Week 14 -15 Individual Differences

1. Weeks 14 & 15
Individual
Differences

2. Types of individual variations /
Exceptionalities
1. Students with Mental Retardation
2. Students with Learning Disabilities
3. Students with Attention Deficit Hyperactive
Disorder (ADHD)
4. Students with Speech or Language Impairments
5. Students with Emotional and Behavioural
Disordres
6. Students with Autism
7. Students with Sensory, Physical, and Health
Impairments
8. Students Who Are Gifted and Talented

3. Who are learners with exceptionalities
Topics for this
lecture:
individual
variations /
exceptionalities
Gifted and talented
Learning difficulties –
students with mental
retardation & learning
disabilities
Emotional & behavioural
disordres
Attention deficit disorders
Attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD)
1
2
3
4
5

4. Who Are Learners With Differences/ EExxcceeppttiioonnaalliittiieess ??
 Learners with exceptionalities = any individuals whose physical,
mental, or behaivoural performance is so different from the norm –
either higher or lower – that additional services are needed to meet
their individuals’ needs
 disability = a functional limitation a person has that interferes with the
person’s physical or cognitive abilities
 handicap = a condition imposed on a person with disabilities by
society, the physical environment, or the person’s attitude. For e.g., a
student who uses a wheelchair is handicapped by a lack of access
ramps. Handicap is therefore not a synonym for disability
(Hallahan & Hauffman, 1997).
Who are learners with exceptionalities

5. • To receive special-education, a student
must have one of a small number of
categories of disabilities or disorders.
These general labels, such as “specific
learning disabilities,” “mental retardation,”
and “orthopedic impairments,” cover a
wide diversity of problems
• Labels tend to stick. Labels can become
handicaps for the student.
Who are learners with exceptionalities

6.  Education professionals must avoid using
labels in a way that unintentionally
stigmatizes students, dehumanizes them,
segregates them socially from their peers, or
encourages discrimination against them in
any form (Trent, Artiles, & Englert, 1998).
 Even though labels are not exact or might be
harmful in some situations, they are useful
shorthand for educators to use to indicate the
type and extent of a student’s exceptionalities
Who are learners with exceptionalities

7. Labels ….. Use it with sensitivity
Do say Students with …. disabilities
Students who have ….. mental retardation
Individuals with …… learning disabilities
Individuals who have …. speech impairments
Children with …. language impairments
Youth with ….. severe emotional disturbances
Toddlers with …. behavioural disorders
Adults with ……. Cerebral palsy
Physical disabilities
Hearing impairments
Visual disabilities
Who are learners with exceptionalities

8. Don’t say The …. disabled / learning
disabled
handicapped
disturbed
crippled
wheelchair bound
retarded

9. Indicators of intelligence based on A Normal
Distribution of IQ Scores
• Definitions of mental retardation typically include an IQ below 70.
At the other extreme, definitions of giftedness include an IQ of
130 or greater.
• Why these two numbers were chosen? It is basically because
they are two standard deviations below and above the mean in
the normal curve.
Extremes of intelligence

10. Learners with exceptionalities:
(1) Gifted and Talented
A. Giftedness
 Exceptional intellectual ability, creativity, or
talent
 Difficult to identify
 Individuals typically have an IQ score that is
two standard deviations above the average
score …. IQs above 130
 Teacher recommendations may be used in
the identification process
Gifted and Talented

11.  The 1978 Gifted and Talented Act:
the gifted and talented are children….. Who
are identified …..as possessing
demonstrated or potential abilities that give
evidence of high performance capabilities in
areas such as intellectual, creative, specific
academic or leadership ability in the
performance or visual and to by reason
thereof require services or activities not
ordinarily provided by the school (Public Law
95-561, Section 902).
Gifted and Talented

12. B. Approach to instruction:
1. Pull-out programs in which gifted students are
removed from their regular classes to receive
special instruction.
2. To incorporate gifted instruction within general
education classrooms.
3. Accelerate instruction in certain subject areas,
such as mathematics or foreign languages
Gifted and Talented

13. C. Talent
 Talent is the capacity to produce exceptional
performance in a domain, and there are three
sources of desire to improve in a domain
 Enjoyment of activity
 Internalization of the value of improving one’s skill for
its own sake
 External support
 Talent is often acquired and that practice plays a
larger role in its development than is commonly
believed (Bloom, 1985; Ericsson, Krampe, & Tesch-
Romer, 1993).
 A model of how experience and practice contribute
to the development of talent.
Gifted and Talented

14. Factors that contribute to the ddeevveellooppmmeenntt ooff ttaalleenntt
Skill becomes
routinized,
automated
performance levels
off
Gifted and Talented
Student begins to
engage in a new
domain
Student attains an
acceptable level of
performance
Desire to improve is
sparked
Hours of deliberate
practice
of on-task
skill refinement
Hours of self-reflection
Hours of coaching
and feedback
Hours of on-task
refinement
Hours of observational
learning
Sources of the desire
to improve:
1. Enjoyment of
activity
2. Internalization of the
value of improving
one’s skill for its own
sake
3. External support
4.

15. Differences in Ability and Instruction
 Between-class ability grouping
 Children are assigned to different classes based
on measured ability
 Within-class ability grouping
 Children are assigned to ability groups within a
class
 Multi-age grouping
 Classes include children of various ages

16. (2) Students with Mental Retardation
 Mental retardation refers to substantial limitations
in present functioning. It is characterized by
significantly sub-average intellectual function,
existing concurrently with related limitations in two or
more of the following applicable adaptive skill
areas: communication, self-care, home living, social
skills, community use, self-direction, health and
safety, functional academics, leisure and work.
 Mental retardation manifests before age 18
Students with mental retardation

17. Criteria for Identifying Mental Retardation
 A mentally retarded individual
 Has an IQ score that is two standard deviations
below the average score ….. IQs 20 - 75
 Has limitations in social adaptation
 Experiences this limitations before the
age of 18
 A condition, usually present at birth, that results
in below-average intellectual skills and poor
adaptive behavior
Students with mental retardation

18. Teaching Adaptive Behavior Skills
 Teachers can help students with mental
retardation to acquire adaptive behavior
skills:
1. Coping with the demands of school
2. Developing interpersonal relationship
3. Developing language
4. Socioemotional development
5. Personal care
Students with mental retardation: teaching adaptive beh. skills

19. Classification of Mental Retardation
Categorization according to IQ scores by AAMR
(American Association on Mental Retardation) :
1. Mild retardation – IQs 50-55 to 70-75
2. Moderate retardation – IQs 35-40 to 50-55
3. Severe retardation – IQs 20-25 to 35-40
4. Profound retardation – IQs below 20-25)
Students with mental retardation: classification

20. (3) Students with LLeeaarrnniinngg DDiissaabbiilliittiieess
• Learning disabilities
= disorders that impede academic
progress of people who are not
mentally retarded or emotionally
disturbed.
= Not a single condition but a wide
variety of specific disabilities
Students with Learning Disabilities

21. Learning disabilities
 Developmental speech and language
disorders
 Articulation, expressive language, receptive
language
 Academic skills disorders
 Reading, math, writing
 Other disabilities
Students with Learning Disabilities

22.  Characteristics of students with learning disabilities :
-- Normal intelligence or even giftedness
-- discrepancy between intelligence and performance
-- delays in achievement
-- attention deficit or high distractibility
-- hyperactivity or impulsiveness
-- poor motor coordination and spatial relation ability
-- difficulty solving problems
-- perceptual anomalies, such as reversing letters, words, or
numbers
-- difficulty with self-motivated, self-regulated activities
-- over reliance on teacher and peers for assignments
-- specific disorders of memory, thinking, or language
-- immature social skills
-- disorganized approach to learning
Students with Learning Disabilities: characteristics

23. Teaching students with learning disabilities
 On the average, students with LD tend to have
lower academic self-esteem than do nondisabled
students
 uses the same strategies that are effective with
other students, except that there might be less
margin for error (refer Chpt 12: pg 491-492):
1. Emphasize prevention
2. Teach learning-to-learn skills
3. Give frequent feedback
Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities

24. Teaching students with learning disabilities
4. Use teaching strategies that engage
students actively in lessons
5. Use effective classroom management
methods
6. Coordinate supplementary services with
classroom instruction
Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities

25. By: Grace Ling Chan, in her book
“I am Human, Not Alien”
Singapore: Maxmillan & Price Pte.Ltd.

26. (4) Students with Emotional and Behavioral
Disorders
 Exceptionalities characterized by problems
with learning, interpersonal relationships, and
control of feelings and behavior
 Students with emotional and behavioral
disorders have been defined as ones whose
educational performance is adversely
affected over a long period of time to a
marked degree by any of the following
conditions :
Students with emotional & beh. disorders

27. 1. An inability to learn that cannot be explained by
intellectual, sensory, or health factors
2. An inability to build or maintain satisfactory
interpersonal relationship with peers and teachers
3. Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under
normal circumstances
4. A general, pervasive mood of unhappiness or
depression
5. A tendency to develop physical symptoms, pains,
or fears associated with personal or school
problems
Students with emotional & beh. Disorders: conditions

28. Causes of emotional and behavioral disorders
 Serious and long-term emotional and behavioral
disorders may be the result of numerous potential
causal factors in the makeup and development of
an individual
 Many factors that affect families can disrupt a
student’s sense of security an self-worth for a period
of time. Changes in the family structure, for e.g.,
might leave a child depressed, angry, insecure,
defensive, and lonely, especially in the case of
divorce, relocation to a new community, the addition
of a younger sibling, the addition of a new
stepparent, or the death or serious illness of a family
member
Students with emotional & beh. Disorders:
causes

29. Characteristics of students with emotional and
behavioral disorders
1. Share some general characteristics include poor
academic achievement , poor interpersonal
relationships, and poor self-esteem (Lewis &
Sullivan, 1996)
2. Conduct disorder– relates to frequent aggression
against others, seems to be tied more to poor
home conditions that model or reward aggressive
behavior and might therefore be adaptive
Students with emotional & beh. Disorders: characteristics

30. 3. Students exhibiting aggressive behavior (some, not all students)
-- students with conduct disorders and socialized-aggressive behaviors
might frequently fight, steal, destroy property, and refuse to obey
teachers (Jones, Dohrn, & Dunn, 2004).
4. Students with withdrawn and immature behavior :
-- withdrawn, immature, low in self-esteem, or depressed
typically have few friends or play with children much younger
than themselves.
-- elaborate fantasies or daydreams and either very poor or
grandiose self-images
-- some overly anxious about their health and feel genuinely ill
when under stress
-- some students exhibit school phobia by refusing to attend, or
by running away from, school
-- some appear odd or awkward at all times
-- almost always suffer form a lack of social skills
Students with emotional & beh. Disorders: characteristics

31. (5) Attention Deficit Disorder
 A condition in which children experience persistent
difficulties with attention span, impulse control, and
sometimes hyperactivity disorder
 Becoming easily distracted by irrelevant sights and sounds
 Failing to pay attention to details and making careless remarks
 Rarely following instructions carefully and completely
 Losing or forgetting things such as toys, pencils, books, tools
needed for a task
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)

32. (6) Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders
 A condition in which children or adults consistently
display inattention, hyperactivity, and
impulsiveness
 Feeling restless, often fidgeting with hands or feet, or
squirming
 Running, climbing, or leaving a seat in situations in which
sitting or quiet behavior is expected
 Blurting out an answer before hearing the whole question
 Having difficulty waiting in line or for a turn
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

33. (7) Autism and Related Disorders
 Autism
 Impaired social responsiveness
 Impaired communication
 Stereotypic or ritualistic behavior
 Preoccupation with objects and narrow range of
interests
 Related disorders include pervasive
developmental disorder (PDD), autism
spectrum disorder
Autism and Related Disorders

34. The Law and Learners with Disabilities / Special
Needs
 Public Law 94-142: Federal Law enacted in 1975 requiring
provision of special-education services to eligible students
 Every child between the ages of 3 and 21 must have a free and
appropriate education
 Students must be educated in the least restrictive environment
 Multiple measures must be used to identify children with
disabilities
 Any program that receives federal funds cannot discriminate
against people with disabilities

35. The Law and Learners with disabilities / Special
Needs (continued)
 Each child must have an individualized
education plan (IEP)
 Students with special needs must participate
in statewide testing and meet state standards
for achievement
 Schools cannot release information about a
child’s records without parental permission

36. Identifying Children with disabilities / Special
Needs
 Prereferral processes – a team approach to
giving a child assistance in his or her own
class before being considered for special
education
 Referrals – if a child’s problems persist after
the prereferral interventions, he or she may
be referred for special education

37. Strategies for Inclusion
 Establish a positive attitude
 Analyze curriculum, rules, instruction,
materials, and environment
 Identify student characteristics
(i.e., strengths and weaknesses)
 Compare student characteristics with the
learning environment