Overview of Special Needs

Hearing Impairments- Problem in one or more parts of the ears. Congenital - Present since birth in one or more parts of the ear. Loss can have following severity Mild – difficulty in large group *Moderate – trouble responding *Profound – little understandable speech

Diagram of Ear

Speech and Language Disorders – Will not talk, or inarticulate A. Language is made up of socially shared rules that include words mean, make new words, put words together When a person has trouble understanding others (receptive language), or sharing thoughts, ideas, and feelings completely (expressive language), then he or she has a language disorder. B. Speech is the verbal means of communicating. Speech consists of the following: 1.Articulation How speech sounds are made (e.g., children must learn how to produce the "r" sound in order to say "rabbit" instead of "wabbit"). 2.Voice (Phonation) Use of the vocal folds and breathing to produce sound (e.g., the voice can be abused from overuse or misuse and can lead to hoarseness or loss of voice). 3. Fluency (Stuttering) The rhythm of speech (e.g., hesitations or stuttering can affect fluency). When a person is unable to produce speech sounds correctly or fluently, or has problems with his or her voice, then he or she has a speech disorder.

Visual Disorders, or Visual Impairments -Eye, or nerve problems that prevent people from seeing normally

Visual Disorders (Cont’d) Amblyopia= lazy eye Glaucoma = Failure of eye fluid to circulate Nearsightedness = Unable to see things far away=myopia; eye focuses in front of retina Farsightedness = Unable to see things close=hyperopia; eye focuses behind the retina Color Deficiency = Color blindness; inability to see a primary color Uncorrectable Conditions = Cannot be corrected by glasses or surgery; damage to optic nerve by disease or trauma

Physical Conditions(Severe, Moderate and Mild) Cerebral Palsy – damage to brain Spina Bifida – bones of spine fail to grow Muscular Dystrophy – genetic, muscles are weak

Health Disorders, or Chronic Health Disorders = illness that persists over a period of time. Allergies= Inhalents (airbourne), Contactants (touch), Injestants (mouth), and Injectables (drugs injected) Arthritis = Inflammation that produces painful swelling of the joints and surrounding tissue. Asthma = Chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways Cystic Fibrosis = Hereditary, persistent and chronic infection of the lungs Diabetes = Insulin is not produced by the pancreas Inherit a predisposition to the disease then something in your environment triggers it (Type 1 and 2)

Health Disorders (Cont’d) Epilepsy = Convulsive disorder caused by damage to brain Hemophilia = Genetic, blood cannot clot Leukemia = Cancer of the blood

Cognitive Disabilities = Intellectual Ability is below normal Down Syndrome = chromosome disorder Learning Disabilities = having a problem with one, or more basic skills of learning (math, reading and writing)

Social or Emotional Impairments = behavioral disorders that affect individuals’ social and emotional functions ADD = easily distracted ADHD = overactive and impulsive Autism = social, emotional and communication impairments

Gifted Children Giftedness = academic scores, creative, and leadership Provided with acceleration (moving children through info at a fast pace) and or enrichment (broadening experiences)