ABNORMAL V NORMAL

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ABNORMAL V NORMAL

• Normal vs Abnormal
• Typical vs Atypical
• Human vs Beast

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Normal? Abnormal?

• Tony DeBlois, age 29,
• was born blind.
• He has been diagnosed
• with mental retardation
• and autism.
• Tony is a jazz pianist.
• He plays 19 other
• instruments.

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What is NORMAL ANYWAY?

• When the sun rises, a
• sunflower is supposed to turn
• its face towards the sun. If in
• your garden one sunflower
• would not do that, you would
• say, 'that's not a normal
• sunflower, I better cut it
• down.' But, suppose that all
• sunflowers turn away from
• the sun, you might be
• tempted to conclude that that
• is the normal thing for them
• to do.

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Average? Extraordinary?

• MOTHER THERESA

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Who is ABNORMAL?

• Mentally ill,
• criminals, physically
• disabled,
• homosexuals, persons
• of indeterminate
• gendershould we
• hide them away as not
• fit for public viewing?
• Do you think they
• are abnormal?

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Common? Uncommon?

• KEN was born with
• cerebral palsy. He moves
• his wheelchair with a
• headstick. He also uses
• his headstick to write on
• his DynaWrite
• communication board.

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or are we DIVERSE?

• Many disabilities
• blindness, deafness,
• mental retardation,
• paraplegia, and the
• like are thought by
• some to be the
• defining characteristic
• of that particular
• person.
• IS THIS TRUE?

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Conventional? Unconventional?

• THOMAS EDISON

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HOW ARE YOU NORMAL?
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Expected? Unexpected?

• John Sorensen was
• diagnosed with Juvenile
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
• when he was 2.
• He has a degree in
• Broadcasting from the
• University of Maryland.

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HOW ARE YOU ABNORMAL?
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Ordinary? Extraordinary?

• Nia is a beautiful 17-
• year-old girl.
• She shouts at invisible
• people in her bedroom.
• She hears people talking
• badly about her on a train
• that passes her house.
• She is pretty sure that
• her psychiatrist is trying to
• kill her.

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Do YOU prefer to be NORMAL or ABNORMAL?

• Maybe you prefer
• the word unique or
• special or
• extraordinary or
• some other such
• label? Like weird or
• unusual? How about
• odd or eccentric?

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Typical? Atypical?

• Ginanamma is 70
• years old and lives in
• Sri Lanka.
• She has not been
• able to see well since
• she was 20 years old.
• She is a grandmother.

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Whats the correct terminology?

• Should we say handicapped, disabled,
• differently-abled, limited, challenged,
• exceptional, or something else?
• Is politically correct a joke?

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Usual? Unusual?

• AMADEUS MOZART

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Normal or Typical Development

• Normal or typical
• implies an ongoing
• process of growing,
• changing, and acquiring
• new skills along a
• developmental contiuum
• according to a predictable
• pattern common to most
• children of the same age.

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Acceptable? Unacceptable?

• Ivanas Jakoneras is 59
• and a sculptor.
• He lost his hearing when
• he was 3 due to noise
• exposure (war).
• He has glaucoma and
• cataracts and has severely
• limited vision.
• He lives with his wife who
• has Usher syndrome, and
• his 86 year old grandmother.

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Developmental Milestones

• such as, what is the
• normal age for a baby to
• start walking?
• (12 months)
• What is the average for a
• baby to say his/her first word?
• (9 months)
• How can we know what is
• typical or not?

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Satisfactory? Unsatisfactory?

• Jessica is a young girl
• who was born with spina
• bifida.
• She walks with the aid
• of braces and a walker.
• She attends a regular
• school.
• Her father says that she
• is doing well both
• academically and socially
• at her school.

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Developmental Milestones

• CRAWLS 9 11 months
• CRUISES 9 12 months
• STRANGER ANXIETY 6 24 months
• PINCER GRASP 9 months
• WALKS 9 17 months
• SAYS FIRST WORD 9 17 months
• SAYS MINE! 12 18 months
• JUMPS 17 30 months

• SOCIAL SMILE 6 to 10 weeks
• COOING 2 months
• ROLLS OVER 2 7 months
• LAUGHS OUT LOUD 3 4 months
• BABBLES 4 months
• SITS ALONE 5 9 months
• THROWS BALL 6 9 months

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ABLED? DISABLED?

• McKenzie has a rare
• disease called
• Mitochondrial Disease.
• She has very low
• muscle tone and is
• unable to bear weight
• on her legs or arms.

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More developmental milestones

• PUTS 2 WORDS TOGETHER 18 24 months
• RUNS 19 24 months
• MAKE BELIEVE PLAY 30 months
• CATCHES BALL 1 3 years
• FEEDS SELF 1 3 years
• DRESSES SELF 2 years
• COUNTS TO 10 2 3 years

• SAYS ABCs 2 5 years
• READS 5 6 years
• CLIMBS STAIRS 3 4 years
• USES SCISSORS 3 4 years
• TIES SHOES 5 6 years
• BATHES SELF 3 6 years

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Exceptional? Unexceptional?

• LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN

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AT RISK

• exposure to certain
• adverse conditions and
• circumstances known to
• have a high probability of
• resulting in learning and
• developmental difficulties.
• BUT, remember
• Every child has POTENTIAL

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Commonplace? Rare?

• ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

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What are some risk factors?

• Accidents/injuries
• Poverty
• Severe stress
• Genetic disorders
• Congenital defects
• Child abuse/neglect
• Drug/ alcohol use in home
• Single parents
• Disability in family

• No access to medical care
• Foster care
• Prematurity/ low birth weight
• Isolation
• Teenage parents/ older parents
• Large families
• Depressed mother

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Same? Different?

• Suad lives in northern
• Somalia.
• She was shot in the
• face with an AK47 when
• she was 6 years old.
• She lost parts of her
• tongue, mouth, and
• nose.
• She stopped talking
• after the accident.

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RISK FACTOR TERMINOLOGY

• VULNERABILITY
• capable of being
• physically or emotionally
• wounded
• RESILIENCE
• an ability to recover from
• or adjust easily to
• misfortune or change

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Remarkable? Unremarkable?

• MARIA MONTESSORI

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TERMINOLOGY MUMBO JUMBO

• A handicap is viewed not
• as a systematically inferior
• condition of an individual
• but as a disequilibrium
• established between the
• remaining capabilities of the
• handicapped individual and
• the exigencies of his or her
• environment.
• -- Claude Hamonet, French
• physician and
• anthropologist

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Natural? Unnatural?

• Emmanuel and Ahmed lived in Iraq
• and were injured by chemicals used in
• the war (chemical warfare). The boys
• were sent to an orphanage for
• intellectually disabled children, even
• though they were only disabled
• physically. Both had to have limbs
• amputated.

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EVERYONE

• Is normal
• Everyone is
• abnormal.
• Everyone is special,
• exceptional, and
• even disabled.
• Everyone has talent
• and potential.

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Regular? Irregular?

• Luzem was in an
• accident and suffered
• terrible burns.
• In Albania where he
• lived, children often threw
• stones at him because
• they thought he was evil.

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AS EDUCATORS

• Be familiar with child
• development in general.
• Familiarize yourself
• with developmental
• milestones.
• Watch for risk factors.
• Make your classroom
• environment accessible
• by all.

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Tolerable? Intolerable?

• MIKHAIL BARYSHNIKOV

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More educator stuff

• Be respectful of each
• childs CULTURE.
• Strive for and achieve
• developmentally
• appropriate practices
• Knowledge about the
• cultural and social contexts
• in which each individual
• child lives
• Age-related characteristics
• and milestones and
• Individual strengths,
• interests, and needs of
• each child.

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HUMAN? CARTOON?

• Homer Simpson

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BLINDNESS as a developmentally challenging
condition . . .

• A person who is blind is no more disabled than a
  person who can see when trying to locate things
  in the dark (probably less so).

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First and ForemostFinally . . .

• A child is, above all else, A CHILD.
• Each child is unique, different, and exceptional.