Learning Exceptionalities, UDL, Special Education

A question that often ponders my mind as a person with two disabilities, both ADHD and a hearing loss, is what exactly is an exceptional learner?  According to http://wps.ablongman.com, one potential definition of an exceptional learner is, someone who is differently affected either physically, behaviorally, or cognitively to the point where they must be given extra services so that their needs are met in order to function to the best of their abilities.
I know for a fact that my daily life is affected by both my disabilities and that I do need extra supplements in order to go about my days such as hearing aids and accommodations from my professors for my ADHD, so with that being said I do find this to be an accurate definition of what an exceptional learner is.
I must say that I feel as though the term "exceptional learners" is not used as often as it should be and more so than I would like to see, the term "disable person" is used to describe someone who is required accommodations. In fact, up until I had heard this term I really didn't even know that it was used so therefore I have actually been calling myself a "disabled person" and now that I have heard this term, I feel as though it needs to be promoted more and by doing more research on exceptional learners, I know I can say that's more than just for personal reasons.
According to teachervision.com, there's has been an estimation that there are between ten to thirteen percent of students in school populations that have exceptional learners.  Now apply that not a classroom of around twenty-five students, there's likely to be around three or four students who would be identified as exceptional learners.  When I read this statistic, I was shocked, I honestly had no idea that exceptional learners could be that frequently spotted and I think with that being said, the term of being an exceptional learner has to be promoted a whole lot more.
I must say that I believe that this needs to be done more than just because it would probably help children growing up to not feel negatively affected by their "disability" but I strongly believe this because people with "disabilities" truly are exceptional.  Take for instance, Albert Einstein who had Aspergers disorder, he made amazing mathematic and scientific discoveries, Marleen Matlin, a deaf woman who has won an Academy award for Best Actress, Michael J. Fox, a talented actor who has lived with Parkinson's Disease but has worked hard to still maintain his daily life, myself, I have been president of an honor's society, taught American Sign Language to several individuals, served as a resident assistant, and as a leadership director at a Girl Scout camp.  And of course there is anyone else in this world who has an exceptionality, they are all capable of so many things and breaking the stigma and promoting the correct term as to who exceptional learners truly are is the first step in having people realize the truth.

Me teaching one of my residents American Sign Language.

What is Multicultural Education?

According to edchange.com, Multicultural Education is what connects one’s education has instructions in which are designed for a communities culture in which includes various races within an educational system.  It is an approach to teaching and learning that leads to building respect and creating cultural pluralism in all racial societies around.  This kind of education helps to increase and include all races in ones classroom environment.  

In my opinion, I find that this is a very limiting definition to what Multicultural Education actually is.  To me this definition is just includes what Multicultural Education is regarding race and I, myself know that it does not just regard that whatsoever.  

On the other hand edglossary.org has a much more wide scale definition of what this type of Education actually is.  According to edglossary.org, Multicultural Education is referred to any kind of education that includes multiple perspectives, histories, values, texts of individuals who come from different backgrounds culturally.  Within the classroom level, culture can be defined in any aspects of which include one’s nationality, ethnicity, race, language, class, gender, religion and sexual orientation.  Now this is the kind of definition I like to see regarding Multicultural Education.  As an adult hard-of-hearing person, I feel that when I was a child, I did not get as many opportunities as I would of liked to explain to my fellow classmates what it meant to have someone in their class who had my disability.  What I mean by this is that when I was growing up, all that there was to incorporate multicultural education would regard race and ethnicity, but nothing regarding gender, sexual orientation, disabilities, etc.  

Although, I don’t think that I suffered from this loss too much but I do think that it would have been easier to understand others who are challenged differently from myself and for others to understand how I’m challenged differently from them as well.  Thankfully there are other definitions out there that have improved over time and it makes me think that teachers out there are getting better at realizing that diversity is far less limited to just race and such, it’s something that applies to all individuals one way or another.    

*Sources http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/papers/keith.html#pros

http://edglossary.org/multicultural-education/