also published in BG NAUKA

Definition of concepts

Learning is a purposeful and rationally organized process for the assimilation of social experience in its generalized and systematized form, preserving its basic property of leading to progressive and relatively permanent changes. The simplest form of learning is learning by imitation, ie. by repeating a process already observed. Another form of learning is learning by acquiring knowledge (learning by inquiry). In addition to the above-described forms of learning, there is also the so-called experiential learning. In this form, the individual learns given skills by trial and error. There are two main approaches to learning: non-formal learning – learning from everyday situations that takes place throughout an individual's life and formal learning – this is the learning (or education) that takes place in educational institutions.

Children are highly susceptible to suggestion, therefore they perceive the information presented to them with all their senses, they also perceive the behavior of the teacher. They imitate him, he is an example for them, perceive his truths and values, empathize with his moods and thus build their ideas about the world. Therefore, the responsibility of the teacher is extremely great. Through the lesson, the students build ideas, concepts, images, form a system of knowledge, skills and competences for getting to know the world in which they live and eventually, if they have the opportunity to change this same world. They develop skills for applying the acquired knowledge in new, non-standard situations. But children of the same age show great differences in both their physical and mental development.

The term specific learning disabilities has taken hold in recent years. Research shows that this disorder affects nearly 10% of the world's population. This term is used to describe that part of students who have certain difficulties in mastering school skills. A learning disability is a severe and ongoing difficulty with one or more of the following areas of learning – reading, spelling, writing and mathematics. A child with such a disability will have low ability in one or more of these areas when his educational opportunities, age, and other abilities are taken into account. Learning disabilities are sometimes called specific learning disabilities, learning disabilities, specific learning difficulties, and dyslexia. Learning disabilities must be assessed and diagnosed by professionals. These disorders are not due to a learning disability, brain disorder, trauma, or mental retardation. Children with these disorders have normal to high levels of intelligence, but have impaired reading, writing, and/or math skills.

The idea of inclusive education

In today's society, the question of where children with SEN belong is still controversial. Should they be in a "normal" school, together with other children of their age, or do they need to be taught in separate classes, where they will mainly come into contact with peers? The answer to this question lies in the idea of inclusive education.

This idea is born in the framework of large-scale changes in the understanding of the value, rights and dignity of the person, of the policies, mechanisms and social changes determining his status and life prosperity. The idea of inclusive education is an opportunity for a new understanding of the challenges of a social, moral and economic nature aimed at ensuring the equality of people in terms of gender, race, national, ethnic, religious affiliation and disabilities of a different nature. The rich human diversity in society and the unique position of man in it increasingly insists on the question of our attitude to the difference that floods us from all sides: should we fear difference or continue to ignore it with apparent tolerance and outdated approaches of social interaction? In the search for a broad social and moral consensus on human rights and dignity, there are no easy and unequivocal answers to the questions that have accumulated over the years and caused so much debate.

Children in need of "special mental care", according to the definition of the Austrian scientist Dr. Rudolf Steiner, are called to help other people to form human qualities and "island-communities" in which to preserve true humanity, true brotherhood and equality among people. Using the anthroposophical ideas of R. Steiner, the Austrian pedagogue Karl Koenig (1902-1966) created a special school in Scotland for persons with intellectual disabilities in 1940 - thus the first community Camphill (near Aberdeen) for children with special needs arose care, where the foundations of the concept of special needs are laid in their spiritual development. And while the Nazi regime embraces the idea of "destroying life unworthy of existence" in Scotland, the foundation of the future healing communities to live and work in, where the best in man can flourish, begins to be laid.

The messages of K. Koenig are many, but the most important of them is that the person who needs special spiritual care is not less valuable and more imperfect than others. Such people belong to humanity as much as anyone else. He even thinks that to a large extent they are close to the Spirit World, because their connection with this world is more immediate. Such people cannot do it alone. And the task of society is to restore the dignity of these people, to include them in social and cultural life. In practice, people in need of special spiritual care help others to form in themselves qualities that help all humanity to be preserved.

The inclusion of all children in education is a challenge that implies rethinking and practical changes of the entire education system. Inclusion is needed not only by children with disabilities, but also by those for whom the language of instruction is different from the mother tongue, those whose abilities are lower or higher than the level at which the instruction is conducted , sick children at risk of exclusion ... in general ALL children living in the community. Inclusive education means that all students in a school, regardless of their strengths or weaknesses in any area, become part of the school community.

Unlike integrated education, where the emphasis is on physical access and school attendance by children with special educational needs and the expectation is that the child will change to meet general education requirements, in inclusive education the school as a system is ready to change , to meet the needs of each child.

Inclusive education is seen as a higher level than integration, indeed as learning for all. And this is because it is important not only to ensure access to education, but to ensure meaningful participation, achievement and success for all children, according to their needs and strengths, thereby supporting the mastery of important life and social skills. skills. Inclusion implies equal opportunities for participation and learning, respecting personal choice in the preparation of the educational program and the provision of pedagogical support. Inclusion means much more than inclusion. Often the education system includes children but does not provide them with support, whereas inclusive education implies that children are part of the community, receive adequate support to learn, participate, develop their full potential, bond with others, feel accepted and valued and to experience success in learning and in life.

Participation means learning in collaboration with others and by sharing experiences. It requires an active commitment to learning, an opportunity to express your opinion about education and to have it heard. Or, essentially, to be recognized, accepted and appreciated for its own sake. In order to achieve the successful inclusion of all children and students, the educational institution must recognize and meet their educational needs in a timely manner, using the most appropriate communication languages, methods and tools and applying different learning styles and levels. In this way, quality education should be guaranteed for each individual child through adequate curricula, organizational measures, teaching strategies and use of resources and partnerships with parents and communities. All this can be realized through well-thought-out and purposefully planned additional educational support that meets the peculiarities and development needs of the students.

Dyslexia - a specific reading disorder

The term comes from Greek and literally means "difficult word". Dyslexia is neurological in origin and is a combination of difficulties and abilities. It is hereditary and is one of the most common neurological disorders (from 5 to 17%); it is not due to intellectual or visual problems, nor to inadequate training. Reading comprehension, word recognition, reading aloud, and reading-related tasks are primarily affected in this disorder. Dyslexia is often accompanied by spelling difficulties that sometimes persist into adolescence. People with dyslexia commonly mix up letters in words, confuse the order of letters and words, see some letters mirrored, and often confuse letters with a similar graphic image by spelling "B" instead of "D", "H" instead of "P" or " T", they confuse "O" and "U", "B" and "Ch". They also confuse words and letters with a similar sound. It is also often impossible for them to recognize a word when spoken, even though they know it in writing. Or they recognize a word once, but when they encounter the same word again they have difficulty reading and understanding it.

In recent years, the phonological deficit theory has been established as the most accurate and well-represented of this condition. This theory can be explained in the following understandable way: Speaking is a natural and inherited ability, while reading is a skill that requires learning. To learn to read, toddlers need to understand that letters and letter sequences (words) represent/express spoken language. They need to realize that words in our language can be 'broken down' into simpler language units (phonemes) and that letters in written language express these sounds (phonemes). In dyslexia, the understanding of this mechanism of action is impaired. Reading consists of two main processes: decoding and comprehension (of written words). Impairment at the phonological level in dyslexia impairs the ability to "break down" spoken words into phonological particles and associate each letter with its corresponding phoneme. Thus, the reader experiences difficulty first in decoding the word and then in identifying it. These impairments in the low levels of language functions (phonological level) prevent access to the higher functions of language (the ability to derive meaning from written text). For example, if we assume that someone knows the meaning of the word "nature" very well, but cannot decode the written word and identify it accordingly, then it will appear that he does not know the meaning of the word.

Bruce Jenner, a former American athlete and 1976 Olympic decathlon champion, describes his dyslexic childhood like this: "if you're dyslexic, your eyes work fine, your brain works fine, but there's a little short circuit in the wire that connects the brain and your eyes.'' In practice, studies, with electroencephalogram and magnetic resonance imaging, show a significant difference in the activation of brain structures that are responsible for the processes of reading and understanding language, between people with dyslexia and those without. In people with dyslexia, this activation is significantly lower than in people with normal school and reading skills. This lower activation, of certain brain structures, occurs in different family members and at an early age. Research also distinguishes two varieties of dyslexia. One is defined as highly genetic, with IQ levels above 100, and the other, as more influenced by the environment, with IQ levels below 100. Today, fortunately, this disorder can be overcome. Since dyslexia is not accompanied by other brain disorders or low intelligence, with the help of various specific activities, enviable results of improvement in reading skills can be achieved. The results of a number of studies also show a higher activation of the brain structures responsible for reading after these trainings. But the first and most important step is an adequate and correct diagnosis. Often, children suffering from this disorder experience serious difficulties and problems in school. They realize they are not "stupid", but their results show otherwise. This causes confusion in children and timely intervention and detection of this problem is of utmost importance.[9]

Despite difficulties in reading, writing and problems in processing perceived information, people suffering from this disease are not mentally retarded, on the contrary, many have unique abilities in other areas bordering on genius. They are very curious, have rich imaginations, think in pictures, their thoughts flow very quickly, they have strong intuition, they are purposeful. Many famous people suffer from dyslexia including Cher, John Lennon, Robbie Williams, Orlando Bloom, Jack Nicholson, Quentin Tarantino, Agatha Christie, Leonardo da Vinci, Picasso, Walt Disney, Mozart, Beethoven, Winston Churchill, George Bush, Hans Christian Andersen, Benjamin Franklin, Einstein, Galileo Galilei.

It is still debatable whether dyslexia is a disease or a condition. That's why it doesn't need treatment in the true sense of the word. It is important that others are aware that they should not humiliate the sufferer because of his lack of literacy or speech problems, but on the contrary – to stimulate the development of his other unique qualities. Early consultation with a teacher and psychologist, when the first symptoms appear, is very important, so that the child can more easily overcome difficulties.

Dyscalculia - a specific disorder of arithmetic skills

Dyscalculia is related to basic arithmetic abilities. Here, difficulties are expressed in perceiving, understanding or reproducing quantitative or spatial information. Students with dyscalculia have difficulty remembering facts, dates, numbers and procedures, do not understand simple concepts of numbers and arithmetic, and sometimes confuse numbers and letters. This disorder also interferes with the ability to remember and recognize the time, especially with analog watches. Children with dyscalculia have difficulty calculating prices and measuring speed or temperature. In order to make a correct diagnosis, various visual, auditory and/or intellectual disorders must be ruled out. Analogous to dyslexia, people with dyscalculia show significantly lower activation of the brain structures responsible for performing and understanding mathematical terms and operations. The results of these studies show that when individuals with dyscalculia and those with normal school skills work with numbers (simple calculations or naming numbers), individuals with dyscalculia show significantly reduced brain activation in designated brain structures.

Dyspraxia - impaired ability to conceptualize, organize and direct conscious movement.

Children with dyspraxia have low muscle tone or hypotonia. An important detail is that the motor skills do not necessarily make it difficult for the child (for example, in the case of cerebral palsy or muscular dystrophy). The problem is psychological, not physical, and is expressed in the inability to perceive and understand, plan and/or execute the movement. Often, such children appear clumsy and clumsy, have difficulty mastering gross motor movements related to balance and coordination, as well as subtle ones related to working with objects. Typing on them is difficult, as is mastering the keyboard. Depending on the area affected, dyspraxia can be:

• visual-spatial - the development of fine visual motility has a lasting impact on the mastery of space, eye-hand coordination and of course, the development of visual analysis, which suffers in terms of image identification related to rotation, symmetry, part of a whole; spatial localization, three-dimensional vision. Visual-motor disorders also affect cognitive processes - attention and memory.
• oral (verbal) - difficulty pronouncing sounds, syllables and words. It is due to poor coordination between the lips, tongue and jaw, caused by difficulty in the conscious organization of these muscles, and not, for example, by a muscle disorder;
• motorized - violation of the coordination of the muscles of the limbs in the stage of programming the sequence of movements and gestures;
• the particular form of dyspraxia, which is expressed in the inability to perform symbolic gestures of imitation.

Sometimes people with dyspraxia can be overly sensitive or insensitive to noise, light or touch. They may not correctly read conventional signs or feel the position of their own body well. In people with dyspraxia, only certain areas of the brain are affected, but the reasons for this are still unknown. Still, the roots of the disease can be attributed to: consequences of premature birth, brain injury, stroke or specific disturbances in the development of the child without the presence of brain problems, mental deficiency or mental deviations. And here, as with dyslexia, it is important to detect it in time, even before the child starts school. Unfortunately, parents often notice the specific disorders late and explain their children's clumsiness as inattention or lack of desire on their part, even with insufficient intelligence. And sometimes these symptoms are attributed to traumatic side circumstances such as divorce, moving to another city, etc.

Dyspraxia has not yet entered the usual general medical practice, which is why regular examinations are not carried out to establish it. The diagnosis is made by a neurologist and possibly with radiomagnetic resonance; by a neuropsychologist who applies tests for the level of evolution of the disease and its type; through psychometric studies at the psychologist. The tests are tailored to the child's age. Their purpose is to assess the richness of his vocabulary, how well he understands the meaning of certain images, whether he can put objects together, find the similarity between two objects, etc. Typically, children with dyspraxia show very poor results in the domains of gestures and orientation and normal results in conceptual tasks. If the child is over 6 years old, it is good to explain the diagnosis to him so that he can free himself from his complexes. It is not less intelligent than others and it does not need more time to learn the learning material. It's just that with such a child, all the necessary messages do not reach his brain and therefore he cannot react adequately.

It is necessary that everyone from the child's environment is informed about his illness - teachers, family members, family friends. And they should be clear that dyspraxia has nothing to do with mental retardation or mental disorders. It is defined as a disturbance in mental development related to the socio-cultural context. Awareness of others is important to calm the atmosphere. The child will feel understood and satisfied that he is receiving adequate help. Teachers can adapt learning tasks with the help of a psychologist or develop a completely customized program. At home, parents have the role of participating in homework, practicing a sport or adopting certain gestures from everyday life. But if the disease is advanced, training should be entrusted to specialized centers and programs.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

ADHD is not caused by bad parenting, but is the result of a combination of factors. These include changes in those parts of the brain that control impulses and concentration (neurobiological factors), as well as genetic (heredity) and environmental factors. Children with ADHD and/or attention deficit disorder often behave inappropriately for their age and are difficult to predict. It is difficult for them to finish the started tasks, especially when they are bored, to switch to new ones, to keep their attention for a long time in one place, and they are very easily distracted and distracted. Attention deficit can be either with or without hyperactivity. Sometimes the term "hyperkinetic disorder" is used. This condition is associated with impulsivity, hyperactivity and inattention and often prevents children from learning and socializing well. Children can also be hyperactive, impulsive, have constantly changing moods and suffer from 'social awkwardness'.

English authors claim that between 3 and 7% of preschool children are affected by some form of the hyperactive spectrum. ADHD is most commonly seen around the age of five, when the child's behavior is more extreme than simple 'disobedience'. Studies show that about 80% of children continue to have the same symptoms during puberty, and 67% continue to experience symptoms as adults.

Asperger's syndrome

Asperger's syndrome is a mental disorder on the autism spectrum. It is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and non-verbal communication, accompanied by restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. It differs from other autism spectrum disorders in the relative preservation of language and cognitive development. Although not required for diagnosis, poor motor coordination and atypical use of language are also often seen. Asperger syndrome (AS) – sometimes called high-functioning autism – has a neurological origin and is not necessarily associated with an impact on intelligence. The syndrome has different characteristics and degrees. These may include unexpected responses to changing behaviour, difficulty reading non-verbal cues (body language) and determining personal space, resulting in difficulty communicating. Children can focus and fixate too much on a specific topic and even develop obsessive rituals. Sometimes they are hypersensitive to sounds, tastes, smells or light. An obsession is a thought that lingers in the mind for a long time and stands out above other thoughts. It causes high anxiety or guilt and is repulsive to the person. Compulsions or obsessive movements or actions occur in response to intrusive thoughts. Under their influence, the patient feels obliged to carry out these repetitive actions, which are subject to strict rules, and if there is a mistake in their execution, a repetition is required.

Students with AS are markedly attentive to detail and can be very strict, punctual, reliable and dedicated. This helps them to sometimes be very valuable in class when one of the subjects is in the area of their obsessive interests.

Asperger's syndrome is named after the Austrian doctor Hans Asperger, who first described the disease in 1944. However, the term Asperger's syndrome was introduced into medicine only in 1981, as the work of its discoverer remained unknown for a very long period of time. But the disease was not diagnosed until around 1992, and since then the number of patients with it has been growing. The exact cause of the new disease of civilization is not known. Asperger syndrome is often accompanied by genius. For example, in Silicon Valley, children with this diagnosis occur twice as often as the US average. "Aspites" have high intelligence and become good mathematicians and programmers, usually have a phenomenal memory, but almost no ability to adapt socially.

Symptoms of Asperger's syndrome usually begin to appear around the age of three. Although early detection is helpful, Asperger's Syndrome can be managed at any age. Children with a diagnosis of "Asperger's Syndrome" represent a great challenge at school because their classmates consider them to be strange and eccentric individuals. Their inept behavior in society often places them in the role of "victim" or "black sheep". Children with Asperger's syndrome cannot understand the essence of human relationships and the generally accepted rules of society. They are naive and apparently lack "common sense" according to generally accepted norms. The stubbornness and lack of ability to perceive changes makes them particularly vulnerable and prone to stress. At the same time, they have an average and above average level of intelligence and a strong mechanical memory. Children with Asperger Syndrome consistently and meticulously pursue their own interests, which can lead to significant achievements later in life. Not all children with Asperger Syndrome are the same. "Typical" symptoms manifest in an individual way specific to each child. Therefore, there is no exact recipe for a classroom approach that will be applicable to every adolescent with Asperger syndrome.

Autism

Autism is a disorder of social development that affects the development of the brain and hence a person's behavior. Autistic people live in their own world. It is a generalized developmental disorder of the so-called autism spectrum, first observed by the American psychiatrist Leo Kanner (Kanner, 1943). In parallel with Kanner, the Austrian pediatrician Hans Asperger (Asperger, 1944) observed clinical symptoms similar to autism, which are the basis of Asperger's Syndrome - another disorder of the autism spectrum. Autism, or the autism spectrum, is neurological in origin and is characterized by impairments in social skills, language and behaviour. The word spectrum is used because the difficulties manifest themselves to different degrees in different children and while some may lack verbal communication and eye contact with others, others may have speech and cope in a social situation. Some people have a 'normal', ordinary everyday life, others need support throughout their lives. Autism does not "grow out" - an autistic child becomes an autistic adult.

There are three areas in which all people with autism have difficulty:

1. Disruption of social relationships:

• inability of the patient to manage his social contacts through non-verbal behavior (social smile, facial expressions, eye contact);
• inability to establish relationships with peers (strongly expressed lack of interest in peers, lack of friendships);
• not sharing interests or feelings with others (does not point out interesting things to others);
• lack of social-emotional attachment to others (inappropriate behavior in social situations; lack of emotional responses, eg comforting; appears to use others as objects);

2. Speech and language disorders:

• speech is absent or incomprehensible to others;
• there is no compensation of verbal speech through facial expressions or gestures, there is no spontaneous imitation of the actions of others;
• stereotyped, repetitive, idiosyncratic expressions, as well as neologism, echolalia, speaking thoughts out loud;

3. Repetitive, stereotyped actions are:

• stereotyped, unusual actions or narrowly limited special interests (rituals, fixed observation of moving objects);
• stereotyped and repetitive mannerisms (twirling fingers in front of eyes, rocking on a chair, jumping);
• preoccupation with parts of objects or non-functional elements of objects (such as wheels on prams, eyes on dolls) or unusual interest in aspects of the senses: fixation on a particular smell, taste, touch.

In fact, for most people with autism, body language is as foreign as, for example, cuneiform. But they also have difficulty understanding verbal language, especially jokes, slang phrases, proverbs, metaphors and proverbs, as well as intonation and facial expressions. People with autism have difficulty recognizing and understanding other people's feelings and emotions, and have difficulty expressing their own, making it difficult for them to "fit in" socially. Social imagination helps us understand and anticipate the behavior of others, make sense of abstract ideas, and imagine situations beyond everyday ones. our activities. In autistic people, difficulties with social imagination are expressed in difficulty in preparing for change and planning for the future, coping in unfamiliar situations, predicting what comes next or what might come next, understanding people's reactions. Social imagination should not be confused with lack of imagination - many people with autism are very creative and can be artists, musicians or writers.

Autism manifests before the age of 3, but its early diagnosis is difficult because the symptoms in the first two years are non-specific. A major tool for diagnosing autism is genomic sequencing. Mutations in the exonic regions of genes associated with autism are searched for. Currently, over 101 genes responsible for or associated with mental retardation or problems have been described in the literature. The incidence of autism is estimated at 20–60 cases per 10,000 children (Petermann, Niebank & Scheithauer, 2004). Boys are 3-4 times more often affected than girls. From 75% to 50% of the children diagnosed with autism showed mental retardation, and 30% developed epilepsy, which confirms the suspicions that the cause of autism is organic, respectively genetic. Separate studies have found abnormalities in the cerebral cortex and cerebellum, as well as elevated levels of serotonin in the blood. There are various theories about the etiology of autism, some of which are supported by substantial findings. The cause of autism is thought to be genetic, but the exact mechanism of gene damage is unclear. Abnormalities in the pre- and peri-natal development of the child, for example lack of oxygen during birth, are rather a consequence of the genetic abnormalities of autistic children, rather than a cause of the development of autism.

In conclusion

Each person is formed by different opposing tendencies. For the formation of speech, two opposing streams must meet: of listening and of movement. For the normal development of speech, the meeting must be harmonious. When one flow predominates over the other, a bottleneck occurs. In addition, many other processes develop thanks to the meeting and balancing of two opposing tendencies. In people with special needs, there is a predominance of one tendency over the other. But these tendencies are not only present in "abnormality"; each of us has them. "Special" people are not some miracle of nature, they do not belong to some completely different branch of human evolution, although many people think so. They are just people, with the same formative powers as the rest. It's just that some of them have these powers brought to an extreme. The goal is to help balance this extreme.

Neuroscientists also create special programs such as FastForWord, which aim to help children and adults with ADHD, Asperger's Syndrome, dyslexia and others, so that by influencing the neural connections in the brain, a positive change in the children's behavior and cognitive skills is reached. and adults. Children and adults with various disorders need to discover their strengths, interests, and talents and, along with treating the disorder, develop their strengths. Specialists, teachers and parents have an important role in discovering and supporting children in this process.

 

References:

1. Lecture material by Prof. Dr. Stoyanka Georgieva
2. Collection of reports of participants in the "Inclusive Education" project. University publication "Paisiy Hilendarski"
3. https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/Study
4. http://www.logoped-varna.com/learning.php
5. https://www.institute-hr.com/learning-disabilities/
6. http://detskorazvitie.bg/Psychopathology/LearningDisorders.html
7. https://zdrave.rozali.com/detski-bolesti-zdrave/dispraksiia-bolestta-na-nesruchnite-deca.html
8. https://zdrave.rozali.com/zaboliavaniia-zdrave/disleksiia-bolestta-na-geniite.html
9. https://svetulkite.com/zritelno-motorni-narusheniya/
10. https://neuro-therapy.eu/2018/11/15/which-are-the-different-types-of-adhd/
11. https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger's_Syndrome
12. https://neuro-therapy.eu/asperger-syndrome/
13. https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism

© 2023 Iliana Dechkova