Normal and Exceptional Development

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Chapter 4
Normal and Exceptional Development

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What Is Normal or Typical
Development?
• This implies an ongoing process of
growing, changing, and acquiring a range
of complex skills.
• Beginning in earliest infancy, the process
moves along a developmental continuum
according to a predictable pattern common
to most children of the same age.

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What Is Normal or Typical
Development? (continued)
• Developmental sequences
– Children learn skills in a sequence.
– Based on their age, we know what skills the
child should learn next.
• Developmental milestones
– This is the order in which the child will learn
the skills from the developmental sequence.

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What Is Normal or Typical
Development? (continued)
– Infancy
• Brain research has greatly improved.
• Many studies have been done on early brain
stimulation and the lasting effects.
• Infants need caregivers and parents to offer
activities, materials, and communication to
enhance brain development.

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What Is Normal or Typical
Development? (continued)
• Infancy (continued)
– Attachment has begun through the give and
take between the caregiver and the child.
– The infant is Piaget’s sensorimotor stage of
development.
• Learning through movement and their senses.

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What Is Normal or Typical
Development? (continued)
– Toddlerhood
• This lasts from 18 to 30 months of age.
• Walking is well established.
• Toilet training may begin.
• Independence is sought.
• The word “mine” enters the vocabulary.

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What Is Normal or Typical
Development? (continued)
– Preschool years—ages three to six
• Children are developing creativity.
• Language is used correctly and understood by
most older people.
• Physical skills are greatly improved.
• Empathy toward others and sharing are apparent.

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What Is Normal or Typical
Development? (continued)
– The primary-school years
• Learning to read is a major milestone for this
group.
• Best friends and friendships are important.
• Self-care skills are done independently.
• Growth is slowed but still continues.

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What Is Atypical or Exceptional
Development?
• Developmental disabilities and delays
– A child is unable to perform like typically
developing peers, but the potential for growth
is still present.
– Exist when a child is performing like a child
who is typically developing of a much younger
age.

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Children at Developmental Risk
• Biological risks
– Birth defects
– Chromosomal abnormalities
– Heart defects
• Environmental risks
– Poverty
– Child abuse and neglect

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Children at Developmental Risk
(continued)
• Resilience and vulnerability
– Resilient children take the worst and make the
best out of it.
– Vulnerable children do not recover from the
worst and continue in a downward spiral.

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Children at Developmental Risk
(continued)
• Children with special gifts and talents
– Theory of multiple intelligences
• Gardner says there are eight. Everyone has one
intelligence that is stronger than the others.
– Characteristics of young gifted and children
• Have advanced vocabulary
• Learn quickly
• Are curious
• Find and solve difficult and unusual problems

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Children and Developmental Risk
(continued)
• Children with developmental disabilities
who are gifted
– Yes, you can have a disability and be gifted at
the same time—sometimes even in the same
developmental domain.
– Children with disabilities still need to be
considered for gifted programs.
– Identification needs to come from classroom
observations, not purely test scores.