LIRA UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF NURSING, MIDWIFERY & PUBLIC HEALTH
BY: MR. ODONG DAVID NEWTON

SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION MILESTONES (TRENDS) IN UGANDA

Special needs education milestones took place in different phases due research conducted by various stakeholders such as
development partners, international organizations and national organizations of and for persons with disabilities.

a)Special Education
b)Special Needs Education
c)Integration

d)Inclusive Education
e)Reasonable Accommodation
a) Special Education

Special Education
This is education specially designed to meet the needs of learners
with special educational needs. This is commonly provided in
special schools or institutions.
At its introduction, it was called special education. The main aim was to ;
 Formulate policies that accommodate all learners
 Modify the environment that is conducive to all learners
 Modify language that can facilitate communication of all learners e.g use of braille
and sign language
 b)Special Needs Education
Special Needs Education
This is the educational provision required to meet the needs of all learners with special educational needs
through modifications. For example, the use of hearing aids to those with hearing impairment, brailed materials to
those with visual impairment, modification of the physical, social and instructional environment in order to
achieve these noble goals.

c) Intergration
Refer to educational services given to learners with special educational needs within regular school system or
main stream school. Here, no special adjustment is made in the physical, social and instructional environment.
According to Williams & Phillips (2015), integration are classified into three main forms. These are;
 Locational integration (having learners with special needs in the institutions)
 Social integration (allowing learners with special needs to socialize with other learners)
 Functional integration (participating in formal activities with the rest of learners e.g academics).
NB: This provision had some gaps because the environment was not modified and adapted.
d) Special Education
This comes from the term “inclusion” which means equal provision (UNESCO, 1990).
Inclusive education therefore refers to provision of educational services to all categories of
learners regardless of origin, gender and disabilities. The adjustment of the physical, social
and instructional environment should be done to achieve this.
Benefits of inclusive education
 Promotes equal participation of all learners
 All children have better opportunity for learning
 Parents tends to be involved in the education of their children
 Promotes acceptance of persons with disabilities
 Promotes friendship among learners with disabilities and others,
 Learners with disabilities can benefit from the adapted equipment and facilities
 Learners with disabilities are trained with specially trained teachers
e) Reasonable Accommodation

Reasonable Accommodation
These are adjustments or modifications that enable people with disabilities to perform the essential functions of a job
efficiently despite his or her disability. Examples of reasonable accommodation include;
 Provision of sign language interpreters
 Transcribing notes
 Using brailed notes
 Adjustments in job duties
 Restructuring work place sites
 Use of a sighted guide
 Provision of extra time for doing activities for PWDs
 Adjustments in the entry points for admission to the university or tertiary institutions
 Modifications of equipment and facilities
 Adaptation of the learning environment
 Adaptation of the work environment etc

 
 
 
 
 
 FORMS OF SPECIAL NEEDS
Special needs occur to all those people who are denied physically, socially and
emotionally opportunities for participation in community activities like any other normal
person. Example of people with special needs are those with;
 Physical impairment
 Behavioral disorders (problems)
 Chronic illness
 Specific learning difficulties
 Children living under difficult circumstances
a) Physical Impairment
 Visual impairment
 Hearing impairment
 Physically handicapped
 Mental retardation
 Multiple disabilities e.g Deaf-blind
  

b) Specific learning difficulties

 Dyslexia (reading problems)
 Dysgraphia-writing problems
 Dyscalculia-problems with calculation
 Dyspraxia
 Dysnomia
 Dysphasia
 Dysphonia
 Speech and language problems (expressive & receptive language)
 Conts……

Dyslexia
Rudolf (2015) said dyslexia comes from two Greek words “dys” which means poor or inadequate
and “lexia” which means difficulty with words. This is the disorders in reading and writing which
occur as a result of damage to parts of the brain (Wernicke’s and Brocas areas) used in language
processing.
Dysphonia
This is the difficulty in speaking due to physical disorders of the speech organs e.g the mouth,
tongue, throat, teeth arrangements and vocal cords.
Dysgraphia
This is the disorders which causes difficulty in writing coherently due to damage of the brain or
diseases. It affects the muscles required during writing.
 Conts……
Dyscalculia
This is the difficulty in calculating numbers and understanding mathematical facts, number concepts and to
master basic numeracy skills.
Dyspraxia
This is the developmental coordination disorders which affects fine and gross motor in both children and
adult.
Dysnomia
This is the speech disorders that causes one to forget words or have difficulty coming up with specific
words he or she wish to use when speaking or writing. (Difficulty in remembering words to use or speak)
Dysphasia
Thisis the language disorder which causes disorder in generating speech and comprehension due to brain
damage or injury.
c)Behavioral disorders or problems
 The gifted and talented
 Gifted children are those who performs highly in a task than the rest of other children. It is due to
inheritance. E.g excelling in class activities.
 Talented children are who performs highly in practical activities than the rest of the learners. E.g games
and sports, drawing, MDD etc
  
 Exceptional children. These are children who deviates from the rest of other children physically,
socially and emotionally. They require special educational services in order to help them cope up with the
rests. They may not be helped in regular classes.
  
 Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders (ADHD)
 This is the disorders characterized by in attentiveness, restlessness, impulsive behavior, unpredictable,

inappropriate behavior, inappropriate comments and interrupting excessively.

NB: If no hyperactivity is present, the term attention deficit disorder (ADD) should be used.
 Conts…..
Information Processing.
 Difficulties with taking in information efficiently (this could be written or auditory).
 Slow speed of information processing, such as a 'penny dropping' delay between hearing something and understanding
and responding to it.

Memory.
 Poor short term memory for facts, events, times, dates.
 Poor working memory; i.e. difficulty holding on to several pieces of information while
undertaking a task e.g. taking notes as you listen, coping with compound questions.
 Mistakes with routine information e.g. giving your age or the ages of your children.
 Inability to hold on to information without referring to notes.
 Conts…..
Communication skills.
 Lack of verbal fluency and lack of precision in speech.
 Word-finding problems.
 Inability to work out what to say quickly enough.
 Misunderstandings or misinterpretations during oral exchanges.
 Over-loud speech (which may come across as aggressive) or murmuring that cannot be
clearly heard.
 Sometimes mispronunciations or a speech impediment may be evident.
 Conts…….
Literacy.
 Lateness or difficulty in acquiring reading and writing skills. Some dyslexic adults have severe literacy
problems and may be functionally illiterate.
 Where literacy has been mastered, residual problems generally remain such as erratic spelling, difficulty
extracting the sense from written material, difficulty with unfamiliar words, an inability to scan or skim text.
 Particular difficulty with unfamiliar types of language such as technical terminology, acronyms.
Sequencing, Organisation and Time Management.
 Difficulty presenting a sequence of events in a logical, structured way.
 Incorrect sequencing of number and letter strings.
 Tendency to misplace items; chronic disorganization.
 Poor time management: particular difficulties in estimating the passage of time.
 Conts…..
Direction and Navigation.
 Difficulty with finding the way to places or navigating the way round an unfamiliar building.
Concentration.
 Weak listening skills, a limited attention span, problems maintaining focus.
 A tendency to be easily distracted, inability to remain focused.
Sensory Sensitivity.
 A heightened sensitivity to noise and visual stimuli.
 Impaired ability to screen out background noise or movement.
 Sensations of mental overload / switching off.
Lack of awareness.
 Failure to realize the consequences of their speech or actions.
 Failure to take account of body language.
 Missing the implications of what they are told or interpreting it over-literally.
 Conts……
Coping Strategies.
It must be emphasized that individuals vary greatly in their Specific Learning
Difficulties profile. Key variables are the severity of the difficulties and the ability of
the individual to identify and understand their difficulties and successfully develop and
implement coping strategies. 
By adulthood, many people with Specific Learning Difficulties are able to

compensate through technology, reliance on others and an array of self-help

mechanisms - the operation of which require sustained effort and energy. Unfortunately,
these strategies are prone to break down under stressful conditions which impinge on
areas of weakness.
d)Chronic illness
Those with;
 Epilepsy
 Asthma
 Sickle cell anemia
 Hemophilia
 Albinism
 Syphilis
 HIV/ AIDS
e) Children living under difficult circumstances

 Street children
 Child laborers
 Refugee/ displaced people
 Orphans
 Children heading families
 Neglected children
 Rejected children
 Children in conflicts areas
 Slow learners
 Children who are abused
 Children in nomadic community
 
 Summary of Forms of Special Needs
 Physical Impairment
 Behavioral Disorders (Problems)
 Chronic Illness
 Specific Learning Difficulties
 Children Living Under Difficult Circumstances

Thank you for your attendance and participation

in this lecture