CHILDREN WITH

SPECIAL NEEDS

FLCT-Doctor2020
 More recently, focus on children with special needs has been
heightened with the issuances from the Department of Education
and legislative branch of government stipulating the necessity of
addressing the concerns of children with special needs. This
indicates that’s the population of this group of children in the
educational system is growing and necessarily need attention.
 THE NATURE OF SPECIAL NEEDS
It is important for teachers, school officials, caregivers and other school personnel to know the
characteristics of the children. It is important not to stereotype children with special needs.
The following are the general and specific categories of students with special needs, as found by
the different researchers and which have been summarized (Ormrod, 2003 and Nielsen 2003):
1. Those with specific cognitive or academic difficulties
2. Those with social or behavioral problems
3. Those with general delays in cognitive and social functioning
4. Those with physical and sensory challenges
5. Those with advance cognitive development
SPECIFIC COGNITIVE OR ACADEMIC DIFFICULTIES
AND INDICATIVE BEHAVIORS

Learning Disabilities

Learning disabilities are difficulties in the cognitive processes (e.g.

perception, language, memory) but are not attributed or cause by other
disabilities like mental retardation, emotional or behavioral disorders etc. and the
like.
Characteristics of Children with Cognitive and Academic Difficulties

Perceptual Difficulty
Memory Difficulty
Metacognitive Difficulty in processing oral language
Reading Difficulty
Written language difficulty
Difficulty with social perception
 Common Characteristics of Children with ADHD
Often inattentive
Hyperactive
Impulsive
Difficulty in cognitive processing
Lagging behind in academic achievement
Exceptional imagination and creativity
Classroom behavior problems (disruptiveness,
noncompliance with rules)
Difficulty interpreting and reasoning about
social situations
Greater emotional reactivity (excitability,
hostility) in interacting with peers
Few friendships; in some cases, rejected by
peers
Poor memory
Disorganized
Restlessness, incessant talking and incessant
activity
 Speech and Communication Disorder

These are impairments in spoken language or communication (e.g. stuttering, mispronunciation) and
comprehension. The difficulties are articulation problems, stuttering, abnormal syntactic patterns, and
difficulty understanding the speech of others, all of which are likely to interfere with academic performance.

Characteristics of Children with Speech and Communication Disorders

Usually, these children have difficulties in reading and writing
Are self conscious
Are embarrassed when talking
Are reluctant to speak
 SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS AND
BEHAVIORAL INDICATORS
Emotional or Behavioral Disorders

These are emotional states that are present and which persist for a long time and which affect
learning and academic performance and social behavior.

The following behavior may indicate a social or behavioral disorder among students:
a. Difficulty interacting with others in social acceptable manner
b. Difficulty in establishing academic performance with increasing age
c. Poor self-concept
 SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS AND
BEHAVIORAL INDICATORS
d. Frequently absent from school
e. Deteriorating academic performance with increasing
f. Unable to learn but cannot be explained by IQ sensory or health factors
g. Showing inappropriate types of behavior or feelings even under normal
circumstances.
h. Developing physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school
problems..
Autism

According to experts, it is a condition that is caused by a brain

abnormality this is a disability marked by impairment in social
interaction. Individual with autism prefer to be alone and form weak
emotional attachments, if at all. In some cases, they exhibit savant
syndrome, where they have extraordinary ability in one function (like
exceptional musical ability) which is in contrast to their other mental
functions. Autism falls on a continuum from the least severe to the most
severe symptoms.
Characteristics of Children with Autism

a. They engage in obsessively repetitive movement activities like rocking back and
forth; winging of the hands and other stereotyped movements;
b. They can be self-abusive, as for example, banging their heads, slapping or biting
themselves.
c. They can have unusual responses to sensory inputs as for example exaggerated
response to sound.
d. They are withdrawn and do not communicate at all.
e. They exhibit periodic emotional outbursts.
f. May exhibit abnormal responses to objects
 DELAYS IN COGNITIVE AND SOCIAL
FUNCTIONING AND BEHAVIORAL INDICATORS
Mental Retardation
Condition of significantly below average general intelligence as well as deficits
in social and practical intelligence and adaptive behavior. This often caused by
generic conditions. For example, most children with Down Syndrome have delayed
cognitive development. Or in non inherited cases, malnutrition of the mother during
pregnancy, or oxygen deprivation during birth. Or in some cases, environmental
factors like parental neglect or extremely impoverished and unstimulating home
environments could also be a caused. It is not necessarily a life-ling disability
especially if caused by environmental factors.
Common Characteristics of Students with Developmental Delays

a. They have a desire to belong and fit in at school

b. They have less general knowledge about the world
c. They have poor reading and language skills
 PHYSICAL AND SENSORY CHALLENGES AND
BEHAVIORAL INDICATORS
Physical and Health Impairments
These are general physical and medical conditions (usually long-term)
that interfere with school performance. Students in this category have
limited energy and strength mental alertness or little muscle control.
Example of specific conditions under this category include traumatic brain
injury, spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, epilepsy, cystic
fibrosis, asthma, heart problems, arthritis, cancer leukemia
Common Characteristics or Indicators of Physical and Sensory Challenges

a. Learning ability similar to that of non disable students.

b. Fewer opportunities to experience and interact with outside world in
educationally important ways as for example fewer opportunities to ride in a
bus or public transport , or visit museums, thus making knowledge more
limited
c. Low stamina and tendency to tire easily
d. Possible low esteem, insecurity, embarrassment due to their physical
limitations.
Visual Impairments

Malfunction of the eyes or optic nerve that prevent normal vision even with corrective lenses. Same
are totally blind; others have tunnel vision, some with limited sensitivity to light. The causes of visual
impairments may be any congenital abnormalities in either eye or in the visual pathway to the brain.

Common Characteristics of the Children with Visual Impairments

a. Normal functioning of the other senses (hearing, smelling etc.)
b. General learning ability similar to that of nondisabled children.
c. Fewer opportunities to experience and interact with the outside world (less exposure, no visual
materials), thus more limited vocabulary and general knowledge about the world.
d. Reduced capability to imitate others
e. Inability to observe body language and other non verbal cues of people, leading to misperception
of intended meanings.
f. Occasional confusion particularly in chaotic situations like playground, canteen etc.
g. A general feeling of uncertainty and anxiety because of no visual knowledge of events in the
classroom.
h. Less knowledge about the conventions of written language.
Hearing Loss

Malfunction of the ear or associated nerves that interfere with perception of sounds. They have
insufficient sensation to understand spoken language even with hearing aid.

Common Characteristics
a. Delayed language development especially if the impairment was present birth
b. Less oral language than hearing classmates
c. Some ability to read lips
d. Proficiency in sign language
e. Less developed reading skills
f. Less general knowledge about the world than their peers
g. More limited social skills due to reduced ability to communication, leading to
social isolation.
Severe and Multiple Disabilities

Having two or more of the disabilities described earlier and most probably require slightly
specialized services.
Common Characteristics of Children with Severe and Multiple Disabilities
a. They have varying degrees of intellectual functioning
b. Limited awareness of surrounding stimuli and events
c. Limited communication skills often consisting of gestures, facial expressions, but can be
facilitated by technology
d. Significant delays in motor development
e. Mild or sensory impairments
f. Extensive medical needs
 CHILDREN WITH ADVANCED COGNITIVE
DEVELOPMENT AND BAHAVIORAL INDICATORS
Giftedness
Unusually high ability or aptitude in any or more of the following areas. Intellectual ability, aptitude
in a specific academic field, creativity, visual or performing arts, or leadership.

Characteristics of Gifted Children

a. More advances vocabulary, language and reading skills than the rest of their classmates.
b. Able to learn quickly, easily and independently than their peers.
c. More advanced and effective cognitive processing and metacognitive skills.
d. Greater flexibility in ideas and approaches to tasks.
e. Able to do formal operational tasks.
f. They have high standards regarding their performance.
g. They are highly motivated to achieve challenging tasks.
h. Positive self-concept especially academic endeavors.
i. Above average social development and emotional adjustment.