1. Special Education in Context: People, Concepts, and Perspectives
Chapter One
Special Education in Context:
People, Concepts, and Perspectives

2. Key Ideas Classrooms are made up of diverse learners
Person first language is essential
Attitudes are powerful
Exceptionality is always relative to the social or cultural context in which it occurs
Exceptionality is determined when compared against a set of norms

3. Definitions and Terminology
Disability
Limitations imposed on an individual (physical, cognitive, sensory, emotional, learning difficulties, etc.)
Handicap
Impact of the disability (social marginalization, discrimination due to perceptions, etc.)

4. Classroom Suggestions
Focus on the person rather than the disability
Avoid “super achiever” and other stereotypes
Avoid terms of pity such as “afflicted with” or “suffers from” and generic labels like “the disabled”
Use people first language such as “boy with intellectual disabilities”
View this video about using the “R Word” to describe people with disabilities

5. More Classroom Suggestions
Use language that affirms ability such as “uses a wheelchair” rather than “wheelchair bound”
Use correct terminology rather than euphemisms
Don’t confuse disease with disability
Portray people with disabilities as active participants in life and in society

6. Important Terms Developmental Delay At-Risk Special Education
Related Services
Incidence
Prevalence

7. Thirteen Categories of Disability
Autism
Deaf-blindness
Developmental delay
Emotional disturbance
Hearing impairments
Mental retardation
Multiple disabilities
Orthopedic impairments
Other health impairments
Specific learning disabilities
Speech or language impairments
Traumatic brain injury
Visual impairments including blindness

11. Pioneering Contributors to the Development of Special Education
Jacob Rodrigues Pereine ( ) Phillippe Pinel ( ) Jean Marc-Gaspard Itard ( ) Edouard Seguin (1812–1880) Thomas Gallaudet ( ) Dorothea Lynde Dix ( ) Louis Braille ( ) Alexander Graham Bell ( ) Alfred Binet ( ) Maria Montessori ( )

12. American History Institutions and Asylums
Social perceptions and beliefs of the time period
Special Education Classes in Public Schools
Began to develop in 1860s
Began as separate facilities then self-contained classrooms
Changing social beliefs about people with disabilities
Legislation and litigation
Inclusion

13. Examples of Related Services
Physical therapy
Audiology
Transportation
Speech and language
Psychology
Recreational therapy
Orientation and mobility
Interpreting services
Occupational therapy
Nutrition
Medical
Social work
Vocational education
Rehabilitation counseling
Parent counseling
School nurse services
Watch a speech therapist work with a child with autism: Speech Therapy Session

14. Successful Partnerships
Family participation
Individualized education programs (IEP)
Collaboration
Consultative services

15. Service Delivery Teams
Multidisciplinary teams
Mandated by PL and IDEA (2004). Multidisciplinary teams are typically formed of professionals across various disciplines that independently conduct their own evaluations. This type of team is not as collaborative as other types of teams.
Interdisciplinary teams
Evolved from the fragmented approach of multidisciplinary teams. Team members conduct their evaluations separately collaborate. Families may meet with the entire team or with a representative.
Transdisciplinary teams
Professionals conduct their evaluations and additionally teach their skills to the other team members. A team leader, often an educator, is chosen to serve as the primary interventionist. The transdisciplinary model provides a more coordinated and unified approach.

16. Cooperative Teaching One teach, One observe One teach, One support
Station teaching
Parallel teaching
Alternative teaching
Team teaching
View the accompanying video for an example of effective co-teaching: Station Teaching

19. Universal Design for Learning
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) can be simply stated as “the design of instructional materials and activities that allows the learning goals to be achievable by individuals with wide differences in their ability to see, hear, speak, move, read, write, understand English, attend, organize, and remember.”
(Orkwis & McLane, 1998, p. 9)

20. Exceptionality Across the Life Span
Infants, Toddlers, and Preschoolers With Special Needs
Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP)
Early Intervention (EI) (birth to age 2)
Early childhood special education (age 3-5)
Adolescents and Young Adults With Disabilities
Transition
Transition services
Individualized Transition Plan (ITP)
Transition challenges and concerns