Special Education Provision

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History and Issues in Special Education
   

Special Education Provision and Services in Tanzania

Lecture 1 notes

LECTURE ONE

SPECIAL EDUCATION IN TANZANIA

1.1 Introduction

Welcome to the first lecture of this course. This lecture introduces you to the concept of special education, development of special education worldwide, historical development of special education in Tanzania and the current situation of special education in Tanzania.

 

OBJECTIVES OF THE LECTURE

At the end of the lecture, students should be able to:

  1. Define Special Education
  2. Trace the development of Special education in general
  3. Describe the background of Special Education in Tanzania
  4. Discuss the current situation of special education in Tanzania

 1.2  Meaning of Special Education

Special education is a specially, purposeful intervention designed to prevent, eliminate and/or conquer the barrier that might keep an individual with disabilities, from learning and from full and lively participation in school and the social order.

This means that special education is a profession with its own history, cultural, practices tools and research focused on the learning needs of the exceptional children. Special education therefore, is defined as specially designed instruction, at no cost to the parents to meet the unique needs of the children with disabilities. It can also be expressed as the education of students with special needs, in a way that addresses the students’ individual differences and needs.

Ideally, this process involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials, accessible settings, and other interventions designed to help learners with special needs achieve a higher level of personal self-sufficiency and success in school and community than would be available if the student were only given access to a typical classroom education.

Common special needs children include those with visual, hearing, learning, communication, intellectual challenges, emotional and behavioral disorders, physical disabilities, gifted and talented and other developmental disorders.

Students with these kinds of special needs are likely to benefit from additional educational services such as different approaches to teaching, use of technology, a specifically adapted teaching area, or resource rooms.

1.3 Historical Background of Special Education

Special education as it is known today evolved primarily in response to the needs of school-aged children with disabilities. Due to the obligatory school attendance laws, special education logically would focus on young children with special needs.

Thus, special education philosophy and service delivery practices have been built largely around the educational delivery systems in place within the primary and secondary education.

 Peterson (1987) & Heward and Orlansky (1988) argue that as a field, special education is relatively new. Its development is the outcome of long, colourful drama covering many decades. Its history encompasses many interrelated but separate events spanning social, political, scientific and educational arena of the society. Looking back the history can be described in regard to four broad periods.

In early years individuals with special needs were subjected to inhumane treatment form their communities. Hasselt et al (1988), observe that during ancient time, physical abnormalities were not known beyond infancy as most societies killed the new born with any abnormality. Ancient Greeks and Romans saw children with disabilities as bad omen, cursed by the gods and unworthy of human rights.

Physical fitness at that time was important for survival therefore persons with special needs were persecuted, killed or thrown into the wilderness to die. Scholars such as John Locke began to suggest new ideas about the human nature and about education.

However, it was difficult for this few innovative thinkers, to bring about immediate change against that greater wave of traditional thinking.

During the spread of the Christianity these individuals received more humanitarian care. Peterson, (1987) & Scheerenberg (1983) cited in Hasselt, et al ( 1988) elucidate that, at that time many of children with disabilities  were put into the protective homes and residential institutions where they were fed but not given education.

In the early 1800s such institutions for mentally retarded and other disabilities were established in Europe as well as in America and other parts of the world by few who stand to advocate and protect the individuals with special needs.

He further explained that in America, the first residential institutions was built  for the individuals with hearing impairment in Connecticut in 1817 and a school for the individuals with visual impairment   was established in Watertown, Massachuset in 1832.

The third period encompassed the development and expansion of education for disabled individuals. Peterson (1987) explains that in beginning of the early 1900s and continuing until the late 1950s special education services expanded gradually, characterized by spurts of interest followed by periods of stagnation and disinterest.

There were poorly planned programmes and inadequately trained teachers contributed to the irresolute support given to special education. Even though care facilities and programmes increased in numbers, the approach was largely one of segregation and isolating the individual with special needs from the rest of the society.

The final stage as stated by Peterson (1987) was marked by legal and legislative actions that all children with special needs are entitled to appropriate education. This was possible with the passage of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the international community in December 1948 which witnessed the integrations of disabled into educational and social mainstream although segregated special education classes are also used.

Many ideas, practices and principles we accept today in the profession are actually the products of inventive thinking from early pioneers in the field of special education. For example, the scientific attempt to educate children with intellectual disabilities originated in the effort of Jean Marc Gaspard Itard (1775 -1838), a French physician and otologist.

In his classic work book “The wild Boy of Aveyron” (1807), he related his five-year effort to educate the boy who had been found running wild in the woods of Aveyron.

Years later his student Edouard Sequin (1812-1830) devised an educational method that used physical and sensory activities to develop the mental processes. Sequins works influenced Maria Montessori(1870-1952), an Italian pediatrician who became an educator and  the  innovator of training young mentally retarded and culturally deprived children in Rome in the 1890s and early 1900s.

Another important person in special education was Louis Braille (1809-1852) a Frenchman, who lost his sight when he was 3 years as a result of accident. Louis developed an embossed form of writing used for visual impaired individuals around 1850.Although the Braille system is over 150 years old it is still by far the most efficient approach to reading by persons with visual impairment.

1.4 Development of Special Education in Tanzania

Special education development in Tanzania follows the trend that most developed countries in the world followed. Services for certain disability groups for example the blind and the deaf followed by the small-scale education provision in special schools for other disabilities (physical and intellectual disabilities) were provided by the church and charity organizations.

The first special education services and provision for visually impaired boys in Tanzania were developed and supported by the Anglican Church at Buigiri Dodoma in 1950. Later on in 1962, The Moravian church opened another school for visually impaired in Tabora while the Lutheran church opened the same school at Irente in Tanga Region.

In 1963 the Roman Catholic Church established the first school for hearing impaired children at Tabora while the schools and services for physical impaired children were established by Salvation Army at Mgulani, Dar es Salaam in 1967.

The government of Tanzania started to offer education for children with special needs in integrated setting during 1962.Uhuru Mchanganyiko Primary school in Dar es Salaam for visually impaired units with boarding facilities was an example of such schools. Schools which were established by the government in 1980s provide services for children with mental retardation

The first such school was established in Lulindi Mtwara with initiatives of Jerome Nchimbi the then head of Special Education Unit at the Ministry of Education. However, there were limited services for deaf-blind and autistic children which were established in 1984.

As long as the provision of services for individual with special education needs lie in the hands of non-government organizations it is impossible to create a comprehensive system of education and other related services.

Therefore, it is imperative for the government to create the system of education which has to acknowledge the need of all children regardless their abilities, and which should base on the approved policy documents.

1.5 Current Situation of Special Education in Tanzania 

Special education services and provision in Tanzania is largely emphasized in primary school level, particularly in residential, non – residential schools and units integrated into regular schools. These schools are supported by government and charitable organizations and churches.

Visual impaired students are the only one who receives itinerant services in the country. The following table shows the number of schools, integrated units and itinerant services for children with special needs in 2003.

Table 1.1: Special Schools, Integrated units and Itinerant Services in 2003

Disability Special Schools Integrated Units Itinerant Services Total
Visual Impairment

3

28

31
Hearing Impairment

7

22

29
Intellectual Impairment

5

104

109
Deaf Blind

1

1
Autism

2

2
Physical Impairment

3

1

4
Total

18

130

28

176

 

Source: Special Education Statistics. Best 2003

 Table 1 indicates that up to 2003, special education was provided in 18 special schools, 130 integrated units, and 28 itinerant services for visually impaired children, which give a total number of 176 special schools. In the other hand, the provision of secondary level education is not good enough because only 18 schools all over the country provides special education, whereby 11 schools register visually impaired students,5 register  hearing impaired students and 2 schools physical impaired students. In 2003, the number of students with special needs enrolled was 721 and these are only visual, hearing and physical impaired children.

The above explanation implies that, children with disabilities in all levels of education experience difficulties in accessing education in the country. Special schools are few and they mainly cater for visually impaired, hearing impaired, physically impaired and intellectual impaired children.

Above all, schools for visually and hearing impaired admit students according to strictly applied categories which allow only the medically diagnosed student to access special schools or special unit services while the diagnostic services for intellectually impaired are poorly developed.

Consequently, schools and units for intellectual impaired students have a varied population, out of which a part of it fill the standards for intellectual impairment.

All in all, children with disabilities have to overcome some barriers even before entering the schools. These barriers include rehabilitation services, technical aids and assistive devices, physical and attitudinal barriers.

 

SUMMARY

 

The lecture discussed that special education is a particular designed instruction, to meet the unique needs of the children with disabilities or the education of students with special needs, in a way that it  addresses the students’ individual differences and needs. The development of special education was marked by three periods. The first period was the ancient time whereby individuals with special needs were killed or thrown into wilderness to die. This period was followed by Christianity whereby these individuals received more humanitarian care. For examples in early 1800s, institutions for mentally retarded and other disabilities were established in Europe and America where these individual were fed but not educated. The final stage was marked by legal and legislative actions that all disabled children are entitled to appropriate education.

The development of special education services in Tanzania started with services and provision for   visually impaired boys at Buigiri Dodoma in 1950 followed by another school in 1962 at Tabora and at Irente in Tanga. In 1963, the first school for hearing impaired children was opened at Tabora while the schools and services for physical impaired children were established by Salvation Army at Mgulani, Dar es salaam in 1967.

Last modified: Thursday, 3 November 2016, 1:44 PM

◄ INTRODUCTORY NOTE

Lecture 2 :Notes

LECTURE TWO

INDIVIDUALS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS (1)

VISUAL IMPAIRMENT

2.1 Introduction

Individuals with special needs are variously referred to. Other people refer to as unusual able or talented individuals and others are of the view that individuals with special needs are those with disabilities. This view is true although Kirk, et al., (2003) state that, individuals with special needs includes both individuals with disabilities and children who are exceptionally gifted and talented.

Therefore, it is defined that children with special needs are those who differ from average or normal children in mental characteristics, sensory abilities, communication abilities, behavior and emotional development and physical characteristics (Kirk, et al, 2003)

In agreement with the above definition Hallahan & Kauffman (1999) &  Heward and Orlansky ( 1988)  classified  individual with special needs into visual impaired, intellectual impaired ,hearing impaired, emotional and behavioural disorders, physical and health impaired, children with severe and multiple disabilities (MSD), speech and language impaired, learning disabilities and gifted and talented children.

 Therefore, lecture two introduces you to one of the categories of individuals to be included in special education, the meaning, causes, identification and instructional strategies.

 

OBJECTIVES OF THE LECTURE

At the end of this lecture, students should be able to:

1. Describe visual impairment.

2. List and discuss causes of visual impairment.

3. Explain identification process of the visual impaired individuals.

4. Discuss instructional strategies to help the visual impaired.

 

2.2 Visual Impairment (VI)

Visual impairment is the impairment in visual that, even with correction, adversely affects a child’s educational performance. The term includes both partial sight and blindness. However, visual impairment is described into two ways that is legal and educational definitions.

A legally blind person is the one who has visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye after all corrections or somebody who have   field of vision restricted to the angle of 20 degrees or less.

This definition lies on the angle of vision or acuity. Visual acuity is the ability to clearly distinguish forms or discriminate details while the visual field is the entire area we can see at one time without shifting our gaze.

Educational definition stresses on the methods of reading instructions. For educational purposes, individual who are blind are so severely impaired that they must learn to read Braille or use auditory methods.

Educators often refer to those individuals with visual impairment, but can read large prints or using magnifying devises as having low vision. The low vision individuals have visual acuity between 20/70-20/200 in the better eye with correction.

Visual impairment can congenital or acquire and can be caused by error of refraction, cataract, glaucoma, diabetes prematurity, infectious diseases, accident and it can also  be hereditary.

Note: Braille is a system of raised dots by which blind persons read with their fingertips, consists of quadrangular cells containing from one to six dots whose arrangement denotes different letters and symbols.

2.3 Causes of Visual Impairment

Causes of visual impairment can be congenital or acquired. The most common known cause of visual impairment is the result of the following:

2.3.1 Errors of Refraction

Myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness) and astigmatism (blurred vision) are examples of refraction errors that affect central visual acuity. These can be corrected using contact lenses or glasses.

2.3.2 Cataract

A condition caused by a clouding in the lens of the eye that blocks the light necessary for seeing clearly. Cataract usually affects colour and distance visions.

2.3.3 Glaucoma

A condition in which there is an excessive pressure in the eyeball. The causes is not well known and if not well treated can lead to blindness.

2.3.4 Diabetes

Children with diabetes frequently have impaired vision due to hemorrhages and the growth of new blood vessels in the area of the retina, the condition known as diabetic retinopathy.

2.3.5 Prematurity

Children born prematurely had normal visual potential at birth; however abnormal blood vessels may grow in the eyes of a premature baby leading to retinal detachment and total blindness.

2.3.6 Infectious Diseases (Rubella and Syphilis)

These are infections which usually affect the unborn baby at the first trimester (the 1st three months of the pregnancy).

2.3.7 Accidents

Accidents such as burning and blow in the head may be the cause of blindness.

2.3.8 Hereditary

Some blindness may be inherited for example congenital glaucoma and albinism.

2.4 Identification and Assessment of Children with Visual Impairment

Identification of children with severe or profound visual impairment is easily done by parents or physicians early before school age. Most of them do not require formal testing, just the observations of those around the child.

It is a good practice to have a routine vision screening for children before they enter school because children with mild, correctable problem might escape unnoticed until a child enters school.

However, it is important to do assessment before a student with suspected disability receives special education services. There are four specific steps which are necessary in the assessment. These are screening, eligibility, and instructional planning and progress evaluation.

Snellen chart which has rows of letters in gradually small letters sizes that children read at a distance of 20 ft is the instrument used in screen the possible eyes problem. As parents and physicians are in the first line to identify children disability before school years, teachers are the prime source in identification of the mild disability in school age children.

2.5 Instructional Strategies

Lack of sight may limit a person’s experience because the primary means of obtaining information from the environment is lacking. Nonetheless, it is agreed that visually impaired children should be educated in the same line like sighted children.

The classroom teachers should make some modification in the general classroom to fit in the visually impaired. These children will call for modification in four major areas which are Braille, use of remaining sight, listening skills and mobility training. The first three is typically for academic functions while the last is the skill needed in everyday living.

2.5.1 Use of Braille

The term refers to the system of embossed signs which are formed by combination of 6 dots arranged in a rectangular pattern. This system is used by the visual impaired to read/write and it was found by Louis Braille who was blind in the nineteenth century.

The system is still in use today, therefore students who are legally blind should learn the use of Braille to achieve better in academics and to lead independent lives. However, students with low vision who could read large prints should also be taught Braille.

2.5.2 Use of the Remaining Sight

Teachers should train students to use what visual abilities they have to better advantages by using large print books or magnifying devices. The limitation with large print books is that a great deal of space is required to store them and they are limited available. Magnifying devices range from glasses and hand- held lenses and can be used with normal size type or large size type books. This strategy is appropriate for students with low vision.

2.5.3 Listening Skills

Since the child cannot use the sight to access information from the environment, automatically she/he becomes the good listener. However, they should be taught how to listen by using variety of curriculum materials and programmes which are recorded if they are available.

2.5.3 Orientation and Mobility Training

Orientation is the ability to establish ones positions in relation to the environment through the remaining senses while mobility is the ability to move safely and easily from one point to other .Four methods are used to assist orientation and mobility of persons with visual impairment.

2.5.3.1 The Long Cane

This is the widely used device especially by adults to detect obstacles on the way, for example ditches, staircases and other objects.

2.5.3.2 A Guide Dog

A guide dog is not often recommended for visual impaired children due to the fact that an extensive training is required; dogs are large, walks fast and needs to be care. Though they have proved to be a good companion to some adults ,dogs doesn’t know a place where someone want to go and sometimes other  culture won’t allow the use of dog.

2.5.3.3 Human Guides

Human guide certainly enables the visually impaired person to move with freedom and safety although too much reliance creates a dependency that can sometimes be harmful.

2.5.3.4 Electronic Devises

A number of electronic devices for sensing objects in the environment can be used although some are still in experimentation and expensive. The laser can and the Sonic guide are used on the principle that human being could learn to locate objects by means of echoes.

SUMMARY

 

In this lecture visual impairment was defined as the impairment in visual that, even with correction, adversely affects a child’s educational performance. Visual impairment includes both partial sight and blindness. The causes of visual impairment are errors of refraction, cataract, glaucoma, diabetes, infectious diseases (Rubella and Syphilis), accidents and hereditary. Children with visual impairments can be easily identified by parents and physicians but the assessment should be done before provision of special education services. Assessment is done following four specific steps which screening, eligibility, instructional planning and progress evaluation.

 

It was also explained that children with visual impairment should be educated along with the sighted  one although they need additional skills for daily living .These are Braille, use of the remaining sight, listening skills  and orientation and mobility training which involves the long cane, a guide dog ,human guides and  electronic devises.

 

 Last modified: Thursday, 3 November 2016, 2:05 PM

◄ Lecture 1: References

Lecture 3:Notes

3.1 Introduction

Lecture three introduces you to another category of individuals with special needs. It explains what hearing impairment is, what the causes are, how to identify children with hearing impairment and how to accommodate them in the classroom.

           OBJECTIVES OF THE LECTURE

At the end of this lecture, students should be able to:

1. Define hearing impairment. and types of hearing loss

2. List different causes of hearing impairment.

3. Explain the identification process of the hearing impaired individuals.

 

4. Discuss instructional strategies to help the hearing impaired in the classroom.

 3.2 Hearing Impairment (HI)

Hearing impairment is variously defined and classified. Kirk, et al, (2003), said that, the most common classification is between deaf and hard of hearing. Hallahan and Kauffman (1994) add that, the two terms are defined differently by different professionals, those with physiological orientation and those with educational orientation.

The physiological viewpoint is primarily interested in the measurable degree of hearing loss that is a child who cannot hear sounds at or above a certain intensity level is classified as a deaf while those with a hearing loss are considered as hard of hearing.

Educational viewpoint is concerned with how much the hearing loss is likely to affect the child’s ability to speak and develop language. However, the commonly accepted definitions reflect the educational orientation

Hearing impairment means an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. Hearing impairment range in severity from mild to profound and it includes the subset of deafness and hard of hearing.

A deaf person is one who’s hearing disability precludes successful processing linguistic information through audition, with or without hearing aids. A hard of hearing person is one who, generally with the use of a hearing aid, has residual hearing sufficient to enable successful processing linguistic information through audition.

Hallahan and Kauffman (1994), explain that severity of hearing impairment is determined by the individual reception of sound by decibels (dB) for example; 15-20 decibels (slight hearing loss), 25-40 decibels (mild hearing loss), 40-65 decibels (moderate hearing loss), 65-95 decibels (severe hearing loss) and 95+ decibels (profound hearing loss).

Hearing loss can also be classified into conductive hearing loss, sensorineural hearing loss and mixed hearing loss.

Note: Conductive hearing loss is the condition usually mild, which occurs due to abnormality or complication of the outer ear or the middle ear while sensorineural hearing loss is a condition usually severe, which refers to the damage of the auditory nerve or other sensitive mechanisms in the inner ear. Further, mixed hearing loss is the hearing loss which results from the combination of conductive and sensorineural hearing impairment.

3.3 Causes of Hearing Loss

Causes of hearing loss are usually classified based on the location of the problem within the hearing mechanism. There are three major classifications:

3.3.1 Impairment in the Outer Ear

Impairment of the outer ear is not as serious as that of the middle and the inner ear though it can cause a person to be hard of hearing. This can be due to external otitis an infection of the skin of the external auditory canal. Tumours of the external auditory canal are another source of impairment.

3.3.2 Impairment in the Middle Ear

The most common problem of the middle ear is the otitis media an infection of the middle ear space caused by viral and bacterial factors, among others. It is primarily a disease of childhood not easy to detect, especially in infancy when it often occurs without symptoms.

3.3.3 Impairment in the Inner Ear

The most severe hearing impairment is associated with the inner ear. Causes of inner ear disorder can be hereditary or acquired. The most frequent cause of childhood deafness is hereditary. Acquired hearing losses of the inner ear include those due to bacterial infections (meningitis),

viral infections (mumps and measles), anoxia (deprivation of oxygen) at birth, and prenatal infections of the mother (maternal rubella, and congenital syphilis), Rh incompatibility, accidents, an unwanted side effect of some antibiotics and excessive noise level.

 3.4 Identification and Assessment of Children with Hearing Loss

Children born with hearing loss have few signs to indicate the presence of the problem due to the fact that, early behaviours of the infants with hearing loss (severe or profound) may resemble the no impaired.

Keen parents may observe occasions of unresponsiveness to sounds although the child may give random responses that appear to be in response to external stimuli that suggests he is just fine.

Therefore, it is important to identify a child through screening at birth or public health screening before they enter schools. Children with mild or moderate hearing losses often go unobserved until their academic performances indicate the problem; therefore school teacher should assist in the identification of children by observing the following characteristics in the child:

 

  1. Physical problems associated with the ear; for example if the child is complaining of the earaches, running ears/discharging ears, heavy waxy build in the ears, strange ringing or buzzing in their ears.
  2. Poor articulation sounds particularly the omission of consonants sounds.
  3. Concentration on the face of the speaker to get information through lip reading.
  4. Frequent requests for repetition of what has just been saying.
  5. Turning of the head towards the speaker in efforts to hear well.
  6. Unresponsiveness or inattentiveness when spoken to in a normal voice.
  7. The reluctance in participating in oral activities.

NB: Hearing loss can be measured using pure-tone audiometry and behaviour observation audiometry. Pure-tone audiometry is the most common means of determining hearing loss in children about 3 years of age and above.

The audiometer (the instrument used for testing hearing acuity) presents pure tones to measure the frequency (vibration) which is measured in Hertz (Hz) and sound intensity (pitch) while behaviour observation audiometry is used to test hearing in children younger than 3 years of age.

The child is exposed to an environment full of attractive toys, and the observer notes the child’s reaction to the sound introduced in the room. Head-turning, eye blinking, smiles, movements and lack of responses are all recorded.

 3.5 Instructional Strategies for Children with Hearing Loss

Students who have hearing loss often make use of several expressive and receptive methods of communication both natural and technological.

Speechreading is often used although other methods are used including hearing aids, assistive listening devices (ALD), sign language interpreters, audio recording, note takers, captioning, and transcription. In addition to the above, there are a number of ways in which an instructor may assist the student in having access to classroom information.

  1. Students with hearing impairment should seat at the front row. An unobtrusive line of vision is very important for students who use an interpreter and those who depend on lip-reading and visual cues. If interpreter should be used student’s view should include the interpreter and the teacher. The teacher should not speak facing the blackboard.
  2. Use circular seating arrangements as they offer the best opportunity for deaf and hard of hearing students get the opportunity to see all class participants. Books, hands or microphone in front of your face can also add difficulties of students who depend on lip-reading.
  3. Keep your face within view of students and speak in a natural tone. If an interpreter is used speak directly to the student, not to the interpreter.
  4. Extra processing time for the interpreter to translate a message from its original language into another language should be recognized, because it may cause a delay in student’s reception of information, asking questions and/ or offering comments.
  5. Questions or remarks should be repeated and it is important to acknowledge who has made the comments so that hard of hearing students focus on the speaker in case of lip-reading.
  6. Visual aids should be used to reinforce spoken presentations.
  7.  Whenever possible, students should be provided with outlines, lecture notes, a list of new technical terms and printed transcript of audio and audio-visual materials. It is important also to communicate with the student in writing when conveying information such as assignments, schedules and deadlines.
  8.  Do not speak when students are writing and do not shout to them.
  9. Flexibility should be allowed i.e. the student should be allowed to work with audiovisual material independently and for a longer period of time.
  SUMMARY

 

This lecture explained that hearing impairment definition depends on different professional viewpoints. The first is physiological oriented who are interested in the measurable degree of hearing loss and The second is educationally oriented who are concerned with how much the hearing loss is likely to affect the child’s ability to speak and develop language. The accepted definition reflects the educational viewpoint that hearing impairment is the impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.

The hearing impairment ranges in severity from mild to profound and it includes the subset of deafness and hard of hearing The Severity of impairment is determined y the individual reception of sound by decibels (dB). The three types of hearing loss discussed in this lecture are conductive hearing loss, sensorineural hearing loss and mixed hearing loss. Two methods used in the testing hearing loss were mentioned as pure- tone audiometry and behaviour observation audiometry.

Furthermore, the lecture outlined instructional strategies for hearing impaired children, for example, to make them sit in front of the class, using circular sitting arrangement, keep your face within view of students give the interpreter extra time, repeat questions and remarks, use visual aids, provide outlines and lecture notes and provision of extra time and visual materials for a student with hearing loss.
Last modified: Friday, 6 November 2020, 12:56 PM
◄ Lecture 2: References

Lecture 4:Notes

4.1 Introduction

Lecture three discussed about individuals with hearing impairment. It also described the causes of problem, therefore I hope that, this lecture will take you into another level and strengthen what you already known regarding disability

OBJECTIVES OF THE LECTURE

At the end of this lecture

students should be able to:

1. Define mental retardation and list its causes.

2. Discuss the identification process of children with mental retardation.

3. Describe how to help children with mild retardation in the classroom.

 4.2 Meaning of Mental Retardation

American Association of Mental Retardation defines mental retardation as substantial   limitation in present functioning. Mental retardation is characterized by significantly sub average intellectual functioning, existing

concurrently with related function limitations in two or more of the following applicable adaptive skills areas: communication, self- care , home living, social skills, community use, self- direction, healthy and safety, functional academics, leisure and work.

Therefore, mental retardation is assessed in two areas; intellectual functioning, ability to solve problems related to academics which is usually determined by IQ test and adaptive skills, skills needed to ones living environment which is usually estimated by adaptive behavior surveys.

Moreover, Hallahan and Kauffman (1994) state that, persons with mental retardation are classified according to the severity of their problem and the term included in the classification are mild, moderate, severe and profound retardation, with each level keyed to approximate IQ levels as follows:

CLASSIFICATION

IQ   LEVEL
Mild  mental Retardation

55 – 70
Moderate Mental Retardation

40-55
Severe Mental Retardation

25-40
Profound Mental Retardation

Below 25

4.4 Causes of Mental Retardation

Experts estimate that it is possible to pinpoint causes of mental retardation in only 10 to 15 percent of the causes. Determining causes is easier in persons whose retardation is more severe than the mildly retarded.

However, mental retardation can be caused by any condition that impairs the development of the brain before birth, during birth or in the childhood years. Therefore causes can be categorized as follows:

 4.4.1 Genetic Factors

Mental retardation has a number of genetically related causes. These are of two types-those resulted from some damage to genetic material, such as chromosomal abnormalities and those due to hereditary transmission.

Down syndrome is an example of mental retardation results from chromosomal abnormality while Phenylketonuria (PKU), Fragile X syndrome and Tay –Sachs diseases are inherited.

 4.4.2   Problems during Pregnancy

This can result from factors that fall into two categories-infections and environmental hazards. The use of alcohol and drugs (prescribed and social drugs) by the pregnant mother can cause mental retardation.

Toxic agents such as cocaine and heroin, tobacco, alcohol, caffeine and even food additives can be harmful to unborn baby. Pregnant mothers who consume a lot of alcohol have a greater risk of having babies with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS).

Children with FAS are characterized by a variety of physical deformities as well as mental retardation. Other risks include malnutrition, certain environment contaminants, and infections such as rubella (German measles), syphilis and herpes simplex in the mother during pregnancy.

Rubella is most dangerous during the first trimester (three months) of the pregnancy. Sexual Transmitted Infections present a greater risk at later stages of fetal development.

Infections as well other causative factors can also result in microcephalus (a condition causing development of a small head with a sloping forehead; proper development of the brain is prevented, resulting in mental retardation) or hydrocephalus (a condition characterized by enlargement of the head because of excessive pressure of the cerebrospinal fluid).

 4.4.3 Problems at Birth

Any birth condition of unusual stress may result into injury to child’s brain and eventually mental retardation. Disorder due to abnormal length of pregnancy either too short (prematurity) or too long (post maturity) is also the cause of mental retardation.

Prematurity is associated with a number of factors -poor nutrition, teenage pregnancy, drug abuse, and excessive cigarette smoking. Brain injury can occur during delivery if the child is not positioned properly in the uterus and difficulty during delivery can lead to anoxia (complete deprivation of oxygen) hence mental retardation.

4.4.4 Problems after Birth

Infections such as meningitis, (a bacterial /viral infection of the linings of the brain or spinal cord) encephalitis (an inflammation of the brain) and pediatric AIDS can affect mental development and be the cause of mental retardation. Environmental toxins (lead, mercury etc) can cause irreparable damage to the brain and nervous system.

 4.5 Identification and Assessment of Children with Intellectual Impairment

Identification of mental retardation is easier in children whose retardation is more severe than those who are mildly retarded. Unlike children with mild retardation, children with severe retardation often look different from their peers, and they are often identified in infancy or before entering schools.

For children with mild retardation, identification is not easier and they come to the attention of teachers and parents because they fail in schools academically and socially to the expected standards of their peers.

To identify such children, a diagnostic examination should be done by professionals to determine if the child is eligible for the special education and related services.

The diagnostic examination assesses the two elements of mental retardation according to American Association of Mental Retardation that is intellectual functioning, ability to solve problems related to academics which is usually determined by IQ test and adaptive skills, skills needed to ones living environment which is usually estimated by adaptive behavior surveys.

4.6 Instructional Strategies

To address the limitations in intellectual functioning and adaptive behaviour which is experienced by individuals with mental retardation, teachers should provide direct instruction in a number of skill areas outside of general curriculum. The skills must be more functional in nature but essential for future independence of the individual.

The teacher should also teach additional skills such as money concepts, time concepts, independent living skills, self-care and hygiene, community access, leisure activities and vocational training.

 Further, general curriculum areas should not be neglected in order to help student in a number of academic areas. For example early literacy strategy (prelinguistic milieu teaching) is a technique which tie instruction to the specific interests and abilities of the individual child.

Larger tasks should be broken into specific components as an effective technique for teaching any number of skills to mental retarded students.

Complex concepts can be taught over time .As the student master one component of the task, another is added to the routine. To sum up one can say useful strategies for teaching children with mental retardation include:

  1. Teaching one concept or activity component at a time.
  2. Teaching one step at a time to help support memorization and sequencing.
  3. Teaching of students in a small group, or one –on-one if possible
  4. Provision of multiple opportunities to practice skills in a number of different settings.
  5. Use of physical and verbal prompt to guide correction of responses and provide specific verbal praise to reinforce the responses. 
SUMMARY

:

The lecture described mental retardation as a significantly sub average intellectual functioning, existing  concurrently with related function limitations in two or more of the following applicable adaptive skills areas: communication, self- care home living, social skills, community use, self- direction, healthy and safety, functional academics, leisure and work. Persons with mental retardation are classified into four categories; mild, moderate, severe and profound retardation. It was explained that the causes of mental retardation could be any condition that impairs the development of the brain before birth, during birth or in the childhood years. These conditions could be categorized into genetic factors, problems during pregnancy, problems at birth and problems after birth.

 

Characteristics that can be used to describe mental retarded children were mentioned to be ability to process information, ability to acquire and use language, social skills functional and daily living skills. Further, children with mental retardation can be identified by assessing two areas which are intellectual functioning and adaptive skills. To address the limitations in intellectual functioning and adaptive behaviour which is experienced by individuals with mental retardation teachers should :

  1. Provide direct instruction in a number of skill areas outside of general curriculum.
  2. Teach additional skills such as money concepts, time concepts, independent living skills, self-care and hygiene, community access, leisure activities and vocational training. 

 Last modified: Friday, 4 November 2016, 12:07 PM

◄ Introduction to special education and individuals with special educational needs

Lecture 5:Notes

5.1 Introduction

Emotional and behavioural disorders may be a new concept to you but there is no need to worry because this lecture is going to deal with it. Definition, causes and identification of individuals with emotional and behaviour disorders are among the topics to be discussed here. Identification of such individuals will also be included in the discussion. 

OBJECTIVES OF THE LECTURE

  At the end of this lecture, students should be able to:

  1. Describe  emotional and behavioural disorders
  2. List and discuss causes of emotional and behavioural disorders
  3. Discuss identification and assessment of children with emotional and behavioural disorders.
  4. Describe how to accommodate children with emotional and behavioural disorders in the classroom.

 5.2 Meaning of Emotional and Behaviour Disorders

Hallahan and Kauffman (1994) stipulate that children with emotional and behavioural problems have been known by different names such as emotionally disturbed, behaviourally disordered or disabled, socially maladjusted, to mention few. Kirk, et al., (2003) add that the characteristics of these children differ from one another depending on the type and intensity of the behaviour.

Therefore, the term means conditions that exhibit one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree, which adversely affects the child’s educational performance:

  1. An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factor;
  2. An inability to build or maintain satisfactory relationships with peers and teachers;
  3. Inappropriate types of behaviour or feelings under normal circumstance;
  4. A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression ;or
  5. A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fear associated with personal or school problem.

The term includes schizophrenia but does not apply to children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they are seriously emotionally disturbed. The term is also classified as:

Conduct disorder which characterized by disobedience, disruptiveness, fighting destructiveness, temper tantrums, irresponsibility, impertinence, jealousy, anger, attention seeking and boisterousness. The child usually assaults others, defies authority and strikes out with hostile aggression.

Personality disorder includes behaviours such as feelings of inferiority, self-consciousness, social withdrawal, anxiety, crying, hyperactivity, fingernails chewing, depression, chronic sadness and shyness. The child is usually nervous, shy, reclusive, and sensitive.

Immaturity includes behavior such as short attention span, preoccupation, clumsiness, passivity, daydream, sluggishness, drowsiness, masturbation and giggling.

5.3 Causes of Emotional and Behaviour Disorders

Causes of emotional and behavioural disorders are attributed to four major factors that are:

5.3.1 Biological Factors (genetic, neurological, or biochemical factors)

Behaviour and emotional disorders may be caused by genetic, neurological or biochemical factors or by a combination of them. There is a relationship between body and behaviour, therefore it is logical to look for a biological cause for certain emotional and behaviour disorders .

However ,many children with emotional and behaviour disorder have no noticeable biological fault that could  give explanations for their actions.

5.3.2 Pathological Family Relationships

Mental health specialists put blame to children’s behavioural problems to parents as they believe that negative interaction with parents have negative outcomes on children emotional and behavioural development. However, family influences are interactional and transactional and that the effect of parents and children on one another is reciprocal.

5.3.3 Negative Cultural Influence

Children, their families and schools are part of the culture that influences the children behaviour. Some values and behavioural standard are communicated to the child and influence the child’s behaviours for example media violence, terrors, drugs, religious restriction, and war.

Evidence shows that the culture in which the child is reared exerts influences on their emotional, social and behavioural development.

5.3.4 Undesirable Experiences at School

Some children already have emotional or behavioural disorders when they begin school and others develop it during the school years. Children exhibiting disorders when they enter school may become worse or better depending on how they are handled in the classroom. A child’s temperament and social competence may interact with classmates’ and teachers’ behaviour to contribute into the problem.

The school may contribute to emotional and behavioural problems in different ways for example, teachers may be insensitive to the child’s individuality, require a mindless conformity to the rules and routines.

School discipline may be too lax, rigid or inconsistent and students who are misbehaving are rewarded with credit and attention whereas those who behave well are ignored. Parents and teacher may also hold too high or low expectations of the child achievement and conduct and judge him/her as undesirable.

5.5  Identification and Assessment of Children with Emotional and Behaviour Disorders

Children with emotional and behaviour disorders are easily identified by school personnel that few schools need to use systematic screening procedures.

Most of them will not escape the notice of their parents and teachers and it is usually easy for experienced teacher to tell when the student needs help.

Their unusual language, mannerisms, and ways of relating with others soon become matters of concern to parents, teachers and even other casual observers.  However, it should be noted that the younger the child, the more difficult to judge if the child’s behaviour signifies a serious problem.

Sometimes, children with emotional and behaviour disorders are undetected because teachers are insensitive to children’s problems or because the children do not stand out sharply from other children in the environment or do not exhibit problems at schools. In this case then formal screening is applicable.

5.6  Instructional Strategies

In managing children with emotional and behaviour disorders in the classroom, behaviour modification approaches should be used. Some of the components of the behaviour modification are reinforcement, gesture, and contingency, contracting, modeling, shaping and Premark’s principle. Therefore a teacher should apply the following strategies to help emotionally and behavioural disturbed children:

  1. Give clear and concise instructions and make sure that each instruction should be presented as a separate response opportunity, without confusing and distracting students.
  2. Provide as much as necessary guidance, demonstration and other prompts for desired behaviours, knowing how to gradually to remove them as the child begins to react properly without them.
  3. Shape the desired behaviour by progressively reinforcing the responses that are each one step near the goal.
SUMMARY

 

This lecture explained that  emotional and behaviour disorders has been known by different names although it means the condition that exhibit the  folowing characteristics over along period and to a marked degree:

  1. an inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factor;
  1. an inability to build or maintain satisfactory relationships with peers and   teachers;
  2. inappropriate types of behaviour or feelings under normal circumstance;
  3. a general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression ;or  a tendency to develop physical symptoms or fear associated with personal or  school problem

Moreover, the lecture classified an emotional and behavioural disorder into three types; conduct disorder, personality disorder and immaturity. Emotional and behavioural disorder was described as caused by biological factors (genetic, neurological, or biochemical factors), pathological family relationships, negative cultural influence, undesirable experiences at school.

Last modified: Friday, 4 November 2016, 12:36 PM

◄ Lecture 4:References

Lecture 6:Notes

6.1 Introduction

Lecture six takes you into another category of individuals with special needs. It defines and list categories of physical disabilities and health impairments, and describes the causes of each category. The lecture additional discusses characteristics of children with physical disabilities and health impairments and how to assist them in learning. 

OBJECTIVES OF THE LECTURE

At the end of the lecture students should be able to:

  1. Define and list categories of physical disabilities and health impairments.
  2. Describe the causes of each category.
  3. Describe identification of children with physical disabilities and health impairments

6.2 Physical Impairment (PI)

Peterson (1988) & Hallahan and Kauffman (1994)  define physical impairment as the physical limitation or health problems which interfere with school attendance or learning to such extent that special services, training, equipment, materials or facilities are required. Children with physical disabilities may also have other kind of disabilities or may be gifted and talented.

There is a great range and variety of physical disabilities. Children may have congenital anomalies or they may acquire through accident or disease after birth.

They also put physical disabilities under several categories such as neurological impairments, cerebral palsy (CP), seizure disorder (epilepsy), spina bifida, traumatic head injury, musculoskeletal conditions, muscular dystrophy, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, congenital malformations and accident conditions and child abuse and neglect.

6.2.1 Neurological Impairments

This is one of the common causes of physical disability due to damage to the central nervous system (the brain or spinal cord). Neurological impairment may occur before, during or after birth, and have many causes, including infectious diseases (polio or infantile paralysis), hypoxia (oxygen depletion), poisoning, congenital malformation (spina bifida) and physical trauma because of accident or abuse. The following are specific type of neurological impairments;

6.2.1.1 Cerebral Palsy (CP)

CP refers to a condition characterized by paralysis, weakness in coordination and/or other motor dysfunction because of damage to the child’s brain before it has matured. CP is caused by anything that can damage brain during the brain development. Maternal infections, chronic disease,

physical trauma and maternal exposure to toxic substances before birth may lead to CP. Brain injury during the birth process due to difficult or complicated labour also lead to CP. In short anything that leads to oxygen deprivation, poisoning, cerebral bleeding or direct brain trauma can be the possible causes of CP.

CP is classified according to the degree/severity of motor disability or paralysis. Hemiplegia (a condition in which one half of the body is paralyzed i.e. 35-40 %), diplegia (a condition in which the legs are paralyzed to the great extent than arms i.e. 10-20 %), quadriplegia (a condition in which arms and legs are paralyzed i.e. 15-20%) and paraplegia (a condition in which both legs are paralyzed i.e. 10-20%)

6.2.1.2 Seizure Disorder (Epilepsy)

This is a condition which occurs when there is an abnormal discharge of electrical energy in certain brain cells, leading to sudden alteration of consciousness accompanied by motor activity and /or sensory phenomena. Epilepsy can be caused by lack of sufficient oxygen in the brain (hypoxia), low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), infections and physical trauma.

6.2.1.3 Spina bifida

Spina bifida is the congenital midline defect resulting from the failure of bony spinal column to close completely during fetal development. This is usually accompanied by the paralysis of the leg and occurs before the baby is born.

6.2.1.4 Traumatic Head Injury

This is an increasingly frequent cause of neurological impairments as a result of accidents (car, motorcycle, falls and child abuse). Traumatic head injury results in brain injury which may range from mild to profound. This may affect emotional and social behaviours as well as physical and cognitive functioning.

6.2.1.5 Musculoskeletal Conditions

Some children are physically disabled because of defects or diseases of the muscles or bones .The condition may be congenital or acquired and most of the time it involve arms ,joints or spine making it difficult for the child to walk ,stand ,sit or use his/her hands. The most common musculoskeletal conditions are:

6.2.1.6 Muscular Dystrophy

This is a hereditary diseases characterized by a progressive weakness caused by degenerative muscular tissue. Problems associated with muscular dystrophy are impairment of physical mobility and in advanced cases, complications involving the bones and other body systems occurs.

6.2.1.7 Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis

This is a disease which can be found in people of all ages. It is a systematic disease with major symptoms involving the muscles and joints swelling and stiffness associated with severe pains and other problems like fever, respiratory problems, heart problems and eye infections.

6.2.1.8 Congenital Malformations

Some children are born with defects or malformation of any body part or organ system. Some congenital anomalies are not noticed at birth but discovered during the first year. Common malformations are of the heart and/ or blood vessels leading to or from heart. Another condition is congenital dislocation of the hip which occurs about 1.5 of every 1,000 live births, eight times more females than males.

Congenital malformation can range from mild to profound. The causes of physical malformations could be genetic that is the child is destined to be malformed from conception because of chromosomes contributed by parents. Other malformations occur during fetal development due to viruses, bacteria, radiation or chemical substances (teratogens).

6.2.1.9 Accident Conditions and Child Abuse and Neglect

Accidents, child abuse and neglect have been accounted for some physical and neurological impairment conditions. Falling, burning, poisoning and other motorcycle accidents are some of the ways children and youth acquire disabilities (neurological impairment as well as disfigurement or amputation).Moreover, child abuse and neglect may lead to permanent neurological damage, other internal injuries, skeletal deformity, facial disfigurement, sensory impairment or death.

6.3 Health Impairments (HI)

Peterson(1987) regards a  child as  having health impairment if he or she has limited strength, vitality or alertness, including a heightened alertness to environmental stimuli that results in limited alertness with respect to the educational environment that is due to the following reasons:

chronic or acute health problems such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, a heart condition, hemophilia, lead poison leukemia, rheumatic fever and sickle cell anemia and other conditions that adversely affect a child’s educations performance.

To describe all acute or chronic health impairments that pose serious threat to the development of the child is not easy; therefore few disorders are going to be presented here. They include leukemia, congenital heart condition, sickle cell anemia, juvenile diabetes mellitus, asthma, cystic fibrosis, epilepsy and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

 A child is regarded as having health impairment if he or she has limited strength, vitality or alertness, including a heightened alertness to environmental stimuli that results in limited alertness with respect to the educational environment that is due to the following reasons:

Chronic or acute health problems such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, a heart condition, hemophilia, lead poison leukemia, rheumatic fever and sickle cell anemia and other conditions that adversely affect a child’s educations performance. 

To describe all acute or chronic health impairments that pose serious threat to the development of the child is not easy; therefore few disorders are going to be presented here.

 6.3.1 Leukemia

This is the most common forms of childhood cancer. It involves the overproduction or abnormal formation of white blood cells. Children with leukemia may show a variety of symptoms such as fatigue, paleness, fever, weight loss, pain in the joints and excessive bruising.

6.3.2 Congenital Heart Condition

Any defect of the heart or circulatory system at birth is called congenital heart disease. If the condition occurs after birth is known as acquired cardiovascular disorder.

Congenital defects occur during the first trimester of the embryonic development, when the heart and circulatory system are being formed. The defects are generally caused by genetic abnormalities, diseases such as rubella and toxic substances during pregnancy.

6.3.3 Sickle Cell Anemia

This condition is caused by defective recessive gene. The disease result in production of defective hemoglobin, in which the shape of red blood cells is a distorted crescent, or sickle.

These cells do not pass easily through the blood vessels; the blood supply to body tissue can be cut off or reduced considerably. Many children with these diseases die before age 20 from complications such as cerebral hemorrhage or kidney failure.

6.3.4 Juvenile Diabetes Mellitus

This is an inherited disorder, which is characterized by the inadequate and improper metabolism of sugar and carbohydrates caused by inability of the pancreas to produce insulin.

When the insulin is lacking, glucose levels in the blood increase, eventually reaching an excess that cannot be extracted by the kidneys. Excessive urination is one of the first signs of the disease, as a result the child tend to be constantly thirsty and to drink huge amount of fluid and a lot of food but show weight loss, tiredness  and weakness.

6.3.5 Asthma

This is a condition affecting an individual’s breathing. The condition usually has three features which are swollen lungs, difficulty in breathing and the negative reaction of the airways to a variety of environmental conditions such as dust, smoke, cold air and exercise.

Asthma can cause acute constriction of the bronchial tubes therefore children with asthma need accurate diagnosis and treatment plans from appropriate medical personnel.

6.3.6 Cystic Fibrosis

This is the most frequently occurring fatal genetic disease which causes severe respiratory and digestive problems. Children with cystic fibrosis cough frequently and they have increased risk of respiratory infections or pneumonia.

They also have frequent and larger bowel movements because of the alteration in digestive functions which creates intestinal gas and cause abdomen to be distended and protruding.

6.3.7 Epilepsy

This is a condition which occurs when there is an abnormal discharge of electrical energy in certain brain cells, leading to sudden alteration of consciousness accompanied by motor activity and /or sensory phenomena.

Epilepsy is caused by lack of sufficient oxygen in the brain (hypoxia), low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), infections and physical trauma. With proper medical a child can live a normal life and performs satisfactorily in academics.

 6.3.8 Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)

This is the breakdown of the body’s immune system caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Ninety percent of cases in children are the result of virus being transmitted from the infected mother during pregnancy, the birth process or breast feeding. The perspective for infected child is grim, severe developmental delays, brain damage and early death.

6.4 Identification of Children with Physical and Health Impairment

Children with physical and health impairment are usually identified by physicians such as pediatricians, neurologists, who specialized in the brain, spinal cord and nervous system; and orthopedists and orthopedic surgeons who deal with muscle function and conditions of the joints and bones.

Identification process involves a medical evaluation, including medical and developmental history, physical examination, and laboratory tests or other special procedures needed for accurate diagnosis.

6. 5 Instructional Strategies

Children with physical disabilities and health impairments are usually taught in inclusive classroom with their peers although educating them may require modifications and different methods of teaching depending on type of physical disability and health condition.

Since some conditions affect children in the classroom, the teacher should gather specific information about each child and his or her disability. Apart from the specific disability; some common strategies apply when teaching students with physical disabilities and health impairments:

  1. A special sitting arrangement is important to meet stu

dents’ needs. They may require special chairs, lowered and wide tables on which to write on and put other learning materials, spaces for wheelchair and other medical equipments. Wheelchair users should be put in the front row if they are the part of the regular classroom.

  1. Establish eye contacts with the students with upper body weakness. For example some students may wish to contribute in the class discussion but fail to raise their hands.
  2. Make sure accommodation is in place for in class written work that is teachers should allow students to use a scribe, adaptive computer technology or to complete the assignment outside the class.
  3. The teacher should be flexible with the deadlines because assignments that require library work or access to sites off campus will consume more time for a student with physical and health impairment. It is important to bear in mind that for reasons beyond their control, students with severe physical and health impairment may be late to class because of the inability to move quickly from one place to another or some obstacles in the schools such as staircases etc.
SUMMARY

 

The lecture described physical and health impaiment as the physical limitation or health problems which interfere with school attendance or learning to such extent that special service, training, equipment, materials or facilities are required. Categories of physical disabilities include neurological impairments, musculoskeletal conditions and accident conditions and child abuse and neglect. Additionally ,cerebral palsy (cp), seizure disorder (epilepsy), spina bifida, traumatic head injury  are conditions that fall under neurological impairments while muscular dystrophy, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, congenital malformations fall under musculoskeletal conditions. Accidents such as falling, burning, poisoning and child abuse and neglect are also accounted for some physical and neurological impairment conditions.

The child is regarded as having health impairment if he or she has limited strength, vitality or alertness, including a heightened alertness to environmental stimuli that results in limited alertness with respect to the educational environment .Few conditions that pose a serious threat to the child’s development discussed here are leukemia, congenital heart condition, sickle cell anemia, juvenile diabetes mellitus, asthma, cystic fibrosis, epilepsy and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

Children with physical and health impairment are usually identified by physicians such as pediatricians, neurologists and orthopedic surgeons. Identification involves a medical evaluation, including medical and developmental history, physical examination, and laboratory tests or other special procedures needed for accurate diagnosis. Moreover, children with health and physical impairment can be taught in inclusive classroom although some modification can be required depending on the problem. Common techniques to be used are special sitting arrangement and equipment, eye contact with children with upper body weakness, teacher’s flexibility in deadlines.

 

Last modified: Friday, 4 November 2016, 1:15 PM
◄ Lecture 5:References

Lecture 7: Notes

7.1 Introduction

Lecture seven introduces you to children with multiple and severe disabilities. The lecture defines the term multiple and severe disability and explains the causes of multiple and severe disabilities. It further list and describes categories of multiple and severe disabilities, its characteristics and identification processes. The lecture ends with suggestions on how to help these children in learning process.

OBJECTIVES OF THE LECTURE

  At the end of the lecture students should be able to:

  1. Describe the term multiple and severe disabilities.
  2. Explain the causes of multiple and severe disabilities.
  3. Describe the characteristics and identification of children with multiple and severe disabilities.
  4.  Suggest ways to help these individuals in the classroom setting


7.2 Multiple and Severe Disabilities (MSD)

Hallahan and Kauffman (1994) & Kirk, et al (2003) described children with MSD as having more than one disability which are either severe or mild.  Therefore MSD is defined as concomitant (simultaneous) impairments, the combination of which causes such severe educational needs

that they can be accommodated in a special education programme solely for one of the impairments. (Kirk et al, 2003) add that children with MSD often have intense and complex combination of disabilities such as severe mental retardation and physical impairment, mental retardation and blindness or other sensory deficit and motor deficit combined with other problems.

Children with multiple and severe disabilities have a combination of various disabilities including speech, physical mobility, learning, mental retardation, visual, hearing, brain injury and possibly others. Along with multiple disabilities, they can also exhibit sensory losses and behaviour and or social problems.

These children have also difficulty in auditory processing and speech limitations therefore have difficulty in attaining and remembering skills and or transferring these skills from one situation to another.

These characteristics can therefore be classified and given names according to the conditions they exhibit. The following examples are some of the characteristics of MSD:

7.2.1 Deaf Blind Impairment

This is a concomitant hearing and visual impairments, the mixture which cause severe communication and other developmental and educational needs whereby a child with this condition cannot be placed in schools catering for visual or hearing impaired children.

7.2.2 Usher Syndrome

This often refers to as retinitis pigmentosa the condition that involves both hearing and vision problems. Children with usher syndrome can be born with hearing and visual disabilities and the condition get worse over time.

There is no cure for usher syndrome, but children with these conditions can benefit from early identification and appropriate technologies and educational assistant.

7.2.3 Behaviour Problems and Hearing Impairment

It is unfortunately that, children with hearing impairment have behavior problem However, the behaviour problems found in children with hearing impairment are resultant of lack of hearing speech dominated their environment.

Part of the problem of these children is that much of what they cannot hear can be seen and felt in the environment around them, hence lead to confusion and frustration.

7.2.4 Mental Retardation and Cerebral Palsy

People tend to take for granted that children with cerebral palsy are mentally retarded and there is an existence of the relationship between the two. Usually the poor speech and spastic movements of children with cerebral palsy give people the impression that these children have mental retardation.

Then, it is not easy to tell if children with cerebral palsy are not mental retarded unless the intelligence test for children with adequate speech, language and motor abilities is used.

From the above explanation it can be deduced that children with severe and multiple disabilities exhibit a wide range of characteristics, depending on the combination and severity of disabilities, and the person’s age. However, some traits they may share including:

  1. Limited speech or communication;
  2. Difficulty in basic physical mobility;
  3. Tendency to forget skills through disuse;
  4. Trouble generalizing skills from one situation to another, therefore there is a need for support in major life activities such as domestic, leisure, community use and vocational.

7.3 Causes of Multiple and Severe Disabilities

The main causes can be genetic or environmental though they differ from one child to another. Use of alcohol (fetal alcohol syndrome), drugs (social and prescribed) toxin substances and complication during delivery (breach birth and lack of oxygen) are the common known environmental causes of MSD.

7.4 Identification and Assessment

Most children with MSD are identified at birth through simple screening techniques. The Apgar scoring system is administered five minutes after birth to assess the child’s motor function, skin colour, heart rate, respiration and general appearance.

Vision defects are easy to detect but hearing defects are difficult to detect until the child is two or three months. Most physical disabilities can be detected early by observing the infants lack of normal reflex and body movements, although others can be identified late in the first year of the child’s life.

Spina bifida can easily identified as the child who is affected may have enlarged head from excess spinal in the brain cavity fluid (hydrocephalus).Down syndrome children can also be easily identified from their flat facial profile and upward slanted eyes.

7.5 Instructional Strategies

Due to the diversity of characteristics of children with multiple disabilities, it is difficult to provide specific instructional strategies for this category of children especially for those with severe disabilities. These children should be taught skills that are functional and age group appropriate .

Interaction with other children without disabilities should occur frequently as part of their education programme. Programming should involve the combination of instructional strategies appropriate for each student’s unique needs. However, the following tips can be applied in teaching children with multiple disabilities.

  1. Skills to be taught must be simplified by being broken down into small steps.
  2. Use of special equipment, furniture and material appropriate for each student’s unique needs.
  3. The current performance of each child must be appraised and the target skills stated clearly.
  4. Skills must be taught in suitable sequences.
  5. Clear cues from the teacher is needed before the child perform the skill and immediate feedback and reinforcement afterwards.

All in all, it is still difficult to know much about how children with MSD learn and develop, but we know that the achievements of these children often outdo the predictions of professionals .Therefore parents should open doors for them to learn. 

SUMMARY

 

The lecture defined multiple and severe disabilities as concomitant (simultaneous) impairments, the combination of which causes such severe educational needs that they can be accommodated in a special education programme solely for one of the impairments. Multiple and severe disabilities are cause by genetic or environmental factors such as use of alcohol, drugs, toxin substance and complication during delivery.

These children are characterized by combination of various disabilities including deaf blind impairment, usher syndrome, behaviour problems and hearing impairment and mental retardation and cerebral palsy. Generally they have problem in speech and language, basic physical mobility and generalizing skills from one situation to another. Further, they are identified though screening techniques .It is easy to detect vision defect while hearing can be detected when the child is three months. Down syndrome and other physical disabilities are detected early due to the appearance of the child.

However, it is not easy to provide specific instructional strategies for this category of children especially for those with severe disabilities thus they have to be taught skills that are functional and age appropriate.

 Last modified: Friday, 4 November 2016, 1:56 PM

◄ Individual with special needs

Lecture 8: Notes

8.1 Introduction

Lecture eight introduces you to another category of individuals who are to be considered in special education programme. It defines learning disability ad discusses causes, how to identify them and strategies used to teach children with learning disability.

OBJECTIVES OF THE LECTURE

At the end of this lecture students should be able to:

  1. Define learning disability
  2. Explain causes of learning disability
  3. Identify students with learning disability
  4. Help students with learning disability in the classroom situation

8.2 Meaning of Learning Disability

According to Kirk, et al (2003) & Heward ,(1988) ,learning disability means the disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, and spell or to do mathematical calculations. The term also includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.

The term does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities; of mental retardation, emotional disturbance; or environmental, cultural or economic disadvantage.

*Dyslexia refers to a severe impairment of the ability to read.

8.3 Possible Causes of Learning Disability

It is difficult to pinpoint the exact causes of learning disability; however the possible causes fall into three general categories:

8.3.1 Organic and Biological Factors

It was suspected that neurological factors was the cause of learning disabilities, however it is not agreed in the field of special education because the evidence for neurological cause is based on the relatively simple measure of neurological measure.

Many studies which were done with students with severe learning disabilities turned out to be that central nervous system dysfunction may be the cause of learning disabilities.

8.3.2 Genetic factors

Over several years evidence build up that learning disabilities tend to run in families. Studies done with identical twins showed that if one twin has disabilities in reading, the other twin is likely to experience the same problem.

8.3.3 Environmental Factors

It is difficult to pinpoint the environmental causes of learning disability. However, some evidence shows that environmentally disadvantaged children are prone to exhibit learning problem. Another environmental cause of learning disability is poor teaching, and it is believed that if teachers are well prepared to handle students’ problem in early stages, some learning problems could be avoided.

 8.4 Problems of Children with Learning Disability

Children with learning disability are faced with various problems including:

 8.4.1 Attention Problem

Some of the children are hyperactive hence unable to pay attention and to be distracted.  The teacher of such child has a difficulty gaining the child’s attention and sustaining it or switching the child’s attention from one activity or stimulus to another.

8.4.2 Memory Problem

Many children who are learning disabled have remembering problems. Thinking deficits often involve in applying certain thought processes and lack of awareness of one’s own thinking, as well as lack of conscious awareness of one’s own thinking processes.

8.4.3 Social and Emotional Problems

Many children exhibit problems in social skills the tendency which make them rejected by their peers and to have poor self- concept. Frequently, they shift in mood, such as being high-strung and nervous or showing low tolerance levels of frustrations. They also have difficulty taking the perspective of others, putting themselves in someone else shoes.

8.4.4 Behaviour Problems

It is difficult for some of them to acquire and maintain friendship since their behaviour easily annoy others thus strained interactions. Other children may tend to shun him or her if he/she has the behaviour of intruding into others conversation.

8.4.5 Motivational Problems

Many children with learning disabilities lack motivation, or feelings about their own ability to deal with life many problems. These children may demonstrate their motivational problems in three interrelated ways: external locus of control, negative attribution and learned helplessness.

8.5 Identification of Individual with Learning Disability

Learning disability is not easily identified due to the fact that it should first be distinguished from other conditions, then the difference between potential and achievement evaluated.

If the result shows an identifiable developmental learning disabilities that has contributed to educational underachievement, the child then qualifies for special education. However, for the child is regarded as having learning disability if:

  1. The child’s achievement shows unsatisfactorily level compared to his/her age mates in one or more in oral expression, listening comprehension and reading skills, mathematics calculations and reasoning.
  2. The child’s performance show a severe discrepancy between achievement and intellectual ability in one or more of the areas mentioned above.
  3. The discrepancy between ability and achievement is not the primary cause of a visual, hearing or motor disabilities, emotional problems or cultural, environmental and economic disadvantage.                                                                                                                                                                    8.6 Instructional Strategies
  1. Teachers should modify instructions and focus on individual needs and problems because children in the same class differ in areas of difficulty.
  2. Provide short assignment and extra time for assignment, tests and examinations.
  3. Teach them in groups and let other students help.
SUMMARY

 

This lecture explained that learning disability is the disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, and spell or to do mathematical calculations. Learning disability doesn’t include problems associated with visual, hearing, or motor disabilities; of mental retardation, emotional disturbance; or environmental, cultural or economic disadvantages.

The lecture also explained that causes of learning disability fall under three categories including organic and biological factors, genetic factors, and environmental factors.

 

It was also discussed that children with learning disability are faced with attention problem, memory problem, social and emotional problems, behaviour problems and motivational problems. However, learning disability cannot be easily identified since it should be distinguished from other conditions. Therefore, instructions should be modified to focus on individual needs, extra time should be provided for assignment, test and examination and children should be taught in groups.

 

Last modified: Friday, 4 November 2016, 3:04 PM

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