PED 105
Topic: Learners with Exceptionalities
Learning Objectives:
1. Describe the basic categories of exceptional learners.
2. Define and distinguish the terms disability and handicap.
3. Demonstrate “people first” language when referring to exceptional learners and advocate for its
use.
Introduction:
Learners with exceptionalities refer to persons who are different in some way from the normal or
average. The term “exceptional learners” includes those with special needs related to cognitive abilities,
behavior, social functioning, physical and sensory impairments, emotional disturbances and giftedness.
Most of these learners require a lot of understanding and patience as well as special education and
related services if they are to reach their full potential of development.
Advance Organizer:
Learning Disabilities Mental Retardation
Emotional &
EXCEPTIONALITIES Sensory Impairments
Behavioral disorders
Autism Physical Disabilities &
Health Impairments
Activity:
Watch the film about “The Life of Helen Keller” and answer the following questions:
1. Describe the main character in the movie.
2. What was her exceptionality? Describe.
3. What problems/difficulties did the main character experience?
4. Who provided support? What support did she get from her environment?
Abstraction:
Disability is a measurable impairment or limitation that interfers with a person’s ability, for
example, to walk, lift, hear or learn. It may refer to a physical, sensory or mental condition.
Handicap is a disadvantage that occurs as a result of a disability or impairment.
Specific Example:
1. Having a damage eardrum is your disability, not able to hear clearly is your handicap
2. Having no legs is your disability, not able to walk is your handicap
CATEGORIES OF EXCEPTIONALITIES
1. Cognitive and Academic Difficulties
a. Learning Disabilities – difficulties in specific cognitive processes like perception, language,
memory or metacognition
Examples are dyslexia (reading) , dyscalculia ( number), dysgraphia ( writing)
b. Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) – manifested with difficulty in focusing and
maintaining attention and recurrent hyperactive and impulsive behavior
c. Speech and Communication Disorders – difficulty in spoken language including voice
disorders, inability to produce the sounds correctly, stuttering, difficulty in comprehension
that can hamper classroom performance
2. Social/Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties
a. Autism- manifested by different levels of impaired social interaction and communication,
repetitive behaviors and limited interests
b. Mental Retardation- refers to a sub-average intelligence and deficits in adaptive behavior,
has difficulty in managing activities of daily living and in conducting themselves
appropriately in social situations
c. Emotional/Conduct Disorders – involves the presence of emotional states like depression
and aggression over a considerable amount of time that they notably disturb learning and
performance in school
3. Physical Disabilities and Health Impairments
This involves physical or medical conditions including one or more of these: limited energy
and strength, reduced mental awareness or little muscle control
4. Sensory Impairments
a. Visual Impairment- a condition when there is malfunction of the eyes or optic nerves that
prevent normal vision even with corrective lenses
b. Hearing Impairment – it involves malfunction of the ear or auditory nerves that hinders
perception of sounds within the frequency range of normal speech
5. Giftedness
It involves a high level of cognitive development or with the high ability or aptitude in one
or more of these aspects: intellectual ability, aptitude in academic subjects, creativity, visual or
performing arts or leadership.
People –First Language
This language trend involves putting the person first not the disability.
Examples: a person with disability not a disabled person
a person with AIDS, rather than AIDS victim
Suggestions for referring to those with disabilities:
1. Avoiding generic label ( people with mental retardation is preferable to the mentally retarded)
2. Emphasizing abilities not limitations ( uses a wheelchair is preferable to confined to a
wheelchair)
3. Avoiding Euphemisms (such as physically-challenged)
4. Avoiding implying illness or suffering ( had polio is preferable to is a polio victim)
Application:
Revise the following sentences to adhere to the people-first language . Write your answer in ½
crosswise of yellow pad paper.
1. The teacher thought of many strategies to teach the mentally challenged.
2. Their brother is mentally retarded.
3. Their organization is for the autistic.
4. He is a polio victim who currently suffers from post-polio syndrome.
5. There was a blind girl in my psychology class.
6. I attended a seminar about teaching disabled children.
7. That classroom was designed for the deaf and blind.
8. I like to read books about the handicapped.
9. He is behaving like that he is abnormal.
10. When she was suffering from a spinal cord injury, in a car accident, she became a paraplegic
and was confined to a wheelchair.