As teachers we will encounter Special Needs students every year in and out of our classes. The most common disabilities seen in schools today according to teAchnology.com are:
"Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder affects about 5% of schoolchildren - about two children in every class. Teachers and parents need to develop intervention and prevention skills for the sake not only of the affected child, but for the other students in the class who need a learning environment free from disruption."
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Dysphasia is a language disorder which is often called aphasia in the medical world to prevent confusion with a similar term dysphagia, a swallowing disorder. Aphasia then is the more commonly used term for a speech impairment which can vary from no speech at all, to a difficulty in naming some objects. Its more usual incidence is among adults who have suffered from stroke or other brain injury. Depending on the area and extent of the brain damage a person may be able to read but not write, or vice versa, able to sing but not to speak. The prognosis of those with aphasia varies widely and all too often, has been confused with other childhood learning disabilities such as deafness or autism."
"Dyspraxia is also known as "motor learning disability". Once known as "clumsy child syndrome"dyspraxia often comes with language problems, and sometimes a degree of difficulty with perception and thought. Dyspraxia does not affect a person's intelligence, but it can cause learning difficulties for children. Four out of every 5 children with evident dyspraxia are boys. If the average classroom has 30 children, there is probably one child with dyspraxia in almost each classroom."
"Auditory Processing Disorders are often overlooked and as the condition is becoming more widely known, professionals are taking a closer look at how it affects children and their education. CAPD can affect children with perfectly normal hearing as well as those with hearing loss. Typically the child cannot process sound fast enough to be able to distinguish normal language. If a teacher or parent is talking to a child at 50 miles per hour but the child is processing at 45 miles per hour, there is a problem. The child gets tired of trying to keep up and tends to get frustrated and tune out. This is often described as "lazy" or "inattentive." The problem transfers from listening to reading. For children with normal vocabularies, reading is simply transposing a known language into a different format. But for children with CAPD, reading amounts to learning a whole new language."
"Both Aspergers and Autism are increasingly referred to as Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) as a range of disorders exist affecting verbal and nonverbal communication, social interaction and imaginative or creative play. Aspergers is at the milder end of the range and symptoms usually appear in the first three years of a child's life. Children on the autism spectrum have trouble in the classroom communicating their needs or understanding instructions. Inappropriate social behavior leads to the child being bullied or isolated and their inability to decipher the world around makes it difficult for their teachers to meet their needs."
"Cystic Fibrosis is categorized under the handicapping condition of "Other Health Impaired." According to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, an estimated 70,000 children worldwide have this disorder. It is a serious hereditary disease that affects the respiratory and the digestive systems. If both parents are a carrier of Cystic Fibrosis, then a child is at risk of inheriting this disease."
"Approximately half a million people in the United States have been diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy (CP). CP is a long-term physical condition caused by an abnormality of brain growth or a lesion to the brain, resulting in the impairment of muscular development and control. CP can occur if the mother experiences an injury or disease that affects the fetus, during a traumatic birth, or later in life due to an infection, disease or head trauma."
"Children develop at their own pace, and what is considered "normal" has a wide range. Sosha might begin walking shortly after her first birthday, but might not speak a three word sentence until age three. Caleb might be a chatterbox at age two, but isn't toilet-trained at age four. If it appears that there is a significant delay in vision, motor skills, cognitive skills, speech, or social skills, early treatment is the best way to help a child make progress and be ready to enter school."
"Down Syndrome is a medically diagnosed syndrome caused by the presence of an extra chromosome 21 and occurs in approximately one in 900 births. Distinctive physical characteristics include: small ears, upwardly slanting eyes, short stubby hands, a flattened facial profile, a large tongue, short stature, and a gap between the first and second toes. A child with Down Syndrome may also experience: visual or auditory problems, thyroid disease, decreased muscle tone, cardiac conditions or loose ligaments. Children with Down Syndrome typically function in the mild to moderate range of mental retardation (MR)."
"Dyslexia is a type of learning disability that alters the way the brain processes written material, causing reading, writing and/or spelling to be a challenge. Dyslexia varies from person to person. Most dyslexic students have average to above average intelligence and a reading level significantly low for their age."
- Emotional/Behavioral Disorders
"There is growing recognition that early intervention is necessary to prevent troublesome behaviors from escalating in the classroom. Prevention and best practices for dealing with behavior disorders can create a safe school environment for accelerating school performance, increasing readiness for learning and reducing problem behavior. Rather than leaving the responsibility to the individual teacher, it is being proved that schoolwide structural strategies are the key to success. Positive behavior management and social skills instruction should be implemented in each classroom, with a school culture of unified discipline and shared expectations of success based on academic enrichment."
"Children affected by FAS are a challenge in the classroom because they have difficulties with learning, paying attention, memory and problem solving. The term Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) is commonly used to cover the range of effects seen in children whose mothers drank alcohol during their pregnancy. FASD can include physical, mental, behavioral and learning disabilities, with developmental delays and possible lifetime implications. Most children with FASD have normal or above normal IQs (only 15% having IQs below 70) and the symptoms that show up in the classroom are first seen as 'behavior problems.'"
"Fragile X is the most common inherited cause of mental impairment and the most common known cause of autism. While there is no cure for the condition, it is hoped that further understanding of underlying causes will lead to new therapies. Caused by a defect on the X chromosome, the symptoms may range from mild learning disability and hyperactivity to severe retardation and autism. Currently Fragile X syndrome is treated through behavioral therapy, special education and medication."
"Hearing impairment is an invisible and greatly misunderstood disability even though it affects one in ten Americans at some stage of their life. Hearing impaired children face prejudice and ignorance on a daily basis; 'if you are deaf, you are also dumb, if you wear a hearing aid or have a cochlear implant then you can hear perfectly, if you are deaf, you are not very bright and if you can speak, you cannot be deaf'. These common assumptions are the biggest handicap hearing impaired children must face as they go to school."
"Students with learning disabilities can be taught effective learning strategies that will help them adjust to mainstream classroom activities and prepare them for life as adults. Children who start school with difficulty in receiving and organizing information, remembering and expressing themselves need to be diagnosed and treated as soon as possible. Otherwise they fall behind and this has a tragic snowball effect leading to behavioral and emotional problems. A child who is trying to learn becomes more and more frustrated in the face of repeated failure, leading to low self-esteem and bad behavior which greatly affect their social interactions."
"There are many causes of mental retardation (MR) and in many cases, the cause is actually unknown. Mental retardation is a significant sub-average general intellectual functioning which impacts adaptive behavior. Most mentally retarded children fall under the "mild" or "moderate" category, while approximately 15% fall under "severe". Students with mild, moderate, or severe mental retardation are classified by the Committee on Special Education (CSE) and have Individualized Educational Plans (IEPs). Although many of these students will receive an IEP diploma, higher functioning MR students can achieve a regular high school diploma."
- Neurological Disabilities
"Neurological disabilities include a wide range of disorders, such as epilepsy, learning disabilities, neuromuscular disorders, autism, ADD, brain tumors, and cerebral palsy, just to name a few. Some neurological conditions are congenital, emerging before birth. Other conditions may be caused by tumors, degeneration, trauma, infections or structural defects. Regardless of the cause, all neurological disabilities result from damage to the nervous system. Depending on where the damage takes place, determines to what extent communication, vision, hearing, movement and cognition are impacted."
"For children with a seizure disorder, faculty/staff members need a clear understanding of the disorder and what to do should a seizure occur. Seizures result from imbalance in the electrical activity of the brain. Seizures are classified as simple partial, complex partial, absence, or grand mal, based on the intensity and symptoms of the seizure."
"For a child to be classified as "Visually Impaired", there must be a medically verified visual impairment accompanied by limitation in sight. Furthermore, this impairment must interfere with acquiring information or interaction with the environment to the extent that special education and related services are needed."
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