First, a broad understanding.
It refers to all kinds of children who are significantly different from normal children in all aspects. These differences can be manifested in intelligence, sense, emotion, body, behavior or speech, including children with lower development than normal, children with higher development than normal and children with minor crimes.
In the American Encyclopedia of Special Education, it is divided into genius, mental retardation, physical and sensory defects (visual impairment, hearing impairment), physical disability and other health damage, speech disorder, abnormal behavior, learning disability and other types.
Second, a narrow understanding.
Especially disabled children, that is, children with various physical and mental development defects. Also known as "disabled children" and "disabled children". Including intellectual disability, hearing disability, visual disability, physical disability, speech disorder, emotional and behavioral disorder, multiple disabilities and other types.
The number and names of specific categories stipulated by different countries are different. For example, American law stipulates that disabled children have 1 1, while Japanese law stipulates that there are 8 categories. Education and training can be carried out after the discovery of disability, so that it can reach the best level of rehabilitation and reduce the adverse consequences of disability, so as to get all-round development, adapt to society and become an equal member of society.
Characteristics of special children:
When we observe a group of children, it is not difficult to find that even the same age, the differences between individuals are very obvious. Some are very strong, some are very thin; Some are clever, some are clumsy; Some are smart, some are slow; Some people are sociable, while others are very unsociable.
American special education experts Kirk and Gallagher believe that special children usually include both disabled children and gifted children, and refer to children who deviate from the norm in the following aspects:
① intelligence characteristics; ② Sensory ability; ③ Neuromotor or physical characteristics; ④ Social behavior; ⑤ communicative competence; 6. Various defects (Tang, Yin Chunming, etc. 1989). This definition emphasizes that special children are abnormal in physiology, psychology and behavior.