EXCDEPT

• Exceptional children


  Children with physical attributes and/or learning characteristics that differ from the norm (either below or above) to such an extent that they require an individualized program of special education and related services to fully benefit from education
• Types of exceptional children


  • Children with learning and/or behavior problems
  • Children with physical disabilities or sensory impairments
  • Children with superior intellectual abilities and/or special talents
• Impairment


  Loss or reduced function of a particular body part or organ (e.g., missing limb)
• Disability


  Exists when an impairment limits a person's ability to perform certain tasks (e.g., walk, see, read). The societal or environmental limitations/barriers that result from the impairment
• Handicap


  Specific challenge faced due to the interaction between the impairment and environmental barriers
• At risk


  Refers to children who are considered to have a greater chance of developing a disability. Also used to refer to students experiencing significant learning or behavioral problems in the regular classroom and are therefore at risk of being diagnosed with a disability
• Possible benefits of labeling exceptional children


  • Labeling recognizes meaningful differences in learning or behavior and is a first and necessary step in responding responsibly to those differences
  • Labeling may lead to a protective response in which peers are more accepting of the atypical behavior of a child with disabilities
  • Labeling helps make exceptional children's special needs more visible to policymakers and the public
  • Funding and resources for research and other programs are often based on specific categories of exceptionality
• Possible disadvantages of labeling exceptional children


  • Labels may lead some people to think only in terms of what the individual cannot do instead of what she can do or might be capable of doing
  • Labels may stigmatize the child and lead peers to reject or ridicule the labeled child
  • Teachers may hold low expectations for a labeled student and treat her differently as a result, which could impede the rate at which a child learns new skills and contribute to a level of performance consistent with the label's prediction
  • Labels may negatively affect the child's self-esteem
• Alternatives to labeling and classification


  • Referring to a student as "a student of computation, reading, and comprehension" instead of using a disability label
  • Referring to a student as "a fifth-grade student with learning disabilities" to focus on the individual child and their primary role as a student
• Special education


  Purposeful intervention designed to prevent, eliminate, and/or overcome the obstacles that might keep a child with disabilities from learning and from full and active participation in school and society
• Professionals responsible for helping exceptional children learn


  • General education teachers
  • Special education teachers
  • Interdisciplinary team of professionals working together with parents and families
• Functional curriculum


  The knowledge and skills that some students with disabilities need in order to achieve as much success and independence in different settings
• Special education uses specialized or adapted materials and methods
• Three basic types of special education intervention


  • Preventive intervention
  • Remedial intervention
  • Compensatory intervention
• Levels of preventive intervention


  • Primary prevention - Efforts to eliminate or counteract risk factors so a child never acquires a disability
  • Secondary prevention - Specialized interventions for those students exhibiting troubled behavior
  • Tertiary prevention - Provision of intensive interventions for students identified with emotional or behavioral disorders
• Remedial intervention


  Attempts to eliminate specific effects of a disability and teach the person with disabilities skills for independent and successful functioning
• Compensatory intervention


  Teaching a substitute skill that enables a person to engage in an activity or perform a task despite a disability
• Dimensions and defining features of special education instruction


  • Individual planned
  • Specialized
  • Intensive
  • Goal directed
  • Guided by student performance
• Dr. Ivar Lovaas: 'If they can't learn the way we teach, we teach them the way they learn!'
• Prenatal development


  The process encompassing the period from the formation of an embryo, through the development of a fetus, to birth

  
• Fertilization


  The process by which sperm and ovum combine to create a single cell called a zygote, which then duplicates itself again and again by cell division to produce all the cells that make up a baby
• Genetic disorder


  A category of diseases that includes certain types of birth defects, chronic diseases, developmental problems, and sensory deficits that are inherited from one or both parents
• Chromosomal disorder


  Occurs when a child inherits too many or too few chromosomes. The most common cause is the age of the mother
• Stages of prenatal development


  • Germinal stage (fertilization to 2 weeks)
  • Embryonic stage (2 to 8 weeks)
  • Fetal stage (8 weeks to birth)

  
• Parts of the blastocyst that nurture and protect development in the womb


  • Amniotic sac
  • Placenta
  • Umbilical cord
• Beginning about the 12th week of gestation, the fetus swallows and inhales some of the amniotic fluid, which may stimulate the budding senses of taste and smell
• Factors influencing risks of prenatal exposure to teratogens


  • Timing of exposure
  • Amount of exposure
  • Number of teratogens
  • Genetics
• Environmental influences: paternal factors


  • Exposure to lead, marijuana, tobacco smoke, alcohol, radiation, DES, pesticides, or high ozone levels
  • Secondhand smoke exposure
  • Older fathers
• The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandates a sequence of events schools must follow for special education
• Steps in the special education process


  • Prereferral
  • Referral
  • Evaluation
  • Eligibility determination
  • Individualized Education Program (IEP) development
  • Placement
  • Annual review
• Prereferral intervention


  Conducted by a building-based early intervention assistance team to help teachers devise and implement interventions for students experiencing academic or behavioral difficulties in the regular classroom
• Response to Intervention (RTI)


  A more formal and systematic prereferral process that uses a student's response to increasingly intensive, scientifically validated instruction to help determine if a disability is present
• Prereferral


  1. A child who may need special education usually comes to the school's attention because:

  2. A teacher or parent reports concern about differences in learning, behavior, or development

  3. The results of quick, inexpensive, and easy-to-administer assessments suggests a possible disability

  4. Before referring these children for formal testing and evaluation for special education, most schools initiate a prereferral intervention process
• Prereferral intervention


  1. Is conducted by a building-based early intervention assistance team which helps teachers devise and implement interventions for students who are experiencing academic or behavioral difficulties in the regular classroom

  2. Many school districts also use a more formal and systematic prereferral process called Response to Intervention (RTI)

  3. How a student responds to increasingly intensive, scientifically validated instruction can help determine whether the child's struggles to learn are the result of insufficient instruction or a disability

  4. Regardless of its form, this intervention is designed to:

  5. Provide immediate instructional and/or behavior management assistance to the child and teacher

  6. Reduce the frequency of special education placement for children whose learning or behavioral problems are the result of inappropriate instruction

  7. Prevent relatively minor problems from worsening to a degree that would eventually require special education

  8. Strengthen teachers' capacity to effectively intervene with a greater diversity of problems, thereby reducing the number of future referrals for special education

  9. Prevent the costly and time-consuming process of assessment for special education eligibility by solving the problems that originally caused teachers or parents to be concerned about the child

  10. Provide IEP (Individualized Education Program) teams with valuable baseline data for planning and evaluating special education and related services for students who are referred and found eligible for special education
• Evaluation and eligibility determination


  1. A variety of assessment tools and strategies will be used to gather relevant functional, developmental, and academic information

  2. Assessment may include standardized tests, informal observations, interviews with parents and teachers, and evaluations by specialists such as psychologists, speech-language pathologists, or occupational therapists
• Program planning


  1. If the evaluation team determines that a child has a disability that is adversely affecting his or her educational performance, an IEP is developed

  2. The IEP is the centerpiece of the special education process

  3. The IEP Team determines the following:

  4. WHAT (Learning Goals and Objectives)

  5. HOW (Specialized Instruction and Related Services)

  6. WHO (Teachers and related-service providers)

  7. WHEN (Frequency of Specialized Instruction and related services)
• Placement


  1. After the IEP team determines the child's educational needs and the special education and related services necessary to meet those needs, the team then determines an educational setting where the child can receive an appropriate education in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)

  2. Least restrictive environment (LRE) means kids who get special education should be in the same classrooms as other kids as much as possible

  3. Placement options may include placement in general education classrooms with appropriate supports and accommodations, placement in special education classrooms, or placement in separate special schools or centers
• Progress monitoring, annual review, & reevaluation


  1. Ongoing Progress Monitoring: Direct and frequent measurement of student performance provides the most meaningful information about student progress and the effectiveness of instruction

  2. Annual Review: The established goals and outcomes, delivery of specially designed instruction and related services, and appropriateness of placement must be thoroughly reviewed annually to revise aspects of IEP that lacks contribution to expected progress
• Individualized education program (IEP)


  The centerpiece of the special education process
• IEP team


  • The parents of a child with a disability
  • Not less than 1 regular education teacher of the child (if the child, or may be, participating in the regular education environment)
  • Not less than 1 special education teacher, or where appropriate, at least 1 special education provider of the child
  • A representative of the local education agency who is qualified to provide, or supervise the provision of, specially designed instruction to meet the unique needs of children with disabilities, is knowledgeable about the general curriculum, and is knowledgeable about the availability of resources of the local education agency
  • An individual who can interpret the instructional implications of evaluation results, who may be a member of the team described in clauses (2) through (6)
  • At the discretion of the parent of the agency, other individuals who have knowledge or special expertise regarding the child