Concept of CWSN (Children with Special Needs)

About this chapter

Concept of CWSN (Children with Special Needs) introduces the primary teacher to the eight categories of special need recognised in the WHO framework — cognitive disability (formerly mental retardation), hearing impairment, speech impairment, visual impairment, locomotor impairment, multiple impairments, learning disability (dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia), and emotional and behavioural disorders — together with the WHO distinction between impairment (structural loss), disability (functional incapability) and handicap (social disadvantage). The chapter then turns to early identification using a teacher-friendly symptom checklist for each impairment, the assessment process with parents and a team of specialists, early intervention through speech, physical and occupational therapy, and the legal framework — the Persons with Disabilities Act 1995 with its 40% certification rule and 3% reservation in jobs, the UNCRPD adopted by the UN in December 2006, and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2011 prepared by NALSAR. CTET Paper I tests this through definition recall, category-matching, IQ-range tables for cognitive disability, the impairment-disability-handicap triad, identification-warning-signs and Act-year items. The four tests — Practice 15, Quiz 15, Hard 15, Mastery 30 — cover all six topic areas at CTET depth.