The document discusses various psychotherapies for special populations. It begins by defining learning disabilities and noting that special populations were initially defined by psychiatric symptoms but now include demographics like age, gender and race. Various disabilities are described like auditory, learning, visual and motor. Implications for instruction with each population are outlined. Psychotherapies discussed include problem solving skills training, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, communication intervention, dialectical behavior therapy, and play therapy.

1. Psychotherapies for
Special Populationsby Muhammad Musawar Ali
MPHIL, ICAP
Psychmmusawarali@gmail.com
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2. The Learning Disabilities Association of America
defines Learning Disability as a neurological
condition that interferes with an individual’s ability
to store, process, or produce information.
Introduction
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3. Historical View
1978… Refers to special populations as groups defined in
terms of demographic variables: age, gender, and race.
The groups discussed in that report were young people,
women, the elderly, American Indians, Spanish-speaking
persons, and blacks. These groupings were seen as very
different from those described in the 1940s, when the
focus was on grouping by differences in social class and
psychiatric symptoms.
 Special populations first began to be identified in the
mid 1960s .
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4.  Firstly describe that special population are those
peoples have psychiatric symptoms.
 But with the passage of time psychiatric symptoms
removed from special population category..
 Different clinicians specific areas for special
population.
Cont….
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5.  Firstly…AD
 Secondly…. LD
 Thirdly…VD
 Fourth…MD
Cont…..
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6. Special
Populations
Auditory Disability
• Learners with hearing impairment
Specific Learning Disability
• Learners with slow processing skills
Visual Disability
• Learners with visual impairment
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7.  Learners with motor impairments
Motor Disability
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8. Description:
 The U.S. National Library of Medicine defines learning
disability like dyslexia as a developmental reading
disorder is a reading disability that occurs when the
brain does not properly recognize and process certain
symbols.
 Impacts a persons ability to speak, read, spell, and
writes which could definitely effect ones social
interaction.
Specific learning disability
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9. Implications for Instructions:
Provide books with large font and or double space
sentences
Provide books/lecture on tape
Deliver lectures in small incumbent
Encourage students to use of logic
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10. Description:
Visual impairment is when a person has
sight loss that cannot be fully corrected
using glasses or contact lenses.
Visual Disability
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11. Implications for Instructions:
 Plan to purchase textbooks via video tapes
 Use an alternative for writing assignments
 Students with low vision should be encouraged to
use their eyes to the maximum. Vision is not
diminished by use
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12.  Allow the student to adjust his/her work to a position
that he/she is most comfortable with
 Do not use large print materials when regular print will
suffice
 Whenever an assignment refers to a picture (as in math
workbooks) allow the student to look at the picture in a
regular print book. The large print process distorts
pictures
Cont……..
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13. PSYCHOTHERAPIES
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14. Problem Solving Skills Training
 Help patients recognize and learn about problem
solving skills.
Cont….
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15. Speech and language therapy..
Speech therapy is an intervention service that
focuses on improving a child's speech and abilities to
understand and express language, including
nonverbal language. Speech therapists, or speech
and language pathologists (SLPs), are the
professionals who provide these services
Cont……
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16.  Speech therapy includes two components:
 1) coordinating the mouth to produce sounds to form
words and sentences, fluency, and voice volume regulation.
 2) understanding and expressing language like to address
the use of language through written, pictorial, body, and
sign forms, and the use of language through alternative
communication systems such as social media, computers.
Cont……
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17. Occupational Therapy.
 Occupational therapy (OT) addresses a combination of
cognitive, physical and motor skills. Its goals including
helping a child or adult gain age-appropriate independence
and participate more fully in life.
 Goals may include independent dressing, feeding, grooming
and use of the toilet, along with improved social, fine motor
and visual perceptual skills. Typically, occupational therapy
involves half-hour to one-hour sessions with a frequency
determined by the individual’s needs.
Cont…
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18. Physical Therapy
 Many disable children have challenges with motor
skills such as sitting, walking, running and jumping.
Physical therapy (PT) focuses on problems with
movement that cause real-life limitations. In
particular, physical therapy can improve poor muscle
tone, balance and coordination.
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19.  Certified physical therapists deliver physical therapy
beginning with an evaluation of a person’s physical
abilities and developmental level. They then design
programs of activities that target areas of challenge.
Typically therapy sessions run a half hour to an hour
and include assisted movement, various forms of
exercise and the use of orthopedic equipment. The
needs of the child or adult receiving services should
determine the frequency of these sessions.
Cont…
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20. Communication Intervention
 Communication intervention services may be especially
important for individuals who have degenerative disorders
(also known as progressive disorders). As the disorder
progresses, the communication needs of the individual will
change. In addition to diminishing health, degenerative
disorders are often associated with the loss of vision,
hearing, or motor function.
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21. Dialectical Behavior Therapy
 DBT is a comprehensive treatment program addressing
deficits in emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and
interpersonal relationships. It was originally developed by
Marsha Linehan (1993a; 1993b) for the treatment of
individuals diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.
Since that time, its effectiveness has been demonstrated
with a large variety of different disorders.
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22.  Using DBT, therapists have four main tasks.
 1.. They work to expand client capabilities.
 2.. motivate the client to engage in new behaviors.
 3.. generalize the use of the new behaviors.
 4.. establish a treatment environment that reinforces
progress.
Cont….
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23. Play therapy..
Play Therapy is a type of psychotherapy which is
proven to be more effective when used with
children who are having social, developmental,
behavioral and emotional difficulties
There are two common types of play therapy –
 Directive
 Non directive
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