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Exceptionalities

Much preservice and inservice teacher education today focuses on children who
are “different” in ways we label “exceptional.” The label, of course, implies that most
children fit some standard mold, which is a shaky concept at best. Nevertheless, in our
well-intentioned attempts to provide children with opportunities to realize their full
potential, we can identify individual students who could benefit from modified instruction.
Public Law 94-142 calls for the identification of children “in need of special
services” by their school. These individuals range from the severely mentally impaired
to the physically disabled, learning disabled, and gifted student. Typically, the “special
services” offered are pull-out programs where these children work with specialists for all
or part of their school day.

Inclusion. In the 1990s, however, the trend moved toward placing exceptional
children in “the least restrictive environment,” frequently interpreted as the regular
classroom. Thus regular classroom teachers increasingly find themselves working with
students of a much wider range of physical and mental abilities. It’s an awesome task –
one for which teachers are frequently unprepared.
In theory, this inclusion of exceptional students in regular education involves the
specialist coming into the classroom to co-teach with the regular teacher. Advocates
argue that inclusion results in less fragmented learning for special-education students
and less of the stigma associated with pull-out programs; critics charge that classroom
teachers rarely get adequate help from the specialists, who are spread too thin, and that
the extra time spent helping one or two exceptional children in a classroom is time lost
by other students.
Whatever your position on the matter, the fact remains that exceptional children
continue to be full- or part-time classroom members. It is only possible to enhance these
children’s learning and weave them into the classroom fabric when the nature of their
exceptionalities is clearly understood. Many service agencies exist to help teachers with
exceptional children.

Learning Disabilities. Learning disabilities are neurobiological disorders that

interfere with a person’s ability to store, process and retrieve information. Most often,
these disabilities affect children’s reading and language skills (including writing and
speaking). They can also impair math computation skills and social skills.
Learning disabilities are widely misunderstood, even by teachers. Students with
learning disabilities have average or above-average intelligence, and many are
gifted. Yet many people associate learning disabilities with mental retardation. They are
not related to mental retardation, emotional disturbance, blindness, deafness, or autism.

Ability vs. Performance. A learning disability creates a gap between ability and
performance because the mind processes words and information differently. This, in
turn, makes it difficult to learn – especially in school, where learning experiences are
typically structured in ways unsuited to the learning-disabled child.

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Because many LD children exhibit high intelligence and creativity in some areas,
their teachers and parents assume they are being lazy or obstinate when they don’t do
well in others. “Their performance is unbelievably confusingly inconsistent,” explains Dr.
Melvin Levin in the Harvard Medical Journal, Sept. 1984. “They might do well one
minute and poorly the next, or have one good week in school followed by another that is
disastrous. They might be able to do a math problem on Thursday but fail to solve it on
Friday. Because they’ve been caught doing something well once in awhile, people keep
accusing them of not really trying the rest of the time.”

Discrimination Is Widespread. As a result, children and adults with learning

disabilities typically face discrimination, misunderstanding, and emotional and
psychological abuse. Instead of being helped to develop their strengths and
compensate for their weaknesses, they are humiliated at every turn.
The Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation reported in 1995 that 2.25 million school
children have learning disabilities. In the U.S. population, 10 to 15 percent suffer from
learning disabilities, and many probably go undiagnosed. Learning disabilities seem to
run in families.

Dyslexia Most Common. The most common learning disability is dyslexia. As

defined by the Orton Dyslexia Society and the National Institute of Health, dyslexia is:
“…a specific language-based disorder of constitutional origin characterized by
difficulties in single word decoding, usually reflecting insufficient phonological
processing abilities. These difficulties in single word decoding are often unexpected in
relation to age and other cognitive and academic abilities; they are not the result of
generalized developmental disability or sensory impairment. Dyslexia is manifested by
variable difficulty with different forms of language, in addition to problems in reading,
often including a conspicuous problem with acquiring proficiency in writing and spelling.”
Recent estimates suggest that dyslexia occurs in some form in one of six
individuals.
Dr. Arnold Wilkins at Cambridge University has found that some dyslexics have
extreme sensitivity to light. He is developing a process of testing dyslexics for light
sensitivity, determining what color is most beneficial to them, then fitting them with
specially tinted glasses. The early results are impressive. Children fitted with the tinted
glasses can read and write much better than without them.
In another British study, a new computer program can now diagnose dyslexia as
early as first grade. Before, most children weren’t diagnosed until the age of nine, long
after the condition seriously affected their motivation and self esteem.
Even though we label dyslexia a “disability”, the experts at the NCLD point out
that “dyslexia is not a ‘disease’ to ‘have’ and ‘be cured of,’ but a kind of mind. Very often
it is a gifted mind. Every one of us is unique, different from everyone else, and people’s
ways of coming to terms with language are some of their normal differences.”

ADD/ADHD. The NCLD also includes attention-deficit (hyperactivity) disorder in

its list of learning disabilities, although technically it is not. But as experts point out,
inattention, impulsivity, and overactivity, the major characteristics of ADD or ADHD, all

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interfere with learning. Attention deficits and learning disabilities frequently occur
simultaneously.
Attention deficit – the inability to keep attention focused – is by far the most
frequently diagnosed disability. Many psychologists think that it is over-diagnosed, and
that children who just naturally need to move a lot are mislabeled as hyperactive. Many
educators and specialists agree that we must first ensure that our classrooms and
instruction match children’s developmental levels before we attach labels. Sometimes
the classroom demands are inappropriate, not the child’s behavior.
Children who do not have the disorder face difficult obstacles, including peer
rejection and achievement problems. Psychologists Steven Landau and Cecile
McAninch describe these children as bossy, intrusive, disruptive, and easily frustrated in
the play group, and off-task, noisy, and disruptive in the classroom.
Everyone suffers. Teachers spend more time responding to misbehavior and less
time teaching and interacting with other students. And the ADHD child himself (most are
boys) continually receives negative messages from teachers and peers.
What can be done to help ADHD students and improve the situation for
everyone? The most effective approach, say Landau and McAninch, involves combining
proper medication with behavioral management.
Many ADHD children take Ritalin (methylphenidate) to stimulate the central
nervous system and make them more responsive to feedback from the social and
physical environment. Landau and McAninch report that the drug works with 70 to 75
percent of ADHD children. It reduces disruptive behavior, improving relationships with
parents, teachers, and peers. It also helps children concentrate enough to complete
academic work, thus improving achievement.
Medicine alone, however, is not enough. And many question its worth at all. The
ADHD child needs to learn acceptable behavior. Here, researchers advocate the use of
rewards. “Rewarding positive behaviors thus not only encourages the child to continue
behaving well but also provides the child with desperately needed success, thereby
building self-esteem,” Landau and McAninch explain. Verbal praise that specifically
names the positive behavior being praised is useful, and so are more tangible rewards,
such as stickers or gold stars. Some teachers find this type of behavioral treatment
distracting, but “the fact remains that the use of behavioral intervention disrupts
classroom routine less than does an untreated child with ADHD.”
Despite appropriate teaching practices and behavioral and medical interventions,
however, serious classroom problems sometimes continue. Here, it is important to
realize that you, the classroom teacher, cannot do it all alone. “Because of ADHD’s
complexity,” write Landau and McAninch, “successful treatment requires a
multidisciplinary approach reflecting the collaboration of many professionals. Teachers
must have assistance in dealing with children with ADHD.”
Psychologist Adele Brodkin agrees. There are some behaviors and situations
that teachers simply shouldn’t be expected to deal with, says Brodkin. School
psychologists and parents must play a critical role, and administrators must be
supportive.

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General Guidelines. While there are specific strategies for dealing with each
type of learning disability, the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation offers teachers these
general guidelines:
 Acquire the broadest training and knowledge possible. Take advantage of courses
and inservices offered.
 Develop effective teaching techniques and modify curricula to meet students’ needs.
LD students’ brains work differently from those of other children, so simply slowing
down your traditional teaching techniques will not work.
 Know the warning signs; watch for students who may have a learning disability.
 Understand that LD children can learn and become successful students, given fair
opportunities.
 Provide structure. LD students need to learn to monitor their own progress and
regulate the time and effort they spend on assignments.
 Collaborate with parents to develop coping approaches, both at home and at school.
 Become an advocate for your LD students, protecting them from discriminatory
practices.
You can also use “bypass strategies” – strategies to circumvent a child’s weak
areas. For example, word processors can greatly aid children who cannot recall how
letters are formed because they lack “motor memory.” Tape recorders help those who
can’t take notes or have trouble remembering directions.
Most importantly, avoid humiliating the LD child. Suggests Dr. Adele Brodkin,
take an honest, optimistic approach, something like: “You seem to find some things
easy and some hard to do in school. But you and I are going to work together at helping
you at that.”
Learning disabilities affect us all. Studies show that children with undetected or
untreated learning disabilities are far more likely to face school failure, increased
incidence of drug and alcohol abuse, criminal activities, and unemployment. How many
of our social problems could be improved or solved if we could just identify and meet the
learning needs of all our children?

Giftedness. Like learning-disabled students, gifted students are those whose

minds work in ways different from most children. They use their brains more effectively
and more efficiently. Research on the human brain has demonstrated that gifted
children are biologically different; there are cellular changes and biochemical processes
setting these individuals apart from others. As a result of these differences, gifted
children:
 Think faster.
 Can identify and solve more complex problems.
 Think in unusual and diverse ways.
 Exhibit profound insights.

Controversy and Disagreements. Almost everyone agrees that advanced brain

function results from both genetic inheritance and environmental opportunities. But
that’s where agreement in gifted education ends.
Gifted programs are nothing if not controversial. There’s controversy surrounding
the concept of giftedness, controversy surrounding types of programs and selection of
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participants, and disagreements about how giftedness should be defined. Schools
embracing the philosophy of inclusion are moving toward eliminating gifted programs
completely, arguing that gifted children’s needs can be met in the regular classroom.
Perhaps. But that would require extensive individualization, considering experts’
claims that children with IQ’s of 140 or above know 90 percent of the content before
ever walking into class.
Also, what are extracurricular sports programs if not gifted programs? We have
no qualms about investing huge portions of school budgets in exclusionary programs for
students gifted in athletic ability. Yet comparable academic programs are constantly
under fire.

Definitions of Giftedness. The federal government offers a broad definition of

giftedness. According to Public Law 97-35 (the Education Consolidation and
Improvement Act of 1981), gifted children “give evidence of high performance capability
in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, leadership capacity or specific academic
fields, and who require services or activities not ordinarily provided by the school in
order to fully develop such capabilities.”
Individual states plan gifted programs based on all parts of this federal definition.
Traditionally, gifted programs have focused on the intellectual and academic aspects,
using intelligence and achievement tests to select program participants. More difficult,
perhaps, and certainly less common, are programs that seek to develop children’s
artistic, creative, and leadership abilities.
Author and educator Barbara Clark defines intelligence and giftedness as “the
aggregate of an individual’s cognitive, affective, intuitive, and physical functioning…
Those who are more intelligent tend to have more integrated use of these functions.”

Gifted Programs. Basically, there are three types of programs, or interventions,

currently used with gifted students:
1. Enrichment – extending classroom work, either by using more in-depth material or
by adding topics/areas of study not typically found in schools. Enrichment frequently
builds on the child’s own interests and involves individual or small-group projects.
Joseph Renzulli, director of National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented,
University of Connecticut, has developed an enrichment model (Triad Enrichment
Model) that serves gifted students on three levels: 1) general enrichment activities to
pique children’s interests; 2) specific skills children need to pursue the area of
interest; and 3) self-selected projects that will make a real contribution to the school
or community. There are many other models as well.
2. Acceleration – offering content at an earlier age so a child can complete schooling
in less time. This is accomplished by early entrance to school, grade skipping,
advanced placement, or moving through the curriculum at a more rapid rate. Despite
teachers’ traditional reluctance to accelerate students and fears about social
maladjustment, research consistently supports the effectiveness of accelerated
students and fears about social maladjustment, research consistently supports the
effectiveness of acceleration and its positive impact on gifted students.
3. Affective Programs – These address gifted students’ social and emotional needs.
Advocated by educators such as Jim Delisle, effective programs focus on the special

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problems and concerns of gifted children: career choices, values, and coping
strategies.

Which of these interventions is best? Measures of student satisfaction and

achievement point to acceleration. Yet most educators specializing in gifted students
recognize the need for a balance of all three approaches. The best overall approach
is a combination of enrichment, acceleration, and effective programs.

Specific Strategies. As for meeting the unique needs of gifted children in your
own classroom, several strategies are effective:
1. Give gifted children many opportunities to make choices – about what they
learn, how they learn, and how they demonstrate their learning. Encourage the
natural self-directed behavior most of these students process. And capitalize on their
interests.
2. Allow gifted children the opportunity to work with other high-ability children.
All too often we use (or misuse) gifted children as tutors for others. Cooperative
learning situations that continually group gifted children with slower or more average
learners can build resentment and frustration.
3. Offer gifted students opportunities to struggle with complex material. Without
regular encounters with challenging material, say researchers, gifted children have
trouble developing good study skills and learning how to learn.
4. Practice “curriculum compacting” by giving students credit for what they already
know and modifying the curriculum to allow them to learn something new. If they’ve
mastered all the concepts of a reading series, for example, let them test out of the
series and work on more challenging material or individual projects.
5. Allow for independent study projects, mentorships, and thematic instruction.
6. Provide opportunities to practice divergent thinking and critical thinking.

Dr. Carol Ann Tomlinson, University of Virginia, reports research that shows
teachers make more adjustments for struggling learners than for advanced ones. Too
often, teachers and the general public think gifted kids can get by on their own.
But if we are dedicated to the notion that all children deserve an education that
challenges them to reach their full potential, then how can we leave gifted children out?
If we agree (and most experts do) that intelligence is influenced by both genetics and
environment, then how can we deny gifted children (or any children) an educational
environment suitable to their needs?
From his synthesis of research on gifted youth, Dr. John Fldhusen concludes
that, “To provide for the gifted, we must upgrade the level and pace of instruction to fit
their abilities, achievement levels, and interests. The only suitable enrichment is
instruction on special enriching topics at a high level and a fast pace. We must also
provide them with highly competent teachers and with opportunities to work with other
gifted and talented youth.”
In reality, the teaching strategies and practices advocated for gifted children
constitute good practice in general: capitalizing on children’s natural interests, giving
lots of choice about what and how to learn, functioning as the “guide on the side,” rather

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than the “sage on the stage,” compacting curriculum and not forcing children to endure
endless repetition, and holding high expectations.
All children benefit from personalized teaching, and gifted education offers
teachers a strategy for such individualization. Learn as much as you can about gifted
education and the practices of teachers who work with the gifted. The payoffs could be
tremendous for all your students.

Other Exceptionalities. There are many other, less common exceptionalities

that most teachers deal with at least occasionally – mental retardation, visual and
hearing impairment, other physical disabilities, emotional disturbances, behavioral
disorders, autism, Down Syndrome, and children with specialized health-care needs.
The first place to seek information is the ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and
Gifted Information. This clearinghouse offers a wealth of information and strategies to
the classroom teacher. Specifically, start by asking for the clearinghouse’s list (and free
samples) of digests and research briefs on a specific topic.

Shalaway, Linda. Learning to Teach…not just for beginners. New York: Scholastic Professional Books,
1998.
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Different Learning Disabilities

Following are some of the major types of learning disabilities, as identified and defined
by the National Center for Learning Disabilities:

1. Apraxia (Dyspraxia): the inability to motor plan or to make an appropriate body

response.

2. Dysgraphia: difficulty writing, both in the mechanical and expressive sense, and
difficulty with spelling.

3. Dyslexia: difficulty with language in its various uses, not just reading.

4. Dyssemia: difficulty with social cues and signals.

5. Auditory Discrimination: trouble with perceiving the differences between sounds

and the sequences of sounds.

6. Visual Perception: difficulty with the ability to understand and put meaning to
what one sees.

Shalaway, Linda. Learning to Teach…not just for beginners. New York: Scholastic Professional Books,
1998.

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Some Specific Strategies

Sally Smith, professor and head of special education at the American University in
Washington, D.C., offers some specific tips. Actually, these tips represent good
teaching strategies for all students, which brings us back to the point (again and again!)
that good teaching is good teaching – for LD students, gifted students, or “average”
students. The more we teachers apply these effective strategies, the greater our
chances of meeting all children’s needs. Specifically, learning – disabled students need:

To apply what they’ve learned. Smith suggests that teachers ask these students (and
others) to draw pictures, reenact events, collect relevant magazine photos, and
construct models, always discussing and verbalizing what they’re attempting to do and
what they’ve learned.

Tasks broken down into many smaller steps, and they need to complete each step
successfully before moving on. This includes directions and instructions for task
completion. Since many LD children have trouble with oral directions, speak slowly,
loudly, clearly, and precisely. Break instructions into simple steps and ask children to
repeat each step aloud.

Structure and predictability, even something as basic as a list of topics to be covered

on a certain day.

Help understanding abstract concepts. Smith suggests asking children to illustrate a

concept with their bodies, other concrete objects, or pictures.

Knowing that it’s okay to make mistakes. Teachers make mistakes, and students
make mistakes. The important thing is to learn from your mistakes. Here, humor is a
good tool. Smith adds, “Teachers who laugh at themselves in an easy, accepting way
are important models for children who tend to see themselves with despair or as a
source of worry for others.” When LD students feel depressed or overwhelmed, as they
frequently do, have them make a list of their strengths. These children – and all of us –
need frequent reminders of what it is they do well.

Instructor, July/Aug. ‘93

Shalaway, Linda. Learning to Teach…not just for beginners. New York: Scholastic Professional Books,
1998.

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