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 * Welcome to Our Wiki!**

Our Wiki page will allow us to learn about numerous Exceptionalities, to build on the ideas of others, and to ensure we're able to apply this knowledge to the classroom. Let's get started...
 * 1)  While you'll create your Wiki pages within this wiki site you will use the material in our Google site to guide you. After reviewing the exceptionalities on the Google site select an article, scholarly or newsworthy, to add to the descriptions of two of the conditions to support your own thoughts. ** You will 1) create a NEW Page in this wiki with a unique title that includes your name (such as “Smith: Thoughts on Inclusion for Students who are Blind”), 2) discuss the reading or article you found, and then 3) outline “what teachers should know” -- how you think this information contributes to classroom practice. ** For example, you might find a newspaper article on ADHD that discusses a new alternative treatment, and you can add this to the wiki pages about emotional and behavioral disorders, and share how teachers might need to be aware of this new treatment and its effect on children. Or you might read something about the achievements of a person with a visual impairment, and add this to the section about blindness by describing what we might keep in mind as we think about the self-esteem of children who are visually impaired. Or you might read a scholarly article about inclusion and mainstreaming, and add this to any of the sections and discuss the debate about inclusion of those children into regular classrooms. Once you have created your NEW Page, you then need to edit the main wiki page for that condition, and add a link to your article where you think it might be appropriate. My goal is for each student to add content to the site where it's appropriate. All new pages must be created by February 21st. You will post articles about two different exceptionalities (LD, CD, DD, etc). There are a total of 2 postings worth 50 points each.
 * 2)  For the second component, you will add content to or edit pages created by your peers. These pages are listed on the right column of this page. ** You will 1) edit an EXISTING page that has been added by one of your peers and 2) add new information or perspective. ** For example, if Cindy posted the page titled “Thoughts on Inclusion for Students who are Blind”, Robert would carefully read and consider what Cindy posted, and then add to or alter what she has included. All edits and additions must be completed by April 4th. You will edit any 3 pages that your peers have added under the “exceptionalities” section, so a total of 3 postings, worth 25 points each.

In summary, for the Wikipedian Assignments, you will add **__ 2 __** new pages and edit or add to **__ 3 __** other pages in total.

** Let's Get Started! **
1. Click on 'Discussion' 2. Click on 'New Post'

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 * An Overview of ** **Exceptionalities**

Pages to visit:
 * [|Communication Disorders]
 * [|Developmental Delays]
 * [|Emotional and Behavioral Disorders]
 * [|Hearing Disabilities]
 * [|Learning Disabilities]
 * [|Physical Disabilities]
 * [|Visual Impairments]

According to the National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities (NICHCY), 6.6 million U.S. children received some sort of special education services in the 2003-04 school year[|2]. In the 2003-2004 school year, fourteen percent of all students enrolled in public schools (grades K–12) received services in federally supported programs for children with disabilities, up from 8 percent in 1977[|3] (U.S. Department of Education, 2000). These students have a range of differences, from specific learning disabilities to severe restrictions of movement or communication. We all have strengths in some areas and weaknesses in others. A student may have severe problems in math and science but be a gifted public speaker with a talent for learning foreign languages. A student may be an intelligent, creative learner in all academic areas, but may be hampered by a wheelchair that makes many locations and activities inaccessible. You may, for example, have students like these in your classroom: As a teacher, you must carefully evaluate each child’s strengths and weaknesses. The process of “assessing” a child’s learning needs includes (1) evaluation and screening by psychologists and therapists, and (2)determining the child’s day-to-day specific needs in academic, social, and creative realms. Deciding whether a student needs special education services rests on the degree to which a disability interferes with normal functioning. We all mix up left and right now and then, but that does not mean we have a learning disability or dyslexia. A child who has an exceptionality has some area of functioning in which he or she is significantly different from an established norm. This definition includes both students with disabilities and those with special gifts or talents. For example, an average score on a standardized intelligence test such as the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children–III (WISC-III) is 100, with a standard deviation of 10 points. If your IQ score is between 80 and 120, you are considered of “normal” intelligence. If your IQ score is above 120, you may be identified as “gifted,” and if your IQ score is lower than 80, you may be labeled “developmentally disabled” or “mentally retarded.” Of course, intelligence tests are not always accurate, and educators consider further measures of ability and achievement before placing a child in a special category. The same holds true for exceptionalities in other areas, such as emotional development, amount of leg movement, white blood cell count, and so forth. Any behavior or performance outside the “normal” range is exceptional. If an exceptionality interferes with normal functioning across various situations, educators consider “labeling” a student as exceptional in order to provide services. For all disabilities, the process of screening, identification, and labeling includes numerous evaluations and observations. Services for students with exceptionalities can be viewed in a continuum of placements. Although some see the act of giving a person a label as unfair and insensitive, current laws governing U.S. schools require that a student be identified as exceptional in order for the school or treatment center to receive funding to support that child’s education. That is the main reason for classifying students by exceptionality. As you read this book, keep in mind that your teaching tools and methods should be based on each child’s individual needs, not on the child’s label. Footnotes [|1]. **Note:** The basis of the text for the exceptionalities section is taken from Integrating Technology for Meaningful Learning, published by Houghton Mifflin in 2003. I am the author of that book and claim the intellectual content of the book in this wikicourse for instructional purposes. Plagiarism will not be tolerated in this course. [|2]. National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities, 2007 [|3]. U.S. Department of Education, 2006
 * Jason, a tall fifth grader, can throw a baseball at eighty miles per hour yet cannot hear.
 * Michael, an excellent mountain climber, cannot see.
 * Susan, whose drawings and paintings show a sophisticated understanding of composition and color, reads two years beneath her grade level.