Chapter One

UNDERSTANDING EXCEPTIONALITIES
IN THE 21ST CENTURY

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FOCUS PREVIEW
Focus 1
Why do we continue to apply labels to people when we know
they may have a negative effect on an individual?
Focus 2
Identify three approaches to describe human differences.
Focus 3
How have societal views on people with disabilities changed
from widespread discrimination to an era of inclusion and
support in the 21st century?
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FOCUS PREVIEW
Focus 4
What is the Americans with Disabilities Act?
Focus 5
Describe the role of health care, psychology, and social
services professionals in meeting the needs of people with
disabilities.
Focus 6
What services and supports must be available to ensure a
bright future for people with disabilities?

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A CHANGING ERA
A process called labeling is used by every
society to identify people who differ
significantly from the accepted norm.
Common Terminology
Disorder
Disability
Handicap
Exceptional
At risk
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WHEN SOMEONE DOESNT CONFORM

TO THE NORM

Developmental Approach
Cultural Approach
Self-labeling
Effects of being labeled
Separating the Person and the Label
Environmental Bias

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The Earliest Development

1. Germinal conception until the first
two weeks
Zygote: the new cell formed by
the product of fertilization
Blastocysts: collection of cells
that are formed after three days
of fertilization
2. Embryonic 2 to 8 weeks
Embryo: a developed zygote that
has a heart, brain, and other
organs

The Earliest Development

3. Fetal 8th week until birth - the
child now becomes a fetus
fetus becomes responsive to touch;
at sixteen to eighteen weeks, the fetus
movements become strong for the mother to
sense
facial features become similar to those the child
will
display at birth
the major organs begin to function

Genetic Influences on the Fetus

Phenylketonuria (PKU)
Cannot produce enzyme
required for normal
development
Tay-Sachs disease
Body unable to break down
fat
Down syndrome
Extra chromosome

Prenatal Environmental Influences

Teratogens
Mothers nutrition and
emotional state
Mothers illness
Mothers drug use
Alcohol and nicotine
Mothers age

Prenatal Environmental Influences

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES ON
DISABILITY

Throughout history, people perceived as

different have been vulnerable to such
practices as infanticide, slavery, physical
abuse, and abandonment.

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 Perspective changed when priests and other

religious started to teach children who were deaf
and blind with first attempts recorded only in the
16th and 17th century.

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History of SPED
1775-1838 French physician Jean Marc
Gaspard Itard educate an 11-year-old boy who
had been found living as a savage in the woods
1801- documented his methods in a book, The
Wild Boy of Aveyron.

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History of SPED
1817- Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet established
the first school for the deaf (American School for
the Deaf) and began the organized education of
children who were deaf in the United States
1829 Samuel Gridley Howe started the first
special school, the first director of the school
for children who blind in the US, now the Perkins
School for the Blind in Watertown,
Massachusetts.
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History of SPED
1812-1880- Edouard Seguin in France and US,
and Maria Montessori (1870-1952) in Italy used
Itards instructional materials and procedures in
the education of those with mental retardation.
1847-1922- Alexander Graham Bell, an inventor
of telephone and tireless worker for education
for the deaf.
1866-1936 Anne Sullivan Macy is Hellen Kellers
beloved teacher who taught her to communicate
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History of SPED
1880-1957- Helen Keller, who deaf and blind
from early childhood, was a living example of the
effectiveness of special educational methods in
overcoming even the most severe disabilities.
1905 Alfred Binet working in the public schools
of Paris, developed intelligence testing, first
objective instrument for selecting children for
placement in special education programs.

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History of SPED
Twentieth century marked by contradictions in
formal and natural supports
Parental Involvement and Advocacy
1940s and 1950s parents began to organize
themselves to represent the needs of their children,
and where necessary, to provide educational services
for those children not being served by the public
schools.

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THE AMERICANS WITH

DISABILITIES ACT (ADA)
Amendment to the Vocational Rehabilitation Act
that included a provision prohibiting
discrimination against persons with disabilities in
federally assisted programs and activities.
Section 504 of the Act stated that No otherwise
qualified person with a disabilityshall, solely on
the basis of disability, be denied access to, or the
benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under
any program or activity provided by any
entity/institution that receives federal financial
assistance.
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THE ADA DEFINITION OF DISABILITY

Having a physical or mental impairment

that substantially limits him or her in some
major life activity, and having experienced
discrimination resulting from this physical
or mental impairment.

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MAJOR PROVISIONS OF THE ADA

The intent of ADA is to create a fair and
level playing field for all eligible persons
with disabilities.
To do so the law specifies that reasonable
accommodations need to be made that take
into account each persons need resulting
from his or her disabilities.

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MAJOR PROVISIONS OF THE ADA

Employment
Transportation
Public accommodations
Government
Telecommunications

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MULTIDISCIPLINARY ROLES AND

RESPONSIBILITIES
The Role of Health Care Professionals
The Role of Psychologists
The Role of Social Service Professionals

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The Role of Health Care Professionals

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LOOKING TOWARD A BRIGHT

FUTURE
Community based support
Development of natural communities of
support
Formal supports being delivered in the
context of community access and
participation
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CASE STUDY: SARINA

Labels and diagnoses

Transitional phase of her life/service delivery
Spent most of her life in large institution
Now in her late 30s
Supported living program
Goals
Opportunities
Supports needed

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