This document provides information on identifying and providing for children with special needs. It discusses development across several domains including physical, cognitive, social/emotional, and communication. Specific areas covered include information processing skills like attention and memory, language processing, speech development, and social skills development. The document aims to help understand child development and identify potential developmental delays or disabilities.

1. No.511, 3A Main, 5th Cross, OMBR Layout,
Bangalore – 560 043

2. Dealing with Behavioural
Challenges in Early
Learning
Alphonsa Joseph-Psychologist
Bhuvaneshwari- Speech –Language Pathologist

3. IDENTIFYING AND PROVIDING
FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL
NEEDS
DAY 2- 28TH December-2013

4. Contents
Information
processing skills- attention,
memory,
Behavioural manifestations of information
processing skills
Language and learning

5. Information processing
Attention:
auditory, visual
Auditory- listening skills
Memory- sensory register, short term –
working memory ( phonological loop),
long term memory.
Learning styles
Language and communication

6. ATTENTION
Auditory-
localization, auditory figure
ground ( hearing in noise)
Visual – discrimination, closuredrawings- symbolic representation
Motor planning- bilateral co-ordination,
sensory integration

7. MEMORY
Sensory
register- sensori motor play
(object permanence)
 Levels of processing theory ( Craik &
Lockhart, 1972)- i) perception
ii) structural features
( symbolic representation)
iii) Meaning or semantic
level ( elaboration)

8. Language Processing
Top
down vs bottom up approach
Emergent literacy

9. Development
Child Development
Change in the child that occurs over time. Changes
follow an orderly pattern that moves toward greater
complexity and enhances survival.
Developmental Delay
Slow or impaired development of a child <5 yrs old and
is at risk of having developmental disability because of
the presence of syndromes/metabolic disorders/
prenatal or postnatal problems.

10. Developmental Disability
•
Impaired functioning in one or more areas
of development such as physical, cognitive,
social, emotional and communication due
to various factors as assessed on
standardized developmental tests.

11. Domains of Development
Physical
• Cognitive
• Social/Emotional
• Communication
•

12. Physical development






Reflexes
Gross motor-principles, milestones
Fine motor
Sensory
Perfect synchronization –leads toSensory integration
Gaps in above areas lead to sensory
dysfunction

13. Cognitive development
 Cognitive
development is best understood in
terms of Piaget's theory of cognitive
development
 Assimilation + Accommodation = Adaptation
 Preoperational stage – according to Piaget, the
stage that lasts from 2 to 7 during which
children’s use of symbolic thinking grows,
mental reasoning emerges, and the use of
concepts increases

14.  Operations
are organized, formal, logical mental
processes
 Symbolic function – according to Piaget, the ability
to use a mental symbol, a word or an object to
represent something that is not physically present
 Centration – the process of concentrating on one
limited aspect of a stimulus and ignoring other
aspects
 Conservation – knowledge that quantity is
unrelated to the arrangement and physical
appearance of objects

15.  Transformation
– the process whereby
one state is changed into another
 Egocentric thought – thinking that does
not take the viewpoints of others into
account
 Intuitive thought – thinking that reflects
preschoolers’ use of primitive reasoning
and their avid acquisition of knowledge
about the world

16.  Information
Processing in preschoolers:
 Attention
 Memory
 Less
effective at using memory strategies
like
 Rehearsal
 Organizing
 More - Episodic memory >>
autobiographical memory

17. Social/Emotional Development
 Social
Emotional development is the
ability to initiate and maintain
relationships.
 During this development a child learns
how to approach other children, how to
negotiate issues, how to take turns, and
how to communicate effectively.

18.  Key
areas of focus- in social and emotional
development:
 SELF CONCEPT: Children develop their
self-concept very early in life. We can
provide and assist in enhancing a child’s
self-concept by recognizing unique qualities
that the child possesses and by paying
attention to the child’s temperament
(mood) to make sure that personalities are
compatible.

19.  Temperament
– The tendency to react in a
certain way to events.
 Temperament shows by 2-3 months.
Temperament may be inherited and/or due to
prenatal conditions & environment.
 There are three ratings of temperament:
 Flexible/Easy- have regular habits & cheerful
 Fearful/Slow to warm up – take more time to
adapt
 Feisty/Difficult – irregular in habits & withdraw or
protest

20.  SELF
CONFIDENCE:
 Children with self-confidence have a feeling
of internal worth which in turn makes it
easier for them to face challenges and to
work with others. When children lack this
confidence, their focus tends to be on
failure rather than success.

21. SELF ESTEEM:
Compliment children often.
Encourage students to make nice comments
about their peers.
Showing appreciation always helps in
positive self esteem.
Encourage children to make choices.
Show importance in a child’s opinion by using
active listening while they are speaking.
Explain reasons for your actions.
Encourage children to try new and
challenging activities.

22.  Tips
that Enhance Social Growth
 HONEST
RECOGNITION AND PRAISE:
Focus on being more specific when
praising students. For example, instead of
saying “good job”, draw attention to
something specific that the child has done.
Make students feel worthy to let them
know they have a place in the classroom.

23.  Tips
that Enhance Social Growth
 HONEST
RECOGNITION AND PRAISE:
Focus on being more specific when
praising students. For example, instead of
saying “good job”, draw attention to
something specific that the child has done.
Make students feel worthy to let them
know they have a place in the classroom.

24.  RESPECT:
Show respect by offering
choices and by respecting students’
decisions. By showing confidence in
students ability to make decisions we
foster their self- esteem. Make sure to
explain reasons behind rules or decisions
that are made. Do not talk about children
in front of them unless they are included in
the conversation.

25. COMPETENCE:
 Encourage
students to make their own choices
and to be independent. Provide experiences and
activities that foster success. Provide
opportunities that are challenging, but not
frustrating. Never be stereotypical. Allow equal
access to all things in the classroom. Offer
activities that foster creativity which allows
students to express themselves. Present
opportunities for students to interact with
others and to discover how to get along with
them.

26.  Activity
 Communicate
with another group member
to determine two qualities that you share
and two qualities that you do not.

27. Communication Development
 Communication
is the exchange of information,
the sending and receiving of messages, it is a two
way interaction and requires participation of a
sender and a receiver.
 Example:
 When an infant cries, mother picks her up.
 The child calls the teacher and teacher attends to
her
 A child pulls mother’s dress to get attention

28.  Speech
is a motor act. It is the most
efficient and frequently used mode of
language expression. Speech is produced
with the help of speech mechanism
structure like tongue, jaw, lips etc. in a
complex co-ordination with nervous
system. Communication involving speech
is called verbal communication.

29. Some aspects of speech
• 1) Articulation : Process of production of speech
sounds.
• 2) Voice: Appropriate pitch, loudness and quality.
• 3) Suprasegmental features: Refers to features like
tone, rhythm, stress, intonation etc which act upon
words and also change the meaning of the sentences by
using these features. The features like stress and
intonation decide whether the sentence is a question,
request or statement. Features also reflect attitude and
emotions of a speaker
• 3) Fluency: Fluency of speech can be fast, slow. Etc.

30. Intelligibility
 How
intelligible is your child’s speech to a
stranger during his early years? There is a
broad range of normal, but typically a child
at…




19 to 24 months of age is 25% to 50% intelligible
2 to 3 years, the child is 50% to 75% intelligible
3 to 4 years, the child is 80% intelligible
4 to 5 years, the child is 90% to 100% intelligible

31. Articulation Development
Sounds
/p/, /m/, /h/,
/n/, /w/
/b/
/k/, /g/, /d/
/t/, /ng/
/f/ ,/y/
/l/
AGE CHILDREN
BEGIN USING THE
SOUND
AGE 90% OF
CHILDREN ARE
USING THE SOUND
< 2 years
3 years
2 years
2 years
2 years
4 years
4 years
6 years
4 years
6 years
2 years 6 months
3 years

32. Articulation Development
Sounds
/r/, /s/
/ch/, /sh/
/z/
/j/
/v/
/th/
/zh/
AGE CHILDREN
BEGIN USING THE
SOUND
AGE 90% OF
CHILDREN ARE
USING THE SOUND
3 years
8 years
7 years
3 years 6
months
3 years 6
months
4 years
4 years
4 years 6
months
6 years
8 years
7 years
8 years
8 years
< 8 years

33.  Language
is a shared code or system that
presents concepts and ideas through the
use of arbitrary symbols. Language is a
vehicle for communication which has
systematic, rule-governed, arbitrary
symbols which are meaningful and shared
by a community. Typically we use oral
and written language to communicate .
Other types of languages include sign
language, Bliss symbols etc.

34. LANGUAGE
The major components of language are
• FORM Deals with structure of language,
how to form words and sentences
grammatically.
• CONTENT Deals with meaning of
language, what to say, or the content of
the message.
• USE Deals with the usage of language
where, when, with whom and for what
purpose language in used.
•

35. LANGUAGE
•
•
•
•
•
•
These major components are further subdivided into the
following:
1) PHONOLOGY Studies the range of speech sound a
native speaker uses while speaking and shows how they
are produced e.g. /p/ /b//m/ etc.
2) MORPHOLOGY Deals with the rules for
combining speech sounds to form words.
3) SYNTAX Refer to the grammatical aspect of a
language, and describes the rules that speakers use in
forming sentences.
4) SEMANTICS Include meanings as well as rules for
linking meaning with words.
5) PRAGMATICS Refers to the use of language
appropriately depending on situations.

36. STAGES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF
LANGUAGE
•
•
I Preverbal stage
Pre-verbal communication is well established before the
emergence of a child’s first words. The infant is also
vocalizing from the first months of life and that these
vocalization are quickly integrated with non-vocal signals
in communicative exchanges.
There are 5 recognizable stages of vocal development
that precede the emergence of clearly identifiable words.
They are defined by the most predominant vocalizations
and there is considerable overlap from one stage to the
next.

37. •
•
•
•
Stage-1: reflexive crying and vegetative sounds. (0-8
weeks)
These vary from crying and fussing, to burping
swallowing, spitting up and have no communicative
significance.
Stage-2: Cooing and Laughter (8 – 20 weeks)
These sounds occur when the infant is content and
contain both vowel and consonant elements. From about
12 weeks the frequency of crying decreases and the
primitive vegetative sounds of stage – 1 begin to die out.
Instances of sustained laughter occur from 16 weeks.

38. •
•
•
•
Stage – 3: Voice Play (16 – 30 weeks)
This stage is marked by longer continuous bursts of
vocalizing of either vowel or consonant sounds. Towards
the end of the stage, the infant may produce
combinations of sounds, which vary in pitch and mark the
onset of babbling.
Stage – 4: Reduplicated Babbling (25 – 50 weeks)
It is defined as a series of consonant vowel syllables with
the same consonant being repeated for e.g. nana or adah
–adah. While reduplicated babbling is not used
systematically to communicate with adults, towards the
end of this stage it may become
imitation games.
part of repetitive

39. Stage – 5: Non reduplicated Babbling
• Here vocalizations take the form of vowel
consonant vowel (VCV) e.g. ada, ana, CVC
form e.g. mam, geg and in a simple
sequence; both the consonants and vowels
may change. The child may also introduce
changes in stress and intonation,
consequently the babbling “sounds just
like a foreign language “ and is often
referred to as expressive jargon.
•

40. II. First Words
• By the age of 1 to 1 ½ years most of the children say their first
words. Change from the stage of jargon speech to first words stage
is marked by the presence of self made words (ideomorphs) i.e.
before producing adult like word child uses different self made
syllables and words to denote different objects and actions. Child
forms his own words. These are self-made words, which are called
as ideomorphs. These words have different origins arising in the
child’s daily life set. Some of the common sources include:
• Pointing /aaa/ need that object
• Imitating sounds in the environment
/bow wow/dog barking
• Self imitation /dhub/fallen down
• Imitation of adult /chichi – (i hate it)

41. •
First words do not sound like adult words. They
are mostly single syllables but are repeated e.g.
da-da, papa, mama. The child produces the same
word but with many intonations to look like a
question, request, demand etc. depending on the
situation. The child uses one word like a
sentence. Often an appropriate gesture will
accompany the utterance. Important objects,
events and persons from a child’s daily
experience are only uttered first. Children target
objects or people for their first words.

42. •
As speech develops the child is still coming
to terms with the phonological system for
combining sounds and there are numerous
instances of apparently inconsistent errors.
Irregularities in pronunciation are
extremely common in pre school children
and do not on their own indicate any cause
for concern.

43. III. COMBINING WORDS
• Children string 2 or more words together around 18
months of age. This tends not to happen suddenly. There
is usually a transitional period in which words are
brought together. Two word sentences emerge and
these combinations seem to include a great deal of
objects. They point to them and name them
(demonstrative) and they talk about where the objects
are (location), who owns them (possession) and who is
doing this to them (agent-object). They also talk about
actions performed by people (agent-object) and oriented
towards certain location (action-location).

44. •
What children mean when they use the word?
•
The meaning intended by children by using the words or gestures can be
called as SEMANTIC INTENTIONS. It may be assumed that children do
not start with the adult meanings. They have to work towards developing
the adult meanings depending upon their experiences in hearing and also
using the word in different situation.
•
The common strategies children use while developing meanings of the
words are:
•
Under Extension
•
Child may use a word to mean only one thing and not class of similar
things e.g. using ‘doggie’ to mean only the pet dog and not other dogs or
using ‘chokie’ to mean chocolate the child likes and not other chocolates.
•
Over Extension
•
A Child may use a word to mean more than what adults mean, e.g. “ball” to
indicate moon. On repeated using of the words and depending upon the
adult reactions, the child gradually approximates adult meanings.

45. FUNCTION OF FIRST WORDS
Sl. No.
Function
Example
Gloss
01.
Instrumental
(I want /need)
More
I want some more
02.
Regulatory
(Do as I tell you)
Book
Let’s look at a book
03.
Interactional
(You and me)
Dada
Dada (nice to see you)
04.
Personal
(I like)
That
That’s nice
05.
Imaginative
(Let’s pretend)
Rah
Let’s pretend to be a line
06.
Heuristic
(Tell me why)
Adah?
What’s that
07.
Informative
(I’ve got something to tell you)
Bird
There’s a bird outside

46. •
Objects, people and actions and their interrelationships preoccupy the child
at this stage, which actually are the experiences that the child has gone
through so far.
•
Some of the common word combination which represent a small group of
meanings (semantic relations) include:
•
Semantic Relation
Example - Utterance
•
Agent + action
Mummy come
•
Action + object
•
Agent + object
mummy sock
Action + location
sit – chair, toy - floor
•
drink milk
•
Possessor + Possession
my teddy
•
Entity + attribute
•
Demonstration + entity that money
•
As seen, these semantic electrons are telegraphic in nature but they turn
into more grammatical sentences gradually.
crayon big

47. IV Sentence Development
• The first signs of communication occur during
the first few days of life when an infant learns
that a cry will bring food, comfort or a diaper
change. The newborn baby recognizes important
sounds in his/her environment. As the child
grows up they begin to sort out the speech
sounds that make up words in a language.
Research has shown that most babies recognize
the basic sounds of their language by six months
of age.

48. •
•
•
•
•
As the speech mechanism and voice mature, an infant is able to
make controlled sound.
The baby has moved from the first stage of crying to the second
stage of differential crying to the third stage of cooing. Babies
babble at around 4-5 months, which is nonsense speech but may
reflect adult intonation patterns.
Children then go through the stage of echolalia, when they repeat
words, but without knowing the meaning.
By the time they reach the end of their first year, they may be able
to say a few words. By eighteen months of age, they can say 8-10
words.
By age two, they may be putting words together to make a twoword sentence. They begin to use complex sentences by 4 - 4½
years of age.

49. •
•
•
•
•
•
•
Details of sentence development
16 – 20 months
- Two Word sentences emerge
- Types of sentences used are
: Agent + Action eg: mummy give
: Object + Action eg: ball throw
: Possessor + Possession eg: mama ball

50. •
•
•
•
•
•
•
21 – 23 months
- Uses 3-word & 4-word sentences eg:
what is this?, where is the ball?
- Uses 2nd person pronoun ‘you’ to give
simple commands; eg you do it,
you throw the ball?
- uses few prepositional words; here,
there, in
- refers to self using name
- syntactical errors are seen

51. 24 – 26 months
• - Increased use of pronoun – I, he, it, me
• - increased use of preposition
• - denials are expressed in sentences
•

52. •
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
27 – 29 months
- uses negative imperative to prohibit action; eg:
don’t talk
- uses ‘if-then’ construction
- can quantify; little, all
- indicates increases in numbers – another
- indicates time – afterwards, later
30 – 36 months
- uses questions to elicit reasoning; eg: why
didn’t you bring it
- uses several verb forms
- uses plurals in speech

53. •
•
•
V DEVELOPMENT OF SEMANTIC LANGUAGE
Even before the child begins to speak, he/ she understands the meaning of
words and starts using gestures meaningfully. Children pick up new words
at a fairly fast pace. They learn naming words, action words, describing
words, pronouns, prepositions, quantifying words, questions, etc.
They learn what to do to a word to change it from singular to plural. They
learn how to use the correct prefixes & suffixes. They learn to use
sentences to express themselves. Sentences become more complex in
nature. Slowly, over time they decipher underlying or hidden meanings in
a sentence. Older children enjoy humor which may be a pun on words.
They understand sarcasm, they comprehend the connotation of gestures,
facial expressions, changes in intonation patterns. The depth of feelings is
expressed by using appropriate words.

54. •
To conclude, we can say that the
understanding of semantic content of a
language is a continuous process.
Comprehension of ‘slang’ and of common
words used in technical jargon, for a
different purpose would explain this
phenomenon.

55. VI DEVELOPMENT OF PRAGMATIC LANGUAGE
• Areas in Pragmatic Language
• Topicalization – i.e. introducing, terminating and maintaining the
topic.
• Conversational Ability – speaking & listening skills such as turn-taking
and changing the topic appropriately.
• Use of register – manner in which an individual speaks to another,
i.e. tone of voice, respect in voice, formal or informal address.
• Use of Syntactic Forms to convey Pragmatic Information
• Effective Language: message should be appropriate, should convey
what the
•
speaker wants to say
• Non-verbal communication: use of appropriate facial expressions and
gestures.

56. 11½ months - 2 yrs
• denial of assertion
• fictional event descriptions
• ‘what and ‘where’ questions
2yrs - 3 yrs
• expresses ability / inability
• takes permission

57. •
•
•
•
•
•
•
3yrs – 4 yrs
understands obligation
gives description
expresses contrastive statements (what is
the difference between a table & a chair)
story completion achieved
identity & location concepts emerge
temporal & causal concepts emerge

58. •
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
4yrs – 5yrs
requests for clarification
requests for information, permission,
assistance
makes claims, gives warnings, protests
makes advanced requests for information
follows directions
can take hints
makes predictions & inferences

59. 5yrs – 7yrs
• style & content of message changes depending on age,
• gender, authority or familiarity
7yrs – 10yrs
• clarity in giving messages
• ability to evaluate communication
• adequacy of message
• uses persuasion
• maintains a topic
• increase in length & complexity of narrative
• uses tactful messages
• resolves conflicts
• gives comforting messages

60. Theories of Language Acquisition
•
•
•
•
•
Various viewpoints
Behavioural
Nativism
Cognitive
Social-interactional
NATURE Vs NURTURE

61. PRESCHOOLERS
•
•
•
•
•
Gross motor
Fine motor
Language (Echolalia, Normal Nonfluency)
Cognition (Animism, egocentricism, lack of
conservation)
Behaviour/Play

62. Language delay
•
•
•
•
•
Failure to develop speech at the expected
age
Somewhat subjective
Usually associated with other maturational
delays
May also be associated with a hearing
impairment, mental retardation, emotional
disturbance, or brain injury
Often the result of environmental
deprivation

63. Hearing Impairment
•
•
•
•
•
Delay in Speech & Language
Limited babbling
Articulation, voice problems
Learning problems
Central auditory processing problems???

64. Autism
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Autism is a neurologically based Pervasive Developmental Disorder
that is usually evident by age three and varies from low to high
functioning.
Lack of eye contact
Aloofness, solitary play, poor social skills
Poor communication intent
Echolalia
Mutism
Pronoun reversal
Sensory integration issues, stereotypic behaviour, perseverations,
behavioural issues
Oro motor problems (apraxia present sometimes)

65. Mental Retardation
•
•
•
•
•
Delay in motor milestones
General slowing of cognitive abilities
Below average IQ
Characteristics depend on the severity
Down's syndrome

66. ADD/ADHD
•
•
•
•
•
•
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity disorder
Attention Deficit Disorder
Inattention, Impulsivity, Hyperactivity
Medication prescribed to some
Behavioural excesses, learning problems, reading/writing
issues, pragmatic difficulties
ADHD is a neurobiological disorder that causes
developmentally inappropriate levels of inattention,
hyperactivity and impulsivity.

67. SLI & LD
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Specific Language Impairment
Learning Disability
Oral language, Written Language
Continuum???
Exclusion criteria
Less than 50 words at 2 years of age
Pure Language Disorder
Reading, Writing, Arithmetic issues
Average/above-average IQ

68. Cerebral Palsy
Non progressive neurological disorders
• Affects motor skills, feeding,
communication, speech, language and
sometimes cognition.
• Different types of cerebral palsy.
•

69. Various developmental disabilities










Autism Spectrum Disorders
Intellectual Disabiity
Hearing Impairment
Visual Impairment
Cerebral Palsy
Syndromes
Learning Disability
AD/HD
Delayed/Inadequate Speech & Language/SLI
Conduct, Behavioural & Emotional Disorders

70. Intervention for children at risk (3 to 7 years)
Complaints:
Withdrawn social behavior
Delayed language (immediate echolalia)
Gross & fine motor in-coordination
Poor attention & concentration
Feeding issues
Behavioral issues

71. Piagetian Principles
 Perception (sensory processing, sensory
reorganization, sensory exploration) is an
active, rather than passive learning process
 Perceptual development permits the
development of symbolic, representational
systems.

72. Symbolic
functioning includes all mental
behavior concerned with aspects of reality that
are not immediately present.
Language differs from other forms of symbolic
functioning because it is a social communication
system, rather than an isolated internal system
such as imagery.

73. Language
as a social system is the end result of
communicative, cognitive, social, play and
imitative development.
Language as a symbolic function represents the
child’s reality-the child’s experiences.

74. a)
b)
Kephart’s Perceptual Training Approach
(Kephart, 1971)- 2 assumptions:
Visual motor abilities are essential to cognitive
development and academic success;
These visual motor processes are trainable.

75. Concept formation - dependent on the
manipulation of perceptual data that rests on
the development of basic motor patterns
Posture
Laterality
Body image
Directionality

76. Tactile,
kinesthetic, visual and auditory
information received from the developing
perceptual system are compared with existing
motor information- result is ‘perceptual-motor
match”
Faulty perceptual-motor match leads to sensory
integration problems.

77. Auditory
processing abilities-informal trainingtop down or bottom up approach depending on
the individual child.

79. Role of Parents
Importance of careful observation of play
behavior.
Handling temper tantrums
How to communicate with children, obtain
knowledge about the stages of language
development and provide adequate speech
stimulation.

80. Modifying
feeding habits, including weaning
bottle feeding and introduction of food of
varied consistency, texture and temperature
and setting up a feeding routine.
Family and marital counseling done as and when
required.
Schooling issues were addressed.

81. Case studies & assessment
Knox
cube
BGT
Visual
memory
Auditory & phonological processing
Expressive language
Oro-motor skills

82. THANK YOU!