7. The Nature of Special Needs
In one or perhaps, even in many occasions, you may have
noticed children who acted, behaved or talked in a manner that is
distinctly different from the way other children do. These actions
or behaviors that you have observed may be remarkable enough
to make you think that they are indeed different from the other
children you usually encounter. They are children (or students)
with special needs.
8. General & Specific Categories of Students with
Special Needs (Ormrod,2003 and Nielsen 2002)
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 or sensory challenges.
5. Those with advanced cognitive development.
10. Learning Disabilities
➡️ Learning disabilities are difficulties in the cognitive
processes (e.g. perception, language, memory) but are
not attributed or caused by other disabilities like mental
retardation, emotional or behavioral disorders etc. and
the like.
11. Characteristics of Children with Cognitive
and Academic Difficulties
a. Perceptual difficulty
b. Memory difficulty
c. Metacognitive difficulty
d. Difficulty in processing oral
language
e. Reading difficulty
f. Written language difficulty
g. Mathematical difficulty
h. Difficulty with social
perception
12. a.) Perceptual difficulty
– difficulty in understanding or remembering information
through any of the sense modalities or sense organs.
c.) Metacognitive difficulty
– less capacity for remembering information received either
short or long-term.
b.) Memory difficulty
– difficulty in using effective learning strategies, monitoring the
progress of their learning goals and other ways of directing their
own learning.
13. d.) Difficulty in processing oral language
– difficulty in understanding spoken language and
remembering what has been told or spoken.
e.) Reading difficulty
– trouble in recognizing printed words or comprehending what
was read. An extreme form of reading difficulty is ‘dyslexia.’
f.) Written language difficulty
– problems in handwriting, spelling, or expressing oneself
coherently in paper. An extreme form of this difficulty is
‘dysgraphia.’
14. g.) Mathematical difficulty
– trouble thinking about or remembering information involving
numbers. It is associated with a poor sense of time or direction
as well as difficulty learning basic number facts. An extreme form
of this difficulty is ‘dyscalculia.’
h.) Difficulty with social perception
– difficulty interpreting social cues and signals from other
people. It is a difficulty perceiving or interpreting other people’s
feelings or reactions and may result to inappropriate responses in
social situations.
15. Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity
Disorder (ADHD)
➡️ With ADHD, there is difficulty in focusing and maintaining
attention, and in many cases characterized by hyperactive and
impulsive behaviors. It is possible that this difficulty has biological
and genetic bases.
16. Common Characteristics of Children with
ADHD
a. Often inattentive
b. Hyperactive
c. Impulsive
d. Difficulty in cognitive processing
e. Lagging behind in academic achievement
f. Exceptional imagination and creativity
g. Classroom behavior problems (disruptiveness, noncompliance
with rules)
17. h. Difficulty interpreting and reasoning about social
situations
i. Greater emotional reactivity (excitability, hostility) in interacting
with peers
j. Few friendships, in some cases, rejected by peers
k. Poor memory
l. Disorganized
m. Restlessness, incessant talking and incessant activity
18. Speech and Communication Disorders
➡️ 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.
19. Characteristics of Children with Speech
and Communication Disorders
a. Usually, these children have difficulties in reading and writing
b. Are self-conscious
c. Are embarrassed when talking
d. Are reluctant to speak
21. Emotional or Behavioral Disorders
➡️ Are emotional states that are present and which persist for a long
time and which affect learning and academic performance and
social behavior.
➡️ A symptom of this disorder can be seen in external behaviors
that have direct or indirect effect on other people like defiance,
aggression, lying, stealing, disobedience, or lack of self-control or
impulsiveness. On the other hand, internalized behaviors affect the
person himself, and subsequently develops anxiety, depression,
eating disorders, social withdrawal, or suicidal tendencies.
22. Behaviors that indicate a Social or
Behavioral Disorder among Students
a. Difficulty in interacting with others in socially acceptable
manner.
b. Difficulty in establishing satisfactory interpersonal
relationships.
c. Poor self-concept.
d. Frequently absent from school.
e. Deteriorating academic performance with increasing age.
23. 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.
24. 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. Individuals with autism prefer to be alone and form
weak emotional attachments, if at all. Autism falls on a continuum
from the least severe to the most severe symptoms.
25. Characteristics of Children with Autism
a. They engage in obsessively repetitive movement activities like
rocking back and forth; wringing 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 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.
27. Mental Retardation
➡️ Condition of significantly below average general intelligence
as well as deficits in social and practical intelligence and adaptive
behavior. This is often caused by genetic conditions.
➡️ It is not necessarily a life-long disability especially if caused by
environmental factors.
28. 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.
30. 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.
➡️ Examples 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 or leukemia.
32. Common Characteristics or Indicators of
Physical and Sensory Challenges
a. Learning ability similar to that of nondisabled 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.
33. Visual Impairments
➡️ Malfunction of the eyes or optic nerve that prevent normal
vision even with corrective lenses. Some 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.
34. Common Characteristics of 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 to visual materials), thus more
limited vocabulary and general knowledge about the world.
d. Reduced capability to imitate others.
35. e. Inability to observe body language and other nonverbal cues of
people, leading to misperceptions of intended meanings.
f. Occasional confusion particularly in chaotic situation 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.
36. Hearing Loss
➡️ Malfunction of the ear or associated nerves that interfere with
the perception of sounds. They have insufficient sensation to
understand spoken language even with hearing aid.
37. Common Characteristics
a. Delayed language development especially if the impairment was
present at 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.
38. Severe and Multiple Disabilities
➡️ Having two or more of the disabilities described earlier and
most probably require highly 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.
39. d. Significant delays in motor development.
e. Mild or sensory impairments.
f. Extensive medical needs.
41. Common Characteristics of Gifted Children
➡️ 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.
Giftedness
a. More advanced vocabulary, language and reading skills than the rest of
their classmates.
b. Able to learn more quickly, easily and independently than their peers.
c. More advanced and effective cognitive processing and metacognitive
skills.
42. 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.
43. Directions: Identify what is being asked in
the following question and statements below.
1. It is a trouble in recognizing printed words or comprehending what
was read.
2. Delayed language development especially if the impairment was
present at birth is a characteristic of what impairment?
3. It’s a difficulties in the cognitive processes (e.g perception,
language, memory) but are not attributed or caused by other
disabilities.
4. A difficulty in understanding or remembering information through
any of the sense modalities or sense organs.
5. A symptom of this disorder can be seen in external and
internalized behaviors.
