UNIT: 1 INTRODUCTION TO CONCEPTS AND TERMS USED IN SPECIAL NEEDS AND INCLUSIVE EDUCATION
Key Unit Competence: Explain and use correctly the key concepts
and terms used in Inclusive and Special
Needs Education
Introductory Activity
In the area of Inclusive Education or Special Need Education, different
concepts and terms related to education, health, medical support, etc. are
used. Brainstorm and share some of the key concepts and terms used ininclusive education and special needs education you might know?
1.1 Definition of key concepts and terms
Activity 1.1
What do you understand by the following terms?
–– Assistive devices
–– Child friendly school
–– Individualized teaching strategies
–– Itinerant educator / teacher
–– Multidisciplinary team
–– Special Needs Education (SNE) professional
–– Habilitation/rehabilitation services
–– Resource room
–– Specialized person
–– Support service/intervention
–– Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
–– Impairment
–– Disability
–– Handicap
–– Special education
–– Special Needs Education (SNE)
–– Special Educational Needs (SEN)
–– Inclusive Education (IE)
–– Integrated education–– Mainstream education
1.1.1 Definitions of Terms and concepts used in special needs and inclusive education
. Assistive devices: These are equipment and materials used to
facilitate or aid the functionality of a person with impairment. Examples:
hearing aids, lenses, Perkins Braille, talking calculators, audio and
video systems, white cane, wheelchairs, tricycles and special seats,adapted software like JAWS, interpreting technology, etc.
• Child-Friendly School (CFS): It is an educational setting characterized
as “inclusive”, healthy and protective for all children, irrespective of their
differences in abilities, gender, social status, background and others. It
is based on the principle that every child should learn in an environment
that is physically safe, emotionally secure and psychologically
enabling. The approach aims at developing a learning environment in
which children are motivated and able to learn. In Rwanda today, a
CFS is characterized by quality education indicators including health
and sanitation promotion, secure and learner protecting environment,
school and community partnership, effective school management,
gender sensitivity, inclusiveness, effective teaching and learning.
These indicators apply to all levels of education
• Disability: According to the World Health Organisation (WHO),
disability refers to difficulties encountered by an individual as a result
of impairment, activity limitations or participation limitations. Disability
arises from the interaction of health conditions with environmental
and personal factors. This is also a development, human rights and
social issue, because different societies interpret abilities or disabilities
in accordance to their social norms and standards. In this document,
reference is made to Visual Disability, Hearing Disability, Physical
Disability, Communication Disabilities, Intellectual Disabilities and
Multiple Disabilities.
• Impairment: This is the damage to a part of the body (organic system)
caused by genetic factors, disease, accident or other factors, which
may cause a disability. It is a partial or complete loss of use (or ability)
of a certain body part or organ which leads to a reduction or loss of
function of that body part or organ.
• Inclusive Education: This is an educational process of addressing
all learners’ educational needs in a mainstream education setting
regardless of their diverse needs. It is based on the principle that every
learner is unique and can learn and develop differently. Therefore, the
education system is expected to be flexible and adapted to cater for
every learners needs.
• Integrated education: This is a process of addressing education of
learners with special education needs within the mainstream education.
The term Integrated Education is commonly used to describe the
process of bringing children with disabilities into an ordinary school but
focusing on the individual child fitting into the existing school system
and doing little to adjust the system. In some countries this is known as
mainstreaming. The child is seen as a problem and must be prepared
for integration rather than the school being ready. Often, children are
moved or a ccepted into school and is of little concern whether the
child is learning or not. The focus is on the individual child and not the
teachers’ skills or the system. In these circumstances many children
drop out or repeat classes for many years. The majority of the extra
resources and methods (if available at all) are focused on the individual
child and not on the teachers’ skills and system. It is based on the
principle that all learners have the right of access to education and
all learners learn differently while education system has no obligation
to change the environment in order to fit their needs. The child must
adapt to the existing system or fail.
• Individualized Teaching Strategies: These are the personalized
instructional approaches or methodologies that cater for the learners
with disabilities and related Special Educational Needs. They involve
among others, Individual Education Plan (IEP) which involves designing
individualized learning and teaching goals, support provisions and
resources, structured teaching approaches using adjusted and/or
functional curricular, etc.
• Itinerant teacher/educator: Also referred to as a “visiting” or
“peripatetic” teachers, itinerant teachers are traveling schoolteachers,
often specialized in certain fields of Special Needs Education, who
move from school to school, providing individualized support to learners
with SEN, and/or supporting their teachers.
• Mainstream schools: Also referred as ‘Ordinary’ or ‘Regular’ schools
as opposed to ‘special schools’. They are schools which educate
and therefore do not require any exceptional educational adjustments.
Most of Rwandan mainstream schools, accommodate learners with a
range of mild and moderate disabilities without any adjustment to suit
their needs.
• Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT): This is a team of experts with
different backgrounds working in complementary way in the delivery of
education service and/or programming for an individual (or group of)
learner (s) with Special Educational Needs. The specific roles of the
Multi-Disciplinary team at school include (1) assessment of educational
needs, (2) guiding the development of Individual Educational Plans
(IEP) and following up learners with special needs. In Rwandan
context, a multi-Disciplinary Team in a school include (not exhaustive);
the school management-head teacher, director of studies, parents,
teachers, health professionals, psychologists, social worker, learners
and Special needs education specialist.
• Special Needs: Special needs are any of various difficulties (such as
a physical, emotional, behavioural, health, ultra-poor or impairment)
that cause an individual to require additional or specialized services
or reasonable accommodations (in education or recreation). All
those difficulties or challenges that a person faces and render him/
her different from other average persons are referred to as “special
needs” because they may demand adjustments in order to participate
or access services equally.
• Special Educational Needs (SEN): These are non-ordinary needs
a learner may have in schooling as a result of intrinsic or extrinsic
limitations/barriers. The learner with SEN will need extra attention /
assistance from the teacher and/or the use of different educational
approaches or/and tools. Special needs that have a bearing on school
work and education are generally referred to as special educational
needs.
• Special Needs Education (SNE): In Rwanda, some children learn
in specialized settings, due to temporary or permanent SEN, thus in
those settings teachers provide adjusted educational programs or
services known as “Special Needs Education” (SNE). Experiences in
the Rwandan context continue to indicate that the concept is largely.
Interpreted as ‘Uburezi bw’abafite ubumuga’ or education for those
with disabilities, typically intellectual, multiple disabilities, or sensory
disabilities. Providing services and programs adapting the educational
system (Teaching approaches, environment, programs, and tools)
and adjusting them to fit the individual needs of learners with specialeducational needs is what is referred to as Special Needs Education.
• Special needs education professional staff: These are professional
service providers in the field of special needs officially recruited to
offer specialized services that require specialized skills. Sign language
interpreters, Special Needs Education Coordinators (SNECO) and
resource room technicians for example.
• Habilitation /Rehabilitation services: Rehabilitation refers to
services provided to newly persons with disabilities with the purpose of
restoring some of the functionality they lost as a result of their disability.
This is done mainly to help them acquire skills for independent living.
Habilitation is like rehabilitation except that it is a service accorded to
persons who had no functional skills in the first place at the time of
acquiring the disability. It is both about teaching new skills to people
who never had them.
• Resource room: This is a room/place in a school for supporting and
teaching learners with SEN, equipped with specialized resources,
various learning materials and support services. At times teachers
also use it and other resource personnel, for other activities related to
special needs education services.
• Special School: A school that is set and organized to provide educational
services to learners with specific Special Educational Needs. In
Rwanda, there are schools specified for learners with hearingdifficulties
,withvisual difficulties those with cognitive challenges, etc.
• Support services/intervention: These are special services offered
by professionals in support of mainstream teachers of learners with
disabilities and related educational needs; such as speech and
language therapy, occupational therapists, sign language interpretation,
counselling, etc.
• Ultra-poor Children: These are children that are living below the
poverty line. Ultra-poverty is defined as the in ability to meet minimum
daily consumption needs, discomfort, exhaustion, exclusion, rejection,
isolation and loneliness, low self-confidence. Learners who are brought
up in low income families are at risk for academic as well as social
problems and poor health and well-being which can in turn undermine
educational achievement.
• Vulnerable and Marginalised Girls: The most marginalized and
difficult to reach groups of girls vary according to local and national
contexts. Unfortunately, there is limited availability of appropriate tools
to assist with identification of the most marginalized girls. Many situation
analyses tools have not been designed to collect the type and quality of
information that will help identify and then reach the most marginalized
or disadvantaged girls, who thus fall off the radar of formal or informal
interventions. Some of these girls include the following:
• Married adolescent girls
• Girls living in areas where child marriage is accepted
• Girls whose parents have disabilities
• Girls heading households due to orphan hood or other reasons
• Adolescent mothers
• Out of school and illiterate girls
• Girls from socially conservative families
• Girls separated from their families
• Domestic workers
• Adolescent girls living with one or no parent
• Girls living in rural, remote or isolated geographical areas
• Adolescent girls with minimal social networks
• Universal Design for Learning (UDL): This is an internationallyrecognized
approach to inclusive teaching and learning. It refers to a set
of principles and practices that allows all learners equal opportunities
in the same educational setting. UDL provides a design for creating
instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work
for everyone, and not a single, one-size-fits-all solution, rather, flexible
approaches that can be customized and adjusted for individual needs.
The UDL Guidelines are a framework to improve and optimize teaching
and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans
learn. The UDL Guidelines are organized according to three main
principles that address representation, expression, and engagement,
for each of which, “Checkpoints” are specified and highlighted.
Self- assessment 1.1.
Using examples explain the following terms:
Assistive devices, Child friendly school, Individualized teaching strategies,
Itinerant teacher/educator, Multidisciplinary team, SNE professional,
habilitation/rehabilitation services, Resource room, Specialized person,
Support service/intervention, Universal design for learning, Impairment,
disability, Handicap, Special education, Special needs Education, Special
educational needs, Inclusive education, Integrated education, Mainstream
education
1.2 Differentiation of some key terms used in special needs
and inclusive education
Activity 1.2
In inclusive education and special needs, there are some terms that people
tends to use interchangeably but are completely different.
Those terms are:
–– Impairment, disability & handicap
–– Special Needs Education, and Special Educational Needs.
–– Inclusive education, integrated education, mainstream education
From your own understanding, how can you differentiate them?
a. Impairment, disability and handicap: These terms will be explained
using clear example.
David is a 4-year old boy. He has a form of Cerebral Palsy (CP) called spastic
diplegia. David’s CP causes his legs to be stiff, tight, and difficult to move.
He cannot stand or walk.
Impairment: The stiffness, tightness and inability to move the legs easily
at the joints and inability to bear weight on the feet is impairment. Without
orthotics and surgery to release abnormally contracted muscles, David’s
level of impairment may increase as imbalanced muscle contraction over a
period of time and it can cause hip dislocation and deformed bone growth.
No treatment may be currently available to lessen David’s impairment.
Disability: David’s inability to walk is a disability. His level of disability can
be improved with physical therapy and special equipment. For example, if
he learns to use a walker, with braces, his level of disability will improve
considerably.
Handicap: David’s cerebral palsy is handicapping to the extent that it
prevents him from fulfilling a normal role at home, in preschool, and in the
community. His level of handicap has been only very mild in the early years
as he has been well-supported to be able to play with other children, interact
normally with family members and participate fully in family and community
activities. As he gets older, his handicap will increase where certain sports
and physical activities are considered “normal” activities for children of the
same age. He has little handicap in his preschool classroom, though he
needs some assistance to move in the classroom and from one activity to
another outside the classroom. Appropriate services and equipment can
reduce the extent to which cerebral palsy prevents David from fulfilling a
normal role at home, school and in community as he grows.
Note: when all barriers, limitations, prejudice removed and negative attitudes
changed, the handicap does no longer exist to someone who has a disability
or impairment.
b. Special Needs Education and Special Educational Needs.
The only difference between those two terms is that Special Educational
Needs (SEN) is a need that an individual has. For example, someone
who has Down syndrome, emotional disturbance, reading and learning
disabilities, intellectual disabilities, pervasive developmental disorder, etc.
while Special Needs Education (SNE) is an educational service made to
carter the individual educational needs aiming to fully develop the capabilities,
independence and social participation of individual with disability or specialneed.
c. Inclusive Education, Integrated Education, Mainstream Education
Note: Both approaches (integrated education and inclusive education) have
the same objective to bring a student in a mainstream classroom. However
integrated education expects students to adapt to the pre-existing structure,
while inclusive education ensures that the existing education system is
adapted to each student.
Self- assessment 1.2.
Differentiate the following terms used in special needs and inclusive education:
–– Impairment, Disability and Handicap
–– Special Needs Education and Special Educational Needs.–– Inclusive Education, Integrated Education, Mainstream Education
END UNIT ASSESSMENT
1. In your own understanding, explains the following terms used in special
needs and inclusive education:
–– Assistive devices
–– Child friendly school
–– Individualized teaching strategies
–– Itinerant teacher/educator
–– Multidisciplinary team
–– SNE professional
–– Habilitation/Rehabilitation services
–– Resource room
–– Specialized person
–– Support service/intervention
–– Universal design for learning
2. Referring to the following case study differentiate disability, impairment
and handicap.“Cindy is an 8-year-old who has extreme difficulty with reading.3. Is your school setting inclusive or integrated? Justify your answer using
She has good vision and hearing and scores well on tests of
intelligence. She went to an excellent preschool and several
different special reading programs have been tried since early in
kindergarten.”
examples?
4. From your own perspective, which approach (integrated or inclusive
education) do you think Rwandan schools should adopt? Why?
5. Answer with a yes or no to the following statement, if your answer is no,
provide the right definition:
6. Special educational needs is an educational approach or technic that
is adopted in order to enable students with disability and special needs
to learn depending to their own pace and ability, participate, developindependence and social participation.