Pioneers and Theories on Early Intervention

1. PIONEERS AND
THEORIES ON EARLY
INTERVENTION
Prepared by: Ms. Claire Ann B. Pangilinan, LPT
Submitted to: Dr. Aida S. Damian, Ed.D.
University of Perpetual Help System Dalta – Las Pinas

2. History
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The field of early childhood special
education has grown out of several
different fields including early
childhood education, elementary
special education, medicine and
psychology.
A few people that have had a great
influence on the education of young
children with special needs are : Jean-
Marc Itard , Maria Montessori and
Jean Piaget. Let us learned how these
pioneers influenced special education.

3. Jean-Marc-
Gaspard
Itard
FRENCH PHYSICIAN
Jean-Marc-Gaspard Itard, (born April 24,
1774, Oraison, France—died July 5, 1838,
Paris), French physician noted for his work
with the deaf and with the “wild boy of
Aveyron.”
Itard is noted for his work with deaf-mutes,
and was one of the first to attempt
the education of mentally retarded children
in a systematic fashion. He is especially
famous for his work with Victor, the “Wild
boy of Aveyron,” a feral child.
Itard developed a special program, the first
attempt at special education, to try to teach
him language and empathy, which he
considered the key attributes that
separated human beings from animals.
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4. Jean-Marc-
Gaspard Itard
FRENCH PHYSICIAN
Although his work with Victor was
not entirely successful, it was useful
in advancing our knowledge of the
importance of early exposure to
language as a form
of communication in the development
of spoken linguistic skills. While
language itself, nor even emotion and
empathy, may not be what separates
us from animals, Itard's work also
contributed to that debate and to the
conviction that there are essentially
human qualities that are possessed
even by those raised without contact
with other human beings during their
childhood.
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5. Itard developed a special
program, the first attempt
at special education, to try to
teach him language and
empathy, which he considered
the key attributes that
separated human
beings from animals.
His work influenced another
theorist, Edouard Sequin, who
started to understand the
importance of learning in the
early years of childhood.
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Jean-Marc-
Gaspard Itard
FRENCH PHYSICIAN

6. Jean-Marc-
Gaspard Itard
FRENCH PHYSICIAN
Major Contributions
▪ Founder of oto-rhyno-laryngology
▪ Teacher of the child known as "The
Wild Boy of Aveyron“
▪ Patriarch of special education
▪ Influenced the work of his pupil, Dr.
Eduard Séguin, who in turn
influenced his pupil, Maria
Montessori
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7. Human
Intelligence:
Jean-Marc
Gaspard Itard
(Intelltheory)
Definition of Intelligence
▪"If we consider human intelligence at the period of earliest
childhood man does not yet appear to rise above the level of the
other animals. All his intellectual faculties are strictly confined to
the narrow circle of his physical needs. It is upon himself alone
that the operations of his mind are exercised. Education must then
seize them and apply them to his instruction, that is to say to a
new order of things which has no connection with his first needs.
Such is the source of all knowledge, all mental progress, and the
creations of the most sublime genius. Whatever degree of
probability there may be in this idea, I only repeat it here as the
point of departure on the path towards realization of this last
aim" (Itard, 1801/1962).
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8. Maria Montessori
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Maria Montessori was born in Chiaravalle, Italy, on
August 31, 1870. She was an intelligent child, and her
family was one that valued education. Because of this,
Maria was offered many educational opportunities
that were unique to a woman growing up in late 19th
century Italy. She was able to explore her interests in
regards to a career.
Dr. Montessori is famous for developing a system of
education that focuses on the natural curiosity and
interests of a child. Let's take a look at how physician
Dr. Montessori became an innovative educator.

9. “
Quotations are commonly printed as
a means of inspiration and to invoke
philosophical thoughts from the
reader.
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10. Montessori’s Approach
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The Montessori
Method is an
approach to learning
which emphasizes
active learning,
independence,
cooperation, and
learning in harmony
with each child’s
unique pace of
development.

13. “
Montessori often said that child-education was the most
important problem of humanity. It is, therefore, that it
should receive the best attention of the Government and the
public. In her own words, “The child’s soul which is
pure and very sensitive requires our most delicate
care.”
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Montessori’s Sensorial Materials

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Pink Tower

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Seguin Board

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Spindle Box

18. Jean Piaget
August 9, 1896, in
Neuchâtel,
Switzerland.
Piaget's (1936) theory of
cognitive development
Explains how a child constructs a mental
model of the world. He disagreed with the
idea that intelligence was a fixed trait, and
regarded cognitive development as a
process which occurs due to biological
maturation and interaction with the
environment.
Piaget (1936) was the first psychologist to
make a systematic study of cognitive
development. His contributions include a
stage theory of child cognitive
development, detailed observational
studies of cognition in children, and a
series of simple but ingenious tests to
reveal different cognitive abilities.
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19. According to Piaget, children are born with a very basic
mental structure (genetically inherited and evolved) on
which all subsequent learning and knowledge are based.
Theory of
Cognitive
Development
▪ It is concerned with children,
rather than all learners.
▪ It focuses on development,
rather than learning per se, so
it does not address learning
of information or specific
behaviors.
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▪ It proposes discrete stages of
development, marked by
qualitative differences, rather
than a gradual increase in
number and complexity of
behaviors, concepts, ideas,
etc.

20. Jean Piaget
and Special
Education
▪ Special needs also apply to gifted children who in
many cases are not categorised as Special
Educational Needs (SEN) however; they need
adapted teaching to challenge their abilities and to
foster their potential development.
▪ Piaget’s theory of cognitive development in essence
deals with the view that all species inherit two basic
tendencies; the first is organisation – organising
behaviours and thoughts into logical systems. The
second is adaptation – adjusting to your
environment (Woolfolk, Hughes & Walkup, 2008).
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21. In two or
three
columns
Yellow
Is the color of gold, butter and
ripe lemons. In the spectrum of
visible light, yellow is found
between green and orange.
According to surveys in
Europe, Canada, and the
United States, yellow is the
color people most often
associate with amusement,
gentleness, and spontaneity,
but also with duplicity, envy,
jealousy, avarice, and, in the
U.S., with cowardice.
It plays an important role in
Asian culture, particularly in
China, where it is seen as the
color of happiness, glory,
wisdom, harmony, and culture.
Blue
Is the colour of the clear sky
and the deep sea. It is located
between violet and green on
the optical spectrum.
Surveys in the US and Europe
show that blue is the colour
most commonly associated
with harmony, faithfulness,
confidence, distance, infinity,
the imagination, cold, and
sometimes with sadness.
In US and European public
opinion polls it is the most
popular colour, chosen by
almost half of both men and
women as their favourite
colour.
Red
Is the color of blood, and
because of this it has
historically been associated
with sacrifice, danger and
courage.
Modern surveys in the United
States and Europe show red is
also the color most commonly
associated with heat, activity,
passion, sexuality, anger, love
and joy. Red is also a color
widely used for getting
attention, such as stop signs or
royal dresses.
In China, India and many other
Asian countries it is the color of
symbolizing happiness and
good fortune.
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22. Want big impact? Use big image.
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23. Ovide Decroly
(born July 23, 1871, Brussels)
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Belgian pioneer in the education of children,
including those with physical disabilities.
Through his work as a physician, Decroly became
involved in a school for disabled children and
consequently became interested in education. One
outcome of this interest was his establishment in
1901 of the Institute for Abnormal Children in Uccle,
Belg.
Decroly credited the school’s homelike atmosphere
with helping students achieve better and more-
consistent educational results than those typically
achieved by nonhandicapped students in regular
schools.

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25. Decroly Method
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The Decroly method was essentially a program of work based on
centres of interest and educative games. Its basic feature was the
workshop-classroom, in which children freely went about their own
occupations.
Behind the complex of individual activities was a carefully organized
scheme of work based on an analysis of the fundamental needs of the
child. The principle of giving priority to wholes rather than to parts was
emphasized in teaching children to read, write, and count, and care was
taken to reach a comprehensive view of the experiences of life.

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References
Ball, Thomas S. 1971. Itard, Seguin, and Kephart: Sensory education—a learning interpretation.
Merrill. ISBN 0675091918
French, J.E. 2000. Itard, Jean-Marie-Gaspard. In A.E. Kazdin, (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Psychology.
Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 1557981876
Human Intelligence. Jean-Marc Gaspard Itard Indiana University. Retrieved on April 7, 2007.
Lane, Harlan. 1975. The Wild Boy of Aveyron. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN
0674952820
Pinchot, P. 1948. "French pioneers in the field of mental deficiency." American Journal of Mental
Deficiency, 3, 1, 128-137
Shattuck, Roger. 1981. The Forbidden Experiment: the Story of the Wild Boy of Aveyron.
Pocket. ISBN 067142209X
Jean Marc Gaspard Itard WhoNamedIt.com. Retrieved January 8, 2008.

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Thank you
and God
bless!