Essay Sample on Exceptional Child: Orthopedic Impairment

An exceptional child is a term that is used to describe an individual who learns and develops differently than most children.  This can be a result of many different factors or circumstances.  Though each circumstance is significant in its own way, the topic of orthopedic impairment and how it impacts education is very interesting.  Orthopedic impairment is eye-catching because it contains a multitude of different aspects.  Examples such as temporarily broken bones, amputations, cerebral palsy, fractures, or even burns.  With this, children either permanently learn differently or sometimes it is a temporary adjustment.  Regardless of the time length, children are impacted educationally due to their impairment.  

For exceptional children, orthopedic impairment has not always been recognized and handled appropriately.  This severely impacted the way children were learning before the year 1975.  As stated in the article History of Disability, “Before the year 1975, school districts had the power to send and keep their students home. Many parents were told that their child would not benefit from schooling and, therefore, should stay at home. The children included in this category were often students with physical disabilities.”(orthopedicimpairments.weebly.com).  The curriculum at the time was not designed to fit the needs of all children, including those with a disability.  The school system found it easier to only teach or educate the children who did not present disabilities.  There are potentially many reasons behind this thought.  Children with disabilities require more attention, care, and work that is designed to meet their needs.  As described in the same article, “In 1975, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHC), also known as PL 94-142, was passed, offering free appropriate public education (FAPE) to all students, or guaranteeing each child the right to an education at no cost. Under the EHC, school districts were required to develop a zero-reject policy in which they were no longer permitted, by the federal government, to turn away any student for any reason involving any disability.” (orthopedicimpairments.weebly.com). This law that was put into place was a relief and blessing to many parents and even children.  Allowing the disabled children to be within the same school as the other children, was a very important ruling. 

Due to the various types of orthopedic impairments, there are many different ways to approach the learning that is necessary for these children with disabilities.  Cerebral palsy is a disorder in which an individual is unable to maintain a stationary posture or is unable to maintain balance.  Since a child with this is unable to sit still, the teacher should design activities for the child that receive the same benefit but can be achieved through their constant motion.  For example, the Physical Development and Health domain will be impacted.  The child’s physical abilities will differ from another student’s as their needs and capabilities are different.  Other areas that can be impacted are the Language Development and Social and Emotional Development areas.  This is due to the disorder causing muscle problems that impact speech and being able to read emotions could also potentially be delayed. 

Other impairments that lay with orthopedic impairments such as broken bones, fractured bones, or amputations share similar struggles in the categories of cerebral palsy.  According to the textbook, Understanding Child Development, orthopedic impairment can be described as, “May have one or more missing limbs, or limbs that do not function properly” (Page 56). These will impact Physical Development and Emergent Literacy Skills.  Depending upon the severity of the impairments, children may not be able to use gross or fine motor skills (PH2.1 Demonstrates fine-motor strength, control, and coordination), show emergent learning skills (EL3.3 Demonstrates emergent writing skills), or stability and balance (PH1.2 Shows stability and balance). With this in mind, teachers and educators will have the opportunity to design and set up developmentally appropriate activities that the children can participate in.  It is important that impaired children are given opportunities to learn and participate in all activities possible that they are capable of doing.  

While orthopedic impairments are something that cannot be controlled, educators can control how they teach and educate the children in a way that adapts to them and is beneficial.  There are many resources, classes, and lessons available for educators to partake in to ensure that they are teaching impaired children to the best of their abilities. Teachers are able to help children in many ways such as classroom rearrangement, specific centers, or even through the use of technology.  As said by projectidealonline.org, “In order for the student to access the general curriculum, the student may require these accommodations: Special seating arrangements to develop useful posture and movements, instruction focused on the development of gross and fine motor skills, securing suitable augmentative communication and other assistive devices, awareness of the medical condition and its effect on the student (such as getting tired quickly)”. The exception is treated in most ways of limiting vigorous physical activity and instead, focusing on smaller activities and accomplishments.  

Technology has also been implemented to help children communicate, write, and draw.  Children may not be able to control a writing utensil, but have better success with just their hands.  The use of a tablet has been implemented to allow children to draw, write, and use variations of speech.  There are many different applications available to download that can be used to help orthopedically impaired children.  Acknowledging that technology can be beneficial, will only help the child to soar in areas they are not physically able to do.  The child is still able to do it, in a different way than another child, but the child is still learning the same developmental areas as needed.

In addition, many childcare facilities have implemented designated specialists to visit with children to ensure they are covering all grounds of developmental areas.  Occupational therapists, speech specialists, or physical therapists have been used within facilities to help orthopedically impaired children.  However, not all daycare facilities have the means to do this for their children.  There are other ways to accommodate children such as educators being physically trained by a professional, taking the time for adequate research, and paying attention to children and their specific needs.  It is very important that educators take the time to understand the children they are working with so the child is able to be successful in what they are doing.  

Orthopedic impairments are very common in young children.  With this, educators have to be prepared to care for and adapt to the needs of these children.  This can be done through many various different ways such as redesigned room set up, technology implementation, or specific and focused curriculum.  It is vital that teachers understand the ins and outs of the child’s impairments and the areas they can help the child to succeed.  As there are many different types of exceptional children, orthopedic impairments have a large variety of circumstances.  Before 1975, children with disabilities were not welcomed in school systems.  The national educational systems have vastly changed since then by wanting to help children with disabilities succeed and thrive just as any other student would have the chance to do.