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Exceptional Students: Preparing

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Brief Contents
PART ONE Special Education: Fundamentals and Processes

CHAPTER 1 An Overview of Special Education (co-authored by Ronald L. Taylor, Stephen B. Richards,
and Megan L. Lyons) 1 ©Realistic
Reflections
CHAPTER 2 The Special Education Process: From Initial Identification to the Delivery of Services
(co-authored by Ronald L. Taylor, Stephen B. Richards, and Megan L. Lyons) 28
CHAPTER 3 School, Family, and Community Collaboration 55

PART TWO IDEA High-Prevalence Exceptionalities: Foundations and Instruction


©Stretch
CHAPTER 4 Students with Learning Disabilities 84 Photography/Getty
Images RF
CHAPTER 5 Students with Intellectual Disabilities 126
CHAPTER 6 Students with Emotional or Behavioral Disorders 164
CHAPTER 7 Students with Communication Disorders 202

PART THREE IDEA Low-Incidence Exceptionalities: Foundations and Instruction


©Zuma Press,
CHAPTER 8 Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing 238 Inc./Alamy
CHAPTER 9 Students Who Are Blind or Have Low Vision 270
CHAPTER 10 Students with Physical or Health Disabilities 306
CHAPTER 11 Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders 339
CHAPTER 12 Students with Severe Disabilities (co-authored by Stephen B. Richards and Mary-Kate Sableski) 378

PART FOUR Other Exceptionalities: Foundations and Instruction


©Marty
CHAPTER 13 Students Who Are At Risk: Early Identification and Intervention 410 Heitner/The
Image Works
CHAPTER 14 Students with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder 442
CHAPTER 15 S
 tudents Who Are Gifted and Talented (co-authored by Ronald L. Taylor, Lisa A. Finnegan,
and Katie M. Miller) 474

Appendixes
TEXT APPENDIX: Sample Individualized Education Program A-1
ONLINE APPENDIX: Lesson Plans, Classroom Suggestions, and Instructional Resources

vii
Contents

Preface xiv

PART ONE Special Education:


Fundamentals and Processes
©Realistic Reflections

CHAPTER 1 An Overview of Special CHAPTER 2 The Special Education Process:


Education 1 From Initial Identification to the Delivery
of Services 28
Who Are Exceptional Students? 3
How Many Exceptional Students Are There? 4 How Are Exceptional Students Initially Identified
as Having a Possible Exceptionality? 30
What Are Special Education and Related Services? 7
Initial Identification of Infants, Toddlers,
Special Education 7 and Preschool Children 30
Related Services 9 Initial Identification of School-Aged Students 31
What Is the History of Special Education? 12 What Are the Prereferral Process
Early History 13 and the Referral Process? 31
The 17th through 19th Centuries 13 The Prereferral Process 32
The 20th Century 14 The Referral Process 38
How Have Litigation and Legislation Affected How Do Students Become Eligible
Special Education? 15 for Special Education? 39
Early Court Cases 15 The Use of Disability Labels 40
Early Legislation Affecting Special Education 16 Evaluation Procedures 41
Post–PL 94-142 Legislation 18
How Is an Exceptional Student’s
Current Legislation: Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (PL 108-446) 19 Educational Program Developed? 44
The Individualized Education Program 44
What Are Some Current and Future Issues in Special
The Individualized Family Service Plan 46
Education? 24
Decisions about Program Placement 48
Overrepresentation of Students from Culturally
or Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds 24
Education and Transition of Infants and Toddlers 25
Role of the General Education Teacher 26
viii
Conflict Management 69
CHAPTER 3 School, Family, and Community Increasing Involvement of Diverse Families 70
Collaboration 55
What Are Best Practices for Collaboration
What Is Collaboration? 57 among School Personnel? 71
A Brief History of Collaboration 59 Co-teaching 71
Key Concepts of Collaboration 60 Role of Administrators in Collaboration 73
Barriers to Collaboration 63 Role of Paraprofessionals in Collaboration 75
Role of Teams in Collaboration 64 Role of Related Services Personnel in Collaboration 76

What Are Best Practices for Collaboration between What Are Best Practices for Collaboration
Schools and Families? 65 between Schools and Communities? 78
Increasing Student Involvement 66 Best Practices for Collaboration in Early Childhood 78
Increasing Family Involvement 67 Best Practices for Collaboration for Transition
Increasing Sibling Involvement 68 to Adult Living 79

PART TWO IDEA High-


Prevalence Exceptionalities:
Foundations and Instruction
©Stretch Photography/Getty Images RF

CHAPTER 4 Students with Learning CHAPTER 5 Students with Intellectual


Disabilities 84 Disabilities 126

What Are the Foundations of Learning Disabilities? 86 What Are the Foundations of Intellectual Disabilities? 128
A Brief History of Learning Disabilities 86 A Brief History of Intellectual Disabilities 128
Definitions of Learning Disabilities 88 Definitions of Intellectual Disabilities 129
Prevalence of Learning Disabilities 89 Prevalence of Intellectual Disabilities 132

What Are the Causes and Characteristics What Are the Causes and Characteristics of Intellectual
of Learning Disabilities? 90 Disabilities? 133
Causes of Learning Disabilities 90 Causes of Intellectual Disabilities 133
Characteristics of Students with Learning Disabilities 92 Characteristics of Students with Intellectual Disabilities 135

How Are Students with Learning How Are Students with Intellectual
Disabilities Identified? 97 Disabilities Identified? 139
Response to Intervention 98 Intelligence Testing 139
The Use of Standardized Testing 100 Adaptive Behavior Skills Assessment 140
Academic Skills Assessment 140
What and How Do I Teach Students
with Learning Disabilities? 101 What and How Do I Teach
Instructional Content 102 Students with Intellectual
Instructional Procedures 106 Disabilities? 141
Instructional
What Are Other Instructional Considerations for Content 141
Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities? 114 Instructional
The Instructional Environment 114 Procedures 147
Instructional Technology 117

What Are Some Considerations for the


General Education Teacher? 120 ©Andy Dean Photography/
Shutterstock

ix
What Are Other Instructional Considerations for Teaching What Are Other Instructional Considerations for Teaching
Students with Intellectual Disabilities? 150 Students with Emotional or Behavioral Disorders? 191
The Instructional Environment 150 The Instructional Environment 192
Instructional Technology 154 Instructional Technology 194

What Are Some Considerations for the General Education What Are Some Considerations for the General Education
Teacher? 157 Teacher? 195

CHAPTER 6 Students with Emotional CHAPTER 7 Students with Communication


or Behavioral Disorders 164 Disorders 202

What Are the Foundations of Emotional and Behavioral What Are the Foundations of Communication
Disorders? 166 Disorders? 204
A Brief History of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders 166 A Brief History of Communication Disorders 204
Definitions of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders 167 Definitions of Communication Disorders 205
Classification of Individuals with Emotional or Behavioral Prevalence of Communication Disorders 209
Disorders 168
What Are the Causes and Characteristics
Prevalence of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders 169
of Communication Disorders? 210
What Are the Causes and Characteristics of Emotional Causes of Communication Disorders 210
and Behavioral Disorders? 170 Characteristics of Students with Communication Disorders 212
Causes of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders 171
How Are Students with Communication Disorders
Characteristics of Students with Emotional or Behavioral
Disorders 171 Identified? 216
Identification of Language Disorders 216
How Are Students with Emotional or Behavioral
Identification of Speech Disorders 218
Disorders Identified? 173
Evaluation of Students Who Are Linguistically Diverse 218
Observation 174
Behavior Rating Scales 174 What and How Do I Teach Students with Communication
Behavior Assessment Systems 175 Disorders? 220
Personality Inventories 175 Instructional Content 221

Projective Tests 175 Instructional Procedures 222

What and How Do I Teach Students with Emotional What Are Other Instructional Considerations for Teaching
or Behavioral Disorders? 176 Students with Communication Disorders? 226
Instructional Content 176 The Instructional Environment 226

Instructional Procedures 182 Instructional Technology 230

What Are Some Considerations for the General Education


Teacher? 232

PART THREE IDEA Low-Incidence


Exceptionalities: Foundations and
Instruction
©Zuma Press, Inc./Alamy
What Are the Causes and Characteristics of Deafness
CHAPTER 8 Students Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing? 244
or Hard of Hearing 238
Causes of Hearing Losses 245
What Are the Foundations of Deafness and Hard Characteristics of Deaf Students and Those
Who Are Hard of Hearing 246
of Hearing? 240
A Brief History of Deafness and Hard of Hearing 240
Definitions of Deafness and Hard of Hearing 242
Prevalence of Deafness and Hard of Hearing 244

x
How Are Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
Identified? 250
CHAPTER 10 Students with Physical or Health
Disabilities 306
Identification of Newborns and Young Children Who Are
Deaf or Hard of Hearing 251
What Are the Foundations of Physical
Identification of School-Aged Students Who Are
and Health Disabilities? 308
Deaf or Hard of Hearing 251
A Brief History of Physical and Health Disabilities 308
Assessment of the Effect on Educational Performance 251
Definitions of Physical and Health Disabilities 309
What and How Do I Teach Students Who Are Deaf Prevalence of Physical and Health Disabilities 309
or Hard of Hearing? 252
Instructional Content 253
What Are the Causes and Characteristics of Physical
and Health Disabilities? 310
Instructional Procedures 256
Orthopedic Impairments 310
What Are Other Instructional Considerations for Teaching Other Health Impairments 313
Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing? 257 Traumatic Brain Injury 317
The Instructional Environment 257
Instructional Technology 260
How Are Students with Physical or Health Disabilities
Identified? 320
What Are Some Considerations for the General Education Identification of Orthopedic Impairments 321
Teacher? 264 Identification of Other Health Impairments 321
Identification of Traumatic Brain Injury 322
CHAPTER 9 Students Who Are Blind
What and How Do I Teach Students with Physical
or Have Low Vision 270
or Health Disabilities? 323
What Are the Foundations of Blindness and Low Instructional Content 323
Vision? 272 Instructional Procedures 325
A Brief History of Blindness and Low Vision 272 What Are Other Instructional Considerations for Teaching
Definitions of Blindness and Low Vision 274 Students with Physical or Health Disabilities? 329
Prevalence of Blindness and Low Vision 276 The Instructional Environment 329

What Are the Causes and Characteristics of Blindness Instructional Technology 330
and Low Vision? 276 What Are Some Considerations for the General Education
Causes of Blindness and Low Vision 276 Teacher? 334
Characteristics of Students Who Are Blind or Have Low
Vision 278
CHAPTER 11 Students with Autism Spectrum
How Are Students Who Are Blind or Have Low Vision Disorders 339
Identified? 281
Identification of Blindness or Low Vision in Infants What Are the Foundations of Autism
and Toddlers 282 Spectrum Disorders? 341
Identification of Blindness or Low Vision in School-Aged A Brief History of Autism Spectrum Disorders 341
Children 282 Definitions of Autism Spectrum Disorders 342
Comprehensive Assessment 283 Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders 344
What and How Do I Teach Students Who Are Blind What Are the Causes and Characteristics
or Have Low Vision? 286 of Autism Spectrum Disorders? 345
Instructional Content 286 Causes of Autism Spectrum
Instructional Procedures 292 Disorders 345
Characteristics of Autism
What Are Other Instructional Considerations for Teaching
Spectrum Disorders 347
Students Who Are Blind or Have Low Vision? 295
The Instructional Environment 295
Instructional Technology 298

What Are Some Considerations for the General Education


Teacher? 299

©Thomas M Perkins/Shutterstock

xi
How Are Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders Classification of Individuals with Severe Disabilities 382
Identified? 352 Prevalence of Severe Disabilities 383
Early Screening 352
What Are the Causes and Characteristics of Severe
Diagnosis 352
Disabilities? 383
What and How Do I Teach Students with Autism Causes of Severe Disabilities 383
Spectrum Disorders? 354 Characteristics of Students with Severe Disabilities 384
Instructional Content 354
How Are Students with Severe Disabilities
Instructional Procedures 360
Identified? 388
What Are Other Instructional Considerations for Teaching Assessment Strategies for Identification 389
Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders? 365 Identification of Individuals with Deaf-Blindness 390
The Instructional Environment 366
What and How Do I Teach Students with Severe
Instructional Technology 369
Disabilities? 391
What Are Some Considerations for the General Education Instructional Content 391
Teacher? 371 Instructional Procedures 396

What Are Other Instructional Considerations for Teaching


CHAPTER 12 Students with Severe Students with Severe Disabilities? 400
Disabilities 378 The Instructional Environment 400
Instructional Technology 402
What Are the Foundations of Severe Disabilities? 380
A Brief History of Severe Disabilities 380 What Are Some Considerations for the General Education
Definitions of Severe Disabilities 381 Teacher? 404

PART FOUR Other Exceptionalities:


Foundations and Instruction

©Marty Heitner/The Image Works

What Are Factors That Place Children At Risk? 416


CHAPTER 13 Students Who Are At Risk: Early
Conditions of Established Risk 416
Identification and Intervention 410
Conditions of Biological/Medical Risk 417
What Are the Foundations of At-Risk Conditions? 413 Conditions of Environmental Risk 417
A Brief History of At-Risk Conditions 413 Protective Factors 421
The Definition of At Risk 414 Profile of an At-Risk Child 421
Prevalence of Students Who Are At Risk 415 How Are Children Who Are At Risk Identified? 423
The Identification of Infants and Toddlers At Risk 423
The Identification of Young Children At Risk 424

What and How Do I Teach Students


©Tony Freeman/PhotoEdit
Who Are At Risk? 426
Instructional Content 426
Instructional Procedures 428

What Are Other Instructional Considerations


for Students Who Are At Risk? 433
The Home Environment 433
The Instructional Environment 434
Instructional Technology 435

What Are Some Considerations for the


General Education Teacher? 436
xii
How Are Students Who Are Gifted and Talented
CHAPTER 14 Students with Attention Deficit/ Identified? 485
Hyperactivity Disorder 442
Identification of Preschool Children with Gifts or Talents 486
What Are the Foundations of Attention Deficit/ Identification of School-Aged Students with Gifts
or Talents 486
Hyperactivity Disorder? 444
Identification of Underrepresented Groups with Gifts
A Brief History of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder 445
or Talents 488
The Definition of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder 445
Alternative Approaches to Identification 490
Prevalence of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder 447
What and How Do I Teach Students Who Are Gifted
What Are the Causes and Characteristics of Attention and Talented? 491
Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder? 448
Acceleration and Enrichment 492
Causes of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder 448
Instructional Content 494
Characteristics of Students with Attention
Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences 495
Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder 449
Instructional Procedures 496
How Are Students with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity
Disorder Identified? 452 What Are Other Instructional Considerations for Students
Who Are Gifted and Talented? 500
Interviews 453
The Instructional Environment 500
Questionnaires and Checklists 454
Instructional Technology 503
Rating Scales 454
Academic Testing 454 What Are Some Considerations for the General Education
Direct Observation 455 Teacher? 504

What and How Do I Teach Students with Attention


Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder? 455 APPENDIXES
Instructional Content 455 TEXT APPENDIX: Sample Individualized
Instructional Procedures 458 Education Program A-1

What Are Other Instructional Considerations for Teaching ONLINE APPENDIX: Lesson Plans, Classroom Suggestions,
and Instructional Resources
Students with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity
Disorder? 463 GLOSSARY G-1
The Instructional Environment 463
REFERENCES R-1
Instructional Technology 466
NAME INDEX I-1
What Are Some Considerations for the General
SUBJECT INDEX I-13
Education Teacher? 467

CHAPTER 15 Students Who Are Gifted


and Talented 474

What Are the Foundations of Gifts and Talents? 476


A Brief History of Gifts and Talents 476
Definitions of Gifts and Talents 477
Prevalence of Gifts and Talents 479

What Are the Causes and Characteristics


of Gifts and Talents? 479
Causes of Gifts and Talents 480
Characteristics of Students Who Are Gifted
and Talented 481

©Syracuse Newspapers/Li-Hua
Lan/The Image Works

xiii
Preface

We are excited to offer you the third edition of Exceptional Students: Preparing Teachers for
the 21st Century. The field of education has evolved into one that requires collaboration
among families, communities, and schools. Within schools, special and general educators
must collaborate to be effective and efficient in teaching and responding to the demands
of new standards, statewide assessments, and calls for education reform. In this third
edition of Exceptional Students: Preparing Teachers for the 21st Century, we have refined
and updated our content to reflect the role of the special educator while continuing to
address the role of the general educator in serving special populations.
The third edition includes updated references and photographs, changes to the con-
tent emphases and discussions to reflect current thought and practice, and additions/
deletions of tables and figures to also reflect current thought. The following section, New
Additions to the Third Edition, outlines more specifics. We would like to stress that this
text includes information from DSM-5, the latest from the AAIDD, and other important
publications and references that define and influence the field of special education. We
are grateful to the instructors and students who have given us their feedback on the text.
Their classroom experiences inspired suggested refinements that we incorporated
throughout the third edition.

New Additions to the Third Edition


Each chapter of the book has been rewritten and revised to reflect current research.
References and photographs have been updated throughout. The content has been
refined for clarity and consistency. Case studies have been updated as needed to reflect
current practices.
Chapter 1: New research and figures reflect the 38th Annual Report to Congress
on IDEA.
Chapter 2: Content has been reorganized slightly to reflect Response to Interven-
tion (RTI) research.
Chapter 3: Person-centered planning information has been updated to reflect
­current practice. The co-teaching models have been revised and updated to reflect
current practice. The interagency agreement section has been removed to more
closely match the actual practice of most teachers.
Chapter 4: Information on instructional practices has been expanded a bit to
reflect the emphasis on STEM programs. The practices section has also been
updated to reflect the ever-increasing focus on access to the general education
­curriculum.
Chapter 5: The terminology has been changed to intellectual disabilities from mental
retardation (except as when historically appropriate). The definition and identifica-
tion procedures have been changed to reflect the AAIDD’s most recent publica-
tions. The supports model of service delivery has been updated as well. The
preventive measures section now reflects more current thinking in the field. The
academic content and instructional technology sections have been expanded to
reflect the more current focus on inclusion while maintaining the need for func-
tional skills and community-based instruction.
Chapter 6: The definition and identification procedures have been changed to
reflect the DSM-5 revisions and a more current focus on evaluation. The instruc-
tional procedures sections have been updated.

xiv
Chapter 7: The content has been updated to reflect the changes in delivery of ser-
vices options.
Chapter 8: The characteristics information has been updated to reflect more recent
research. The environmental arrangements section has also been updated.
Chapter 9: Both the national agenda and expanded core curriculum information
includes more recent changes. The assessment section has been updated to include
current practice. The assistive technology section has been updated with outdated
material deleted.
Chapter 10: The Individualized Health Care plans section has been revised to
better reflect current practice.
Chapter 11: All of the foundation section has been rewritten to reflect changes
made in the DSM-5. Outdated tables also have been deleted to reflect these
changes. The practices section has been updated to reflect more emphasis on
accessing the general education curriculum. Instructional technology has been
updated and expanded.
Chapter 12: In general, the overall coverage in this chapter has been reduced to
better reflect reviewers’ preferences. The levels of support discussion has been
updated to reflect the new AAIDD publications. The table on various syndromes
has been deleted, and readers are referred to the National Institutes of Health
­website for detailed information of medical conditions and syndromes. Accessing
the general education curriculum discussion has been revised and updated.
­Information on alternative assessments has been minimized, as the procedures
vary from state to state.
Chapter 13: All prevalence and risk factors statistics have been updated to reflect
newer definitions and trends. Assessment tools have been updated. Information that
was duplicative has been removed. The skills in early literacy identified by the
National Early Literacy Panel (NELP), which have replaced the National Reading
Panel skills as the areas on which to focus with this age group, are discussed.
Chapter 14: The definition section and tables in the foundations section have
incorporated the changes made in the DSM-5. The instructional procedures sec-
tions have been updated.
Chapter 15: Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM) material has been added to
expand coverage of research on gifted and talented students. Bloom’s Taxonomy
has been updated to the newer revision.

An Emphasis on What Teachers Need to


Know and Be Able to Do
CH A P T ER OU T LI NE
The new edition of Exceptional Students provides
F O U N DAT I O N S P R AC T I C E
balanced coverage of the foundations of exception- What Are the Foundations of Learning Disabilities? What and How Do I Teach Students with Learning

alities that future teachers need to know to under- A Brief History of Learning Disabilities
Definitions of Learning Disabilities
Disabilities?
Instructional Content

stand their students and responsibilities, and the Prevalence of Learning Disabilities Types of Content Knowledge
Areas of Instructional Content

practical information they need to effectively teach


What Are the Causes and Characteristics of Transition Planning
Learning Disabilities?
Instructional Procedures
Causes of Learning Disabilities
their students. Although the general topics Characteristics of Students with Learning
Disabilities
What Are Other Instructional Considerations for
Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities?

addressed are similar to those of other textbooks, How Are Students with Learning Disabilities
The Instructional Environment
Instructional Technology
Identified?
coverage of these topics is enhanced within each Response to Intervention What Are Some Considerations for the General
Education Teacher?
chapter of Exceptional Students, third edition.
The Use of Standardized Testing

xv
IN TRODUC IN G J USTIN
Justin is a 7-year-old boy who is cur- assignments. When Justin does do his responded favorably to the strategies,
rently in the second grade. His mother work, he loses interest part way through but Justin didn’t. At that point, Mr.
reports that she had a difficult preg- and usually does not finish it. When he Mayer worked directly with Justin for an
Coverage of practical information related to instructional content, instructional pro-
cedures, the instructional environment, and instructional technology has been expanded
from its traditional treatment so that each chapter provides equal amounts of founda-
tional and practical material. In addition, two topics crucial for future teachers to under-
stand in order to best support their students—collaboration and students at risk—are
stand-alone chapters.

Foundational Information for Understanding


Exceptionalities
The first half of each exceptionality chapter is devoted to the foundational information
about exceptionalities that future teachers need to know. This section discusses the
history, definitions, prevalence, causes, characteristics, and identification procedures
of the specific exceptionality. Devoting the first half of the chapter to foundational
content provides future teachers with the groundwork they will need to make informed
instructional decisions in the classroom.
Foundational coverage is also highlighted through the An Important Event feature,
which presents a key event or the publication of seminal research that has helped shape
special education today. Reflection questions, designed to help students consider their
opinion or the importance of the event, accompany each discussion. Examples of impor-
tant events include the founding of the Council for Exceptional Children, publication of
Wang and Birch’s proposal for the use of the Adaptive Learning Environment Model,
and publication of the results of the Carolina Abecedarian Project. Even though Excep-
tional Students emphasizes practical applications, we believe it is vital for students to
understand how special education has evolved and to consider their place in its continu-
ingOU
CHAP TER development.
TLI N E Foundational content also supports teacher education candidates in
passing state licensure exams.
F OUN DATI O N S PRACTICE
What Are the Foundations of Deafness and Hard of What and How Do I Teach Students Who Are Deaf or
Hearing? Hard of Hearing?
A Brief History of Deafness and Hard of Hearing
Definitions of Deafness and Hard of Hearing
Prevalence of Deafness and Hard of Hearing
Practical Information to Guide Classroom
Instructional Content
Content Areas
Literacy

Planning and Instruction


Deaf Studies
What Are the Causes and Characteristics of Deafness
Transition Planning
and Hard of Hearing?
Instructional Procedures
Causes of Hearing Losses
Characteristics of Deaf Students and Those Who Are Hard What Are Other Instructional Considerations for
of Hearing Teaching Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing?
The second The Instructionalhalf of each exceptionality chapter provides instructional and pedagogical
Environment
How Are Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
Identified? information future teachers need to know to effectively teach students. This part of the
The Least Restrictive Environment
Student and Family Preferences
Identification of Newborns and Young Children Who Are
Deaf or Hard of Hearing chapter is organized around instructional content, instructional procedures, the instruc-
Environmental Arrangements
Instructional Technology
Identification of School-Aged Students Who Are Deaf or
Hard of Hearing tional What environment,
Are Some Considerations for and instructional technology, as well as specific considerations for
the General
Assessment of the Effect on Educational Performance Education Teacher?
the general education teacher. In addition,
the general education section introduces top-
ics that are important when planning and
I N TRO DUC IN G A LLISON implementing instruction for students with
Allison is a 6-year-old girl who has just Allison uses hearing aids that make it monitored and assessed frequently, can special needs within the general education
started the first grade. She has a hearing possible for her to learn using her audi-
loss resulting from repeated and severe tory channel. Her speech and language
be developed in her general education
class. Also, an audiologist will provide
classroom. Practical strategies are also high-
ear infections in infancy and throughout skills are delayed, likely the result of not consultation to Allison’s parents, teach- lighted in the following features:
her early childhood. The infections hearing adequately in early childhood. ers, and speech and language pathologist
resulted in a bilateral conductive hear- Her parents are concerned about her lit- to ensure her hearing aids are working
ing loss. Her loss is mild to moderate— eracy skills development as she begins properly, are being maintained, and are
she does not hear clearly until sounds
reach a 40 decibel level. She experiences
school. Because she qualified for early
intervention, the school and Allison’s par-
being used as effectively as possible. ■
Chapter-opening Case Study
this hearing loss across all frequencies ents developed an IEP for and Revisit Opportunities
of sound detectable by the human ear. her. She receives speech
Prior to entering school, Allison and language services regu-
Each chapter begins with a scenario describ-
received early intervention services at larly. An itinerant teacher for
home from an audiologist and early students who are deaf or ing a student with special needs in the con-
childhood special educator. Because of
her frequent illnesses, she only sporadi-
hard of hearing provides con-
sultation to her general educa-
text of his or her educational experience.
cally attended a center-based preschool tion teacher. The team did not Throughout the chapter, readers are pre-
program. With time, medical interven-
tions greatly reduced the infections and
feel they should “pull out” Alli-
son for resource room services if
sented with related questions called Revisits,
their severity. her literacy skills, which will be which ask students to apply key concepts
©Carmen Martínez Banús/E+/Getty Images
they have just learned to an actual situation.

xvi
These cases tie the chapter together, allow for contextual learning, and offer an instruc-
tor several additional topics for discussion. For example, in Chapter 8, the reader is
introduced to Allison, a student with a hearing loss. Later in the chapter, the reader
is asked whether Allison would be considered deaf or hard of hearing, what issues she
might have with her identity, and how her teacher might plan for accommodations
during literacy instruction.

Classroom Suggestions Classroom Suggestion Tips for Software Selection

As in the first and second editions, the emphasis on When selecting software, make sure: There are small increments between levels.

practical classroom suggestions and strategies is main-


Content is free of gender, cultural, and racial stereotypes. Only a limited number of incorrect responses are allowed
per problem.
Content is interesting, engaging, and encourages
tained. Each chapter includes several Classroom Sugges- exploration and imagination. There are built-in instructional aids (e.g., virtual
manipulatives in math).
tions with strategies and tips. These clear, concise Activities require decision making and judgments.
There are minimal keyboard skill requirements and easy-

strategies serve as mini-guides for future teachers, giving It has a high degree of interactivity. to-understand icons.

them confidence to enter their classrooms ready to han-


The screen is not cluttered. The less clutter on the screen, There are praise and helpful feedback provisions.
the better.
It has a built-in review.
dle myriad situations. Examples of Classroom Suggestions Procedures and goals match those being taught in school.
Real-life solutions are simulated.
include Strategies to Promote Family Involvement, Directions are simple to read or have images or speech to
guide use. It has good record-keeping capabilities.
Guidelines for Implementing Cooperative Learning, Software is modifiable (e.g., speed, quantity of problems, And

Examples of Instructional Grouping Accommodations levels).


Remember software is a learning tool—not the total
Programs contain more than one activity. solution!
for Students with Intellectual Disabilities, and Accom-
modations for a Student Who Has Difficulty with Source: Lee (1987), Babbitt (1999), Hutinger and Johanson (1998).

PRACTICE
­Self-Control. into writing. Graphic organizers have also been found to have large effects on compre-
hension of vocabulary and science content for secondary students with learning disabili-
ties (Dexter & Hughes, 2010; Dexter, Park, & Hughes, 2011). In a younger age version,
Classroom Example Mnemonic Strategy for Teaching Students to
Kidspiration, K–5 students can build graphic organizers by combining pictures, text, and

Classroom Examples spoken words to represent thoughts and information. In mathematics instruction, com-
Write a Friendly Letter
puter-aided instruction has been shown to be an effective tool (Salend, 2015). Students
who use appropriate technology persist longer, enjoy learning more, and make gains in
The third edition of Exceptional Students math performance. Instructional software for computation, time, money, measurement,
algebra, and word-problem solving is widely available. Students with poor organizational
continues to include classroom artifacts skills,
Purpose: memory
To aid studentsdeficits, oraillegible
in writing handwriting may benefit from using personal digital
friendly letter.
assistants (PDAs) to keep track of assignments, make to-do lists, take notes, cue them-
and sample handouts of real and relevant Population: Elementary
selves to perform a particular task with the alarm or paging system, access and remem-
LETTERber task sequences, or organize important information (Bauer & Ulrich, 2002; Klein-Ezell
student and teacher work. For example, I Ezell, 2008; Miller, 2009; Salend, 2015). A significant advantage of handheld PDAs is
Lead offtheir
with date and greeting.
portability and their universal use. Digital pens can record lectures allowing stu-
the text shares a sample Team-Teaching dents to go back to their notes later and fill in any missing information. Digital textbooks
Express my thoughts and ideas in the body.
(e-books) can help students succeed in content area classes.
plan, a Contingency Contract, and a Social Terminate with closing and my name.
The Selection of Technology
Story with picture cues to assist with wait- Take time to proofread.
Technology has great potential for improving performance of students with learning dis-
ing in line in the cafeteria. abilities on general education expectations (Maccini, Gagnon, & Hughes, 2002), but
Edit and revise if necessary.
teachers must take care to choose well-designed, time-efficient programs. They must also
Realize avoid using
that I am the letter
a good computers
writer. to simply keep students occupied without relating the com-
puter work to their educational needs. Assistive technology must be carefully matched to
Source:the needsbyofEllen
Provided the Karger
student and South
(1998), the environment inofwhich
Florida teacher thewith
students learning
learningwill take place
disabilities.
Practical Considerations for (Beigel, 2000; Bryant & Bryant, 2012).
With valuable instructional time limited, teachers should carefully select appropri-
the Classroom ate, time-efficient software that meets the needs of students and incorporates best prac-
tice in instructional design and curriculum (Bryant & Bryant, 2012). Several characteristics
of software that result in efficient use by students with learning disabilities are presented
Concluding each chapter, Practical Considerations for the Classroom: A Reference for Teach- in the Classroom and
Suggestions
capitalsfeature above. & Scruggs, 2014). It is effective because it is concrete and
(Mastropieri
meaningful What
and closely ties new information to students’ prior knowledge (Scruggs &
ers provides an at-a-glance practical summary the future teacher can take into
Mastropieri, the
2000). class-
Are Other Instructional
Mastropieri
Considerations for Teaching Students with Learning
and Scruggs (1991) presented the following “three Rs”
Disabilities? 119

room. Sections of the feature include What IDEA Says about the Specific of the Exceptionality,
keyword method:

Identification Tools, Characteristics, Indicators You Might See, Teaching Implications,1. Reconstruct the term or word to be learned into an
acoustically similar, already familiar, and easily pic-
JUSTIN REVISITED Are there some
Methodologies and Strategies to Try, Considerations for the General Classroom, and tured concrete term—select a keyword (to learn bar-
metacognitive or cognitive strategies that rister is a lawyer, the keyword selected is bear).
Collaboration. Again, understanding the principlesmight of help
planning, implementing, and2. Relate the keyword to the to-be-learned information
Justin learn better? If yes, in
delivering special education and related services is vital
whattoareas?
passing
If not,state
why dolicensure exams. in
you think these
an interactive picture, image, or sentence (e.g., the
interactive sentence to be pictured is “a bear pleading
a case in court”).
would not help him? 3. Retrieve the appropriate response: when asked what
the response is (what is a barrister?): first, think of
Coverage of Collaboration the keyword (“bear”); second, think back to the interactive picture and what was
happening in that picture (“a bear pleading a case”). Finally, give the desired
response (“a barrister is a lawyer”).
We strongly believe that helping our future teachers to be part of a Attribution collaborative team
Retraining. Students are more likely to use effective cognitive strategies
will result in a better educational experience for the exceptional student, the general
when they attribute their learning success to the use of these strategies (Meltzer & Mon-
tague, 2001). Many students with learning disabilities may need to be taught to do this.
education teacher, and the special education teacher. We have continued
attribution retraining
to devote
Successful attribution a requires first teaching students to make statements that
retraining
complete chapter to collaboration and have updated the section
A procedure to retrain an
individual’s attributions of on
reflect co-teaching
attributions of effort,inthen teaching them to attribute difficulties to ineffective
strategies, and finally, arranging for them to experience success with effective strategies
particular. The chapter provides an introduction to collaboration
include ability, effort, including its history
success or failure. Possible
attributions
(Ellis, Lenz, & Sabornie, 1987). Examples of positive self-statements that attribute suc-
cess to effort and not to luck include: “I succeeded on the spelling test because I used the
and key concepts and the roles of different team members. It also explores
task difficulty, and luck.
spelling strategybest prac-
I learned.” “I got an A on my science project because I started early and
tices in collaboration among schools and families, between school personnel, and
used my time effectively.” Examples of positive statements that attribute failure to inef-
fective strategies and not lack of ability include: “I failed the math text because I put off
between schools and communities. In addition, we’ve integrated issues of collaboration
studying until the last minute and I fell asleep. Next time I’ll start earlier.” “I didn’t do as
well as I could have on the test because I didn’t study for an essay test. Next time I’ll
in individual chapters where relevant. practice writing essay answers when I study” (Mastropieri & Scruggs, 2014).

112 Chapter 4 Students with Learning Disabilities


xvii
Practical Considerations for the Classroom Students with Learning Disabilities
Considerations for the
What IDEA Says about Learning Methodologies and General Classroom and
Disabilities: Learning Disabilities is Characteristics Indicators You Might See Teaching Implications Strategies to Try Collaboration
an IDEA category. IDEA defines learn-
ing disabilities as “a disorder in one
Related to Reading May have problems with phonological awareness or processing; Instructional Content • Task Analysis (p. 107) Instruction generally occurs in

or more of the basic psychological


rapid automatic naming; word recognition (mispronunciation;
skipping, adding, or substituting words; reversing letters or words;
• Most students with learning disabilities will participate in the general • Cognitive the general education
classroom.
education curriculum. They will most likely need intensive instruction in Strategies (p. 109)
processes involved in understanding difficulty blending sounds together); and comprehension (due to
or in using language, spoken or writ- lack of background knowledge, difficulty understanding text •
the process of learning and in the content of learning.
Consider need for the curriculum to include declarative knowledge,
• Metacognitive Strategies The general education teacher
(p. 109) should:
structure, and vocabulary deficits). procedural knowledge, and conditional knowledge.
ten, which may manifest in an imper-
fect ability to listen, think, speak, • Support content areas of reading (phonological awareness, decoding • Mnemonics (p. 111) • Establish a positive climate
read, spell, or do mathematical calcu- Related to Possible problems with basic number facts, calculation, application, and comprehension), written language (teaching writing as a process), • Attribution Retraining that promotes valuing and
accepting personal
mathematics (computation and problem solving), and study skills (such as (p. 112)
lations.” Disorders included are per- Mathematics language of math, problem solving, oral drills and worksheets, word responsibility for learning.
listening, note taking, time management, comprehending textbook
ceptual disabilities, brain injury,
problems, math anxiety, and retrieving information from long-term
memory. usage and memory strategies). • Consider accommodations
minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, • Transition planning should include the development of goal setting and such as changes in
presentation of instructional
and developmental aphasia. Disor- self-advocacy.
Writing and Written Possible problems with handwriting, spelling, or written language/ methods or materials,
ders not included are learning prob- Expression written expression (punctuation, vocabulary, and sentence assignments and tests,
Instructional Procedures response modes, the learning
lems that are primarily the result of Characteristics structure).
visual, hearing, or motor disabilities; • Provide a structured instructional program with daily routines and environment, and time
expectations; clear rules; curriculum presented in an organized, sequential demands and scheduling.
mental retardation; emotional distur- Expressive and Possible problems with producing and understanding language. fashion; and a focus on learning tasks rather than extraneous stimuli. • Consider adapting the
bance; or environmental, cultural, or Receptive Language • In planning, consider what, how, and when to teach; provide activities for academic content.
economic disadvantage. Characteristics practice, feedback, and evaluation; organize and pace the curriculum; • Consider a parallel or
and provide smooth transitions. overlapping curriculum.
Identification Tools: The general • Consider using task analysis and direct instruction.

classroom teacher often makes the


Cognitive-Related
Characteristics
Possible problems with attention, memory, strategy use, and
metacognition.
• Consider using cognitive and metacognitive strategies instruction. Consider Collaboration
whether using the Learning Strategies Curriculum would be of use in
initial identification based on class- teaching academics and social interaction. Consider attribution retraining. General and special educators
room observation and performance, Social and Possible social skills deficits, and problems with social cognition • Effective instructional practices for ELLs include using visuals to reinforce should consult on:

and state- or districtwide assess- Emotional and relationships with others. May have fewer friends and less concepts and vocabulary, utilizing cooperative learning and peer tutoring, • Determining the curriculum
ments. Prereferral Assessment and Characteristics social status than peers. Possible behavioral problems include making strategic use of the native language by allowing students to • Developing accommodations
RTI Approaches: Possibly uses
depression, anxiety disorders, and antisocial personality disorder. organize their thoughts in their native language, providing sufficient time • Choosing procedures and
May also display learned helplessness. and opportunity for students to use oral language and writing in formal strategies
criterion-referenced testing, curricu- and informal contexts, and focusing on rich vocabulary words during • Planning the physical
lum-based assessment, and criterion- lessons to be used as vehicles for teaching literary concepts. Also environment
referenced measurement. Formal consider providing simplified, appealing, multisensory lectures; adapting • Planning for assistive
textbooks and assignments; and using supplementary materials. technology
Identification: Several sources are
used for identification. They may
Instructional Environment
include intelligence and achievement
tests, tests measuring process skills,
• Reduce congestion in high-traffic areas, make sure you can see all
students, make frequently used materials and supplies easily accessible,
and language and academic tests. ensure that all students can see whole class presentations.
The response to intervention • For preschool students, the environment should be structured and
approach may also be used. promote efficiency, accessibility, independence, and functionality. It
should also promote language and literacy development.
• For elementary and secondary students, the environment should be
organized to prevent “dead time.” Structure and routine are important.
Space should be available for individual work, large and small group work,
peer tutoring, and cooperative learning. Decrease possible distractions.
• Effective grouping options include one-to-one instruction, small group,
whole class, peer tutoring, and classwide peer tutoring.

Instructional Technology
• For preschool students, consider interactive software as well as other
technology typically used with older students.
• For elementary and secondary students, consider how the computer can
be used for drill and practice, tutoring, instructional games, research,
writing, and problem solving. Technology is available to help develop
reading, writing, math, and organizational skills.
• Keep family’s background and culture in mind when recommending

Coverage of Students at Risk


technology

122 What Are Some Considerations for the General Education Teacher? 123

As part of our belief in including practical and relevant information for all future teach-
ers, we have included a chapter dedicated to at-risk children (Chapter 13). Regardless
of whether they receive services under Part C of IDEA, children at risk may be identi-
fied as needing services through Part B of IDEA. If identified early and addressed
appropriately, the learning challenges of some of these students can be remediated
without formal identification. This chapter enables future teachers to identify students
who may be at risk and provide them with the appropriate supports.

Integration of Key Topics


Based on our experience teaching introduction to special education courses, and feed-
back from readers, instructors, and reviewers, we have updated but maintained integra-
tion of topics that include:

• Inclusion: The inclusive classroom is first introduced in Chapter 2 (The Special


Education Process). To further emphasize the importance of this topic, and to
discuss it in a relevant and practical manner, the final section of each chapter in
Parts Two–Four focuses on the inclusive, general education classroom. As members
of the collaborative special education team, both the special education teacher and
the general education teacher benefit from fully understanding inclusion. It pre-
pares the future general education teacher for a classroom with exceptional stu-
dents and enables the future special education teacher to better understand general
classroom needs, thereby fostering better collaboration.
• Student Cultural Diversity: Diversity is first introduced in Chapter 1 (An Overview of
Special Education) and then discussed within each chapter. For example, effective
instructional strategies for English language learners with learning disabilities are
suggested in Chapter 4 (Students with Learning Disabilities); working with families

xviii
from diverse backgrounds when implementing assistive technology for students with
intellectual disabilities is discussed in Chapter 5 (Students with Intellectual Disabili-
ties); and the underidentification of culturally diverse gifted students is explored in
Chapter 15 (Students Who Are Gifted and Talented).
• Technology: Technology offers a range of support and learning opportunities for
students. With the explosive growth of technology tools, an understanding of how
and when to use these tools and their benefits should be discussed. Each chapter
in Parts Two–Four presents a section on relevant technologies useful in the instruc-
tion and support of students with special needs.
• Early Intervention and Transition: Like technology, early intervention and transition
issues vary by exceptionality. Coverage ranges from the importance of early inter-
vention with children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, to special tran-
sition support, such as for postsecondary education for students with learning
disabilities.

Features That Support Student Learning


Students in our classrooms not only need to read textual information but also need to
understand, analyze, and synthesize the large amount of material presented to them.
The third edition of Exceptional Students includes the following pedagogical aids as
guides for future teachers, resulting in more application and a better understanding of
special education.

• Chapter Opening Outline: Each chapter begins with a chapter outline designed as
an advance organizer to prepare the reader for the content to come.
• Check Your Understanding: Concluding each major section are several questions
presented to check understanding of key ideas. This allows students to learn and
digest material in smaller chunks. By using this tool, students can work through
the material at their own pace, checking that they fully understand one concept
before moving to the next.
• Marginal Definitions of Key Terms: For easy reference, full definitions of key terms
are presented in the margin next to where they appear in the chapter. These
definitions are also available in the glossary at the end of the text.
• Chapter Summary: Key concepts are highlighted to reinforce an understanding of
the most important concepts and provide an effective tool for studying.
• Reflection Questions and Application Activities: Chapter-ending reflection questions
encourage debate, active learning, and reflection, along with application activities
that may involve field components and emphasize learning in real environments,
with real students and practitioners, and in schools and communities.

Supplemental Offerings
The third edition of Exceptional Students is accompanied by a wealth of teaching and
learning resources.

• Instructor’s Manual. Each chapter includes an overview, objectives, outline, and


key vocabulary list; teaching strategies; classroom activities; alternative assessment
activities; possible responses to the Revisit questions asked in the text; and addi-
tional case studies and examples.
• Test Bank by Kelly Brown Kearney, Florida Atlantic University. Each chapter is
supported by multiple-choice and true/false questions categorized by type of ques-
tion and level of difficulty, and essay questions.
• PowerPoint Slides. The PowerPoint slides cover the key points of each chapter and
include charts and graphs from the text. The PowerPoint presentations serve as
an organization and navigation tool, and can be modified to meet your needs.

xix
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Acknowledgments
Just as it takes a team to educate students with The third edition of Exceptional Children would
exceptionalities, so it does to write a textbook. We not be possible without the feedback from instruc-
gratefully acknowledge the feedback, guidance, and tors and students who used the book in their class-
contributions offered by our expert consultants who rooms. We thank the reviewers who gave us their
helped ensure current and comprehensive coverage feedback for this revision.
in their areas of specialty; design consultants who
commented on the cover and interior designs; peer
reviewers who teach relevant college courses and Third Edition Peer Reviewers
were able to suggest how chapters or discussions
could be improved to best meet the way they teach Robin Brewer, University of Northern Colorado
and their students learn the course content; and Dana Kim Collier, Kilgore College
especially the reviewers of the new third edition. We
Sara Hawkins, Miami Dade College
also wish to thank Kalynn Hall for her research
assistance, and new chapter coauthors, Drs. Megan Arlene King-Berry, University of the District
Lyons, Mary-Kate Sableski, Lisa Finnegan, and of Columbia
Katie Miller. Cynthia Young, Covenant College

xxii
CHA PTE R 1
An Overview of
Special Education

© Realistic Reflections
C HA P TE R OUTLI NE

Who Are Exceptional Students? How Have Litigation and Legislation Affected
Special Education?
How Many Exceptional Students Are There? Early Court Cases
Early Legislation Affecting Special Education
What Are Special Education and
Related Services? Post–PL 94-142 Legislation
Current Legislation: Individuals with Disabilities
Special Education Education Act (PL 108-446)
Related Services
What Are Some Current and Future Issues
What Is the History of Special Education? in Special Education?
Early History Overrepresentation of Students from Culturally or
The 17th through 19th Centuries Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds
The 20th Century Education and Transition of Infants and Toddlers
Role of the General Education Teacher

T
his book is about teaching exceptional students—what both special education
and general education teachers, and other professionals, can do to educate stu-
dents with special needs to the most appropriate extent. It covers foundational
information on the history, definitions, prevalence, causes, characteristics, and identi-
fication of exceptional students that teachers need to understand in order to make
informed decisions for the classroom. Perhaps more importantly, in this book we dis-
cuss practical information regarding the instructional content, procedures, environ-
ment, and technology that teachers will use in their day-to-day activities. Teaching
exceptional students is a challenging, rewarding, and sometimes both a frustrating and
joyful endeavor. Through research and continued teaching, we are constantly discover-
ing more and more about the characteristics, capabilities, and educational needs of
exceptional students. Similarly, we have learned a great deal about the educational
approaches to use with students with special needs. However, we have also learned
that just as each student has individual characteristics, needs, and strengths and weak-
nesses, there is no single approach, theory, or philosophy that gives us all the answers
or will be relevant for all exceptional students. Current federal law requires that stu-
dents with disabilities be taught using scientifically based instruction. With this in
mind, the approaches, models, and techniques discussed in this text are supported by
research. We share this research-based information for you to use as you begin your
personal collection of approaches, models, and techniques to be implemented with
your students with different needs.
In this first chapter, we provide you with the foundational understanding you need
to explore the different categories of exceptionality and to effectively support and teach
students with exceptionalities. We first explain how exceptional students are defined
and how many exceptional students are being served in the schools. This leads to an
explanation of the meaning and intent of special education and related services. Next,
we provide an overview of the history of the treatment and education of individuals with
exceptionalities. We then discuss the litigation and legislation that define special educa-
tion today and that will, in many cases, outline your responsibilities in the classroom. We
conclude this chapter by introducing you to three issues in special education that we will
revisit throughout the text: (1) the overidentification of students from culturally and lin-
guistically diverse backgrounds in many categories of disability, (2) the need for early
intervention and transition of young children with disabilities, and (3) the important role
of the general education teacher.
Who Are Exceptional Students?
In the simplest terms, an exceptional student is one whose educational needs are not exceptional student A student
met by traditional educational programs so that a special education program is necessary. whose educational needs are
An exceptional student may have a disability, such as a learning disability, or a significant not met by traditional education
programs. An exceptional
gift or talent. Many terms are used in the field of special education, some that you prob- student can have a disability or
ably are familiar with and others that you might not be. Before we go any further, we will can have gifts and talents.
make a distinction between three important terms that are sometimes incorrectly used
interchangeably: impairment, disability, and handicap. impairment A loss or
abnormality of a psychological,
An impairment refers to a loss or abnormality of a psychological, physiological, or ana- physiological, or anatomical
tomical structure or function. For example, Devon, who had a diving accident and is para- structure or function.
lyzed below his waist, has an impairment. A disability is a limitation that is inherent in the
individual as a result of the impairment, whereas a handicap is caused when an individual disability A limitation that is
inherent in an individual as a
encounters a situation based on external factors. For example, Devon has a disability due to result of the impairment.
a lack of mobility caused by his paralysis. Devon would also have a handicap if he wanted to
enter a building that has stairs but no ramp for his wheelchair. A person with a disability does handicap A problem an
not have to have a handicap. In fact, it should be a goal to ensure that no person with a dis- individual encounters based on
external factors.
ability also has a handicap. For example, some universities, through their Office of Students
with Disabilities, make sure that the courses attended by students who use wheelchairs are
offered on the first floor of buildings in case the elevators break down. The Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act of 1990 (IDEA), an earlier version of the current federal law, first
recommended that the term disability replace the term handicap, which had been used in
previous legislation. To be consistent with the recommended terminology, we use the term
handicap when referring to legal information prior to 1990 and the term disability for informa-
tion after 1990. Today, the term disability is used primarily. Some believe that the terms
impairment and handicap are less preferable and in some way demeaning. Even the term dis-
ability has been challenged as appropriate but remains the term used in legislation.
Another recommendation made by IDEA was the use of “person-first” terminology
that emphasizes the individual first and then the disability. For example, prior to IDEA
an individual might be referred to as “a learning disabled student” or “an orthopedically
impaired child.” Now, the appropriate terminology is “a student with a learning disabil-
ity” and “a child with an orthopedic impairment.”
Students are defined as having a disability, and in need of special education, based on
criteria outlined in the most recent federal law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Improvement Act of 2004 that guides today’s special education
practices. This law is discussed in depth later in this chapter and
will be referred to throughout the text. IDEA identifies the follow-
ing specific types, labels, or categories of students who are consid-
ered as having a disability:
A child evaluated . . . as having mental retardation,* a hearing
impairment (including deafness), a speech or language impair-
ment, a visual impairment (including blindness), a serious emo-
tional disturbance (referred to . . . as “emotional disturbance”),*
an orthopedic impairment, autism, traumatic brain injury, an
other health impairment, a specific learning disability, deaf-blind-
ness, or multiple disabilities, and who by reason thereof, needs
special education and related services.

*Although IDEA uses the term mental retardation, we have chosen to use the
term intellectual disability in this text. Intellectual disability is considered a less
derogatory term by many parents and professionals. We will refer to mental
retardation when discussing it as an IDEA category and when referring to
historical information such as early research and court cases. Similarly, the term
emotional or behavioral disorder will be used in place of emotional disturbance
whenever appropriate as this term better reflects the nature of the category.
A person with a disability does not have to have a handicap.
Source: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 (2004). © Realistic Reflections

Who Are Exceptional Students? 3


IDEA also states that, as a result of the disability, the student must need special edu-
cation and related services to qualify for funding and services. For example, Sara, a stu-
dent with diabetes, has a medical condition included under the other health impairment
category. However, her diabetes is controlled through insulin shots administered at
home, and she is having no p ­ articular difficulties academically. Therefore, she would not
qualify for IDEA funding and services. You will note in later chapters related to the dif-
ferent categories of disabilities that the IDEA definitions include phrasing that the condi-
tion has an adverse effect on educational performance.
Parts 2 and 3 of this text contain chapters that provide foundational and practi-
cal classroom information related to children classified with disabilities by each of
these categories outlined by Part B of IDEA, which focuses on the education of school-
aged children. Additionally, Part 4 of this text explores three areas of exceptionality
not specifically identified in Part B of IDEA—students who are at risk, students with
attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), and students with gifts and talents.
Students who are at risk have a high probability of being classified into an IDEA cat-
egory in the future if certain problems cannot be resolved through intervention. They
may be eligible for services under Part C of IDEA. Students with AD/HD are often
provided services through the IDEA category of other health impairments or may
receive educational accommodations under Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilita-
tion Act of 1973 (discussed later in this chapter). These students also frequently have
another disability, such as a learning disability, and might receive services under that
category. Even though gifted and talented students are not included under IDEA, they
are acknowledged and supported through the Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Educa-
tion Act, most recently reauthorized in 2015. Funding for these students is continued
today through this act.

Check Your Understanding


1. What is the definition of an exceptional student?
2. What is the difference between an impairment, a disability, and a handicap?
3. Students with which disabilities are served under IDEA?
4. Students with which exceptionalities not served under IDEA are teachers likely to encounter in
their classrooms?

How Many Exceptional Students Are There?


Two terms are typically used when describing the number of exceptional students.
incidence The number of Incidence refers to the number of individuals identified as falling into a particular
individuals identified as falling category for the first time during a specific period. The period of time used to deter-
into a particular category for the mine incidence figures can vary, although one year is frequently used. We might find,
first time during a specific period
(such as a year).
for instance, that the number of individuals with emotional disturbance, ages 6
through 21 years, identified for the first time during 2013 was 9,500. Prevalence, on
prevalence The total number the other hand, refers to the total number of individuals who are in a given category at
of individuals who are in a given a particular point in time. For example, we might find that the total number of indi-
category at a particular point
in time.
viduals ages 6 through 21 years with emotional disturbance in 2013 was 500,000. Prev-
alence is often expressed as a percentage of the total population in a particular
category. In our example, if the total population of individuals ages 6 to 21 years was
50 million in 2013, the prevalence of individuals with emotional disturbance in that
age range would be 1%. Incidence and prevalence rates are not interchangeable. As an
example, Grossman (1983) pointed out that in underdeveloped countries, the incidence
of mental retardation is relatively high because of problems such as poor nutrition and
lack of prenatal care. However, because of the high mortality rate of these children,
the prevalence is relatively low. For practical purposes, prevalence is more useful than
incidence because it gives an indication of the total number of individuals who are
actually receiving special education services; therefore, we report prevalence figures
rather than incidence figures in this text. However, we should note that incidence

4 Chapter 1 An Overview of Special Education


does, at times, yield important data. For example, the increase in the incidence of
autism (as well as the prevalence) has led to concerns about why autism is occurring
more frequently.
Although prevalence rates are often estimates that have remained relatively consis-
tent over the years, the most pragmatic method of determining the prevalence figures is
to identify the percentage of individuals who are actually identified and receiving ­special
education services. In 2011, the percentage of the total number of school-aged students
(ages 6–21) who received special education services under IDEA was 8.43% (United
States Department of Education [U.S. DOE], 2012). This number does not include gifted
and talented students. Evidence about the prevalence of these students is limited because
of the lack of federal regulations although estimates of 3%–5% have been reported for a
number of years. These data suggest that exceptional students make up approximately
11%–13% of the school-aged population.
Figure 1.1 shows the percentage of students ages 6–21 receiving services in each
category of disability as reported by IDEA as a function of the total population of all stu-
dents with disabilities. Over 40% of all students ages 6–21 with disabilities fall into the
learning disability category. In fact, over 90% of students with disabilities fall into one of
six categories: learning disabilities (43.6%), speech or language impairments (19.2%),
other health impairments (10.5%), intellectual disability (8.3%), other disabilities (11.1%),
and emotional disturbance (7.3%).
The percentage of students in different categories receiving special education has
changed over the years. Table 1.1 shows the increases and decreases in the various cate-
gories of disabilities between 1998 and 2007. Interestingly, only two categories—other
health impairment and autism—showed relative increases over that time period.

Other disabilities
combineda (11.1%)

Other health
impairments (10.5%)

Specific learning
disabilities (43.6%)
Emotional
disturbance (7.3%)

Intellectual
disabilities (8.3%)

Speech or language
impairments (19.2%)
FIGURE 1.1 Percentage of students ages 6 through 21 served under IDEA, Part B, by disability category:
Fall 2007
a
“Other disabilities combined” includes autism (4.3%), deaf-blindness (less than 0.1%), developmental
delay (1.5%), hearing impairments (1.2%), multiple disabilities (2.2%), orthopedic impairments (1%),
traumatic brain injury (0.4%), and visual impairments (0.4%).
Note: Percentage was calculated by dividing the number of students ages 6 through 21 served under
IDEA, Part B, in the disability category by the total number of students ages 6 through 21 served under
IDEA, Part B, then multiplying the result by 100.
Source: “Thirtyfirst Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act, Parts B and C. 2009.” Home. US Department of Education (ED), 28 Nov. 2012. Web.
21 Apr. 2017.

How Many Exceptional Students Are There? 5


Percentage of the Population Ages 6 through 21 Served under IDEA, Part B, by Year and Disability
TABLE 1.1 Category: Fall 1998 through Fall 2007

DISABILITYA 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

All disabilities below 8.6 8.6 8.7 8.8 8.9 9.0 9.0 9.0 8.9 8.8

Autism 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.4

Deaf-blindness # # # # # # # # # #

Emotional disturbance 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7

Hearing impairments 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1

Intellectual disabilities 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.7

Multiple disabilities 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

Orthopedic impairments 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1

Other health impairments 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.9 0.9

Specific learning disabilities 4.4 4.4 4.4 4.3 4.3 4.3 4.2 4.1 4.0 3.9

Speech or language impairments 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7

Traumatic brain injury # # # # # # # # # #

Visual impairments # # # # # # # # # #
#
Percentage was non-zero, but < 0.05 or less than 5/100 of 1%.
A
States’ use of the developmental delay category is optional for children ages 3 through 9 and is not applicable to children older than 9 years of age. Because the
category is optional and the table presents percentages that are based on the estimated U.S. resident population ages 6 through 21, the developmental delay
category is not included in this table.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, Data Analysis System (DANS), OMB #1820-0043: “Report of Children with Disabilities
Receiving Special Education Under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, as Amended,” 2007.

The increase in the other health impairment category may be largely attributed to some
states’ use of this category to provide services for students with attention deficit/hyper-
activity disorder, which itself is rapidly growing. The probable reason for the increase in
autism is that it was not considered as a disability area under federal law until 1990.
Substantial interest and awareness, as well as improved diagnostic procedures, have
resulted in more students being identified. The 2011 data (1.07% for OHI; 0.59% for
autism) indicated that this increase continued.
Interestingly, the category that showed the largest relative decrease between 1998
and 2007 was learning disabilities, which historically has been the fastest growing cate-
gory. One possible explanation for this decrease may be related to the corresponding
increase in the other health impairment and autism categories. In other words, many
students who may previously have been identified as having a learning disability might
now be identified as having autism or an attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and are
being served under the other health impairment category. The 2011 data (3.43%) also
indicate that this trend is continuing. These data do not mean that fewer students are
receiving services in the categories that have shown decreases over time. In fact, the total
number of students receiving services in all disability categories increased over the 1998–
2007 period. Prevalence rates for specific categories are also related to gender and ethnic
background. For example, many more males are identified as having a learning disability,
autism, and AD/HD than females; and more African American students are identified as
having an intellectual disability or an emotional or behavior disorder than those in other
racial groups. These differences are discussed in depth in subsequent chapters that focus
on these specific exceptionalities.

6 Chapter 1 An Overview of Special Education


Check Your Understanding
1. What is the difference between incidence and prevalence?
2. What is the prevalence of students with all exceptionalities (ages 6–21) actually receiving
services?
3. What is the most prevalent exceptionality? Approximately what percentage of the school-aged
population falls into this category?
4. Why has the prevalence of some categories increased so dramatically?

What Are Special Education


and Related Services?
IDEA specifies that students with disabilities are entitled to a free, appropriate public
education that addresses their individual educational needs. It also defines what consti-
tutes special education and specifies that related services must be provided to allow stu-
dents to have access to their special education program. In this section, we will discuss
special education and related services separately.

Special Education
The reasons that a student’s educational needs are not being met in the usual educational
program can vary. These can include physical, sensory, health, or intellectual limitations;
emotional or psychological problems; learning problems; communication deficits; or
intellectual, academic, or creative gifts or talents. Special education is instruction spe- special education Instruction
cifically designed to meet the individual needs of these exceptional students. IDEA specifically designed to meet the
individual needs of an
defines special education as “specially designed instruction, at no cost to parents, to
exceptional student.
meet the unique needs of a child with a disability, including instruction conducted in the
classroom, in the home, in hospitals and institutions, and in other settings, and includes
instruction in physical education.”

Components of Special Education


Special education involves many different components. For example, special education
could include the use of a curriculum that focuses on functional life skills for a student
with an intellectual disability, or it could involve the use of a specific learning strategy to
teach math skills to a student with a learning disability.
In this text, we address four components of special education, each of which should
be considered when working with exceptional students. The first component is instruc-
tional content, or what is taught to the student. The functional life skills curriculum for the
student with an intellectual disability is an example of this component. The second com-
ponent is instructional procedures, or how the content is taught to the student. The use of
the learning strategy to teach math skills to the student with a learning disability is an
example of this. One commonly implemented instructional design procedure is the use
of accommodations. An accommodation is a change in a lesson or procedure that is
made to help a student learn the material or complete the task. For example, a student
who has difficulty taking notes might be allowed to tape the lectures. Another student,
who, because of his disability, works very slowly, might be given additional time to com-
plete his class assignments. In later chapters, we provide a list of specific accommoda-
tions for students with whom teachers are most likely to work—those with learning
disabilities, intellectual disabilities, and emotional and behavioral disorders.
The third component of special education is the instructional environment, which not
only includes where the instruction takes place (for example, in the general education
classroom or in a separate classroom), but also involves adaptations to the instructional
environment that facilitate learning. For example, a student with autism might need a
structured, predictable classroom with a consistent schedule. The final component of
special education we address is the instructional technology that is used to help support

What Are Special Education and Related Services? 7


assistive technology device learning. Included in this component is the use of assistive technology devices. IDEA
Any item, equipment, or product defines an assistive technology device as “any item, piece of equipment, or product sys-
system that is used to increase,
tem whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used
maintain, or improve functional
capabilities. to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of a child with a disability.”
Assistive technology devices can range from something “low tech,” such as a pencil grip
for a student with a physical disability, to something “high tech,” such as a voice synthe-
sizer activated through the use of a computer for a nonverbal student.

Universal Design
What each of the above components of special education has in common is that they
universal design The concept encompass the concept of universal design emphasized in IDEA. Universal design is a
that environments, instruction, term borrowed from architecture that refers to the development of environments that are
and assessments should be accessible to everyone. For example, following the concept of universal design, a school
designed to be accessible to
all individuals.
would be designed so that it would maximize accessibility for everyone. In addition to
allowing easy entrance into the school for everyone, the application of universal design
would affect the design of the classrooms, bathrooms, and the kitchen.
IDEA indicates that universal design is the concept or philosophy that products and
services should be designed and delivered so that they can be used by individuals with
the widest range of capabilities. Although universal design is obvious in the physical
environment, it can also apply to instructional and assessment modifications. Teachers
can implement universal design by planning lessons that all students can access. Mand-
lawitz (2006) in her summary of the implications of universal design in IDEA noted:
With few exceptions, children with disabilities are expected to meet the same high academic
standards as children without disabilities using the general education curriculum. The dearth
of instructional materials and assessment tools that are accessible, valid, and appropriate for
use with children with a broad range of disabilities has made this goal more difficult. The
concept of universal design is incorporated throughout the amendments of the law. (p. 7)

Mandlawitz goes on to remind us that IDEA now allows states to use funding to sup-
port technology using universal design principles; encourages research toward how to
incorporate the principles in the development of curricula, instructional materials, and
assessment tools; and requires, where feasible, that assessments be developed and admin-
istered using these principles. Table 1.2 shows some elements of universal design and how
they can be applied in the classroom when designing tests and instructional materials.
In summary, two points regarding universal design are important. First, it is a phi-
losophy that should be the guiding force in developing educational programs. Second,
each of the four components of special education should be considered when developing
a program that reflects the concept of universal design. In other words, each component
should ensure that all students, with or without disabilities, have access to an appropri-
ate educational program.

Where Special Education Is Delivered


Special education of exceptional students can occur in a number of settings. A special
education program can potentially take place totally within the general education class-
room, partially within the general education classroom, in a separate classroom for stu-
dents with disabilities within a public or private school, or in a separate school that
includes just students with disabilities. More restrictive settings such as residential facil-
ities or home/hospitals may be used by a very small number of students with severe or
unique needs. These placement options are discussed in depth in the next chapter. It
should be emphasized, however, that the special education program should be carried
out in the general education classroom whenever possible, and the student should par-
ticipate in the general education curriculum to the maximum extent possible.

Who Delivers Special Education


A special education program can be implemented by any number of professionals includ-
ing a special education teacher specifically trained to support students with disabilities
or a general education teacher who teaches in a classroom that includes children with

8 Chapter 1 An Overview of Special Education


TABLE 1.2 Elements of Universal Design

CLASSROOM ELEMENT APPLICATION

Inclusive classroom population Design all classroom materials with the end user (diverse student population) in mind.

Precisely defined information Remember the information that you are trying to teach or test. Avoid irrelevant
materials that may be teaching or testing nontargeted behaviors or information.

Accessible, nonbiased materials Accessible, nonbiased materials are those that consider the diversity of all students
and do not present material that may be offensive or may give one group an
advantage over another.

Amenable to accommodations Even the best-designed tests and materials may need to be adjusted through
accommodations. Avoid language or diagrams that cannot be converted to Braille,
translated, or read aloud.

Simple, clear, and innovative procedures Tests and materials should be clear and understandable. Tests are invalid if students
cannot understand what the teacher expects. Students more clearly understand what
is expected if they receive frequent feedback.

Maximum readability and comprehensibility* Language should be clear, simple, and direct.

Maximum legibility Font size should be large and familiar enough for students with visual difficulties to
read. Overly enlarged text, however, may cause difficulty for some readers. For these
readers, staggered right margins, white space around text, sans serif fonts, and space
between lines increase legibility.

*These elements of universal design overlap with graphic design principles.


Source: Acrey, C., Johnstone, C., & Millgan, C. (2005). “Using universal design to unlock the potential for academic achievement of at-risk learners.” Teaching
Exceptional Children, 38, 22 -31 (Table 1, p. 24).

and without disabilities. In the latter situation, the special education teacher and other
specialists will collaborate with the general classroom teacher to plan and assist in
instruction.
The role of a special education teacher will vary based on the school and students’
needs. The second half of each chapter in Parts 2–4 includes specific information to help
prepare you to teach exceptional students. Whether you plan to be a special education
teacher or a general education teacher, you will need a strong foundation of the compo-
nents of special education to effectively plan and deliver your instruction.

Related Services
Related services are those activities or supports that enable a child with a disability to related services Those
receive a free, appropriate, public education, and to benefit from the special education activities or services that
enable a child with a disability
program. IDEA lists the following related services that a student might receive.
to receive a free, appropriate
• Transportation public education and to benefit
• Speech-language pathology and audiology services from the special education
program.
• Interpreting services
• Psychological services
• Physical and occupational therapy
• Recreation (including therapeutic recreation)
• Early identification and assessment
• Counseling services (including rehabilitation counseling)
• Orientation and mobility services
• Medical services for diagnostic or evaluation purposes
• School health services and school nurse services
• Social work services
• Parent counseling and training

What Are Special Education and Related Services? 9


Necessary related services are determined by the team responsible for developing a
student’s individualized education program (IEP), an overall plan for the student’s edu-
cation that is required by IDEA and introduced later in the chapter. The following are
brief descriptions of the roles of each of the related services identified by IDEA.

Transportation
Special transportation is a related service provided to many students, often those with
more moderate to severe disabilities. If students cannot get to school, they cannot receive
an appropriate education. Particularly for students with physical disabilities, special
transportation that includes a wheelchair lift may be needed. Also, because some pro-
grams may include students from outside the school’s neighborhood, such as a special
class for all students who are deaf in a district, special transportation is needed because
the school attended is in a different location than the student’s neighborhood school.

Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Services


Speech and language therapy is the most widely used related service. Speech and lan-
guage pathologists serve students with a wide range of communication problems. These
specialists may perform assessments and evaluations, collect data for progress monitor-
ing, and provide direct intervention (ASHA, n.d.). In some instances, speech and lan-
guage pathologists may also focus on other issues such as swallowing difficulties. These
specialists can make recommendations for interventions related to the development of
communication and literacy skills.
Audiology services can involve assessment of hearing for both degree and type of
hearing loss. Audiology specialists can also fit, adjust, and maintain assistive listening
devices such as hearing aids. In some cases, audiologists may provide counseling to indi-
viduals who have experienced hearing loss as well as make recommendations for adapta-
tions and assistive technology that can aid the student. Audiologists can make
recommendations to teachers on how best to arrange the physical and instructional envi-
ronment and to communicate with a student to make maximum use of any residual
hearing.

Interpreting Services
Interpreters are related service personnel that can work with those whose hearing loss is
so severe that they cannot hear sufficiently to learn in the classroom. Generally, in this
case, the student uses sign language as the primary means of communication. Interpret-
ers usually accompany a student in all environments as needed, providing a bridge
between the student and others who may not use sign language.

Psychological Services
School psychologists are related services providers who are frequently involved in assess-
ment activities, especially those associated with the identification of students for eligibil-
ity for special education. In this capacity, they serve as data collectors and administer
individual assessments. For example, they may observe a student’s performance in a
classroom setting or administer intelligence and achievement tests. Psychologists may
also devise and implement behavioral interventions, and provide counseling as well as
other services as needed. Psychologists can assist teachers in many ways including how
to manage student behavior, how best to assess students, and by providing a source of
data for educational decision making.

Physical and Occupational Therapy


Physical therapists perform individual and ongoing assessments of physical functioning,
make recommendations for physical therapy interventions, and use exercise and electri-
cal stimulation to help students become stronger, more mobile and flexible (Davies,
2013). Physical therapists usually focus on large muscle groups and functioning such as
walking, posture, and positioning of the body. For example, a student with cerebral palsy
may need assistance from a physical therapist in walking and other areas. Occupational
therapists typically focus on smaller muscle groups and their use in daily activities.

10 Chapter 1 An Overview of Special Education


For example, they may help a student with the use of
hands for writing, eating, and dressing. Occupational
therapists provide initial and ongoing assessments as
well as direct services and supervision of assistants.

Recreation
Some students with disabilities need related services for
special recreational opportunities and instruction. For
example, students who use wheelchairs may need an
adapted program to develop and maintain good physical
health and wellness. There are specialists who focus in
this area, but these services are also provided by a variety
of team members including teachers, parents, and com-
munity agencies (such as the YMCA). These services can
include assessment of recreation and leisure interests
and preferences, provision of therapeutic services (such
as therapeutic swimming/water activities), adaptation of
activities and equipment, and identification of recre-
ational resources and facilities.

Early Identification and Assessment


The related services of early childhood screening and
assessment are often provided by community agencies,
such as a local health service agency. These services
include developmental screening to determine if individ-
ual assessments are needed, and the individual assess-
ments themselves. These services can also involve
monitoring overall development to determine whether
important milestones are being achieved, such as walk-
ing and talking at an appropriate age. Medical profes-
sionals are also involved in this type of screening and
assessment. These services are important in establishing Physical therapists often work on developing a student’s muscle tone.
the need for and implementation of interventions, © Realistic Reflections
whether medical, therapeutic, or educational, which can
mediate the effects of an existing disability or reduce or eliminate the risks associated
with other conditions, such as malnourishment or low birth weight.

Counseling Services
Counseling services might include academic counseling, emotional counseling, and
rehabilitation counseling. Rehabilitation counselors provide assessments of a student’s
career/vocational attitudes, abilities, and needs; vocational guidance and counseling;
training in career/vocational knowledge and skills; and identification of job sites and
placements. These specialists can be especially helpful to teachers, students, and families
in the transition from school to adult living.

Orientation and Mobility Services


Orientation and mobility specialists teach students with vision losses how to navigate
within environments and from one environment to another. They would teach, for exam-
ple, how to move within the classroom and how to navigate around the overall school
environment. They assist students in traveling independently and can work with stu-
dents on the use of canes, guide dogs, wheelchairs, and public transportation. These
specialists are helpful to teachers, students, and families as they have special knowledge
and skills to train individuals with vision losses to function in a variety of settings.

Medical Services for Diagnostic or Evaluation Purposes


Medical services for diagnostic purposes, for example, to assist in the identification of
attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, are included as a related service under IDEA.

What Are Special Education and Related Services? 11


However, other medical services, such as prescribing medication and performing routine
physical examinations, are not covered. On the other hand, health services such as dis-
pensing medication and monitoring its effects at school are considered related services.

School Health and School Nurse Services


Some students with health-impairing conditions or multiple disabilities need monitoring
and special services such as tube feeding and catheterization. School nurses may be
involved in the provision of services or may train classroom personnel to carry out such
services when special medical knowledge and training is not needed. For example, cath-
eterization has been established as a related service that does require training, but nei-
ther special medical knowledge nor training pertinent only to medical professionals.
Teachers and aides can be trained to perform this service.

Social Work Services


Social work services can include preparing developmental or social histories of a child,
group and individual counseling for a student or the family, working with families on
interventions at home and in the community, identifying and mobilizing community
resources and agencies, and assisting in developing positive behavioral interventions.
Social workers can be a great asset to teachers by serving as a bridge among the school,
family, and community. For example, social workers can assist families in obtaining
food stamps, housing, and other assistance from various agencies, which, in turn, help
the student and family to meet needs that are critical to being prepared to learn and
thrive.

Parent Counseling and Training


Counselors are available to assist parents with the many needs and concerns that they
might face as a result of having a child with a disability. This might involve addressing
parents’ feelings of guilt or anger. Also, particularly with parents of young children, spe-
cific training may be necessary to assist them in areas such as early intervention services
that could be implemented in the home.
In summary, under IDEA every student with a disability is entitled to a special edu-
cation program and any related services that are necessary. In this text, we focus on four
components of special education: instructional content, instructional procedures, the
instructional environment, and instructional technology. Important in all four compo-
nents is the concept of universal design, or making sure all content and services are
accessible for all students regardless of their capabilities and limitations.

Check Your Understanding


1. What is special education?
2. What are the components of special education?
3. What is universal design?
4. What are related services? What are some related services that students with disabilities
might receive?

What Is the History of Special Education?


To fully appreciate how far we have come in teaching exceptional students in recent
years, one must look at the history of special education, which has had a dramatic impact
on our current thinking and educational practices. Over the last several hundred years,
there has been an evolution from intolerance to treatment to education of individuals
with disabilities. As you will see, special education as a formal profession is relatively
new. A general history of disabilities is provided here; histories of specific disabilities are
presented in the relevant chapters in Parts 2–4. Luckily, there have been several seminal
books that have summarized the long history of special education.

12 Chapter 1 An Overview of Special Education


Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
DANCE ON STILTS AT THE GIRLS’ UNYAGO, NIUCHI

Newala, too, suffers from the distance of its water-supply—at least


the Newala of to-day does; there was once another Newala in a lovely
valley at the foot of the plateau. I visited it and found scarcely a trace
of houses, only a Christian cemetery, with the graves of several
missionaries and their converts, remaining as a monument of its
former glories. But the surroundings are wonderfully beautiful. A
thick grove of splendid mango-trees closes in the weather-worn
crosses and headstones; behind them, combining the useful and the
agreeable, is a whole plantation of lemon-trees covered with ripe
fruit; not the small African kind, but a much larger and also juicier
imported variety, which drops into the hands of the passing traveller,
without calling for any exertion on his part. Old Newala is now under
the jurisdiction of the native pastor, Daudi, at Chingulungulu, who,
as I am on very friendly terms with him, allows me, as a matter of
course, the use of this lemon-grove during my stay at Newala.
FEET MUTILATED BY THE RAVAGES OF THE “JIGGER”
(Sarcopsylla penetrans)

The water-supply of New Newala is in the bottom of the valley,


some 1,600 feet lower down. The way is not only long and fatiguing,
but the water, when we get it, is thoroughly bad. We are suffering not
only from this, but from the fact that the arrangements at Newala are
nothing short of luxurious. We have a separate kitchen—a hut built
against the boma palisade on the right of the baraza, the interior of
which is not visible from our usual position. Our two cooks were not
long in finding this out, and they consequently do—or rather neglect
to do—what they please. In any case they do not seem to be very
particular about the boiling of our drinking-water—at least I can
attribute to no other cause certain attacks of a dysenteric nature,
from which both Knudsen and I have suffered for some time. If a
man like Omari has to be left unwatched for a moment, he is capable
of anything. Besides this complaint, we are inconvenienced by the
state of our nails, which have become as hard as glass, and crack on
the slightest provocation, and I have the additional infliction of
pimples all over me. As if all this were not enough, we have also, for
the last week been waging war against the jigger, who has found his
Eldorado in the hot sand of the Makonde plateau. Our men are seen
all day long—whenever their chronic colds and the dysentery likewise
raging among them permit—occupied in removing this scourge of
Africa from their feet and trying to prevent the disastrous
consequences of its presence. It is quite common to see natives of
this place with one or two toes missing; many have lost all their toes,
or even the whole front part of the foot, so that a well-formed leg
ends in a shapeless stump. These ravages are caused by the female of
Sarcopsylla penetrans, which bores its way under the skin and there
develops an egg-sac the size of a pea. In all books on the subject, it is
stated that one’s attention is called to the presence of this parasite by
an intolerable itching. This agrees very well with my experience, so
far as the softer parts of the sole, the spaces between and under the
toes, and the side of the foot are concerned, but if the creature
penetrates through the harder parts of the heel or ball of the foot, it
may escape even the most careful search till it has reached maturity.
Then there is no time to be lost, if the horrible ulceration, of which
we see cases by the dozen every day, is to be prevented. It is much
easier, by the way, to discover the insect on the white skin of a
European than on that of a native, on which the dark speck scarcely
shows. The four or five jiggers which, in spite of the fact that I
constantly wore high laced boots, chose my feet to settle in, were
taken out for me by the all-accomplished Knudsen, after which I
thought it advisable to wash out the cavities with corrosive
sublimate. The natives have a different sort of disinfectant—they fill
the hole with scraped roots. In a tiny Makua village on the slope of
the plateau south of Newala, we saw an old woman who had filled all
the spaces under her toe-nails with powdered roots by way of
prophylactic treatment. What will be the result, if any, who can say?
The rest of the many trifling ills which trouble our existence are
really more comic than serious. In the absence of anything else to
smoke, Knudsen and I at last opened a box of cigars procured from
the Indian store-keeper at Lindi, and tried them, with the most
distressing results. Whether they contain opium or some other
narcotic, neither of us can say, but after the tenth puff we were both
“off,” three-quarters stupefied and unspeakably wretched. Slowly we
recovered—and what happened next? Half-an-hour later we were
once more smoking these poisonous concoctions—so insatiable is the
craving for tobacco in the tropics.
Even my present attacks of fever scarcely deserve to be taken
seriously. I have had no less than three here at Newala, all of which
have run their course in an incredibly short time. In the early
afternoon, I am busy with my old natives, asking questions and
making notes. The strong midday coffee has stimulated my spirits to
an extraordinary degree, the brain is active and vigorous, and work
progresses rapidly, while a pleasant warmth pervades the whole
body. Suddenly this gives place to a violent chill, forcing me to put on
my overcoat, though it is only half-past three and the afternoon sun
is at its hottest. Now the brain no longer works with such acuteness
and logical precision; more especially does it fail me in trying to
establish the syntax of the difficult Makua language on which I have
ventured, as if I had not enough to do without it. Under the
circumstances it seems advisable to take my temperature, and I do
so, to save trouble, without leaving my seat, and while going on with
my work. On examination, I find it to be 101·48°. My tutors are
abruptly dismissed and my bed set up in the baraza; a few minutes
later I am in it and treating myself internally with hot water and
lemon-juice.
Three hours later, the thermometer marks nearly 104°, and I make
them carry me back into the tent, bed and all, as I am now perspiring
heavily, and exposure to the cold wind just beginning to blow might
mean a fatal chill. I lie still for a little while, and then find, to my
great relief, that the temperature is not rising, but rather falling. This
is about 7.30 p.m. At 8 p.m. I find, to my unbounded astonishment,
that it has fallen below 98·6°, and I feel perfectly well. I read for an
hour or two, and could very well enjoy a smoke, if I had the
wherewithal—Indian cigars being out of the question.
Having no medical training, I am at a loss to account for this state
of things. It is impossible that these transitory attacks of high fever
should be malarial; it seems more probable that they are due to a
kind of sunstroke. On consulting my note-book, I become more and
more inclined to think this is the case, for these attacks regularly
follow extreme fatigue and long exposure to strong sunshine. They at
least have the advantage of being only short interruptions to my
work, as on the following morning I am always quite fresh and fit.
My treasure of a cook is suffering from an enormous hydrocele which
makes it difficult for him to get up, and Moritz is obliged to keep in
the dark on account of his inflamed eyes. Knudsen’s cook, a raw boy
from somewhere in the bush, knows still less of cooking than Omari;
consequently Nils Knudsen himself has been promoted to the vacant
post. Finding that we had come to the end of our supplies, he began
by sending to Chingulungulu for the four sucking-pigs which we had
bought from Matola and temporarily left in his charge; and when
they came up, neatly packed in a large crate, he callously slaughtered
the biggest of them. The first joint we were thoughtless enough to
entrust for roasting to Knudsen’s mshenzi cook, and it was
consequently uneatable; but we made the rest of the animal into a
jelly which we ate with great relish after weeks of underfeeding,
consuming incredible helpings of it at both midday and evening
meals. The only drawback is a certain want of variety in the tinned
vegetables. Dr. Jäger, to whom the Geographical Commission
entrusted the provisioning of the expeditions—mine as well as his
own—because he had more time on his hands than the rest of us,
seems to have laid in a huge stock of Teltow turnips,[46] an article of
food which is all very well for occasional use, but which quickly palls
when set before one every day; and we seem to have no other tins
left. There is no help for it—we must put up with the turnips; but I
am certain that, once I am home again, I shall not touch them for ten
years to come.
Amid all these minor evils, which, after all, go to make up the
genuine flavour of Africa, there is at least one cheering touch:
Knudsen has, with the dexterity of a skilled mechanic, repaired my 9
× 12 cm. camera, at least so far that I can use it with a little care.
How, in the absence of finger-nails, he was able to accomplish such a
ticklish piece of work, having no tool but a clumsy screw-driver for
taking to pieces and putting together again the complicated
mechanism of the instantaneous shutter, is still a mystery to me; but
he did it successfully. The loss of his finger-nails shows him in a light
contrasting curiously enough with the intelligence evinced by the
above operation; though, after all, it is scarcely surprising after his
ten years’ residence in the bush. One day, at Lindi, he had occasion
to wash a dog, which must have been in need of very thorough
cleansing, for the bottle handed to our friend for the purpose had an
extremely strong smell. Having performed his task in the most
conscientious manner, he perceived with some surprise that the dog
did not appear much the better for it, and was further surprised by
finding his own nails ulcerating away in the course of the next few
days. “How was I to know that carbolic acid has to be diluted?” he
mutters indignantly, from time to time, with a troubled gaze at his
mutilated finger-tips.
Since we came to Newala we have been making excursions in all
directions through the surrounding country, in accordance with old
habit, and also because the akida Sefu did not get together the tribal
elders from whom I wanted information so speedily as he had
promised. There is, however, no harm done, as, even if seen only
from the outside, the country and people are interesting enough.
The Makonde plateau is like a large rectangular table rounded off
at the corners. Measured from the Indian Ocean to Newala, it is
about seventy-five miles long, and between the Rovuma and the
Lukuledi it averages fifty miles in breadth, so that its superficial area
is about two-thirds of that of the kingdom of Saxony. The surface,
however, is not level, but uniformly inclined from its south-western
edge to the ocean. From the upper edge, on which Newala lies, the
eye ranges for many miles east and north-east, without encountering
any obstacle, over the Makonde bush. It is a green sea, from which
here and there thick clouds of smoke rise, to show that it, too, is
inhabited by men who carry on their tillage like so many other
primitive peoples, by cutting down and burning the bush, and
manuring with the ashes. Even in the radiant light of a tropical day
such a fire is a grand sight.
Much less effective is the impression produced just now by the
great western plain as seen from the edge of the plateau. As often as
time permits, I stroll along this edge, sometimes in one direction,
sometimes in another, in the hope of finding the air clear enough to
let me enjoy the view; but I have always been disappointed.
Wherever one looks, clouds of smoke rise from the burning bush,
and the air is full of smoke and vapour. It is a pity, for under more
favourable circumstances the panorama of the whole country up to
the distant Majeje hills must be truly magnificent. It is of little use
taking photographs now, and an outline sketch gives a very poor idea
of the scenery. In one of these excursions I went out of my way to
make a personal attempt on the Makonde bush. The present edge of
the plateau is the result of a far-reaching process of destruction
through erosion and denudation. The Makonde strata are
everywhere cut into by ravines, which, though short, are hundreds of
yards in depth. In consequence of the loose stratification of these
beds, not only are the walls of these ravines nearly vertical, but their
upper end is closed by an equally steep escarpment, so that the
western edge of the Makonde plateau is hemmed in by a series of
deep, basin-like valleys. In order to get from one side of such a ravine
to the other, I cut my way through the bush with a dozen of my men.
It was a very open part, with more grass than scrub, but even so the
short stretch of less than two hundred yards was very hard work; at
the end of it the men’s calicoes were in rags and they themselves
bleeding from hundreds of scratches, while even our strong khaki
suits had not escaped scatheless.

NATIVE PATH THROUGH THE MAKONDE BUSH, NEAR


MAHUTA

I see increasing reason to believe that the view formed some time
back as to the origin of the Makonde bush is the correct one. I have
no doubt that it is not a natural product, but the result of human
occupation. Those parts of the high country where man—as a very
slight amount of practice enables the eye to perceive at once—has not
yet penetrated with axe and hoe, are still occupied by a splendid
timber forest quite able to sustain a comparison with our mixed
forests in Germany. But wherever man has once built his hut or tilled
his field, this horrible bush springs up. Every phase of this process
may be seen in the course of a couple of hours’ walk along the main
road. From the bush to right or left, one hears the sound of the axe—
not from one spot only, but from several directions at once. A few
steps further on, we can see what is taking place. The brush has been
cut down and piled up in heaps to the height of a yard or more,
between which the trunks of the large trees stand up like the last
pillars of a magnificent ruined building. These, too, present a
melancholy spectacle: the destructive Makonde have ringed them—
cut a broad strip of bark all round to ensure their dying off—and also
piled up pyramids of brush round them. Father and son, mother and
son-in-law, are chopping away perseveringly in the background—too
busy, almost, to look round at the white stranger, who usually excites
so much interest. If you pass by the same place a week later, the piles
of brushwood have disappeared and a thick layer of ashes has taken
the place of the green forest. The large trees stretch their
smouldering trunks and branches in dumb accusation to heaven—if
they have not already fallen and been more or less reduced to ashes,
perhaps only showing as a white stripe on the dark ground.
This work of destruction is carried out by the Makonde alike on the
virgin forest and on the bush which has sprung up on sites already
cultivated and deserted. In the second case they are saved the trouble
of burning the large trees, these being entirely absent in the
secondary bush.
After burning this piece of forest ground and loosening it with the
hoe, the native sows his corn and plants his vegetables. All over the
country, he goes in for bed-culture, which requires, and, in fact,
receives, the most careful attention. Weeds are nowhere tolerated in
the south of German East Africa. The crops may fail on the plains,
where droughts are frequent, but never on the plateau with its
abundant rains and heavy dews. Its fortunate inhabitants even have
the satisfaction of seeing the proud Wayao and Wamakua working
for them as labourers, driven by hunger to serve where they were
accustomed to rule.
But the light, sandy soil is soon exhausted, and would yield no
harvest the second year if cultivated twice running. This fact has
been familiar to the native for ages; consequently he provides in
time, and, while his crop is growing, prepares the next plot with axe
and firebrand. Next year he plants this with his various crops and
lets the first piece lie fallow. For a short time it remains waste and
desolate; then nature steps in to repair the destruction wrought by
man; a thousand new growths spring out of the exhausted soil, and
even the old stumps put forth fresh shoots. Next year the new growth
is up to one’s knees, and in a few years more it is that terrible,
impenetrable bush, which maintains its position till the black
occupier of the land has made the round of all the available sites and
come back to his starting point.
The Makonde are, body and soul, so to speak, one with this bush.
According to my Yao informants, indeed, their name means nothing
else but “bush people.” Their own tradition says that they have been
settled up here for a very long time, but to my surprise they laid great
stress on an original immigration. Their old homes were in the
south-east, near Mikindani and the mouth of the Rovuma, whence
their peaceful forefathers were driven by the continual raids of the
Sakalavas from Madagascar and the warlike Shirazis[47] of the coast,
to take refuge on the almost inaccessible plateau. I have studied
African ethnology for twenty years, but the fact that changes of
population in this apparently quiet and peaceable corner of the earth
could have been occasioned by outside enterprises taking place on
the high seas, was completely new to me. It is, no doubt, however,
correct.
The charming tribal legend of the Makonde—besides informing us
of other interesting matters—explains why they have to live in the
thickest of the bush and a long way from the edge of the plateau,
instead of making their permanent homes beside the purling brooks
and springs of the low country.
“The place where the tribe originated is Mahuta, on the southern
side of the plateau towards the Rovuma, where of old time there was
nothing but thick bush. Out of this bush came a man who never
washed himself or shaved his head, and who ate and drank but little.
He went out and made a human figure from the wood of a tree
growing in the open country, which he took home to his abode in the
bush and there set it upright. In the night this image came to life and
was a woman. The man and woman went down together to the
Rovuma to wash themselves. Here the woman gave birth to a still-
born child. They left that place and passed over the high land into the
valley of the Mbemkuru, where the woman had another child, which
was also born dead. Then they returned to the high bush country of
Mahuta, where the third child was born, which lived and grew up. In
course of time, the couple had many more children, and called
themselves Wamatanda. These were the ancestral stock of the
Makonde, also called Wamakonde,[48] i.e., aborigines. Their
forefather, the man from the bush, gave his children the command to
bury their dead upright, in memory of the mother of their race who
was cut out of wood and awoke to life when standing upright. He also
warned them against settling in the valleys and near large streams,
for sickness and death dwelt there. They were to make it a rule to
have their huts at least an hour’s walk from the nearest watering-
place; then their children would thrive and escape illness.”
The explanation of the name Makonde given by my informants is
somewhat different from that contained in the above legend, which I
extract from a little book (small, but packed with information), by
Pater Adams, entitled Lindi und sein Hinterland. Otherwise, my
results agree exactly with the statements of the legend. Washing?
Hapana—there is no such thing. Why should they do so? As it is, the
supply of water scarcely suffices for cooking and drinking; other
people do not wash, so why should the Makonde distinguish himself
by such needless eccentricity? As for shaving the head, the short,
woolly crop scarcely needs it,[49] so the second ancestral precept is
likewise easy enough to follow. Beyond this, however, there is
nothing ridiculous in the ancestor’s advice. I have obtained from
various local artists a fairly large number of figures carved in wood,
ranging from fifteen to twenty-three inches in height, and
representing women belonging to the great group of the Mavia,
Makonde, and Matambwe tribes. The carving is remarkably well
done and renders the female type with great accuracy, especially the
keloid ornamentation, to be described later on. As to the object and
meaning of their works the sculptors either could or (more probably)
would tell me nothing, and I was forced to content myself with the
scanty information vouchsafed by one man, who said that the figures
were merely intended to represent the nembo—the artificial
deformations of pelele, ear-discs, and keloids. The legend recorded
by Pater Adams places these figures in a new light. They must surely
be more than mere dolls; and we may even venture to assume that
they are—though the majority of present-day Makonde are probably
unaware of the fact—representations of the tribal ancestress.
The references in the legend to the descent from Mahuta to the
Rovuma, and to a journey across the highlands into the Mbekuru
valley, undoubtedly indicate the previous history of the tribe, the
travels of the ancestral pair typifying the migrations of their
descendants. The descent to the neighbouring Rovuma valley, with
its extraordinary fertility and great abundance of game, is intelligible
at a glance—but the crossing of the Lukuledi depression, the ascent
to the Rondo Plateau and the descent to the Mbemkuru, also lie
within the bounds of probability, for all these districts have exactly
the same character as the extreme south. Now, however, comes a
point of especial interest for our bacteriological age. The primitive
Makonde did not enjoy their lives in the marshy river-valleys.
Disease raged among them, and many died. It was only after they
had returned to their original home near Mahuta, that the health
conditions of these people improved. We are very apt to think of the
African as a stupid person whose ignorance of nature is only equalled
by his fear of it, and who looks on all mishaps as caused by evil
spirits and malignant natural powers. It is much more correct to
assume in this case that the people very early learnt to distinguish
districts infested with malaria from those where it is absent.
This knowledge is crystallized in the
ancestral warning against settling in the
valleys and near the great waters, the
dwelling-places of disease and death. At the
same time, for security against the hostile
Mavia south of the Rovuma, it was enacted
that every settlement must be not less than a
certain distance from the southern edge of the
plateau. Such in fact is their mode of life at the
present day. It is not such a bad one, and
certainly they are both safer and more
comfortable than the Makua, the recent
intruders from the south, who have made USUAL METHOD OF
good their footing on the western edge of the CLOSING HUT-DOOR
plateau, extending over a fairly wide belt of
country. Neither Makua nor Makonde show in their dwellings
anything of the size and comeliness of the Yao houses in the plain,
especially at Masasi, Chingulungulu and Zuza’s. Jumbe Chauro, a
Makonde hamlet not far from Newala, on the road to Mahuta, is the
most important settlement of the tribe I have yet seen, and has fairly
spacious huts. But how slovenly is their construction compared with
the palatial residences of the elephant-hunters living in the plain.
The roofs are still more untidy than in the general run of huts during
the dry season, the walls show here and there the scanty beginnings
or the lamentable remains of the mud plastering, and the interior is a
veritable dog-kennel; dirt, dust and disorder everywhere. A few huts
only show any attempt at division into rooms, and this consists
merely of very roughly-made bamboo partitions. In one point alone
have I noticed any indication of progress—in the method of fastening
the door. Houses all over the south are secured in a simple but
ingenious manner. The door consists of a set of stout pieces of wood
or bamboo, tied with bark-string to two cross-pieces, and moving in
two grooves round one of the door-posts, so as to open inwards. If
the owner wishes to leave home, he takes two logs as thick as a man’s
upper arm and about a yard long. One of these is placed obliquely
against the middle of the door from the inside, so as to form an angle
of from 60° to 75° with the ground. He then places the second piece
horizontally across the first, pressing it downward with all his might.
It is kept in place by two strong posts planted in the ground a few
inches inside the door. This fastening is absolutely safe, but of course
cannot be applied to both doors at once, otherwise how could the
owner leave or enter his house? I have not yet succeeded in finding
out how the back door is fastened.

MAKONDE LOCK AND KEY AT JUMBE CHAURO


This is the general way of closing a house. The Makonde at Jumbe
Chauro, however, have a much more complicated, solid and original
one. Here, too, the door is as already described, except that there is
only one post on the inside, standing by itself about six inches from
one side of the doorway. Opposite this post is a hole in the wall just
large enough to admit a man’s arm. The door is closed inside by a
large wooden bolt passing through a hole in this post and pressing
with its free end against the door. The other end has three holes into
which fit three pegs running in vertical grooves inside the post. The
door is opened with a wooden key about a foot long, somewhat
curved and sloped off at the butt; the other end has three pegs
corresponding to the holes, in the bolt, so that, when it is thrust
through the hole in the wall and inserted into the rectangular
opening in the post, the pegs can be lifted and the bolt drawn out.[50]

MODE OF INSERTING THE KEY

With no small pride first one householder and then a second


showed me on the spot the action of this greatest invention of the
Makonde Highlands. To both with an admiring exclamation of
“Vizuri sana!” (“Very fine!”). I expressed the wish to take back these
marvels with me to Ulaya, to show the Wazungu what clever fellows
the Makonde are. Scarcely five minutes after my return to camp at
Newala, the two men came up sweating under the weight of two
heavy logs which they laid down at my feet, handing over at the same
time the keys of the fallen fortress. Arguing, logically enough, that if
the key was wanted, the lock would be wanted with it, they had taken
their axes and chopped down the posts—as it never occurred to them
to dig them out of the ground and so bring them intact. Thus I have
two badly damaged specimens, and the owners, instead of praise,
come in for a blowing-up.
The Makua huts in the environs of Newala are especially
miserable; their more than slovenly construction reminds one of the
temporary erections of the Makua at Hatia’s, though the people here
have not been concerned in a war. It must therefore be due to
congenital idleness, or else to the absence of a powerful chief. Even
the baraza at Mlipa’s, a short hour’s walk south-east of Newala,
shares in this general neglect. While public buildings in this country
are usually looked after more or less carefully, this is in evident
danger of being blown over by the first strong easterly gale. The only
attractive object in this whole district is the grave of the late chief
Mlipa. I visited it in the morning, while the sun was still trying with
partial success to break through the rolling mists, and the circular
grove of tall euphorbias, which, with a broken pot, is all that marks
the old king’s resting-place, impressed one with a touch of pathos.
Even my very materially-minded carriers seemed to feel something
of the sort, for instead of their usual ribald songs, they chanted
solemnly, as we marched on through the dense green of the Makonde
bush:—
“We shall arrive with the great master; we stand in a row and have
no fear about getting our food and our money from the Serkali (the
Government). We are not afraid; we are going along with the great
master, the lion; we are going down to the coast and back.”
With regard to the characteristic features of the various tribes here
on the western edge of the plateau, I can arrive at no other
conclusion than the one already come to in the plain, viz., that it is
impossible for anyone but a trained anthropologist to assign any
given individual at once to his proper tribe. In fact, I think that even
an anthropological specialist, after the most careful examination,
might find it a difficult task to decide. The whole congeries of peoples
collected in the region bounded on the west by the great Central
African rift, Tanganyika and Nyasa, and on the east by the Indian
Ocean, are closely related to each other—some of their languages are
only distinguished from one another as dialects of the same speech,
and no doubt all the tribes present the same shape of skull and
structure of skeleton. Thus, surely, there can be no very striking
differences in outward appearance.
Even did such exist, I should have no time
to concern myself with them, for day after day,
I have to see or hear, as the case may be—in
any case to grasp and record—an
extraordinary number of ethnographic
phenomena. I am almost disposed to think it
fortunate that some departments of inquiry, at
least, are barred by external circumstances.
Chief among these is the subject of iron-
working. We are apt to think of Africa as a
country where iron ore is everywhere, so to
speak, to be picked up by the roadside, and
where it would be quite surprising if the
inhabitants had not learnt to smelt the
material ready to their hand. In fact, the
knowledge of this art ranges all over the
continent, from the Kabyles in the north to the
Kafirs in the south. Here between the Rovuma
and the Lukuledi the conditions are not so
favourable. According to the statements of the
Makonde, neither ironstone nor any other
form of iron ore is known to them. They have
not therefore advanced to the art of smelting
the metal, but have hitherto bought all their
THE ANCESTRESS OF
THE MAKONDE
iron implements from neighbouring tribes.
Even in the plain the inhabitants are not much
better off. Only one man now living is said to
understand the art of smelting iron. This old fundi lives close to
Huwe, that isolated, steep-sided block of granite which rises out of
the green solitude between Masasi and Chingulungulu, and whose
jagged and splintered top meets the traveller’s eye everywhere. While
still at Masasi I wished to see this man at work, but was told that,
frightened by the rising, he had retired across the Rovuma, though
he would soon return. All subsequent inquiries as to whether the
fundi had come back met with the genuine African answer, “Bado”
(“Not yet”).
BRAZIER

Some consolation was afforded me by a brassfounder, whom I


came across in the bush near Akundonde’s. This man is the favourite
of women, and therefore no doubt of the gods; he welds the glittering
brass rods purchased at the coast into those massive, heavy rings
which, on the wrists and ankles of the local fair ones, continually give
me fresh food for admiration. Like every decent master-craftsman he
had all his tools with him, consisting of a pair of bellows, three
crucibles and a hammer—nothing more, apparently. He was quite
willing to show his skill, and in a twinkling had fixed his bellows on
the ground. They are simply two goat-skins, taken off whole, the four
legs being closed by knots, while the upper opening, intended to
admit the air, is kept stretched by two pieces of wood. At the lower
end of the skin a smaller opening is left into which a wooden tube is
stuck. The fundi has quickly borrowed a heap of wood-embers from
the nearest hut; he then fixes the free ends of the two tubes into an
earthen pipe, and clamps them to the ground by means of a bent
piece of wood. Now he fills one of his small clay crucibles, the dross
on which shows that they have been long in use, with the yellow
material, places it in the midst of the embers, which, at present are
only faintly glimmering, and begins his work. In quick alternation
the smith’s two hands move up and down with the open ends of the
bellows; as he raises his hand he holds the slit wide open, so as to let
the air enter the skin bag unhindered. In pressing it down he closes
the bag, and the air puffs through the bamboo tube and clay pipe into
the fire, which quickly burns up. The smith, however, does not keep
on with this work, but beckons to another man, who relieves him at
the bellows, while he takes some more tools out of a large skin pouch
carried on his back. I look on in wonder as, with a smooth round
stick about the thickness of a finger, he bores a few vertical holes into
the clean sand of the soil. This should not be difficult, yet the man
seems to be taking great pains over it. Then he fastens down to the
ground, with a couple of wooden clamps, a neat little trough made by
splitting a joint of bamboo in half, so that the ends are closed by the
two knots. At last the yellow metal has attained the right consistency,
and the fundi lifts the crucible from the fire by means of two sticks
split at the end to serve as tongs. A short swift turn to the left—a
tilting of the crucible—and the molten brass, hissing and giving forth
clouds of smoke, flows first into the bamboo mould and then into the
holes in the ground.
The technique of this backwoods craftsman may not be very far
advanced, but it cannot be denied that he knows how to obtain an
adequate result by the simplest means. The ladies of highest rank in
this country—that is to say, those who can afford it, wear two kinds
of these massive brass rings, one cylindrical, the other semicircular
in section. The latter are cast in the most ingenious way in the
bamboo mould, the former in the circular hole in the sand. It is quite
a simple matter for the fundi to fit these bars to the limbs of his fair
customers; with a few light strokes of his hammer he bends the
pliable brass round arm or ankle without further inconvenience to
the wearer.
SHAPING THE POT

SMOOTHING WITH MAIZE-COB

CUTTING THE EDGE


FINISHING THE BOTTOM

LAST SMOOTHING BEFORE


BURNING

FIRING THE BRUSH-PILE


LIGHTING THE FARTHER SIDE OF
THE PILE

TURNING THE RED-HOT VESSEL

NYASA WOMAN MAKING POTS AT MASASI


Pottery is an art which must always and everywhere excite the
interest of the student, just because it is so intimately connected with
the development of human culture, and because its relics are one of
the principal factors in the reconstruction of our own condition in
prehistoric times. I shall always remember with pleasure the two or
three afternoons at Masasi when Salim Matola’s mother, a slightly-
built, graceful, pleasant-looking woman, explained to me with
touching patience, by means of concrete illustrations, the ceramic art
of her people. The only implements for this primitive process were a
lump of clay in her left hand, and in the right a calabash containing
the following valuables: the fragment of a maize-cob stripped of all
its grains, a smooth, oval pebble, about the size of a pigeon’s egg, a
few chips of gourd-shell, a bamboo splinter about the length of one’s
hand, a small shell, and a bunch of some herb resembling spinach.
Nothing more. The woman scraped with the
shell a round, shallow hole in the soft, fine
sand of the soil, and, when an active young
girl had filled the calabash with water for her,
she began to knead the clay. As if by magic it
gradually assumed the shape of a rough but
already well-shaped vessel, which only wanted
a little touching up with the instruments
before mentioned. I looked out with the
MAKUA WOMAN closest attention for any indication of the use
MAKING A POT. of the potter’s wheel, in however rudimentary
SHOWS THE a form, but no—hapana (there is none). The
BEGINNINGS OF THE embryo pot stood firmly in its little
POTTER’S WHEEL
depression, and the woman walked round it in
a stooping posture, whether she was removing
small stones or similar foreign bodies with the maize-cob, smoothing
the inner or outer surface with the splinter of bamboo, or later, after
letting it dry for a day, pricking in the ornamentation with a pointed
bit of gourd-shell, or working out the bottom, or cutting the edge
with a sharp bamboo knife, or giving the last touches to the finished
vessel. This occupation of the women is infinitely toilsome, but it is
without doubt an accurate reproduction of the process in use among
our ancestors of the Neolithic and Bronze ages.
There is no doubt that the invention of pottery, an item in human
progress whose importance cannot be over-estimated, is due to
women. Rough, coarse and unfeeling, the men of the horde range
over the countryside. When the united cunning of the hunters has
succeeded in killing the game; not one of them thinks of carrying
home the spoil. A bright fire, kindled by a vigorous wielding of the
drill, is crackling beside them; the animal has been cleaned and cut
up secundum artem, and, after a slight singeing, will soon disappear
under their sharp teeth; no one all this time giving a single thought
to wife or child.
To what shifts, on the other hand, the primitive wife, and still more
the primitive mother, was put! Not even prehistoric stomachs could
endure an unvarying diet of raw food. Something or other suggested
the beneficial effect of hot water on the majority of approved but
indigestible dishes. Perhaps a neighbour had tried holding the hard
roots or tubers over the fire in a calabash filled with water—or maybe
an ostrich-egg-shell, or a hastily improvised vessel of bark. They
became much softer and more palatable than they had previously
been; but, unfortunately, the vessel could not stand the fire and got
charred on the outside. That can be remedied, thought our
ancestress, and plastered a layer of wet clay round a similar vessel.
This is an improvement; the cooking utensil remains uninjured, but
the heat of the fire has shrunk it, so that it is loose in its shell. The
next step is to detach it, so, with a firm grip and a jerk, shell and
kernel are separated, and pottery is invented. Perhaps, however, the
discovery which led to an intelligent use of the burnt-clay shell, was
made in a slightly different way. Ostrich-eggs and calabashes are not
to be found in every part of the world, but everywhere mankind has
arrived at the art of making baskets out of pliant materials, such as
bark, bast, strips of palm-leaf, supple twigs, etc. Our inventor has no
water-tight vessel provided by nature. “Never mind, let us line the
basket with clay.” This answers the purpose, but alas! the basket gets
burnt over the blazing fire, the woman watches the process of
cooking with increasing uneasiness, fearing a leak, but no leak
appears. The food, done to a turn, is eaten with peculiar relish; and
the cooking-vessel is examined, half in curiosity, half in satisfaction
at the result. The plastic clay is now hard as stone, and at the same
time looks exceedingly well, for the neat plaiting of the burnt basket
is traced all over it in a pretty pattern. Thus, simultaneously with
pottery, its ornamentation was invented.
Primitive woman has another claim to respect. It was the man,
roving abroad, who invented the art of producing fire at will, but the
woman, unable to imitate him in this, has been a Vestal from the
earliest times. Nothing gives so much trouble as the keeping alight of
the smouldering brand, and, above all, when all the men are absent
from the camp. Heavy rain-clouds gather, already the first large
drops are falling, the first gusts of the storm rage over the plain. The
little flame, a greater anxiety to the woman than her own children,
flickers unsteadily in the blast. What is to be done? A sudden thought
occurs to her, and in an instant she has constructed a primitive hut
out of strips of bark, to protect the flame against rain and wind.
This, or something very like it, was the way in which the principle
of the house was discovered; and even the most hardened misogynist
cannot fairly refuse a woman the credit of it. The protection of the
hearth-fire from the weather is the germ from which the human
dwelling was evolved. Men had little, if any share, in this forward
step, and that only at a late stage. Even at the present day, the
plastering of the housewall with clay and the manufacture of pottery
are exclusively the women’s business. These are two very significant
survivals. Our European kitchen-garden, too, is originally a woman’s
invention, and the hoe, the primitive instrument of agriculture, is,
characteristically enough, still used in this department. But the
noblest achievement which we owe to the other sex is unquestionably
the art of cookery. Roasting alone—the oldest process—is one for
which men took the hint (a very obvious one) from nature. It must
have been suggested by the scorched carcase of some animal
overtaken by the destructive forest-fires. But boiling—the process of
improving organic substances by the help of water heated to boiling-
point—is a much later discovery. It is so recent that it has not even
yet penetrated to all parts of the world. The Polynesians understand
how to steam food, that is, to cook it, neatly wrapped in leaves, in a
hole in the earth between hot stones, the air being excluded, and
(sometimes) a few drops of water sprinkled on the stones; but they
do not understand boiling.
To come back from this digression, we find that the slender Nyasa
woman has, after once more carefully examining the finished pot,
put it aside in the shade to dry. On the following day she sends me
word by her son, Salim Matola, who is always on hand, that she is
going to do the burning, and, on coming out of my house, I find her
already hard at work. She has spread on the ground a layer of very
dry sticks, about as thick as one’s thumb, has laid the pot (now of a
yellowish-grey colour) on them, and is piling brushwood round it.
My faithful Pesa mbili, the mnyampara, who has been standing by,
most obligingly, with a lighted stick, now hands it to her. Both of
them, blowing steadily, light the pile on the lee side, and, when the
flame begins to catch, on the weather side also. Soon the whole is in a
blaze, but the dry fuel is quickly consumed and the fire dies down, so
that we see the red-hot vessel rising from the ashes. The woman
turns it continually with a long stick, sometimes one way and
sometimes another, so that it may be evenly heated all over. In
twenty minutes she rolls it out of the ash-heap, takes up the bundle
of spinach, which has been lying for two days in a jar of water, and
sprinkles the red-hot clay with it. The places where the drops fall are
marked by black spots on the uniform reddish-brown surface. With a
sigh of relief, and with visible satisfaction, the woman rises to an
erect position; she is standing just in a line between me and the fire,
from which a cloud of smoke is just rising: I press the ball of my
camera, the shutter clicks—the apotheosis is achieved! Like a
priestess, representative of her inventive sex, the graceful woman
stands: at her feet the hearth-fire she has given us beside her the
invention she has devised for us, in the background the home she has
built for us.
At Newala, also, I have had the manufacture of pottery carried on
in my presence. Technically the process is better than that already
described, for here we find the beginnings of the potter’s wheel,
which does not seem to exist in the plains; at least I have seen
nothing of the sort. The artist, a frightfully stupid Makua woman, did
not make a depression in the ground to receive the pot she was about
to shape, but used instead a large potsherd. Otherwise, she went to
work in much the same way as Salim’s mother, except that she saved
herself the trouble of walking round and round her work by squatting
at her ease and letting the pot and potsherd rotate round her; this is
surely the first step towards a machine. But it does not follow that
the pot was improved by the process. It is true that it was beautifully
rounded and presented a very creditable appearance when finished,
but the numerous large and small vessels which I have seen, and, in
part, collected, in the “less advanced” districts, are no less so. We
moderns imagine that instruments of precision are necessary to
produce excellent results. Go to the prehistoric collections of our
museums and look at the pots, urns and bowls of our ancestors in the
dim ages of the past, and you will at once perceive your error.
MAKING LONGITUDINAL CUT IN
BARK

DRAWING THE BARK OFF THE LOG

REMOVING THE OUTER BARK


BEATING THE BARK

WORKING THE BARK-CLOTH AFTER BEATING, TO MAKE IT


SOFT

MANUFACTURE OF BARK-CLOTH AT NEWALA


To-day, nearly the whole population of German East Africa is
clothed in imported calico. This was not always the case; even now in
some parts of the north dressed skins are still the prevailing wear,
and in the north-western districts—east and north of Lake
Tanganyika—lies a zone where bark-cloth has not yet been
superseded. Probably not many generations have passed since such
bark fabrics and kilts of skins were the only clothing even in the
south. Even to-day, large quantities of this bright-red or drab
material are still to be found; but if we wish to see it, we must look in
the granaries and on the drying stages inside the native huts, where
it serves less ambitious uses as wrappings for those seeds and fruits
which require to be packed with special care. The salt produced at
Masasi, too, is packed for transport to a distance in large sheets of
bark-cloth. Wherever I found it in any degree possible, I studied the
process of making this cloth. The native requisitioned for the
purpose arrived, carrying a log between two and three yards long and
as thick as his thigh, and nothing else except a curiously-shaped
mallet and the usual long, sharp and pointed knife which all men and
boys wear in a belt at their backs without a sheath—horribile dictu!
[51]
Silently he squats down before me, and with two rapid cuts has
drawn a couple of circles round the log some two yards apart, and
slits the bark lengthwise between them with the point of his knife.
With evident care, he then scrapes off the outer rind all round the
log, so that in a quarter of an hour the inner red layer of the bark
shows up brightly-coloured between the two untouched ends. With
some trouble and much caution, he now loosens the bark at one end,
and opens the cylinder. He then stands up, takes hold of the free
edge with both hands, and turning it inside out, slowly but steadily
pulls it off in one piece. Now comes the troublesome work of
scraping all superfluous particles of outer bark from the outside of
the long, narrow piece of material, while the inner side is carefully
scrutinised for defective spots. At last it is ready for beating. Having
signalled to a friend, who immediately places a bowl of water beside
him, the artificer damps his sheet of bark all over, seizes his mallet,
lays one end of the stuff on the smoothest spot of the log, and
hammers away slowly but continuously. “Very simple!” I think to
myself. “Why, I could do that, too!”—but I am forced to change my
opinions a little later on; for the beating is quite an art, if the fabric is
not to be beaten to pieces. To prevent the breaking of the fibres, the
stuff is several times folded across, so as to interpose several
thicknesses between the mallet and the block. At last the required
state is reached, and the fundi seizes the sheet, still folded, by both
ends, and wrings it out, or calls an assistant to take one end while he
holds the other. The cloth produced in this way is not nearly so fine
and uniform in texture as the famous Uganda bark-cloth, but it is
quite soft, and, above all, cheap.
Now, too, I examine the mallet. My craftsman has been using the
simpler but better form of this implement, a conical block of some
hard wood, its base—the striking surface—being scored across and
across with more or less deeply-cut grooves, and the handle stuck
into a hole in the middle. The other and earlier form of mallet is
shaped in the same way, but the head is fastened by an ingenious
network of bark strips into the split bamboo serving as a handle. The
observation so often made, that ancient customs persist longest in
connection with religious ceremonies and in the life of children, here
finds confirmation. As we shall soon see, bark-cloth is still worn
during the unyago,[52] having been prepared with special solemn
ceremonies; and many a mother, if she has no other garment handy,
will still put her little one into a kilt of bark-cloth, which, after all,
looks better, besides being more in keeping with its African
surroundings, than the ridiculous bit of print from Ulaya.
MAKUA WOMEN

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