocultural deprivation or cultural differences with school
the prognosis) Low motivational level

 Anxious and/or depressive reactions

Consequential Factors
 Disinterest in school learning

 Family disruptions

Make a concept map with the topic of learning difficulties.

Do not forget to comply with the instructions given for all tasks. Share your work
with other people interested in the topic.

59
INTERVENTION STRATEGIES IN LEASING DIFFICULTIES.

Sometimes, parents can observe developmental difficulties in their children during the 4 or
5 years of their life, causing certain doubts.

It is recommended that you discuss this with the kindergarten teacher and request a
psycho-pedagogical evaluation, which would allow for early diagnosis within the early
intervention framework. This evaluation would make it possible to clear up doubts and
guide the school process from the beginning, placing the child in an appropriate
environment that meets his or her requirements. According to the results of the evaluation,
in some cases it is possible to indicate admission to psychopedagogical treatment and in
other cases the intervention would consist of suggesting possible schools with guidelines,
characteristics appropriate to the child's needs and integration plans. Evaluate the learning
process at different stages with suggestions both at home and at school.

When difficulties are observed once the school process has begun, within the first two
years, a psychopedagogical evaluation and treatment is also recommended. The
intervention would be aimed at stimulating functions and skills in the process of initial
reading and writing, calculation and development of thinking strategies.

TYPES OF SPECIFIC DISORDERS

1. Dyslexia: Specific disorder in the reception, understanding and/or expression of written

communication, which manifests itself in repeated and persistent difficulties in learning
to read. It is characterized by lower performance than expected for mental age,
socioeconomic level and school grade, whether in the processes of decoding, reading
comprehension and written expression. Dyslexia would not be a unitary disorder, it can
present different modalities depending on the altered areas and the age of the children.
The core of the disorder is deficiencies in intermediate cognitive processes, which
transform graphic visual information into verbal information and transfer it to higher
levels. of thought, where it acquires meaning.

Dyslexic children would present a performance below 30 percent in reading, and

manifest these inferior traits for a period of more than one year, after receiving some
type of special pedagogical help. (Bravo, “A cognitive approach to reading delay”)

DIAGNOSIS OF DYSLEXIAS (Bravo, Luis 1995) variables to consider in the

child:
Chronological age (no earlier than 8 years)

Years of regular schooling and initial preparation (not before a second basic year)

Mental age or IQ (rule out mental retardation)

Perceptual and psychomotor integrity

Language levels: a.- expressive and comprehensive b.- elaborative and receptive

Level of thinking (meta-cognitive capacity) (awareness of one's own cognitive

processes)
60
 Sociocultural and family level

Motivation and interest in reading (awareness of the reading process)

Quality of teaching received: methods and teacher

Distinguish between requirements to learn from the determining variables of

dyslexia

Differentiation between dyslexia and reading delay

1. Decoding dyslexia: variables to consider when reading:

1.1. Speed and rhythm to decode

1.2. Specific persistent errors:
1.2.1. omissions; substitutions; investments; rotations; associations between the
end and beginning of the word; separations in the middle of the word.

1.2.2. Confusions of visual or auditory predominance.

1.3. Dyslexic dysorthography: the same errors in writing.

1.4. Distinguish between determining processes from intervening or consequential
processes.
1.5. pure dyslexia
1.6. Dyslexia “plus” or combined with other disorders

2. Comprehension dyslexia

2.1. Normal oral comprehension with difficulty in accessing:

2.1.1. Meaning of written words (semantic)

2.1.2. Meaning of sentences and paragraphs (syntactic – semantic)
2.1.3. Inferential (elaboration of the content of the text)

TREATMENT OF DYSLEXIA: Psychopedagogical work should focus on the exercise of

metaphonological skills, so that children can establish strategies for phonemic analysis
and synthesis of letters and the pronounceable phonological configurations of words. The
cognitive model of dyslexia, Bravo, 1994; It would serve as a framework for planning
diagnostic and rehabilitation strategies, aimed at improving reading decoding and the
organization of verbal information for text comprehension.

Stimulation of cognitive – verbal processes:

 Phonological awareness
 Memory and phonemic perception
61
 Phonemic processing
 Phonological domain
 Visual segment recognition
 Morphemic recognition of sequences
 Visual recognition of spelling signs
 Visual-verbal sequential association
 Orthographic memory (graphic configuration of the word how to write it)
 Selective attention to orthographic cues (meaning)
 Immediate verbal memory
 Verbal abstraction
 Categorization · Nomination
 Memory of sequences of verbal series

2.- DYSGRAPHY “It is a writing disorder that affects the form (motor) or the meaning
(symbolization) and is functional. It occurs in children with normal intellectual capacity,
adequate environmental stimulation and without neurological, sensory, motor or intense
emotional disorders. Portellano, Pérez 1988.

CLASSIFICATION 1.- Primary Dysgraphia (evolutionary)

 Dyslexic or dysorthographic dysgraphia. Writing content

 Calligraphic or motor dysgraphia. Form of writing
2.- Secondary Dysgraphia (acquired): It is conditioned by a neurological or sensory,
pedagogical component and is a symptomatic manifestation of a more important disorder.
The defective handwriting would be conditioned by said disorder.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS TO DEFINE THE CHILD WITH DYSGRAPHY Unexpected

nature of the disorder

1. Intellectual capacity within normal limits or above average.

62
2. Absence of serious sensory damage
3. Absence of severe emotional disorders
4. Adequate cultural and pedagogical stimulation
5. Absence of serious neurological disorders
6. Special language difficulties (comprehension or production and in oral or written form)

ERRORS OF SYMBOLIZATION DYSGRAPHY

1.- Omission of letters, syllables or words

2.- Confusion of letters with similar sound
3.- Inversion or transposition of the order of syllables
4.- Invention of words
5.- Improper unions and separations of syllables, words or letters
6.- The texts they make up are of lower quality than their peers
7.- Use of shorter sentences with a greater number of grammatical errors.
“The main disorder of dysgraphic children manifests itself at the lexical level, in the
recovery of the orthographic form of words.”

Motor or calligraphic dysgraphia affects the quality of writing, affecting graphics in its
graphomotor aspects.

ERRORS OF MOTOR OR CALLIGRAPHIC DYSGRAPHY

1. mirror writing
2. Letter shape disorder
3. Font size disorder
4. Poor spacing between letters within a word, between words and lines.
5. Faulty inclination of words and lines
6. Defective ligaments of words and lines

7. Defective ligaments between the letters that make up each word

8. Disorders of pressure or color of writing, either due to excess or defect.
9. Fluency and writing rhythm disorder

63
WRITING DISORDERS (According to the stages of writing, cuetos, 1991)
The main disorder of dysgraphic children manifests itself at the lexical level. On the one
hand, they may have a reduced vocabulary, which leads to the use of stereotyped and
imprecise words to express themselves. On the other hand, there would be difficulty in
using both access routes to the spelling of the word.

I.- Lexicon Phonological dysgraphies: Inability to apply phoneme-grapheme

conversation rules. Poor writing on unfamiliar words, especially at the pseudoword level.
Confusion of graphemes, writing (fxc, d xb, etc.). Superficial dysgraphics (spelling):
Difficulty accessing the orthographic configuration of words. They use the phonological
route and make spelling errors. (bxv, gxj, etc.) Letter exchange: (sol x los) There is an
incomplete representation but at the lexical level (poor orthographic representation or
phoneme-to-grapheme conversion) The subject knows that in the word it is soI, but not in
the order in which they should be placed.

II.- Motor Processes

1.- Recovery of the holographs Mirror writing: Alteration in which the features of the letters
dxb, pxq, 3xE, etc. are inverted. These difficulties are due to the fact that the subject does
not have a good representation of the signs, he knows part of the information but not all of
it and therefore the problem is evident in the recovery of the holographs.

2.- Motor patterns Poorly drawn letters, excessively large or small, very inclined letters,
disproportionate letter features.

TREATMENT: Treatment must be approached from the construction of written discourses

prepared by the child. Therefore, it is important to consider message planning, the
construction process of syntactic writing, the retrieval of lexical items and motor processes.

3.- Dyscalculia: These are significant difficulties in the development of skills related to
mathematics. These difficulties are not the product of mental retardation, inadequate
schooling, or visual or hearing deficits.

Characteristics Children with Dyscalculia would present the following difficulties:

 Memory and attention skills

 Orientation skills Number and symbol alignment skills
 Monitoring and number forming skills.
 Directionality skills, such as up-down, right-left, diagonal aspects
 Superior higher-order mathematical-quantitative reasoning skills,
 Conceptual mathematical skills.

64
TREATMENT: For effective treatment of mathematics difficulties, a treatment plan must be
carried out in which the stimulation of mathematical thinking prevails, through the
development of strategies focused on the following aspects:

 Mathematical Language
 Problem resolution
 Self-monitoring
 Memory
 Orientation in space
 Social skills
 Conceptualization
 Temporal orientation
 Spatial organization

SCHOOL PROGNOSIS: The evolution of children who present specific learning disorders
becomes satisfactory when the intervention strategies form a joint action between the
therapist, school and family. The focus is on stimulating strengths in all areas of
development to strengthen self-esteem and prevent or reduce the feeling of inability and
difficulty that surrounds children. With a timely diagnosis and effective psycho-pedagogical
treatment, they are able to attend a normal schooling and access higher education, having
an adequate development of their life.

For this synthesis the following bibliography has been selected. Psychology of school
learning difficulties: introduction to special education (5th ed.) Bravo Valdivieso, Luis
Language and Dyslexia: cognitive approach to reading delay. Bravo Luis (1995) School
learning and construction of knowledge Coll, Cesar (1996) Dyslexia. Valet, Robert E
Psychiatrist and Psychology of childhood and adolescence Julio Meneghello (2000): Edit.
Panamericana Child and adolescent psychiatrist Hernán Montenegro. (2000) BEVTA
Phenemic Test Battery. Author Bravo, L and Pinto, A (1995).

We have known the topic of school difficulties and delved into Specific Learning Disorders
which are treated in the common system, both at the level of collaborative work between
the differential educator and the classroom teacher and directly with the differential
educator in the classroom. resources . Currently, when we refer to children with Specific
Learning Disorders, we are talking about boys and girls with educational needs not derived
from disabilities.

Classify specific learning disorders in a graphic organizer. Remember the

recommendations to ensure the fulfillment of tasks. Archive your copy in your
portfolio

65
Next we will learn about the so-called general problems and we will focus on boys and
girls with intellectual disabilities, hearing disabilities, language disorders, vision disorders,
epilepsy, cerebral palsy, attention deficit and intellectual giftedness.

Let's remember the concept of General learning problems:

GENERAL LEARNING PROBLEMS: A general delay in the entire learning process is

manifested, observing slowness, disinterest, deficiency in attention and concentration,
affecting overall performance.

These characteristics occur in children with normal development and immaturity in the
cognitive or verbal area, which would cause a slowness in learning.

It is also possible to see these manifestations in children with mental retardation, severe
hearing difficulties and alterations in psychomotor skills and language.

Currently they are called boys and girls with special educational needs derived from
disabilities.

66
Second Unit: Theories of difficulties in school learning and educational needs
derived from disabilities.

MENTAL RETARDATION
Definition:

General intellectual function below average, with deficits associated with adaptive behavior
that occurs before age 18.

Causes, incidence and risk factors:

The causes of mental retardation are numerous, but a specific reason for this condition is
determined in only 25% of cases.

The lack of normal adaptation and intellectual growth may become evident in the first
years of life or, in cases of mild delay, its identification may take until school age and
beyond. An assessment of age-appropriate adaptive behaviors can be done through
developmental screenings. The inability to meet developmental requirements suggests
mental retardation.

A family may suspect mental retardation when motor skills, language skills, and self-help
skills do not appear to be developing in a child or when they develop at a much slower rate
than other children his or her age. The degree of deficiency resulting from mental
retardation varies from profound deficiency to borderline retardation. Risk factors are
related to the causes. It is estimated that mental retardation affects 1 or 3% of the
population.

The causes of mental retardation can be divided into several categories:

Unexplained (this is the largest category and includes all undiagnosed incidents)
Trauma (prenatal and postnatal)
Intracranial hemorrhage before or after childbirth (such as a periventricular hemorrhage)
Hypoxic injury before or after childbirth, such as that associated with cerebral palsy
Severe head injury
Infectious (congenital or postnatal)
congenital rubella
Meningitis
congenital CMV

67
Encephalitis
Congenital toxoplasmosis
Listeriosis
HIV infection
Chromosomal abnormalities
Errors in the number of chromosomes (Down syndrome, etc.)
Chromosome defects (fragile X syndrome)
Chromosomal translocations (a gene located at an unusual point on a chromosome or on
a chromosome other than the usual one)
Klinefelter syndrome
Prader-Willi syndrome
Cat crying syndrome
Genetic abnormalities and inherited metabolic disorders
Galactosemia
Tay-Sachs diseases
Phenylketonuria
Hunter syndrome
Hurler syndrome
Sanfiipio syndrome
Metachromatic leukodystrophy
Adrenoleukodostrophy
Lesch-Nyhan syndrome
Rett disorder
tuberous sclerosis
Metabolic
Reye's syndrome
Hypernatremic dehydration
Congenital hypothyroidism
Hypoglycemia (poorly regulated diabetes mellitus)
Toxic
In utero exposure to alcohol, cocaine, amphetamine and other drugs
Methylmercury poisoning
Lead poisoning
Nutritional
Kwashiorkor
Marasmus
Malnutrition
Environmental
Poverty
Low socioeconomic level

It is important to learn the difference between the concepts of mental retardation and
Intellectual or Mental deficiency or deficit. Let us remember that talking about mental
retardation is referring to people up to 18 years of age.

68
MENTAL DEFICIENCY
To understand mental deficiency, we must first approach the concept of intelligence. The
Monarchical Theory defends that intelligence is a unique or unitary faculty not composed
of other inferior faculties.

The Oligarchic theory proposes the existence of a General Factor or “G” called General
Intelligence and a second specific factor constituted by the specific capacity for each type
of activities (S Factors).

The Multifactor theory maintains the existence of a set of factors (13, of which the first 6
are considered primary abilities) independent of each other and that constitute what we
call intelligence.

These theories lead us to a deterministic conception of Intelligence, considering it statically

and reducing mental capacity to a number. (IQ). This concept must be taken very carefully,
since people have different capacities to respond and adapt to the environment. Other
authors define it, perhaps more accurately, as the ability to learn, the ability to think
abstractly, the ability to adapt to new situations... or also as a set of cognitive
processes such as memory, categorization, learning and problem solving, linguistic
ability or communication, social knowledge...

There are three fundamental criteria to define what Mental Deficiency is:
1. Psychological or Psychometric Criteria. A mentally deficient person is someone who
has a deficit or decrease in their intellectual abilities. Binet and Simón were the
main promoters of the psychometric criterion.
2. Sociological or Social criteria. Metal deficient is a person who presents to a greater
or lesser extent a difficulty in adapting to the social environment in which they live
and in leading a life with personal autonomy: Doll, Kanner and Tredgold used this
criterion.
3. Medical or Biological criteria. Mental deficiency has a biological, anatomical or
physiological substrate that manifests during the developmental age.

Both the American Association for Mental Deficiency (AAMD) and the World Health
Organization (WHO) include these three criteria in their definitions:
The WHO defines mentally handicapped people as “individuals with an intellectual
capacity significantly lower than average that manifests itself in the course of development
and is associated with a clear alteration in adaptive behaviors.”

The AAMD defines Mental Impairment as “ significantly below average or average general
intellectual functioning, originating during the period of development and associated with a
deficit in adaptive behavior.”

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Other criteria are:

 Behavioral Criteria. Launched by supporters of experimental Behavior Analysis. Mental

deficit must be interpreted as a product of the interaction of four determining factors:
biological, interaction with the environment and momentary environmental conditions or
current events.

 Pedagogical Criteria: The mentally handicapped is that subject who has greater or
lesser difficulty in following the ordinary learning process and who therefore has special
educational needs, that is, he needs support and adaptations of the curriculum that
allow him to follow the learning process. ordinary teaching.

The Psychometric criterion is the one that is imposed, using the IQ (Intelligence Quotient) -
introduced by Setern - to classify mental deficiency. This coefficient is the result of dividing
Mental Age by Chronological Age and multiplied by 100.

According to the American Association for Mental Deficiency and the World Health
Organization, there are five levels or degrees of mental deficiency based on IQ:

Classification:

1.- Borderline mental deficiency

His IQ is between 68-85. There are quite a few differences between different authors
about whether or not they should be part of it. In reality, it is difficult to classify them as
deficient in metals since they are people with many possibilities, who manifest a delay in
learning or some specific learning difficulty.

2.- Mild mental deficiency

Your IQ It is between 52-68. They can develop social and communication skills, and have
the ability to adapt and integrate into the world of work. They present a minimal delay in
the perceptual and motor areas.

3.- Moderate or medium mental deficiency

Your IQ It is between 35-51. They can acquire habits of personal and social autonomy.
They can learn to communicate through oral language but often have difficulty in oral
expression and understanding social conventions. Acceptable motor development and
they can acquire the basic pre-technological skills to perform a job. It is difficult for them to
master basic instrumental techniques.

4.- Severe mental deficiency.

His IQ is between 20-35. They generally need protection or help since their level of social
and personal autonomy is very poor. They usually present significant psychomotor
impairment. They can be trained in basic self-care and very simple pre-technological skills.

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5.- Profound mental deficiency

Your IQ is less than 20. They present a serious deterioration in the sensory-motor aspects
and communication with the environment. They are dependent on others in almost all their
functions and activities, since their physical and intellectual deficiencies are extreme.
Exceptionally, they have autonomy to move around and respond to simple self-help
training.

Causes:

1.- Genetic factors.

Before conception; The origin of the deficiency is already determined by genes or genetic
inheritance.

2.- Extrinsic factors

A) Perinatal factors: Before birth. Neonatal: During the time of birth or newborn. Postnatal:
after birth.

EDUCATIONAL INTERVENTION POSSIBILITIES

Limit or borderline

It must be insisted that the WHO, in 1968, spoke out; categorically against the
characterization of people at this level as mentally deficient. The multitude of cases
considered to be of borderline intelligence can be analyzed in terms of alterations or
acquisition, but not to the level that they are capable of reaching; school retarded, children
with repeated school failure; subjects with difficulties or disorders in the acquisition of
specific skills, such as calculation or reading and writing; hyperactive or hypoactive
children, with attention deficits that seriously damage their cognitive and learning
processes. The greatest danger for these people, when they are still in the developmental
period, is that their specific difficulties may solidify into delays and functional deficits as
disabling as mental deficiency.

Light mentally handicapped

Although limited in their intellectual capacity, and with serious difficulties in following a
normal school curriculum, even at basic levels, they are capable of writing, learning the
four elementary calculation operations and achieving a respectable set of school learning
and knowledge. Their performance at work, their social relationships, and their sexual
behavior may also be, in all or almost all, similar to those of more intelligent people. Often,
mild mental deficiency allows a hopeful prognosis with the relevant psychopedagogical
treatments.

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Medium or moderate mentally handicapped

It is the typical mental deficiency, which best reflects the conventional descriptions of what
mental deficiency is. The actual limits, both above and below, are difficult to define and not
at all rigid. Its limitation will bring serious problems for insertion into a job and, in general,
for social insertion.

Severe mentally handicapped

It is difficult to rehabilitate and overcome. Despite psychopedagogical treatments, severe

mental deficiency has a not very hopeful prognosis, although goals of integration and
social normalization can be achieved. The priority objective with severe metal deficiencies
is not conventional teaching, but rather the acquisition of the greatest possible number of
habits or skills of basic autonomy.

Profoundly mentally handicapped

It is very difficult for the strictly profoundly disabled person to achieve functional autonomy
beyond the most basic behaviors of dressing and undressing, eating independently, or
acquiring personal hygiene skills. The teaching he will receive will be habits of autonomy
and it will not be easy for him to even master oral language. The main educational goal of
a profoundly deficient person is for him to stop being profound or appearing as such. The
goal of the educator must be to provide them with skills that make them increasingly
autonomous in various areas of daily life and thus reduce the need for external help.

DOWN'S SYNDROME:
Alternative names:

Mongolism; trisomy 21

Definition

Chromosomal abnormality that causes mental retardation and other disorders.

Causes, incidence and risk factors:

In most cases, Down syndrome is caused by an extra chromosome 21. Children with this
syndrome have a recognized characteristic appearance, with a head that is smaller than
normal (microcephaly) and deformed. Prominent facial features are a flattened nose, a
protruding tongue, and upward-slanting eyes (Mongolian inclination). The inner corner of
the eye may have a rounded fold of skin (epicanthic fold) rather than a defined shape. The
hands are short and wide with short fingers, which usually have a single palmar crease
(simian fold). Delay in normal growth and development is typical and most affected
children never reach average adult height. The maximum average mental age that these
people achieve is eight years.

Congenital heart defects in these children are common, usually resulting in early mortality.
Gastrointestinal abnormalities, such as esophageal atresia (obstruction of the esophagus)
and duodenal atresia (obstruction of the duodenum), are also relatively common.
Obstruction of the gastrointestinal tract can

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Require surgery soon after birth. Children with Down syndrome also have a higher
average incidence of acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL).

AUTISM: is a profound developmental disorder that has been poorly understood and that
severely affects a person's abilities, especially in the development of language and social
relationships.

Typically Autistic children are normal in appearance and well developed physically. Your
communication and understanding disabilities have different degrees depending on their
severity.

Historically, around 75% of people with Autism are classified as mentally retarded,
however the most distinctive characteristic that helps distinguish them from those people
who are purely mentally retarded is that Autistic children appear to be isolated from the
world around them. surrounds them.

Autism manifests in an individual as a collection of symptoms that are rarely the same
from one individual to another.

Don children with the same diagnosis. Intellectual abilities and economic level of families
are more likely to be recognized for their differences than for their similarities.

Autism Overview:

Approximately 50 years ago, Dr. LEO KANNER wrote the first document on Autism with a
group of 11 years old who had severe socialization, communication and behavioral
problems.

In the last 50 years since Autism was identified, a large number of diagnoses and
treatment methods have been developed.

But it is in the last 20 years that there has been a scientific explosion in Autism research. More
than 1,000 scientific/literary articles have appeared on Autism. The definition of Autism and other
developmental disorders has evolved with a high degree of specifications according to children's
behaviors .

In addition, sophisticated teaching and early intervention programs have been developed
and offer real hope for better growth and development in children with Autism. All these
advances have provided support for parents and professionals to help create services at
the right time and of the highest quality.

Incidence of Autism: The most cited statistical incidence is that Autism occurs in 5 out of
every 10,000 newborns. This is based on large-scale research conducted in the US. and
England, however when children who have behaviors similar to those of Autism are
included in the research, the incidence rises to 20 per 10,000 newborns.

Statistics: During 1999, in the state of California alone, 1,685 people with Austism were
reported. When this number is shared with the growth of other types of disabilities, Autism
has increased by a 3% growth
Greater than other disabilities. Comparing the characteristics of 11 years ago, the present
population of people with Autism is younger, may exhibit forms of mental retardation or

73
non-retardation, are very likely to live at home, and are very likely to have received a
diagnosis.-

HEARING AND LANGUAGE DISORDERS

DEAFNESS

What is deafness?

Deafness or hearing loss is defined as a decrease in hearing ability. The way to measure
this hearing loss is through liminal tonal audiometry, which is a test that determines our
hearing threshold for a range of specific frequencies; That is to say, it measures for each
frequency (from bass at 250 Hz to treble at 8000 Hz) what is the amount of sound or
minimum intensity that we are capable of hearing, thus, when we need more than 20
decibels, it is considered that we have a Hearing loss for that frequency, however, it most
frequently appears at all frequencies, especially those in the range of the human voice,
from 500 to 2000 Hz.

What types of deafness exist?

Deafness will be classified according to different parameters:
According to the degree of Hypoacusis:

Normal hearing: threshold <20 dB.

H. mild: threshold 20-40 dB
H. moderate: threshold 40-70 dB.
H. deep: threshold > 90 dB.

According to the age of onset of hearing loss:

Prelingual: deafness appears before the acquisition of language. It is difficult to structure
language in the absence of auditory stimuli, so the child will need special means or
systems for learning.

Perillocutionary: appears when children begin to speak, but do not yet know how to read.
In these cases, if specialized teaching is not applied, the acquired language degrades
quickly.

Postlingual: appears after the acquisition of speaking language and learning to read.

Chronological classification, according to the moment in which the agent that determines
or causes the deafness acts:

Hereditary or genetic: they can manifest from birth (early) or appear progressively
throughout the individual's life (late). They are genetically determined.
Acquired: they are produced by toxic agents, viruses or medication that act on the inner
ear, the auditory pathway or the auditory cerebral cortex, depending on the moment in
which they act they will be:

Prenatal: during pregnancy (rubella)

Perinatal: during birth (which appears in some childhood cerebral palsies).
Postnatal: after birth (meningitis, measles, severe neonatal jaundice).

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 Depending on the level of the injury:

Conductive hearing loss: the lesion is in the outer and middle ear (pavilion, external
auditory canal, tympanic membrane, tympanic cavity or chain of ossicles). It is produced
by an increase in the resistance to the passage of acoustic vibrations. The maximum loss
is 60 dB and they do not associate alterations in the understanding of the word.

Perceptual hearing loss: they are also called sensorineural since the impairment occurs at
the level of the inner ear and the auditory nerve. Here the degree of deafness can even
reach profound (more than 90 dB hearing threshold)

Mixed hearing loss: here a transmission problem is associated with a perception problem.

Central hearing loss; The lesion is located in the cerebral cortex and the auditory stimulus
is not interpreted as such, there are serious problems in understanding the word.

Non-organic hearing loss: they appear in the context of psychiatric problems such as
hysterical neurosis.

Table 1. Summary of the classification of hearing loss based on the average hearing
threshold of the better ear (500-2000 Hz ANSI) (*) according to its intensity, the usual
causes, its consequences and guidance scheme depending on the severity of the
problem
Common causes What can be Degree of Probable
Umbra Description heard without Disability (if not needs
I (dB) amplification treated before
one year of
age)

0-15 Normal  All speech  None  None

limits sounds

16-25 Mild  Serous otitis,  The  Possibly  special

hearing loss perforation, vowels mild or teaching
monomeric are heard transient
membrane, clearly; hearing  Logotherap
neurosensory loss, voiceless dysfunction y
tympanosclerosis vowels
may be  Difficulty  preferential
lost perceiving seat
some
sounds  Surgery

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 Speaks appropriate
26-40 Mild  Serous otitis,  Just some  Learning  Headset
hearing perforation, speech difficulties
loss monomeric sounds,  Lipreading
membrane, the  Mild
neurosensory loss, loudest language  Special
tympanosclerosis ones delay teaching

 Mild  Logotherap
speech y
problems
 Lack of  Appropriate
attention surgery
41-65 Moderate  Chronic otitis,  Loses  Speech  The above
deafness middle ear almost all problems and also
ammonia, speech placing the
sensorineural loss sounds in  language child in a
normal delay special
conversati place in
on  Learning class
dysfunction

 Lack of
attention
66-95 severe  Sensorineural or  He does  Speech  The above
deafness mixed loss, not hear problems and also
produced by the placing the
sensorineural loss conversati  language child in a
plus middle ear ons, it is delay special
disease normal place in
 Learning class
dysfunction

 Lack of
attention
>95 profound Neurosensory or Does not Speech
Previous; You
deafness mixed loss hear speech problems
will probably
or other have to take
sounds language delay special classes

Learning cochlear
dysfunction implant

Lack of
attention
(*) Adapted from Northarn JL, Downs MP: Hearing in Childres, 3rd edition, 1984, The
Willians & Wikins Co, Baltimore.

ANSI = American National Standards Institute.

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 Table 2. Main causes of childhood deafness

Genetic causes Examples

Autosomal recessive  Isolated profound hearing loss, isolated high tone loss, Lange-
Jerervell-Nielsen syndrome, Pendred syndrome, Usher
syndrome.

Autosomal dominant  Isolated profound hearing loss, Waardenbrug syndrome,

Treacher-Collins syndrome, Alport syndrome.

X-linked recessive  Profound hearing loss associated with color blindness, Alport-
type syndrome.
Mitochondrial  Kearns-Sayre syndrome

Acquired causes Examples

 Congenital: Toxoplasmosis, rubella, cyotmegalovirus, herpes

Infections simplex, syphilis.
 Postnatal: bacterial meningitis, mumps, mastoiditis
Neonatal
hyperbilirubinemia
Complication of
prematurity
 Antibiotics: Kamamycin, niomycin, streptomycin, gentamicin and
Otoxicity other aminuglucosites, vancomycin.
 Other medications: furosemide, cisplatin, etc.
 Skull trauma: tympanic rupture, ossicle dislocation, temporal
Traumatic fractures.
 Acoustic trauma.

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  Hemifacial microsimia, Goldenhar syndrome, TreacherCollins
Malformative syndrome, microotia, Mondini malformation

Table 3. Guidelines for requesting hearing evaluation in children suspected of

suffering from deafness, when they do not adjust to normal development.

Age (months) normal development

0-4 He must be frightened by noises, calmed by his mother's voice; He
momentarily ceases his activity when he hears a noise like a
conversation.

5-6 You must locate the noises well in the horizontal plane and begin to
imitate noises in your own way or at least vocalize imitating an adult

7-12 You must correctly locate noises in any plane

You must respond to your name, even if it is in a low voice.
13-15 You should point out an unexpected noise or familiar people or objects
if asked.

16-18 You must follow simple instructions without gestural or other aids; can
be taught to go to an interesting toy located in the midline upon hearing
a signal
19-24 Body parts should be pointed out when asked; Around 21-24 months,
he can be taught to respond in audiometry.

Adapted fromMatkin ND: Early recognition and referal of hearing impaired children. Pediatr
Rev 6-151,1984

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 Table 4. Criteria for requesting an audiological evaluation.

Age (months) Criteria for requesting an audiological assessment for children with
speech delay
12 No babbling or vocal imitation is seen.
18 Does not use isolated words
24 Vocabulary of isolated words with 10 or fewer words
30 Less than 100 words; no combinations of two words are seen;
unintelligible
36 Less than 200 words; not a telegraphic phrases, clarity <50%
48 Less than 600 words; not simple sentences, clarity < 80%
Modified from Markin Nd: Earlu recongnition an referal of hearing impaired children.
Pediatr Rev 6-151,1984

Questions that parents make regarding deafness in children

By Dr. Marta Roseta Diaz. Mexico Children's Hospital. Department of Audiology and
Phoniatrics

How to explain to parents the following questions?

How does deafness occur in a child?

We will refer to the causes why your child could have hearing disorders, {these can be
attributed to previous conditions of the mother who is expecting a child and to
circumstances that occur at the time of birth, but there are also risks to develop after birth.
hearing problems, or, having normal hearing, a child could suddenly lose their hearing.

Risks in the womb:

 Viral or bacterial infections during pregnancy: the most common: rubella and measles,
especially if they are suffered in the first three months, the least common: AIDS and
syphilis, conditions that should alert those who suffer from them to the risk that your
child runs of being born deaf.

 Malnutrition: causes the development of the child in the mother's womb to have
problems that could cause ear malformations.

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 Mom's metabolic diseases: such as diabetes, hypothyroidism (malfunction of the
thyroid gland).

 If you receive medicines that are toxic to the ear (some antibiotics such as gentamicin,
kanamycin, streptomycin, diuretics, and cancer control medicines.

 The mother who usually smokes or drinks during pregnancy has the risk of causing
poor oxygenation to the unborn baby and the hearing organ is very sensitive to be
damaged for this reason.

Risks at birth:

 If the child at birth did not breathe well and cried weakly or was “purple” or “pale.”

 If you were born with a low weight, you had high bilirubin (it manifests itself with a
yellow coloring of the skin and the white part of the eyes called the conjunctiva).

 If you have birth defects on your face or skull

 If there is a family history of deafness.

 If the child is born with any genetic alteration, he or she should consult with the doctor
who treats him or her if it can be associated with deafness. There are approximately
200 genetic conditions that also cause deafness.

The risks for late-onset or progressive deafness:

 All children who have suffered meningitis, especially if it is bacterial, are at high risk of
suffering from very serious hearing disorders.

 All children suffer from ear infections, especially if they become chronic.

 Children who have regurgitation problems, also called reflux, because irritation of the
pharynx causes frequent infections that can be complicated by ear infections.

 Some family deafness manifests itself late, that is, a child can be born with normal
hearing, but if there are deaf people in the family, sometimes the deafness manifests
itself after adolescence, specifically in a condition called otosclerosis.

 If the child had a serious condition at birth such as: cerebral hemorrhages, suffers from
bronchopulmonary dysplasia or remained on a ventilator for more than 15 days, or had
to perform extracorporeal circulation for heart surgery.

Risks for sudden deafness:

 When your child has to be given medications that are toxic to the ear, especially if he or
she has kidney problems.

 If you have had mumps, measles or chickenpox, be careful as it could affect your
hearing.

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 If you had a blow to the head and fractured the bone near the ear, which is called the
temporal bone.

 If you were exposed to a very loud noise such as a rocket explosion.

 If you had problems that caused difficulties in circulation to the ear.

Given the suspicion...

But there are also children who are born deaf and have no apparent history that could
cause them to be deaf. Ideally, a child should be examined as soon as he or she is born,
whether or not he or she has risks. If you suspect that your child does not hear well, do
not wait any longer and go for a hearing study, this can be done from birth.
If your child does not speak on time (before age 3), first suspect that he may be deaf.
If your child hears well and one day tells you that he or she is not hearing, has ringing
in the ears, becomes dizzy, or has ear pain, go immediately for help.
An early diagnosis of deafness can change your child's entire life.

Is deafness curable?

Some deafness is completely recoverable when diagnosed and treated in time, these
are those caused by the ear infection called otitis, in general they recover with medical
treatment, but sometimes when they become chronic they must undergo surgical
treatment, before for them to become definitive.

There are some that can be prevented, such as those caused by hyperbilirubinemia,
when the mother knows her blood type and it is different from that of the father of the child
she is expecting, since she can receive a form of immunization; those that are caused by
illnesses of the mother, if she is adequately prepared before conceiving a child and among
those acquired, those that are generated by meningitis, if the child receives immunization
against the Haemophilus Influenzae bacteria that causes this condition, or when We
protect our children when doing dangerous sports by wearing a helmet so that they do not
have head fractures.

Others do not recover, despite treatment and when this is the case, an early diagnosis
completely modifies the course of the complications that deafness has in a child, among
them are:

Complications of permanent deafness

 Delay or absence of oral language, to these children when the so-called deaf-mutes
are not attended to, but they might not be so if they had had the opportunity to use

81
 hearing aids that would help them hear better and had received rehabilitation to teach
them to speak before the age of 5.

 Learning and relationship problems with other children, they are generally shy, sad and
are sometimes confused with children who have mental problems.

 When there is a complete and early diagnosis (before 6 months), made by a doctor
specializing in Audiology, the child has better opportunities for comprehensive
management. This diagnosis must be made with objective tests, potential calls,
auditory triggers and otoacoustic emissions. , as well as others that check the
functioning of the middle ear called impedanciometry.

 Once the diagnosis has been verified, it will be necessary to correctly adapt the hearing
aids, which must be chosen by the specialist doctor, so as not to exceed the
amplification, or fall short of it, and decide which are the best according to each case. ,
not all hearing aids are the same and not all hearing aids are the same for all children.
In fact, there are some deafnesses that should not be amplified.

 A correct adaptation of hearing aids must necessarily follow rehabilitation in a

specialized center with language therapists who have knowledge and experience in
managing a deaf child. There are many centers that advertise "management of
language problems", but they do not have experience with children. deaf, nor are they
licensed specialists, but rather teachers with a course or psychologists, these centers
are not advisable because they will have many setbacks for a good evolution; The
therapists and the specialist doctor should always be in contact about a child's progress
and it should never be a therapy in which you do not intervene or be present, since
work at home complements specialized therapy. The best therapists for a deaf child are
His parents.

 A deaf child does not necessarily have to attend a special education school, if he had
an early diagnosis, is managed appropriately, was rehabilitated early, has support from
his family and is intelligent, he can be considered in hearing schools as a regular
student. A deaf child has great visual attention capabilities, and his or her horizons of
learning and professional or technological performance should not be limited if
managed properly.

What other possibilities exist for permanent deafness?

When hearing aids are not enough for a child to be able to hear oral language well and
despite good therapeutic management, the child has not been able to communicate orally,
there is the possibility of placing another type of hearing aid called cochlear implants.

There is also for those people who were not fortunate enough to receive timely care for
deafness, the possibility of learning manual language or sign language to communicate, it
is an option used by many people with hearing impairments, which receives continuous
support for its promotion. and dissemination, and that rescues many of them to be able to
perform with dignity. There are other people who do not want

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their children who are born deaf have medical, prosthetic or therapeutic interventions and
choose this option for them as an alternative.

A deaf person does not necessarily have to be an invalid.

A child who is born deaf and has early intervention can achieve his or her life project
just like any other healthy child.

Speech and Language Disorders

Source: NICHCY National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities
Washington.

Definition

A “speech and language disorder” refers to problems with communication or other related
areas, such as oral motor functions. These delays and disorders range from simple sound
substitutions to the inability to understand or use language or oral-motor mechanisms for
speech and feeding. Some causes of speech and language disorders include hearing
loss, neurological disorders, brain injury, mental retardation, drug abuse, impairments such
as cleft lip, and vocal abuse or misuse. However, very often the cause is unknown.

Incidence

One-quarter of students participating in public school special education programs (nearly 1

million children participated during the 1998-99 school year) were categorized as having
speech and language disabilities. This amount does not include children who have
speech and language problems secondary to other conditions such as deafness.
Language disorders may be related to other disabilities such as mental retardation, autism,
or cerebral palsy. It is estimated that communication disorders (including speech,
language, and hearing disorders) affect one in 10 people in the United States.

Characteristics
A child's communication is considered delayed when the child is noticeably behind his or
her peers in acquiring speech or language skills. Sometimes the child may have greater
receptive skills (understanding) than expressive skills (speech), but this is not always the
case.

Speech disorders refer to difficulties in producing the sounds required for speaking or
problems with voice quality. These can be characterized by an interruption in the flow or
rhythm of speech, such as stuttering or lack of fluency. Speech disorders can cause
problems with speech formation.

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 sounds, which are called articulation or phonological disorders, or may include difficulties
with the tone, volume, or quality of the voice. There may be a combination of several
problems. People with a speech disorder may have trouble using some sounds required
for speaking, which could be a sign of a delay. These individuals may say one word for
another or have difficulty pronouncing the “I” or “r.” It can be difficult to understand what a
person with a speech disorder is saying. People with voice disorders may have difficulty
with the sound of their voice.

A language disorder is an impairment in the ability to understand or use words together,

verbally and non-verbally. Some characteristics of language disorders include
inappropriate use of words and their meanings, inability to express ideas, improper
grammatical patterns, a reduced vocabulary, and inability to follow instructions. One of
these characteristics or a combination of these may occur in children who are affected by
language learning disabilities or delays in language development. Some children can hear
or see a word but cannot understand its meaning; and at the same time, they may have
difficulty trying to communicate with others.

Educational Repercussions

Since all communication disorders have the potential to isolate individuals from their social
and educational surroundings, it is essential to find a fair and appropriate intervention.
Although many speech and language patterns can be characterized as child language and
are part of a child's normal development, they can cause problems if they are not passed
in time. In this way, a delay in the initial language pattern can become a disorder that
causes learning difficulties. Because of the way the brain develops, it is easier to learn
language and communication skills before age 5. When children have muscle disorders,
hearing problems, or developmental delays, their acquisition of speech, language, and
related skills can be affected.

Speech-language pathologists assist children who have communication disorders in

several ways. They provide individual therapy for the child; They consult with the child's
teacher on the most effective ways to facilitate the child's communication within the
classroom, and work closely with the family to develop goals and methods for effective
therapy in the classroom and home. Technology can help those children whose physical
conditions make communication difficult. The use of electronic communication systems
allows nonverbal people and people with severe physical disabilities to increase their
participation in thought discussion.

Vocabulary and concept development continues throughout the years that children are in
school. They are taught to read and write, and as students mature, their understanding
and use of language becomes more complex. Communication skills are at the center of
the educational experience. Speech or language therapy may continue throughout the
school year in the form of direct therapy or through

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from a specialist. The speech-language pathologist can assist vocational teachers and
counselors in establishing communication goals related to students' work experiences and
suggesting strategies that are effective for the important transition from school to
employment and adulthood.

Communication has many components. They all serve to increase the way in which
people learn about the world around them and use their knowledge and skills, and share it
with their colleagues, families, and friends.

VISION DISORDERS:
INTRODUCTION

Vision is the sense of social relationship par excellence, of learning and communication.
Their absence or decrease represents a serious handicap for the individual who suffers
from them with important consequences for learning.

Early detection of a vision defect can allow for its total or partial correction, including the
prevention of permanent blindness, as well as early intervention and special education to
minimize its effects in cases where total or total blindness cannot be avoided. partial.

Permanent amblyopia and strabismus can lead to future educational and work restrictions.
In addition, it increases the risk of blindness due to loss of vision in the healthy eye.

Primary care personnel are in ideal conditions to detect ocular and vision anomalies and
refer them for timely treatment by ophthalmologists.

DEFINITIONS (table 1)

Children are not born “seeing”. During the first four months of life the eye gradually
matures and the visual pathways develop. During the first 6 years of life the visual
pathways remain malleable. For normal visual development, the brain simultaneously
receives equally focused and clear images from both eyes to “learn to see.” Any factor that
interferes with the brain's visual learning process will cause a greater or lesser reduction in
visual acuity, even leading to blindness depending on the precocity, intensity and duration
of the factor.

It is important to know how vision develops: a few days after birth the peripheral retina
rapidly matures. By the 4th month, its morphology and functioning are more or less
normal. The central retina begins its development at the end of the first month and its
functioning begins weakly around the 4th month, finishing its development around 4 years.
Stereoscopic vision exists from the 4th month. The macula differentiates anatomically after
the 4th month and, therefore, from then on its ability to define improves. Thus, visual acuity
increases with age. At 6 months it is 1/30. At year 0.2. At two years 0.5. At three years 0.6.
At four, 0.8 and between 5 and 6 years, unity is normally reached.

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Amblyopia (“lazy eye”) is defined as the unilateral or bilateral reduction in visual acuity
caused by inadequate visual stimulation of the brain during the critical period of visual
development.

The most common cause of amblyopia is strabismus . Anisometry amblyopia is caused by a

significant difference in the refractive ability of one eye, which produces a blurry image. The child's
brain ignores images coming from a misaligned or blurred eye ( suppression). The most severe
form of amblyopia is deprivation amblyopia, caused by any factor that completely occludes vision,
particularly a cataract. Amblyopia not only impairs vision, but also disrupts fusion and causes depth
perception or stereoscopic vision to be lost.

Strabismus is the deviation of the visual axis or crossed vision. The primary form leads to
suppression amblyopia, which does not depend on the angle of the strabismus. It also
produces loss of fusion (and therefore binocular vision) and an unfavorable aesthetic
appearance.

When the eyes are perfectly aligned we say that there is orthophoria . A phoria is the
latent tendency of the eyes to deviate from perfect alignment. Most people have a small
phoria. An uncontrolled phoria would produce diplopia or double vision. To avoid this, the
brain has the capacity for fusion, which allows it to use both eyes at the same time and
obtain a single three-dimensional image with a sensation of depth and relief, thanks to the
differences between the vision of the two eyes. The fusion keeps the phoria dormant by
controlling the alignment of the eyes, thanks to the ocular muscles. Any factor that
interferes with the fusion will reveal the phoria.

Phorias are classified by placing the prefixes eso, exo, hyper, and hypo before them,
depending on whether the deviation is inward, outward, upward, or downward,
respectively. Most phorias are benign. A significant exophoria (latent tendency of the eyes
to deviate outwards) can cause excessive eye strain when reading. An esophoria (latent
tendency of the eyes to deviate inward) can be a manifestation of uncorrected hyperopia
and a precursor to accommodation isotropy.

Tropias are manifest ocular deviations that cannot be controlled. They are classified in the
same way as phorias.

A refractive error exists when parallel light rays do not focus on the retina with the eye at
rest (without accommodation). There are three main defects: myopia, hyperopia and
astigmatism. Emmetropia is the ideal ocular condition without any of the aforementioned
defects.

Accommodation is the ability to adjust the curvature of the lens through contraction
(increases the curvature) or relaxation (decreases it) of the ciliary muscle that surrounds it.
By increasing the curvature of the lens, it becomes a magnifying lens (which allows
smaller objects to be seen better) and focuses (allows the formulation of the image on the
retina) the closest objects.

The accommodation capacity decreases with age and is maximum during childhood.
Accommodation is synchronized with convergence (direction of the eyes inward) to avoid
diplopia when viewing very close objects. Therefore, in hyperopia
Uncorrected, where accommodation is essential to obtain clear vision, there is latent
esophoria, at least, in the affected eye.
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If the parallel light rays are focused behind the retina with the eye at rest (without
accommodation), we say that there is hyperopia and problems arise in near vision.

In myopia, parallel light rays are focused in front of the retina. Myopes are “shortsighted”
and see poorly from a distance.

In astigmatism there are differences in the refractive power of the various meridians of the
eye. When important, it distorts near and far vision.

Dychromatopsias consist of alterations in color vision.

MAGNITUDE OF THE PROBLEM.

Frequency

Amblyopia is the most common cause of vision loss in developed countries and occurs in
around 2 – 5% of the general population. Strabismus (more than 75% convergent or
esotropia) affects approximately 3-6% of the same age group, of which 30-50% will
develop amblyopia. The combined prevalence of both processes is 5% of the population.
Approximately 20% of children suffer from refractive errors. Complete color blindness
(color blindness) is exceptional. The most common are partial defects. Color blindness is
generally hereditary and affects almost exclusively males. The frequency of color vision
alterations does not reach 1% of men.

Treatment effectiveness

In the newborn and infant, it is necessary to detect serious eye problems that can leave
permanent consequences (microphthalmia, cataracts, glaucoma, aniridia, retinoblastoma,
etc.), to carry out early treatment and, if this is not possible, rehabilitation or education.
suitable.

Anything that interferes with the brain's visual learning process will cause amblyopia.
Amblyopia can be prevented. It only occurs during childhood and can only be treated
effectively during this period.

The earlier and longer the interference with vision, the more profound the amblyopia.
Therefore, success in treatment depends on early diagnosis.

In the child in the preverbal stage and in preschool, the discovery of amblyopia and
amblyogenic eye problems, especially strabismus and anisometropia, is essential.

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 The results of the treatment, in terms of the final vision of the eye, in both cases are
excellent if it is started before the age of 3, good before the age of 6, poor after this age
and zero after the age of 9.

Hyperopia in children is physiological. The great accommodation capacity of children's

eyes allows correct focus and clear vision in most cases. Hyperopia generally decreases
gradually with growth, although there are exceptions. It has been observed that up to 7
years of age, hyperopia may not vary and may even increase. It is not detected with
conventional visual acuity tests (unless it produces accommodation spasm). Its detection
is irrelevant if it does not cause amblyopia, strabismus (generally when there is
anisometry) or discomfort (frontal evening headache, blurred vision, etc.). It is considered
that at one year of age a hyperopia of + 3 diopters may be normal, but it has been seen
that hyperopias equal to or greater than +3.50 diopters, at that age, have a 48% risk of
suffering from ambilopia.

Accommodation spasm is a sustained contraction of the ciliary muscle that causes the eye
to lose its ability to accommodate and therefore reduce visual acuity. It is diagnosed by
exploring the acuity under the effect of a cycloplegid (which eliminates accommodation),
interposing the appropriate lenses (positive). Good lighting and a correct reading distance
can minimize discomfort.

Myopia frequently appears during growth. Accommodation cannot compensate for it.
Although some children are born myopic, the majority of those who develop myopia do so
from the age of six, with the number of cases increasing until the age of eleven when the
maximum is reached. Myopia usually worsens intermittently until the age of 20, when it
usually stabilizes in the majority of myopes.

In schoolchildren, refractive errors should be explored if they are suspected of reducing

the child's performance or causing symptoms. It does not seem that early detection
(before it causes discomfort) improves school performance or is beneficial for the
subsequent evolution of vision, although there is controversy among experts. Of particular
interest is the detection of anisometropia (asymmetric refraction) due to its association with
amblyopia and symptoms related to uneven vision. Correction of refractive errors will be
necessary or not, depending on the visual acuity deficit or the discomfort it causes.
(Essential in anisometry that induces strabismus and amblyopia).

The early diagnosis of dyschromatopsias is only of interest for future professional

guidance. It does not require treatment or referral. Exceptionally, it occurs in pathological
processes, such as optic nerve neuritis in treatments with ethambutol, but it is
accompanied by other data in the clinical context that allow its correct approach. It should
be suspected if it is associated with unilateral alteration, nyctalopia, visual acuity defect,
campimetric defect, slow photomotor reflex or papillitis on fundus examination.

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Table 1. Terminology definitions

Term Definition
Accommodation Process by which the lens becomes more convex to focus on close
objects. It is associated with convergence.
Amblyopia Reduced vision due to lack of adequate visual stimulation during the
critical period of visual development.
Anisometry Significant differences between the refractive errors of both eyes.
Astigmatism Differences in the refractive power of the different eye meridians. If it
is significant, it produces blurred vision.
Convergence Direction of both eyes inward to avoid diplopia in the vision of close
objects.
colour blindness Complete color blindness
Diplopia Double vision

Dychromatopsias Color vision alterations

Squint Misaligned eyes

Foria Fusion-controlled latent ocular deviation

Fusion Ability of the brain to perceive a single three-dimensional image from

those perceived by both eyes.
Farsightedness The image of objects is formed behind the retina with the eye at rest
(without accommodation). Problems with distance vision.
Leukocoria White pupillary reflex.

Myopia The image of distant objects is formed in front of the retina. It causes
problems in distance vision (shortsightedness).

Orthophoria Ideal eye alignment.

Occlusion test Diagnostic test for strabismus. It interrupts the fusion and reveals
phorias.

Corneal reflex It should be symmetrical and centered on the pupil. Its deviation and

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 Asymmetry is characteristic of strabismus.
red reflection The reflection of light on the retina, bright red in normal eyes.

Suppression The brain's ability to ignore images coming from a poorly aligned or
blurred eye.
tropy Manifest ocular deviation that cannot be controlled

Table 2. Development of normal visual behavior.

age Normal visual behavior

1st month Observe your mother's face, look at an object
oscillating 90º
2nd month Follow a moving person follow a moving object 90º

3rd month Fix-converge-focus

Follow a moving object 180º
3-6 months He looks at his hand
4th month Smile at your image in the mirror
>7 months Touch your image in the mirror
<9 months Looks out to see an object

Table 3. Summary of procedures and materials necessary for different ages

(recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics and PAPPS)

Age Procedures Material

Neonates, infants and
children up to 3 years
- family and personal history
Questions and observation
of visual behavior.
- External exploration
- Ocular motility
- Pupils
- colorful toy that makes
noise to attract the infant's
attention
- Pocket flashlight

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 - red reflection
- Corneal light reflex
- Occlusion test
- unilateral
3 to 6 years - Same as before.
- Stereoscopic vision test.
- Visual acuity of each eye separately
6 to 14 years - the same as the previous
Table 4. Summary of recommendations from the different groups of experts,
associations and entities.
Entity little children
USPTSTF (1) - Screening for amblyopia
1996 and strabismus once
before entering school,
preferably between 3 and
4 years.
- Clinicians should be alert
for signs of strabismus in
infants and young
children.
- Stereoscopic vision tests
may be more effective
than measuring visual
acuity in detecting these
conditions.
CTFPHE (2) - There is reasonable
1994 evidence to recommend
visual acuity screening in
preschool children.
AAO (3) - Examine neonates for eye
1992 problems.
- Visual acuity and ocular
alignment screening at 3 or
4 years
- pocket flashlight
- Age-appropriate figure
optotypes
- TNO or other
stereoscopic
vision test
- The same as the
previous.
- Optical letters and
numbers are more
suitable for older
children who can read.
older children
- there is insufficient
evidence to make
recommendations for or
against routine screening for
decreased visual acuity in
asymptomatic
schoolchildren.
- Recommendations may be
made against such
screening for other reasons,
including the inconvenience
and costs of routine
screening and the fact that
refractive errors can be
quickly corrected when
symptoms occur.
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AOA (4)  Same as before  Same as before
1994
AAP (5)  Same as before  Same as before
1995
BFG (6)  Same as before  Same as before
1994
AAFP (7)  Universal screening for Clinical warning of vision
1994 ocular and visual problems until adolescence.
anomalies at 3 5 years
PAPPS (8)  Examine neonates for  Visual acuity every 1-2
1994 eye problems. years
 Monitor hidden alignment
in infants and children
until screening can be
done.
 Screening of visual
acuity, stereoscopic
vision and ocular
alignment at 3 or 4 years.
US preventive service Task Force, (2) Canadian Task Force on the Periodic Health
examination, (3) American academy of Ophthalmology (4) American Optometric
Association, (5) American Academy of Pediatrics, (6) Bright Future Guidelines (USA), ( 7)
American Academy of Family Physicians, (8) Preventive and Health Promotion Activities
Program

now you know enough. It summarizes each disability in a table with

its definition, cause and most relevant symptoms.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Imagine living in a fast-moving kaleidoscope in which sounds, images and thought are in
constant motion. Getting bored easily, unable to concentrate on the tasks you need to
accomplish. Distracted by unimportant sights and sounds, so your mind carries you from
one thought or activity to the next. Perhaps you are so wrapped up in a collage of thoughts
and images that you don't notice when someone is talking to you.

For many people, this is what it means to have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or
ADHD. They may not be able to sit still, plan ahead, complete tasks, or be fully aware of
what is happening around them. To their families, classmates, or colleagues they may
appear to exist in a whirlwind of disorganized or unbridled activity. Suddenly—on some
days and in some situations—they may seem fine, leading the

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