Handicaps and Special Needs Essay

Handicaps and Special Needs people are those who are not considered â€Å"normal† because of their physical (blindness), mental (mental retardation), motor (unable to walk properly) or Auditory Perception Disability (â€Å"difficulty distinguishing subtle differences in shapes, reversing letters like â€Å"d† and â€Å"b† or â€Å"p and â€Å"q†, or confusing â€Å"E† and â€Å"3. â€Å"). Disability can be mild or severe. Because of their disabilities they may be unable to perform tasks, even simple routine ones like eating, walking or taking a bath without assistance from others. Assistance may be in the form of help extended like when a sibling will help a blind brother reach certain destination by holding his hand or in the form of modification to accommodate their disability like schools for mentally retarded children were specially designed in a manner that mentally impaired person are able to grasp certain lessons. Disabilities may be acquired at birth or certain period of life when they meet accidents or developed illness. This essay will discuss on three examples of handicapped and special needs. One example of handicap as cited above is blindness (physical disability). Blindness of course means that a person is unable to see. It is much easier to guide and assists a person who is not blind from birth. By then he already knows a lot of things, he knew the color red or how a tree looks or he can distinguish a cow from a lion without the necessity of touching. He can easily roam around the house or other familiar places without any assistance. For a blind person at birth, on the other hand, it may be difficult at first because they had never seen the things around them so they do not have any mental picture. For them, touching, listening and tasting are essential for learning (â€Å"Blindness† 1995). He never knew what circle is before so his hands need to touch a circle. In the case of Helen Keller, the famous blind woman, Anne Sullivan taught her what water was by letting water run down to her hands. To help them learn alphabet, Braille was invented wherein the letters were represented in the form of dots. With patience and perseverance however, a blind person, even those born blind, are able to live and enjoy a normal life with minimum assistance from others. An example of people with special needs is the autistic (learning disability). Medical experts classify Autism as a developmental disorder caused by the defective functioning of the brain. This disorder is characterized by failure to interact socially (do not play with other kids), failure in the use of language (inability to learn to talk) and engaging in repetitive and obsessive behaviors (playing with a certain toy for hours or constant twirling and turning). Autistic persons have limited interests and activities and they usually unable to understand emotional signals like anger or sadness and they do not respond when their names are called. If parents are observant they can detect that their child is autistic even as young as 18 months. Their early warning signs are their inability to make eye contact or respond to cooing appropriately like most babies do. Other signs that a child is autistic are: repetition of certain words or phrases when they are frightened or disturbed, pulling of their hair to mean that they are hurt or withdrawal from interaction with others, even with parents; they prefer to be alone and to â€Å"create their own world†, whatever that may be (â€Å"Pervasive† 2007). Parents of these children needs to be educated how to respond properly to this children and therapy and speech instructions are often recommended for an autistic person. Specialized schools are also available for them. A third example of handicapped is motor disability due to inability to use certain muscle groups resulting to difficulty in walking, running or climbing (motor disability). This may be a mild from of disability and wherein muscle therapy or medication is needed to cure the problem (An Introduction† p. 2). The aim of any normal person is to make living and working accessible for these types of people so that they also will be afforded opportunities for normal living. References â€Å"An Introduction to Special Needs†(2007). Retrieved October 1, 2007 from http://serch. cofc. edu/special/IntroductionToSpecialNeeds. pdf â€Å"Blindness†(1995). Kids Health. Retrieved October 1, 2007 from http://www. kidshealth. org/kid/health_problems/sight/visual_impaired. html â€Å"Pervasive Developmental Disorder†(2007). National Institute of Neurological Disorder and Stroke. Retrieved October 1,2007 from http://www. ninds. nih. gov/disorders/pdd/pdd. htm#Is_there_any_treatment