LEARNERS WITH

EXCEPTIONALITIES
Miracle Worker: The Life of Helen Keller

Describe the main

character in the movie you
watched in a unique way.
What was his-her
exceptionality? Describe.
What problems/difficulties did
the main character
experience?
Who provided support? What
support did he/she get from
his/her environment?
EXCEPTIONALITIES
AS PERSONS WHO
ARE DIFFERENT IN
SOME WAY FROM THE
“NORMAL” OR
“AVERAGE”
EXCEPTIONAL LEARNERS

Includes those with special needs

related to cognitive abilities,
behavior, social functioning,
physical and sensory
impairments, emotional
disturbances and giftedness.
Require a lot of understanding
and patience, as well as
special education, and related
services, if they are to reach
their full potential of
development
Teacher Facilitates this kind of learners

Right information and

proper attitude in dealing
with special learners.
DISABILITY VS HANDICAP

DISABILITY is a measurable
impairment or limitation that
interferes with a person’s
ability.
It may refer to a physical,
sensory, or mental condition.
HANDICAP – is a
disadvantage that occurs
as a result of a disability or
impairment.
The degree of disadvantage
is often dependent on the
adjustment made by both
the person and his
environment.
The extent to which a
disability handicaps an
individual can vary greatly.
Two persons may have the
same disability but not the
same degree of being
handicapped
EXAMPLE:

They both have a hearing

impairment, one knows
sign language and can
read lips while the other
cannot.
EXAMPLE:

Two persons who move around on

a wheelchair, the one studying in a
school campus with wheelchair
accessibility in all areas would be
less handicapped than one in a
school without wheelchair
accessibility.
CATEGORIES OF EXCEPTIONALITIES:
(Omrod’s Educational Psychology (2000)

A. SPECIFIC COGNITIVE OR

ACADEMIC DIFFICULTIES
Learning Disabilities
Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity
Speech and Communication
Disorders
LEARNING DISABILITIES

Involve difficulties in specific

cognitive processes like perception,
language, memory, or
metacogtinion that are not due to
other disabilities like mental
retardation, emotional or behavioral
disorders, or sensory impairments.
Example:

Reading
Number operations
Writing
ATTENTION-DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY
DISORDER (ADHD)

Difficulty in focusing and

maintaining attention.
Recurrent hyperactive and
impulsive behavior.
SPEECH AND COMMUNICATION
DISORDERS

Difficulty in spoken language

including voice disorders, inability
to produce the sounds correctly,
stuttering, difficulty in spoken
language comprehension that
significantly hamper classroom-
performance.
B. SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL AND
BEHAVIORAL DIFFICULTIES

Emotional/Conduct Disorders
Autism
Mental Retardation
EMOTIONAL/CONDUCT DISORDERS

Involves the presence of

emotional states like depression
and aggression over a
considerable amount of time that
they notably disturb learning and
performance in school.
AUTISM

Is a condition manifested by

different levels of impaired
social interaction and
communication repetitive
behaviors and limited
interests.
MENTAL RETARDATION

Refers to significant sub-average

intelligence and deficits in adaptive
behavior.
There is difficulty in managing
activities of daily living and in
conducting themselves
appropriately in school situations.
C. PHYSICAL
DISABILITIES and HEALTH
IMPAIRMENTS
PHYSICAL AND HEALTH
IMPAIRMENTS

Involves physical or medical

conditions (long term)
Limited energy and strength
Reduced mental alertness
Little muscle control
SEVERE and MULTIPLE DISABILITIES

Refers to the presence of

two or more different
types of disability, at times
at a profound level
SENSORY IMPAIRMENTS

VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS
HEARING IMPAIRMENTS
GIFTEDNESS
VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS

These are conditions when

there is malfunction of the
eyes or optic nerves that
prevent normal vision even
with corrective lenses.
HEARING IMPAIRMENTS

Involves malfunction of the

ear or auditory nerves that
hinder perception of sounds
within the frequency range
of normal speech.
GIFTEDNESS

Involves a significantly
high level of cognitive
development.
There is unusually high ability or
aptitude in one or more of these
aspects:
Intellectual ability, aptitude in
academic subjects, creativity, visual
or performing arts or leadership.
PEOPLE-FIRST LANGUAGE

Involves putting the

person first, not the
disability
 a person with a disability,
not a disabled person.
It tells us what conditions
people have, not what
they are.
EXAMPLE:

Person with AIDS,

rather than
AIDS victim
Other suggestions for referring to
those with disabilities:

1. Avoiding generic labels

People with mental
retardation is preferable to
the mentally retarded.
2. Emphasizing abilities,
not limitations
For instance , uses a
wheelchair is preferable to
confined to a wheelchair
3. Avoiding euphemisms
(physically challenged)
Which are regarded as
condescending and avoid the
real issues that result from a
disability.
4. Avoiding implying illness or
suffering
Had polio is preferable to is a
polio victim
Multiple sclerosis is preferable to
suffers from multiple sclerosis
Using people-first language
and applying the guidelines
above will remind you to have
a more respectful and
accepting attitude toward
learners with exceptionalities
The presence of
impairments requires
them to exert more effort
to do things that others
like us find quite easy.
They are learners who may turn
to you for assistance.
Beginning with the right
attitude, one of compassion,
not of pity nor ridicule will make
you a more effective teacher
One with the hand and the
heart who can facilitate
their learning and
adjustment.
Revise the following sentence to
adhere to the people-first language

1. The teacher thought of

many strategies to teach
the mentally challenged.
2. Their brother is
mentally retarded.
3. Their organization is for
the autistic.
4. He is a polio victim who
currently suffers from
post-polio syndrome.
5. There was a blind girl in
my psychology class.