College of Teacher Education Major in English

Course: Bachelor in Secondary Education (BSED II- A)

Professor: Ms. Liane Niel N. Bautista
Discussant: Lovely Joy P. Tubban
Topic: Module 6: LEARNERS WITH EXCEPTIONALITIES

I. What is the lecture about?

The lecture is about the Learners with Exceptionalities

II. What can you gain from the lecture?

After the lecture or class discussion, you are expected to be:

A. Gain an understanding of learners with Exceptionalities
B. Understand about how to teach student with special needs

III. What are the contents of the lecture?

LEARNERS WITH EXCEPTIONALITIES

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 are 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.

DISABILITY

Is a measurable impairment or limitation that “interferes with a person’s ability, for

example, to walk, lift, hear, or learn. It may refer to a physical, sensory, or mental
condition” (Schiefelbusch institute, 1996). The word disability has become the more
accepted term, having replaced the word handicap in federal laws in the US, one of
which is the INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT (IDEA). IDEA is the
law that provides comprehensive service and support for exceptional learners. Our very
own 1987 Philippine constitution, Article XIV, Sec.2, uses the word “disable” in
paragraph “Provide adult citizens, the disabled, and out-of-school youth with training…

HANDICAP

The word handicap does not have the same meaning as disability. A handicap is
a disadvantage that occurs as a result of a disability or impairments. The degree of
disadvantage (or the extent of the handicap) is often dependent on the adjustment
made by both the person and environment. Therefore, the extent to which a disability
handicaps an individual can vary greatly. Two person may have the same disability but
not the same degree of being handicapped. For example, they both have a hearing
impairment, one knows sign language and can read lips while the other cannot. The first
individual would have as much handicap as the second one. Another example, two
person who move around on a wheel chair, the one studying in a school campus with
wheelchair accessibility in all areas would be less handicapped than one in a school
without wheelchair accessibility.

CATEGORIES OF EXCEPTIONALITIES:

SPECIFIC COGNITIVE OR ACADEMIC DIFFICULTIES

 LEARNING DISABILITIES = involve difficulties in specific cognitive processes

like perception, language, memory or metacognition that are not due to other
disabilities like mental retardation, emotional or behavioral disorders, or sensory
impairments. Examples of learning disabilities include dyslexia(reading),
dyscalculia(number operations), and dysgraphia (writing)

 ATTENTION-DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER (ADHD) = is manifested in

either or the both of these:
1.) Difficulty in focusing and maintaining attention
2.) Recurrent hyperactive and impulsive behavior

 SPEECH AND COMMUNICATION DISORDER = there is difficulty in spoken

language including voice disorders, inability to produce the sounds… correctly,
stuttering, difficulty in spoken language comprehension that significantly hamper
classroom performance.

SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL AND BEHAVIORAL DIFFICULTIES

 AUTISM = is a condition manifested by different levels of impaired social

interaction and communication, repetitive behaviors and limited interest.
Individuals with autism usually have an intense need for routine and a predictable
environment.

 MENTAL RETARDATION = refers to significant sub-average intelligence and

deficits in adaptive behavior. There is difficulty in managing activities of daily
living and in conducting themselves appropriately in social situations.

 EMOTIONAL/CONDUCT DISORDERS = this involves the presences of

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

PHYSICAL DISABILITIES AND HEALTH IMPAIRMENTS

This involves physical or medical condition (usually long-term) including one or

more of these:
1.) Limited energy and strength
2.) Reduced mental alertness
3.) Little muscle control.

SEVERE AND MULTIPLE DISABILITIES

This refers to the presence of two or more different types of disability, at times at
a profound level. The combination of disabilities makes it necessary to make specific
adaptations and have more specialized education programs.
SENSORY IMPAIRMENTS

 VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS = these are conditions when there is malfunction of the

eyes or optic nerves that prevent normal vision even with corrective lenses.

 HEARING IMPAIRMENTS = these involve malfunction of the ear or auditory

nerves that hinders perception of sounds within the frequency range of normal
speech.

GIFTEDNESS

This involves a significantly high level of cognitive development. There is usually

high ability or aptitude in one or more of these aspect: intellectual ability, aptitude in
academic subjects, creativity, visual or performing arts or leadership.

PEOPLE-FIRST LANGUAGE

What is People-first language? Just as term would imply, this language trend
involves putting the person first, not the disability (e.g., a person with a disability, not a
disable person). Thus, people-first language tells us what condition people have, not
what they are (Schiefelbush Institute, 1996). This is similar to saying “person with AIDS,
rather than “AIDS victim”. Other suggestion for referring to those with disabilities
include:
 Avoiding generic labels (people with mental retardation is preferable to the
mentally retarded)
 Emphasizing abilities, not limitations (for instance, uses a wheelchair is
preferable to confined to a wheelchair)
 Avoiding euphemisms (such as physically-challenged) which are regarded as
condescending and avoid the real issues that result from a disability
 Avoiding implying illness or suffering (had polio is preferable to is a polio
victim, and has multiple sclerosis is preferable to suffers from multiple sclerosis)
(department of physical medicine and rehabilitation, 2000; Schiefelbusch
institute, 1996).

Using people-first language and applying the guidelines above will remind you to
have a more respectful and accepting attitude toward learners with exceptionalities. The
present of impairments requires them to exert more effort to do things that other like us
find quit easy to do. They are learners who may turn to you for assistance. Beginning
with the right attitude, one of compassion (not of pity nor ridicule), will make you a more
effective teacher, one with hand and the heart who can facilitate their learning and
adjustment.

IV. How will you comply with the requirements of the lectures?

You should be able to participate in the given activity.

V. Resources