Choose two of the selected disabilities discussed in the text. For these disabilities, compare and contrast their key characteristics.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Selected definitions from the text include the following:
FAS can result in aggression, conduct problems, sleep disturbances, and hyperirritability. Physical characteristics of this disorder include nervous system abnormalities, growth problems, and facial abnormalities such as wide-set and narrow eyes.
According to IDEA,
(i) Autism means a developmental disability affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age three, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. Other characteristics often associated with autism are engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines, and unusual responses to sensory stimuli. (ii) Autism does not apply if a child’s educational performance is adversely affected primarily because the child has a serious emotional disturbance as defined in paragraph (9c) (4) of this section. (iii) A child who manifests the characteristics of autism after age three could be identified as having autism if the criteria in paragraph (c) (1) (i) of this section are satisfied. (34 CFR, Part 300 300.8[c][1][i–iii] [August 14, 2006])
According to IDEA, intellectual disability is defined as “significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance” (934 CFR, 300.8[c][6])
According to IDEA, a speech or language impairment is “a communication disorder, such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment, or voice impairment that adversely affects a child’s educational performance” (34 CFR, Part 300.8[c][11]).
Visual impairment including blindness means an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child’s educational performance. The term includes both partial sight and blindness. (20USC 1401 [2004], 20 CFR 300.8[c][13])
Deafness means a hearing loss that is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification, [and] that adversely affects a child’s educational performance (PL 108-446, 20 U.S.C. 1401 [2004], 20 CFR 300.8[c][3]).
Hearing loss means a loss in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child’s education performance but that is not included under the definition of deafness in this section (PL 108-446, 20 U.S.C. 1401 [2004], 20 CFR 300.8 [c][5]).

IDEA defines the term “specific learning disabilities” (SLD) as indicated in what follows:
(A) In General—The term “specific learning disability” means a disorder in 1 or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which disorder may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations. (B) Disorders included—Such term includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. (C) Disorders not included—Such term does not include a learning problem that is primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage. (PL 108-466, Sec. 602[30])
Inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity are the key behaviors associated with ADHD. Although many children will experience these behaviors, in order to be diagnosed with ADHD, the child must have the symptoms for at least 6 months to a greater degree than other children his age.
Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities
(i) [a] condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects educational performance: (A) An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors (B) An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers (C) Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances (D) A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression (E) A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems. The term includes schizophrenia. (ii) Emotional disturbance includes schizophrenia. The term does not apply to children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they have an emotional disturbance under paragraph (i) of this section.