Dr. Carl E.

Balita Review Center

CBRC Headquarters
2nd Flr., Carmen Building, 881 G. Tolentino St. corner España Blvd., Sampaloc, Manila 1008

Academics and Services Department (ASD)

PHINMA Education Special Teaching Enhancement Program (STEP)

Foundations of Special Education Handout

Special Education: is a type of educating individuals via accommodation, modification and
individualization depending on their individual differences and needs

LSEN: Learner with Special Educational Needs

PWD: Persons with Disability

Gifted: people who have an IQ of more than 120

Accommodation: giving minimal assistance to the LSEN, but using the same task as
everyone else
Modification: changing some parts of the task to help the LSEN
Individualization: completely changing the task according to the ability of the LSEN

Impairment – any loss or abnormality of psychological, physiological or anatomical

structure or function.
Disability – any restriction or lack of ability to perform an activity in the manner or within
the range considered normal for a human being.
Handicap – the result when an individual with an impairment cannot fulfill a normal life
role.

→ The first SPED school in the Philippines was established in 1908 at Harrison, Pasay City
which originally caters to people with deafness.

→The 1st SPED school is called The School for Deaf.

Republic Acts on SPED

RA 3562: an act promoting the education of people with blindness thus pioneering the
Philippine National School for the Blind
RA 7277: an act providing for the rehabilitation, self-development and self-reliance of
disabled persons and their integration into the mainstream of society and for other
purposes

RA 9442: an act amending RA 7277 by adding more privileges to PWD such as discounts

RA 5250: an act promoting a ten-year training program for SPED teachers in the Philippines
and authorizing the appropriation of funds thereof

RA 10754: an act expanding the benefits and privileges of PWD

Types of Disabilities:
1. Intellectual Disability: characterised by someone having an IQ below 70 (the median IQ
is 100), as well as significant difficulty with daily living such as self-care, safety,
communication, and socialisation.
• Fragile X Syndrome: is the most common known cause of an inherited intellectual
disability worldwide. It is a genetic condition caused by a mutation (a change in the
DNA structure) in the X chromosome.
• Down Syndrome: is not a disease or illness, it is a genetic disorder which occurs
when someone is born with a full, or partial, extra copy of chromosome 21 in their
DNA.
• Developmental Delay: when a child develops at a slower rate compared to other
children of the same age
• Prader-Willi Syndrome: is a rare genetic disorder which affects around 1 in 10,000 –
20,000 people. This disability is quite complex and it’s caused by an abnormality in
the genes of chromosome 15.
• Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: refers to a number of conditions that are caused
when an unborn foetus is exposed to alcohol.

2. Physical Disabilities
• Cerebral Palsy: is a physical disability resulting from injury to the developing brain
during pregnancy, birth, or shortly after birth
• Stroke: is a physical disability resulting from bleeding in the brain or interruption of
the central nervous system's blood supply
• Spina Bifida: is a type of physical disability, which occurs during pregnancy where
there is incomplete closure of the bony encasement of the spinal cord, leaving the
spinal nerves exposed
• Arthritis: is a physical disability that causes inflammation and pain in joints, bones,
and muscles
 • Spinal Cord Injury: result from a lack of sufficient blood and oxygen supply to the
spinal cord
• Epilepsy: is a neurological condition where an individual tends to have recurring
unprovoked seizures
• Muscular Dystrophy: occurs when the muscles responsible for controlling movement
become weak

3. Learning Disabilities
• Dyslexia: a disorder that impacts reading, writing, and comprehension
• Dysgraphia: have trouble converting their thoughts into writing or drawing
• Dyscalculia: disabilities related to mathematical calculations
• Dyspraxia: is a common disorder that affects movement and co-ordination
• Auditory Processing Disorder: difficulty processing sounds
• Language Processing Disorder: arises when an individual has specific challenges in
processing spoken language, impacting both receptive and expressive language
• Nonverbal Learning Disabilities: refers to difficulties in decoding nonverbal behaviors
or social cues
• Visual Perceptual/Visual Motor Deficit: exhibits poor hand-eye coordination, often
lose their places when reading, and have difficulty with pencils, crayons, glue,
scissors, and other fine motor activities

4. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): is a mental disorder that affects the
brain’s regulation of behavior. The symptoms of ADHD include difficulty paying attention,
hyperactivity, and impulsiveness.

5. Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): is a common, chronic, and long-lasting
disorder in which a person has uncontrollable, reoccurring thoughts (obsessions)
and/or behaviors (compulsions) that he or she feels the urge to repeat over and over
• Agoraphobia: is the fear of being alone in a public place, generally, in situations in
which it would be difficult or embarrassing to escape in the event of a panic
attack
• Adjustment Disorder: difficulty in coping with change
• Acute Stress Reaction: is a short-term response to a traumatic event
• Bipolar Disorder: is a mental health condition marked by intense mood changes
• Conduct Disorder: children with a conduct disorder are selfish, do not relate well
to others, and lack an appropriate sense of guilt

6. Sensory Disabilities
• Blindness and Low Vision: is defined by permanent vision loss, which cannot be
corrected using glasses and affects daily functioning
• Hearing Loss and Deafness: is the loss of the hearing sensory
 • Deaf-Blindness: is a type of sensory disability is characterized by loss of both hearing
and seeing
• Sensory Processing Disorder: is a disability where an individual has difficulties
receiving and responding to information coming in via senses

7. Eating Disorders
• Anorexia Nervosa: people with anorexia generally view themselves as overweight,
even if they’re dangerously underweight
• Bulimia Nervosa: people with bulimia frequently eat unusually large amounts of food
in a specific period of time
• Binge Eating Disorder: people who typically eat unusually large amounts of food in
relatively short periods of time and feel a lack of control during binges
• Pica: involves eating things that are not considered food
• Rumination Disorder: describes a condition in which a person regurgitates food they
have previously chewed and swallowed, re-chews it, and then either re-swallows it or
spits it out
• Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake: individuals with this disorder experience disturbed
eating either due to a lack of interest in eating or distaste for certain smells, tastes,
colors, textures, or temperature
• Purging Disorder: individuals with purging disorder often use purging behaviors, such
as vomiting, laxatives, diuretics, or excessive exercising, to control their weight or
shape. However, they do not binge
• Night Eating Syndrome: individuals with this syndrome frequently eat excessively,
often after awakening from sleep

Aptitudes
• Intellectual Quotient (IQ): our ability to comprehend, solve problems, think and
express our thoughts
• Emotional Quotient (EQ): our ability to deal with our emotions and with others’ as
well
• Adversity Quotient (AQ): our ability to face problems and pass through them without
losing ourselves
• Social Quotient (SQ): our ability to build, handle and maintain relationships

Formula in computing for the IQ:

𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑔𝑒
( ) x 100
𝑐ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑔𝑒