Working With Special Groups of

COURSE: 7112 Early Childhood Education II UNIT C Children and Child Care Issues

ESSENTIAL Apply procedures and strategies for working with special

5.00 C3 13% groups of children.
STANDARD:
Understand strategies for working with children with
OBJECTIVE: 5.02 B2 7% special needs.
Essential Question: What are some effective ways to respond to children with special needs?
UNPACKED CONTENT
Special needs are individual factors that cause a childs development---physically, cognitively, or behaviorally---to
vary from the norm. Classroom strategies for working with children with special needs are accommodations. Early
childhood professionals need to know how to identify and accommodate children with special needs.
Hearing impairments
Impact on language development and other areas of learning
Degree of hearing loss
Accommodations for children who have hearing impairments
Vision impairments
Impact on physical abilities
Need for a consistent room layout
Includes lazy eye, glaucoma, nearsightedness, farsightedness, color blindness, and blindness
Accommodations for children who have vision impairments
Physical and motor impairments
Impact of limited range of motion on experiences
Includes spina bifida and amputations with prostheses
Accommodations for children who have physical and motor impairments
Cognitive impairments
Impact on attention spans and development of intellectual abilities
Impact on motor skills and eye-hand coordination
Impact on social skills and emotional control
Basic categories of cognitive impairments--- mental retardation and learning disabilities
Types of learning disabilities---speech and written language disorders, dyslexia, dyscalcula, reasoning and
memory disorder, and attention deficit disorder (ADD)
Accommodations for children who have cognitive impairments
Giftedness
Extraordinary talent in one or more areas---intellect, artistic expression, physical abilities, etc.
Need for programs that challenge
Accommodations for gifted children
Behavioral and emotional disorders
Impact on learning
Two types--- attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism
Accommodations for children who have behavioral and emotional disorders
Special health conditions
Impact on participation in activities; medication requirements
Includes allergies, asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, and hemophilia
Accommodations for children with special health conditions