Common Pediatric Disabilities: Medical Aspects and Educational Implications

Abstract

The recent movement to include students with disabilities in generaleducation classrooms poses a variety of challenges to school personnel.Many classrooms are now accommodating a wider variety of diversity,including a significant group of students with complex medical disorders(Smith & Luckasson, 1992; Stainback & Stainback, 1989). Successfulinclusion of these students will depend on educators having a morecomprehensive understanding of these disabilities and learning tocollaborate with medical personnel.Advances in medical technology have changed the course for students inseveral ways. For example, it has dramatically increased the survivalrate of at-risk neonates, as well as reduced the risk oflife-threatening complications commonly associated with manydisabilities (Brown, 1993; Goldson, 1993; Warshaw, 1992). In addition,major progress has been made in the ability to determine the etiology ofmany disorders, and associated research has provided insights intomultidisciplinary treatments and interventions. As these medicaladvances continue, more and more children with disabilities will beentering the general education classroom. It is imperative, therefore,that educators possess current information and the skills necessary tocollaborate effectively with medical and ancillary personnel.This article provides a brief overview of common pediatric disabilitiesand their implications for educators. An increased understanding ofthese disabilities will enable educators to explain the child'sdisability to parents and general education teachers, to makeappropriate referrals for students who have not been identified, and tofacilitate the assessment process and thereby achieve more appropriateprogramming.In this article each disability is defined, and current informationabout incidence and causes is summarized. Diagnosis is also discussed,including common characteristics. The complications section coversinformation about associated deficits in the cognitive, language, motor,behavioral, and academic areas. Finally, multidisciplinary interventionapproaches are described and a list of resources for obtainingadditional information is provided.