Chapter Six:
Exceptionality
Kinsey Wilson
Vanessa Vega
Ali Serrano
Kristina Martz
The Exceptional Student
Definitions of exceptional children vary from one writer to
another, but Heward’s is typical:
Exceptional children differ from the norm (either below or
above) to such an extent that they require an individualized
program of special education and related services to fully
benefit from education. The term exceptional children includes
children who experience difficulties in learning as well as those
whose performance is so superior that modifications in
curriculum and instruction are necessary to help them fulfill
their potential. Thus, exceptional children is an inclusive term
that refers to children with learning and/or behavior problems,
children with physical disabilities or sensory impairments, and
children who are intellectually gifted or have a special talent.
Video
• http://youtu.be/BGtotmCGWo0
Terms
• ADHD- Attention Deficit Hyperactive disorder is a chronic
disorder that interferes with an individual’s inability to
regulate activity level, control behavior, and attend to tasks in
an appropriate ways.
• IEP- Individualized Educational program is required for all
children with disabilities.
• RTI- Response to Intervention is a multi-tiered pre-referral
method involving increasingly intensive interventions.
• Disproportionality- Lack of equality.
Terms Continued
• Inclusion- The placement of special education students in
regular classrooms.
• Disaggregated data- To separate a whole set of data into its
parts. As defined by NCLB Law, disaggregated data means
that test scores can be sorted by categories such as all
economically disadvantaged students, all racial or ethnic
minorities, all disabled students, or all limited English
students.
• Normalization- Making available to all people with disabilities
or other handicapping conditions patterns of life and
conditions of everyday living that are as close as possible toor, indeed, the same as- the regular circumstances and ways
of life of society.
Brown VS Board of Education
• Impact of Brown vs. Board of Education on children with
disabilities:
As with African American students, the first struggles for
children with disabilities involved the right to, or the access
to, a public education. Brown did not involve children with
disabilities, but the example it set in guaranteeing equal
educational opportunity for ethic minority children
extended to students with disabilities. It would take
another 16 years before the concept of equal opportunity
would actually be applied to children with disabilities.
Public Law 94-142
Education for all Handicapped Children Act: Public Law 94-142
• A free and appropriate education for all children with
disabilities
• Procedural safeguards to protect the rights of students and
their parents
• Education in the least restrictive environment
• IEP- Individualized Educational Programs
• Parental involvement in educational decisions related to
children with disabilities
• Fair, accurate, and nonbiased evaluations
ADA
American Disabilities Act: Public Law 101-336
• President Bush signed it into law Jan. 26,1990
• Most significant civil rights legislation since Civil Rights Act
1964
• Employers cannot discriminate against individuals with
disabilities in hiring or promotion
• Employers must provide reasonable accommodations for an
individual with a disability
• New buses, bus and train stations, and rail systems must be
accessible to persons with disabilities
• Physical barriers be removed in public places
• Telephone companies allowing special equipment for the deaf
IDEA
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act: Public Law 101-476
• Substituting “handicap” with “disabled”….Individuals first not their
disability
• Strengthen the role of parents
• Ensure access to general education curriculum
• Emphasize students’ progress in an IEP process
• Parents and educators resolve differences in a non-adversarial
mediation
• Gave school officials greater latitude in disciplining students by
altering some procedures safeguards
• Set funding formulas
• Improvement act in 2004 added three more key points
• Yearly academic and functional goals
• Align IDEA with No Child Left Behind
• RTI was also put in place
Prop 227
Prop 227: California 1998
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LEP students “ Limited English Proficient”
Special classes
Eliminating bilingual classes
Shortens the time most LEP students are in a special class
Move to regular classes with in one year
50 million dollars every year for 10 years for English classes for
adults who promise to tutor LEP students
Obstacles to mandating Support
• General Obstacles:
• Congress is some of the problem
• Factors
• Cost
• Staff extensive
• Time
IDEA Obstacles
• Down fall for IDEA funding is not where it was by the
legislation, but the schools are supposed to comply even
without full funding.
• 40% funding was promised…..in 2009 16.8% given to schools
• Lack of qualified teachers
• No clear definition of “free and appropriate education”
• Many court cases have ended in a ruling of “basic floor of
opportunity”
The Six Variables
Some studies show that children are being inappropriately placed in
special education. The variables that contribute to this issue vary from
social structure to medial or genetic causes.
Poverty:
• A large number of students in classes for individuals with disabilities
come from backgrounds of poverty
• Poverty and racial minority status are correlated and that significant
deficits requiring special education services are related to poverty
Lead Poisoning:
• 250,000 children between the ages of 1 and 5 have elevated lead
levels in their blood
• Primary causes are house dust contaminated by lead paint and soil
contamination
• Lead Posining can contribute to behavior issues, coma, seizures, and
even death
Six Variables Continued
Overrefferals:
• Another way a student can be placed in special education is
through referrals from teachers, doctors, or parents
• They mistake behavioral issues for learning disabilities, this
leads to overrefferals
• Underrefferals are when an educator fails to recognize
potential gifted students
Racial Bias:
• Students are placed into special education based on their race
• They are usually students of color
Six Variables Continued
Assessment Issues:
• Inappropriate placement of students of color in the
judgmental category of mild intellectual disabilities and severe
emotional disturbance
Unexplained Issues:
• Some issues cannot be explained by either social background
or measured ability
• Sometimes students are just inappropriately placed into
special education
Teaching Children With Disabilities
• Communication Needs:
• As teachers we need to know what their exceptionality
is all about so they can deal with it.
• Acceptance Needs:
• Students tend to reflect the attitude of the teacher.
• Freedom to Grow:
• Students need acceptance and understanding because
it implies freedom to grow.
For Inclusion
• Full inclusion for all children with
disabilities is a moral and ethical issue.
• The least restrictive environment that is
feasible for every child in general
education classroom
• The fact that we do not have adequate
fiscal resources is not the fault of the child
with a disability
Against Inclusion
• Full inclusion may work for some students with disabilities ,
but it makes no sense to insist on it for every student
regardless of the disability or the degree of impairment
• Some students with disabilities lack the maturity, the cognitive
ability, the social skill, or appropriate behaviors to function in
general education
• Until the federal government makes good on its commitment
to a fully fund IDEA, there will never be adequate resources to
successfully implement full inclusion for all children with
disabilities.
• Even if the fiscal resources were there, there simply are not
enough professional prepared personnel to provide the types
of services needed for successful inclusion for every child.
Wrap Up
• EHA
• IDEA
• VRAA
• ADA
• They all guarantee all exceptional children
the right to a free and appropriate
education and freedom from
discrimination related to their disability.