It is important to follow international intentions and policy, which
includes the use of correct terminology.
Many books use old terminology and American and British terminology may
differ. This is especially true regarding the concept related to visual
impairment.
The following concept should be used:
Visual Impairment: as an umbrella concept for all forms and severity
of visual problems
As the main two under-groups we use:
Blindness and Low Vision
Do not use partial sight
Use the concept impairment or disability
The concept "handicap" is not used unless one really means it - no person
who only has a visual impairment needs to experience handicapping conditions.
It should be emphasized that a person HAS an impairment, rather than
IS impaired.
| "Yes" concepts | "No" concepts |
|---|---|
| Child/person with visual impairment | a visually impaired child/person |
| child/person with low vision | a low vision child/person |
| a child or person with blindness At time it will be more natural to say: a blind child or a blind person |
but not: the blind |
| a child with an impairment | an impaired child a handicapped child |
| impairment/s barriers for learning disability/ies |
avoid handicap if you do not really mean it |
| learning difficulties | learning disabilities, unless you know that it really is a disability and not a difficulty |
| developmental impairment | mental retardation may be a person with mental retardation, but never the mentally impaired |
| A child with multi-impairments or multi-disabilities |
never multi-handicapped child |
| Special needs education Special educational needs can be both preventive and compensatory Special needs education is what goes hand in hand with the idea of inclusion |
special education Special education was in many countries associated with special classes and special schools with emphasis on learners with visual impairment, hearing impairment, mental retardation and physical disabilities. Children with language-reading-writing-mathematics difficulties were often not included. Neither were children with social-emotional difficulties. Special education was usually associated with treatment and not with prevention. These are some of the reasons why the conference in Salamanca introduced the concept of special needs education and special educational needs. |
| children with special needs or with special educational needs | |
| special needs: one can have temporary and/or permanent special needs as a result of social - economical - cultural - political circumstances and/or congenital or acquired impairments | |
| differentiate between "integration" and "inclusion" | do not use "mainstreaming" |
| holistic/comprehensive approach |