The document provides an overview of units 7, 8, and 9 which focus on understanding disabilities and learning difficulties through a conceptual framework. It summarizes the reading material from chapters 13, 14, and 15 of the prescribed book covering topics like different types of disabilities, learning difficulties, and their causes and characteristics. Principles of intervention are also discussed. The units aim to differentiate between disabilities and learning difficulties and look at their interaction with social contexts.

1. unit 7 ,8 & 9:
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20 & 27 Sept

2.  Many students in secondary schools also
experience a disability or learning difficulty and
often require help (Donald, Lazarus & Lolwana,
2010).
 Differentiate between a “disability” and “learning
difficulty”
 The focus of the study units 7,8 and 9 is on a
conceptual framework to understand disabilities
and learning difficulties. The reading material
for this unit is Chapters 13, 14 and 15 (pages
279 to 343) in the prescribed book.
D Sekhukhune & T Makoelle 20 & 27 September

3. Disabilities and Learning difficulties: A
Conceptual Framework
CHAPTER 13:
• Children with developmental disabilities
represent a particular vulnerable group.
• Health risks and disability cycles: Malnutrition,
disease, and infection are common in context of
poverty.
• Table 13.1 on page 281: Lists the different kinds
of disabilities and learning difficulties and the
estimated prevalence in South Africa in
comparison to USA.
D Sekhukhune & T Makoelle 20 & 27 September

4. Disabilities and Learning difficulties in social context
• We need to look more closely at how disabilities and
learning difficulties interact with resources , values and
practices in different social contexts, and how this
interaction results in different needs.
• Resources: Cycles of poverty and poor educational
resources can cause, aggravate, and maintain
disabilities and learning difficulties.
• Values and practices: People in different social
contexts view and address disabilities and learning
difficulties in different ways.
D Sekhukhune & T Makoelle 20 & 27 September

5. Principles of intervention with disabilities
and learning difficulties
(pp.289 – 300)
1.Inclusion and health promotion
2.Facilitating resilience
3.Prevention
4.Curriculum development and support
5.Remediation
6.Life-skills education
7.Counselling
8.Parent/caregiver involvement
D Sekhukhune & T Makoelle 20 & 27 September

6. DISABILITIES
CHAPTER 14:
Five main areas:
1.Physical disabilities
2.Sensory disabilities
3.Neurological disabilities
4.Intellectual disability
5.Chronic diseases and infections affecting
students
D Sekhukhune & T Makoelle 25 October

7. 1. Physical disabilities: Causes, characteristics, and
accommodation
• Generally caused by congenital factors, the after-effects of
specific diseases, or injuries from accidents and violence.
• Most of these causes are much more common in disadvantaged
social contexts than in more advantaged contexts especially
through a lack of adequate health and safety measures in the
communities concerned.
• Physical disabilities that you are most likely to come across in
teaching:
1. Disabilities affecting mobility
2. Disabilities affecting the use of the hands
D Sekhukhune & T Makoelle 20 & 27 September

8. 2. Sensory disabilities: Causes, characteristics, and
accommodation
(pp.306 - 308)
• Most common causes are either congenital or the after-effects of
specific diseases and infections, many of which might have been
prevented or treated in the first place.
• Appropriate health measures and health education in terms of both
prevention and treatment of these conditions are vitally important.
1. Visual disabilities
2. Hearing disabilities:
Two main types of hearing loss:
a) Sensorineural hearing loss: This occurs where the neural mechanisms of
hearing (particularly the cochlea – where sound waves are translated into
neural messages – and the neural pathways of the brain) have not
developed adequately, or have become damaged.
b) Conductive hearing loss: This occurs where there is some obstruction,
infection, or other interference with the physical transmission or conduct
of sound waves through the outer and middle ear.
D Sekhukhune & T Makoelle 20 & 27 September

9. 3. Neurological disabilities: Causes, characteristics,
and accommodation
• Disabilities in this area relate to the physical functioning of the brain
and nervous system.
The two common disabilities:
a) Cerebral palsy: This disability is due to permanent damage to the
cerebral cortex of the brain. The damage may be caused by head
injuries, birth problems, or particular diseases and infections (e.g.
tubecular meningitis) in early development.
b) Epilepsy: Damage to different areas of the brain may cause
epilepsy. It is more commonly caused by factors that have deprived
the brain of sufficient oxygen.
There are two broad and very different forms of epilepsy:
Refer to page 310 for definitions
i. Generalised tonic/clonic seizure.
ii. Absence seizures
D Sekhukhune & T Makoelle 20 & 27 September

10. 4. Intellectual disability: Causes, characteristics, and
accommodation
• Intellectual disability, or what is basically a general problem
experienced in the broad areas of understanding, remembering,
reasoning, and other higher cognitive functions, is one of the
most urgent areas of specific learning need in South Africa.
3 Causes:
i. Physical causes
ii. Familial causes
iii. Contextual causes (p.312)
Levels of intellectual disability and their characteristics:
a) Mild intellectual disabilities
b) Moderate intellectual disability
c) Severe intellectual disability (pp.316 – 318)
D Sekhukhune & T Makoelle 20 & 27 September

11. 5. Chronic diseases and infections affecting students
• Although students who suffer from chronic diseases and infections
are not disabled, they are included here because their physical
condition affects learning and adjustment in school in lasting
and significant ways.
• Chronic conditions that are common and of particular concern
amongst children in southern Africa:
1) Malnutrition and undernutrition
2) HIV and AIDS
3) Tuberculosis (TB)
4) Chronic middle-ear infection
5) Parasite infection
6) Epilepsy
(pp.318 - 322)
D Sekhukhune & T Makoelle 20 & 27 September

12. Learning difficulties
CHAPTER 15
A.Specific learning difficulties
B.Communication difficulties
C.Emotional difficulties
D Sekhukhune & T Makoelle 20 & 27 September

13. A. Specific learning difficulties: Causes
and characteristics
• Causes (pp. 326-327):
a) Inherited factors
b) Neurological factors
c) Educational factors
• Characteristics (327-333):
1. Specific language difficulty
2. Specific reading difficulty
3. Specific spelling difficulty
4. Specific coordination and handwriting
5. Specific mathematical difficulties
D Sekhukhune & T Makoelle 20 & 27 September

14. Remedial approach to specific learning
difficulties
 Accurate observation and identification of the specific difficulty,
followed by giving the appropriate help.
 Seek further specialised assistance (e.g. DBST).
 You can do with the help of the colleagues.
 Appropriate teaching for those with specific learning disabilities – It
should closely follow the remedial cycle as set out on pp. 292-295.
 Understanding the underlying factors and the differences between
the 5 areas of specific learning disabilities. This understanding
needs to be incorporated into each of the observation,
identification, outcome setting, remedial intervention, and evaluation
phases of the general remedial cycle (pp.333-334).
D Sekhukhune & T Makoelle 20 & 27 September

15. B. Communication difficulties: Causes and characteristics
Two main dimensions to communication are: Reception and Expression
(Refer to Figure 15.1 on p.334).
Causes:
Neurological; May be secondary to intellectual disability, hearing disability,
and cerebral palsy
 Quality of language stimulation through the family
How teachers intentionally mediate and encourage active language
development in the classroom.
•Thus it is important to make a distinction between communication difficulties
that are due to extrinsic, contextual factors than to intrinsic factors.
Characteristics:
a)Difficulties in language development
b)Difficulties in speech production
D Sekhukhune & T Makoelle 20 & 27 September

16. C. Emotional difficulties: Understanding their complexity, causes
and characteristics
(pp.336-340)
Two broad categories or groups:
1. Internalising reactions (turned inwards):
Some relatively common difficulties which broadly fit under internalised
reactions, and that you are likely to encounter at school level, include:
Depression; Grief; Withdrawn or dependent behaviour; Petty stealing,
lying, and avoiding behaviour.
2. Externalising reactions (directed outwards):
Two fundamentally different kinds of problem in this group are basic:
a)Patterns of under-socialised behaviour
b)Patterns of inappropriately socialised behaviour
D Sekhukhune & T Makoelle 20 & 27 September

17. Prescribed book
Donald, D., Lazarus, S. & Lolwana, P. (2010). Educational
Psychology in Social Context. Cape Town: Oxford
D Sekhukhune & T Makoelle 20 & 27 September