Children with Special Needs

Psychopathology- illness or disorder of mind.

Developmental Psychopathology- uses insights into typical development to understand developmental disorders.

4 general principles of dev. Psychopathology1. Abnormality is normal. Most children act oddly sometimes.

Children with serious disorders, are in many ways like everyone else.

2. Disabilities change year by year. Most disorders are comorbid (more than one problem in the same person). Which disability is most disabling and the severity of each disorder can change .

3. Life may be better or worse in adulthood. Some disabilities can be compensated for (blindness, deafness, ADHD). Some may be more challenging as adults (bi-polar).

4. Interactions with family, school, community, culture: makes people either modify or worsen their psychopathology.

Developmental Psychopathology

Elementary School Aged Kids:when much psychopathology shows

Kids are grouped by age and expected to learn at the same rate.This is problematic for those who differ from their

peers.

Developmental Psychopathology (cont).

• Two Main Principles: • 1. Multifinality- one cause can have many possible final

outcomes.• Infant given hormones (one cause) may be: hyperactive,

unusually calm, easily angered, quick to cry…(many possible outcomes).

• 2. Equifinality- one symptom can have many possible causes.• 4 year old doesn’t speak (1 symptom) could be: autistic,

hard of hearing, mentally retarded, electively mute (many possible causes).

Grouped together because they are often comorbid and often confused for each other.

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity (ADHD), Bipolar, and Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorders.

Up to 10% of all children have ADHD.Difficulty paying attentionUncontrollable urges to be active or act out

impulsivelyDisruptive when adults want them to be stillApproximately twice as many boys as girls

have ADHD.Tend to have difficulty with academics and

lower graduation rates.

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Extreme mood swings.At least one episode of grandiosity (overblown

exaggeration). Ex. Genius destined to save the world.

Other times severely depressed. Unwilling to read, play with friends, or go to school.

Medical visits from 1995-2003 have increased 40times.Could be misdiagnosis in past or over diagnosis

now.

Bipolar Disorder

Rageful or irritable on their best daysAlways angry at home and school and for

months at a time.Ex. Scream over dropped ice cream, throw a

toy across the room instead of sharing it.Behavior may be the beginning of adult

bipolar disorder or later anxiety and depression.

Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)

Problems with perception or processing information (remember the video).

Everyone has a multiple intelligence they do not excel at (musical, bodily kinesthetic)But if you have a severe problem with

verbal/linguistic or logical/mathematical, that makes all academic learning challenging.

Learning Disabilities

• Dyslexia- most commonly diagnosed learning disability.• Unusual difficulty with reading. No single test for it. • Dozens of types and causes of dyslexia

• Dyscalculia- unusual difficulty with math/numbers

Characterized by: emotional blindness1. inadequate social skills 2. restricted, repetitive patterns of

behavior, interests, or activities. Now 1 in every 110 children are diagnosed

with autism spectrum disorder.Many are not intellectually disabled at all

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Children with autism find it difficult to understand other people emotions.Many do not want to talk, play, or interact with

anyone.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (cont)

• Symptoms are many and vary in severity (spectrum).• Some never speak, rarely smile, and can play with one object

for hours.• Others (high-functioning)- can speak and interact but may

have difficulty with social cues or relating to others.• Can be extremely gifted in one area (drawing, math, memory,

etc)• Diagnosis have increased dramatically • Could be an increase in the number of people with the disorder• Could be more accurate diagnosis• In order to be diagnosed on the spectrum a person’s symptoms

must be severe enough to significantly impact their ability to function.

LRE- Least Restrictive EnvironmentCan mean:

educating kids with special needs in the general education classroom (mainstreaming) most of the time instead of the spec education classroom.

Sending child to resource room for extra helpFull inclusion (in the regular ed all the time)Depends on what is best for that particular child.

Special Education

• IEP- Individual Educational Plan• Getting the child the help they need to be as successful as

possible.• Special education teacher, general education teacher,

administrator, parent, and child are all part of the team that comes up with the IEP and makes sure it is followed.

• Give information about the child’s disability, sets goals for the child, lays out any accommodations the child may need• Extra time on assignments, pulled out for testing, written

notes, etc…