Summer-A.Y.

2023
Divine Word College of Laoag
SCHOOL OF ARTS, SCIENCE AND EDUCATION
Laoag City

TEACHING-LEARNING MODULE

FACILITATING LEARNING

Name: Martlowenvitz C. Lawat

Prepared by:
Mrs. Rebecca O. Codiamat
PED 5-Instructor
 Summer-A.Y.2023
Course & Section: ____________________
COURSE CODE: PEd 5
COURSE TITLE: Facilitating Learning
ROOM SCHEDULE: 404
COURSE PRE- None
REQUISITE
INSTRUCTOR: Mrs. Rebecca O. Codiamat
EMAIL: rebeccacodiamat@dwcl.edu.ph
CONSULTATION TIME: Wednesday 8:00-11:00 AM

Email and Text: Students can contact the faculty thru messenger or
email anytime of the day.

In person: the students can talk personally to the faculty but it should
be by appointment from Monday to Friday (9:00 AM-4:00 PM only).

Prepared by:
Mrs. Rebecca O. Codiamat
PED 5-Instructor
 Summer-A.Y.2023

MODULE 6
LEARNERS WITH EXCEPTIONALITIES
LESSON NO.: 6
LESSON TITLE: Learners with Exceptionalities
Specific Learning At the end of the teaching-learning process, you should be able to;
Outcomes: a. Describe the basic categories of exceptional learners
b. Define and distinguish the terms disability or handicap
c. Demonstrate “people first” language when referring to
exceptional learners and advocate for its use.

TEACHING –LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Introduction:
One significant factor that highlights individual differences and diversity in learning is the presence of
exceptionalities. We commonly refer to learners with exceptionalities as persons who are different in
some way from the "normal" or "average".

The term "exceptional learners" includes those with special needs related to cognitive abilities,
behavior, social functioning, physical and sensory impairments, emotional disturbances, and giftedness.
Most of these learners require a lot of understanding and patience as well as special education and
related services if they are to reach their full potential of development.

Advance Organizer:

Prepared by:
Mrs. Rebecca O. Codiamat
PED 5-Instructor
 Summer-A.Y.2023

ENGAGE:
Watch any of the following films:
● The Rain Man
● I am Sam
● Son-rise a Miracle of Love
● The Life of Helen Keller

EXPLORE:
1. Describe the main character in the movie you watch.
Hellen Keller was a remarkable woman who overcame incredible challenges to become an
inspiration to millions of people around the world.

2. What was his/her exceptionality? Describe.

She couldn't see, hear, or speak.

3. What problems/difficulties did the main character experience?

Hellen Keller found it difficult to communicate with others around her.
4. Who provided support? What support did he/she get from his/her environment?
Anne Sullivan, a young motivated instructor, supported and guided her.

EXPLAIN:
From the movie you watched you saw the challenges that confront a person with special needs. The
person's adjustment entails the support of the people around him. As a future teacher, you would

Prepared by:
Mrs. Rebecca O. Codiamat
PED 5-Instructor
 Summer-A.Y.2023
probably encounter learners with special needs, more so if special education is your major. It is
therefore necessary that you have both the right information and proper attitude in dealing with
special learners. This will help you perform your task to facilitate learning. Let us begin by
differentiating the words disability and handicap.

● Disability. A disability is a measurable impairment or limitation that "interferes with a person's

ability, for example, to walk, lift, hear, or learn. It may refer to a physical, sensory, or mental
condition" (Schiefelbusch Institute, 1996). The word disability has become the more accepted
term, having replaced the word handicap in federal laws in the US. One of which is the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

IDEA is the law that provides comprehensive service and support for exceptional learners. Our very
own 1987 Philippine Constitution, Article XIV, Sec. 2, uses the word "disabled" in paragraph (5)
"Provide adult citizens, the disabled, and out-of-school youth with training...

● Handicap. The word handicap does not have the same meaning as disability. A handicap is a
disadvantage that occurs as a result of a disability or impairment. The degree of disadvantage
(or the extent of the handicap) is often dependent on the adjustment made by both the person
and his environment.
● Therefore, the extent to which a disability handicaps an individual can vary greatly, Two
persons may have the same disability but not the same degree of being handicapped. For
example, they both have a hearing impairment, one knows sign language and can read lips
while the other cannot. The first individual would not have as much handicap as the second
one. Another example, two persons who move around on a wheel chair, the one studying in a
school campus with wheelchair accessibility in all areas would be less handicapped than one in
a school without wheel chair accessibility.

Categories of Exceptionalities

There are different ways of presenting categories of exceptionalities Special education practitioners
would have varying terms and categories. For this short introduction of categories, we are basing it on
the categories found in Omrod's Educational Psychology (2000).

Specific Cognitive or Academic Difficulties

● Learning Disabilities. Learning disabilities involve difficulties in specific cognitive processes

like perception, language, memory or metacognition that are not due to other disabilities like
mental retardation, emotional or behavioral disorders, or sensory impairments. Examples of
learning disabilities include dyslexia (reading), dyscalculia (number operations) and

Prepared by:
Mrs. Rebecca O. Codiamat
PED 5-Instructor
 Summer-A.Y.2023
dysgraphia (writing).

● Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. ADHD is manifested in either or both of these:

(1) difficulty in focusing and maintaining attention and

(2) recurrent hyperactive and impulsive behavior.

● Speech and Communication Disorders. There is difficulty in spoken language including

voice disorders, inability to produce the sounds... correctly, stuttering, difficulty in spoken
language comprehension that significantly hamper classroom performance.

Social/Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties

● Autism. Autism is a condition manifested by different levels of impaired social interaction and
communication, repetitive behaviors and limited interests. Individuals with autism usually have
an intense need for routine and a predictable environment.

● Mental Retardation. Mental retardation refers to significant sub average intelligence and
deficits in adaptive behavior. There is difficulty in managing activities of daily living and in
conducting themselves appropriately in social situations.

● Emotional/Conduct Disorders. This involves the presence of emotional states like depression
and aggression over a considerable amount of time that they notably disturb learning and
performance in school.

Physical Disabilities and Health Impairments

● Physical and health impairments. This involves physical or medical conditions (usually
long-term) including one or more of these
(1) limited energy and strength,
(2) reduced mental alertness, and/or
(3) little muscle control.

● Severe and Multiple Disabilities. This refers to the presence of two or more different types of
disability, at times at a profound level. The combination of disabilities makes it necessary to

Prepared by:
Mrs. Rebecca O. Codiamat
PED 5-Instructor
 Summer-A.Y.2023
make specific adaptations and have more specialized educational programs.

Sensory Impairments

● Visual Impairments. These are conditions when there is malfunction of the eyes or optic
nerves that prevent normal vision even with corrective lenses.

● Hearing Impairments. These involve malfunction of the ear or auditory nerves that hinders
perception of sounds within the frequency range of normal speech.

Giftedness

● Giftedness. This involves a significantly high level of cognitive development. There is

unusually high ability or aptitude in one or more of these aspects: intellectual ability, aptitude
in academic subjects, creativity, visual or performing arts or leadership.

People-First Language

What is People-First Language?

Just as the term would imply, this language trend involves putting the person first, not the disability
(e.g., a person with a disability, not a disabled person). Thus, people first language tells us what
conditions people have not what they are (Schiefelbusch Institute, 1996). This is similar to saying
"person with AIDS, rather than "AIDS victim". Other suggestions for referring to those with
disabilities include:

● Avoiding generic labels (people with mental retardation is preferable to the mentally
retarded):
● Emphasizing abilities, not limitations (for instance, uses a wheelchair is preferable to
confined to a wheelchair)
● Avoiding euphemisms (such as physically-challenged) which are regarded as condescending
and avoid the real issues that result from a disability, and
● Avoiding implying illness or suffering (had polio is preferable to is a polio victim, and has
multiple sclerosis is preferable to suffers from multiple sclerosis) (Department of Physical
Medicine and Rehabilitation, 2000; Schiefelbusch Institute, 1996).

Using people-first language and applying the guidelines above will remind you to have a more

Prepared by:
Mrs. Rebecca O. Codiamat
PED 5-Instructor
 Summer-A.Y.2023
respectful and accepting attitude toward learners with exceptionalities. The presence of impairments
requires them to exert more effort to do things that others like us find quite easy to do They are learners
who may turn to you for assistance. Beginning with the right attitude, one of compassion (not of pity
nor ridicule), will make you a more effective teacher, one with the hand and the heart who can facilitate
their learning and adjustment.

EXTEND
A.
1. Make a collection of teaching guidelines or tips on how to work with students with
exceptionalities. Follow the categories shown in this Module. Present your guidelines/tips in
bulleted form.

2. Advocate for people-first language by telling at least 5 people about how to use people-first
language when referring to learners with exceptionalities.

3. Surf the internet for the Son-Rise Program for autism. It is based on the life changing
experience of Ron Kauffman who had autism but recovered. Most practitioners believe that
autism is incurable, but the son-rise program has another approach. Read about it and write a
reaction paper on it.

B. Revise the following sentences to adhere to the people-first language and the other guidelines
given in this Module.
1. The teacher thought of many strategies to teach the mentally challenged.
The teacher thought of many strategies to teach individuals with cognitive challenges or
individuals with intellectual disabilities.

2. Their brother is mentally retarded.

Their brother has an intellectual disability.

3. Their organization is for the autistic.

Their organization is for individuals with autism.

4. He is a polio victim who currently suffers from post-polio syndrome.

He is an individual who has experienced the effects of polio and currently lives with post-
polio syndrome.

5. There was a blind girl in my psychology class.

There was a girl with visual impairment in my psychology class.

Prepared by:
Mrs. Rebecca O. Codiamat
PED 5-Instructor
 Summer-A.Y.2023
EVALUATE:
1. By means of a graphic organizer present the basic categories of exceptional learners and
describe each category briefly.

2. How do handicap and disability differ?

The term disability refers to a person's physical or cognitive impairment, whereas handicap
refers to the societal restrictions or disadvantages that people with disabilities may encounter.
Disability is inherent in the person, whereas handicap is frequently the result of the person's
interaction with their environment.

3. Revise the following sentences to adhere to the people-first language and the other guidelines
given in this Module.

a. I attended a seminar about teaching disabled children.

I attended a seminar about teaching children with disabilities.

b. That classroom was designed for the deaf and blind.

Prepared by:
Mrs. Rebecca O. Codiamat
PED 5-Instructor
 Summer-A.Y.2023
That classroom was designed for individuals who are deaf and blind.

c. I like to read books about the handicapped.

I like to read books about individuals with disabilities.

d. When she was suffering from a spinal cord injury, in a car accident, she became a paraplegic
and was confined to a wheelchair.
When she experienced a spinal cord injury in a car accident, she acquired paraplegia and began
using a wheelchair for mobility.

e. He is behaving like that because he is abnormal.

He is behaving like that because he has atypical behavior.

REFERENCES:

Prepared by:
Mrs. Rebecca O. Codiamat
PED 5-Instructor