4 Exceptional Children

the character and limits of the group with which the individual in

question is to be compared. The old saying, "In a company of the

blind the one-eyed man is king" is sound psychology. A single

Negro child in a school where all the other children are whites is

certainly exceptional in that particular setting, but if placed in a

school of colored children he would merely be one of the crowd.

Before we can identify the exceptional we must know what is

usual, not only within the population as a whole but within the

particular group in which the subject in question chances to be

placed.

Children differ in pattern of mental organization as well as in

the degree or the type of traits which they exhibit. The bright

child who seems completely unable to learn to read in spite of

good vision and special training, the low-grade imbecile who can

reproduce any simple melody once heard on the piano, the person

with a phenomenal memory for numbers who is lacking in other

gifts, and many others whose exceptional characteristics have to

do with unusual combinations of abilities and disabilities rather

than with traits that are rare when considered separately are well

known to psychologists. Study of such cases has led to the formula-

tion of many important hypotheses which will be considered in

later sections of this book.

Four general classes of exceptional individuals may thus be

distinguished. The first group is made up of those who display

a remarkable degree of excellence or an equally noticeable de-

ficiency in respect to some characteristic that all possess to a

greater or less extent, such as intelligence, health, leadership, or

emotional poise. The second group includes persons whose un-

usual characteristics are matters of kind rather than of degree. For

example, there are the persons who have lost a limb through

accident, or the children of whom an occasional report appears

in the literature who were reared under highly exceptional condi-

tions.* The third group is made up of persons, not necessarily rare

2 The rather apocryphal cases of children reared by wolves, of which

excellent critical reviews have been published by Mandelbaum and others.

Introduction S

when the general population is considered, who nevertheless differ

markedly from the group in which they chance to be placed. The

Negro child in an otherwise white school has already been men-

tioned. In a class of very superior children the youngster of merely

average mentality may appear very dull, or, conversely, he may be

regarded as a prodigy if he is enrolled in a class where all the

other children are extremely backward.^ We cannot afford to

ignore such cases, for childhood experience as a social or educa-

tional misfit may and frequently does inflict lasting damage upon

the personality. Within limits, the adult may choose his own en-

vironment and select his own friends. The child is pretty much at

the mercy of circumstance. Finally, there are the children who

attract our attention because their pattern of mental organization

is so very different from that which experience and scientific in-

vestigation have led us to expect. The child who is exceptionally

apt at learning one school subject usually learns others with at

least average facility. The dullard is likely to be backward all

along the line. The rule that correlation rather than compensation

holds good for most mental traits has been repeatedly substan-

tiated, but in few if any instances is this correlation so high that

exceptions to the rule do not sometimes occur. So we have the

dull child who exhibits some unexpected talent and the bright

child whose teachers are baffled by his inability to learn some skill

that the majority find easy to master.

would unquestionably come under this heading if the authenticity of the

reports could be established. Because of their rarity and the consequent

amount of attention they receive, quintuplets and quadruplets should prob-

ably be included as well. Less unusual but still sufficiently exceptional to

merit consideration are children reared in adoptive homes or in institutions

for dependent children.

3 Mailer found that the average IQ's of fifth-grade children enrolled in 273

different health areas in New York City ranged from 74 to 118. Unfortu-

nately, Mailer does not state the variabihty of the individual groups within

the separate areas, but unless the dispersion of IQ's was much greater than

has usually been found for similar populations elsewhere, a child ranking at

the average level in one of the extreme groups would be so far separated

from his classmates if he were transferred to a school at the other extreme

that it would be very difficult for a teacher to adapt her methods of instruc-

tion to meet the situation.

6 Exceptional Children

In summary, then, we shall consider here the following classes

of exceptional children:

1. Those who stand at the extremes of some trait which all dis-

play to a greater or lesser degree.

2. Those who exhibit some outstanding peculiarity in which the

majority do not share at all or, at most, only to a minimal degree. This

group is made up chiefly of the physically handicapped.

3. Children who show very unusual combinations of mental traits.

Certain types of exceptional children will here be given only

incidental mention. Among these are the juvenile delinquents and

other children who, though otherv^dse normal, show marked diflB-

culties of personality adjustment or who constitute serious be-

havior problems. Institutionally reared children and those in other

socially unusual situations will also receive only slight considera-

tion. Although they have been extensively treated in the Hterature,

there seems to be little agreement in the findings. Presumably the

uncontrolled variables are both numerous and difiBcult to pin

down. Each of these groups would require a volume by itself.

Here we shall consider them only in connection with other topics.

REFERENCES

Anastasi, Anne, and Foley, John P., Differential Psychology: Indi-

vidual and Group Differences in Behavior (New York, The Mac-

millan Company, 1949).

Baker, Harry J., Introduction to Exceptional Children, rev. ed. (New

York, The MacmiUan Company, 1953).

BmcH, Jack W., "Patterns of Clinical Services for Exceptional Chil-

dren," Exceptional Children, 19 (1953), 214-222.