Exceptional Psychology

• Disorder


  The broadest of the three terms, refers to a general abnormality in mental, physical, or psychological functioning
• Impairment


  Barrier to typical functioning
• Disability


  More specific than an impairment and is associated with a loss of physical functioning (e.g., loss of sight, hearing, or mobility), or a challenge in learning and social adjustment that significantly interferes with typical growth and development
• Handicap


  Limitation imposed on a person by the environment and the person's capacity to cope with that limitation
• Exceptional


  An individual whose physical, mental, or behavioral performance deviates so substantially from the average (higher or lower) that additional support is required to meet the individual's needs. They may be gifted or deficient.
• Developmental approach


  • Starts with the reference of 'normal' development. Typical development can be described by using statistics (and milestones)—that is, observing in large numbers of individuals those characteristics that occur most frequently at a specific age.
• Cultural approach


  • Differences can be explained to a large extent by examining the values inherent within a society. People are considered different when they do something that is not expected of or valued by other members within the dominant culture.
• Self-Labeling


  • How we perceive ourselves and how others do. It works conversely too.
• Labels can be good or bad. Depends on how it is used.
• The exceptionality must be separated from the identity of a person because (1) they are not the same, (2) it will result to further division between those who have exceptionalities and those who do not have, and (3) in respect with the previous one, there is a vague concept of being 'normal' that further amplifies discrimination and bullying.
• Physical disabilities


  Disabilities that can affect a person's ability to move about, use the arms and legs, and/or breathe independently.
• Examples of physical disability

  • Cerebral palsy
  • Spinal cord injuries
  • Amputation
  • Spina bifida
  • Muscular Dystrophy
  • Acquired brain injury
  • Paraplegia
  • Multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Achondroplasia
  • Polio
  • Osteoporosis
  • Musculoskeletal injuries
  • Cleft Palate
  • Quadriplegia
  • Hemiplegia
  • Other Orthopedic disability
• Common causes of physical disability

  • Congenital condition
  • Acquired injury
  • Perinatal causes
  • Environmental factors
• Communication considerations for people with physical disabilities


  • Focus on abilities
  • Use neutral language
  • Respect preferences
  • Don't use victim language
  • Be sensitive
  • Use person-first language
• Struggles with


  Person with
• Challenged by


  Person who has
• Confined by a wheelchair

  Uses a wheelchair
• Suffers from, afflicted by, stricken by, troubled with


  Has [disability/impairment/condition]
• (Condition) victim


  Person who has had a...
• Brain damaged, brain injury sufferer

  Person with a brain injury
• (the) disabled, -limp,


  Persons with disabilities,
• Sue is an arthritic, – paraplegic


  Sue has arthritis, – paralyzed,
• Suffers from, victim of, afflicted by, crippled by, incapacitated by


  (name) has a chronic health condition
• Handicapped, Physically Challenged, "Special," Deformed, Cripple, Gimp, Spastic, Spaz, Wheelchair bound, Lame

  Person with a mobility or physical disabilities
• Dwarf, Midget, Imp


  Person of short stature, Little people
• Hearing loss


  Determined by assessing a person's sensitivity to loudness (sound intensity) and pitch (sound frequency). The unit used to measure sound intensity is the decibel (dB); The unit used to measure the frequency of sound by cycles per second is the hertz (Hz)

  
• The range of human hearing for sound intensity is 0 dB to 130 dB and the human ear hears sounds with frequency ranging from 20 Hz to 13,000 Hz

  
• Deafness


  Individuals whose hearing loss is in the extreme, only hearing at 90 dB or greater. The primary means for people who are deaf to develop language and communication is through the visual channel

  
• Hard of hearing (partial hearing)

  The audition (act or sense of hearing) of individuals is deficient but still functional enough to have residual hearing; they may use hearing aids to process human speech

  
• Deaf


  People with severe or profound hearing loss with little or no residual hearing

  
• Deaf


  Deafness is not a medical condition but a part of their identity. They perceive deafness as a socio-cultural perspective, use sign languages for primary way of communication, and are immersed in Deaf culture and community.
• Late-deafened


  Indicating that the individual became deaf later in life
• Total deafness


  Rare, occurring in only 1 percent of hearing-impaired individuals

  
• Deafblind


  Indicates that the individual is deaf and also have some degree of vision loss

  
• Causes of hearing loss

  • Heredity
  • Prenatal and postnatal diseases
  • Environment
  • Conductive deafness
  • Nerve deafness

  
• Hearing loss is also associated with tinnitus (ringing of the ears). The ringing is perceived as coming from an ear that is damaged
• Vision loss


  Includes individuals with a wide range of conditions: those who have never experienced sight; had normal vision prior to becoming partially or totally blind; experienced a gradual or sudden loss of acuity across their field of vision; and those with a restricted field of vision
• Legal blindness


  Vision cannot be corrected to better than 20/200 in the better eye or that the visual field is 20 degrees or less, even with a corrective lens
• Partially sighted (low vision)

  Have a visual acuity greater than 20/200 but not greater than 20/70 in the best eye after correction; they may use braille
• Refractive eye problems


  • Hyperopia (farsightedness)
  • Myopia (nearsightedness)
  • Astigmatism (blurred vision)