Intellectual Disabilities - Accomodations

Within the school system, the current trend is to include students with intellectual disabilities in the general classroom. This especially applies to those with mild disabilities, but an increasing number of children with moderate or severe intellectual disabilities are being included as well. While this reflects a dramatic change away from segregated classrooms, students identified as intellectually disabled are still often educated in separate settings. 40% of children with intellectual disabilities are still in self contained or segregated schools.

 
     The majority of general classroom options are at the elementary level. A student's success depends on a number of factors that include his or her age, support services available, curriculum adaptations and modifications, acceptance by the other students, the classrooms teacher's experience with and exposure to children who are exceptional, and the availability of community resources.

Examples of accommodations:

-Teach in small groups to allow practice and feedback Groups should be kept to 2-4 students

-Use Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI), which is proven to be particularly effective for children with intellectual disabilities

Examples of Material accommodations:

-Highlight textbooks

-Provide supplementary content written in a lower level than that of the textbook

-Provide outlines for the chapters and, for older students, any lecture presentations

-Teach textbook structure (ie: headings, subheadings, differing print, introductory and summary paragraphs)

Examples of instructional adaptations:

-Be honest but liberal with praise and offer consistent reinforcements

-Use specific, evaluative feedback.(ie:"I like the way you formed your letters" instead of "Good work.")

-Use many instructional scaffolds

-Increase motivation by using thematic projects that allow children to pursue their interests and be active participants

-Reward effort rather than ability

-Promote transfer of learning by applying learning to other situations, objects, and problems in the learner's environment.

-Present tasks in an uncomplicated, brief, and sequential fashion moving from the simple to the more complex.

-Ensure mastery of new material through repetition and over-learning.

-Drill to overcome memory problems, and have students practice math and reading in a variety of ways with a variety of materials.

-Stop and activity a few minutes in and have the student tell or write about what they've learned, any item that confuses them, any questions they may have.

-Teach specific learning strategies.

-Read to the class to provide pacing and ensure better understanding.

-Start a dialogue by summarizing, generating questions, clarifying, and predicting what will happen next.

Information from:

Winzer, Margret. Children with Exceptionalities in Canadian Classrooms. Toronto: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.

Accommodations for Inclusion

 

 Within the school system, the current trend is to include students with intellectual disabilities in the general classroom. This especially applies to those with mild disabilities but, an increasing number of children with moderate or severe intellectual disabilities are being included as well. While this reflects a dramatic change away from segregated classrooms, students identified as intellectually disabled are still often educated in separate settings. 40% of children with intellectual disabilities are still in self contained or segregated schools.

     The majority of general classroom options are at the elementary level. A student's success depends on a number of factors that include his or her age, support services available, curriculum adaptations and modifications, acceptance by the other students, the classrooms teacher's experience with and exposure to children who are exceptional, and the availability of community resources.

Examples of accommodations:

-Teach in small groups to allow practice and feedback Groups should be kept to 2-4 students

-Use Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI), which is proven to be particularly effective for children with intellectual disabilities

Examples of Material accommodations:

-Highlight textbooks

-Provide supplementary content written in a lower level than that of the textbook

-Provide outlines for the chapters and, for older students, any lecture presentations

-Teach textbook structure (ie: headings, subheadings, differing print, introductory and summary paragraphs)

Examples of instructional adaptations:

-Be honest but liberal with praise and offer consistent reinforcements

-Use specific, evaluative feedback.(ie:"I like the way you formed your letters" instead of "Good work.")

-Use many instructional scaffolds

-Increase motivation by using thematic projects that allow children to pursue their interests and be active participants

-Reward effort rather than ability

-Promote transfer of learning by applying learning to other situations, objects, and problems in the learner's environment.
-Present tasks in an uncomplicated, brief, and sequential fashion moving from the simple to the more complex.

-Ensure mastery of new material through repetition and over-learning.

-Drill to overcome memory problems, and have students practice math and reading in a variety of ways with a variety of materials.

-Stop and activity a few minutes in and have the student tell or write about what they've learned, any item that confuses them, any questions they may have.

-Teach specific learning strategies.

-Read to the class to provide pacing and ensure better understanding.

-Start a dialogue by summarizing, generating questions, clarifying, and predicting what will happen next.

(From Children with exceptionalities in Canadian classrooms)

Visual Sensory Impairments - Issues Related to Inclusion

In most schools, integration and special classes are made available to students with visual impairments, but the needs of individual students, at a particular point in their educational career, have been, and always will, be the deciding factor. In recent years, there has been a shift from segregated residential schools to inclusive neighbourhood schools for individuals with severe visual disabilities, because of the emphasis on inclusion in the classroom. However, some educators contend that short-term placement in residential schools is a feasible solution to some difficulties that may be experienced by the student. Most school districts make a large range of placement options available, which can include self-contained programs, resource rooms, and EA’s. Sometimes, a Specialist Teacher will travel from school to school, within the school board, to offer special instructions to students, including to those in special programs.

Many students who are totally blind are integrated into general classrooms at all grade levels. Most arguments against inclusion are based on balancing the needs of all students, including the ones without exceptionalities, but because of the successful history of integration, those arguments are mostly invalid. Some of the critics of integration also worry about a student’s restricted mobility, social interactions and activities of daily learning, and isolation. A resource room can have a central role in their educational setting.  This can be the type of environment that the student may need, while still allowing for a high degree of classroom integration. Specialized placement can be used for students whose vision problems are quite seriously disabling, in an entirely self-contained classroom.  These environments can provide students with certain types of specialized instruction related to their blindness, and students usually strive in these conditions because of a low student-to-teacher ratio.

There are many assistive technology options that students will use inside and outside of the classroom, some of them include:

·         Braille (cells of from one to six raised dots on paper that represent the letters of the alphabet)

·         Computer-Assisted technology (programs installed onto computers that help the student with communication)

·         Optical aids (large print materials, embossed rulers, braille watches, 3D maps, special lighting, etc.)

        ·         Mobility assists (long canes, guide dogs and electronic devices


Winzer, M. (2008). Children with Exceptionalities in Canadian Classrooms (8th ed.).
Toronto, Canada: Pearson Prentice Hall, pp. 359 – 389.

Bennett, S., Dworet, D., & Weber, K. (2008). Special Education in Ontario Schools (6th ed.). St. Davids, Ontario: Highland Press, pp. 210 - 211

Learning Disabilities: Skills Based Curriculum

There are two main approaches to educational intervention for students with learning disabilities: (Winzer, 2008, p. 157)

1.    Generic - refers to techniques such as adapting curriculum and grading                          

                       requirements in the general classroom or providing resource room

                       assistance in areas of academic lag.

2.     Specific - refers to a great deal more program adaptation and direction such as                

                        teaching to sub-skill deficits or meta-cognitive training.

Definitions

Metacognition:  “thinking about thinking” or knowledge of one’s own cognitive processes.

Direct Instruction:  activity-focused, highly scripted teacher instruction that incorporates numerous opportunities for students to respond.

Learning Strategies:  refers to an individual’s approach to task and are either generic or specific. Generic strategies are problem-solving skills that apply across many areas of the curriculum and specific strategies are those used in one situation.

Mnemonic Devices:  rhymes, jingles, or images that order information to aid memory.

Co-operative Learning:  an organizational arrangement where children are placed into small mixed-ability study groups in which participants co-operate with one another to achieve academic goals.

Peer Tutoring:  Students of academic achievement teaching students with learning disabilities.

Behavioral Skills Approach (Winzer, 2008, p. 160)

Based on the idea that the child’s problems are external and result from some gap in instruction.  Teachers provide direct instruction in weak academic areas and focus on the skills needed for academic success.  Direct instruction components include step-by-step procedures that account for student mastery, immediate feedback, practice and gradual fading of direction.  Direct instruction is one of the more effective approaches to learning disabilities.  Steps include:

1.     Review and check previous work.  Re-teach if necessary

2.     Rapidly present new concepts or skills in small steps.

3.     Provide guided practice under close monitoring

4.     Check work for understanding and give corrective feedback and reinforcement.

5.     Provide plenty of independent practice.

6.     Review frequently.

Differential Skills & Strategies Based on Curriculum: Primary, Junior, Secondary

It is important to remember to use a wide variety of learning strategies, regardless of the student's age. Two traditional teaching techniques, known to be effective with learning disabilities, are expanded instruction time and drill (Bennett, Dworet, & Weber, 2008, p. 106). Students with learning disabilities will not only benefit, but will most likely enjoy using a variety of tools and strategies to help them.  Strategy training provides the learner with a set of self instructional steps to teach them how to use metacognitive skills and involves the learner’s use of strategies to acquire, store, retrieve and apply knowledge.  Focus is on teaching information processing, organization, study skills, applications of information and problem solving.  All of these skills involve self-monitoring, practice, testing for effectiveness and coordinating the processes of studying and learning.  Along with the use of metacognitive skills, it is also very wise to remember to appeal to the student’s five senses. Many students, especially with learning disabilities, need to be an active part of the experience to begin the learning process.

Some effective strategies to implement in the classroom are: (Bennett, Dworet, & Weber, 2008, pp. 104-105)

1.     Differentiated Instruction

2.     Empathy and understanding

3.     Positive, frequent feedback

4.     A consistent, systematic approach (structure)

5.     Graphic and visual supports (computers, chalkboard/whiteboard, pictures etc)

6.     Help in sequencing (steps and stages)

7.     Help in dealing with print (input and output)

8.     Awareness of time constraints(due dates, appointments and schedules)

9.     Keeping up and ‘on top’ of things

10.               Making allowances

11.               Simplifying the environment

12.               Hope, optimism, trust and encouragement

Interactive Models

Teachers allow class members to function as instructors for themselves and others.  Two approaches are co-operative learning and peer tutoring. 

Practical Suggestions

Keeping in mind, that most students with learning disabilities are integrated into the mainstream classroom and follow the standard curriculum, it can be a challenge to come up with creative ways to incorporate effective strategies day to day. The following excerpts are from the current Ontario Curriculum.  They demonstrate the same expectation for grades 2, 6, 10 Applied, and 10 Academic. They are very similar, but show how with age the requirements and strategies change. The elements in bold stress some of the various strategies mentioned above. 

Gr 2 Language: Reading (Ministry of Education, 2006, p. 53)

Comprehension Strategies 1.3 - identify several reading comprehension strategies and use them before, during, and after reading to understand texts (e.g., activate prior knowledge to ask questions or make predictions about the topic or story; use visualization to help clarify the sights and sounds referred to in the text; ask questions to monitor understanding during reading; identify important ideas to remember)

Gr 6 Language: reading (Ministry of Education, 2006, p. 111)

Comprehension Strategies 1.3 - identify a variety of reading comprehension strategies and use them appropriately before, during, and after reading to understand increasingly complex texts (e.g., activate prior knowledge on a topic through brainstorming and developing concept maps; use visualization and comparisons with images from other media to clarify details of characters, scenes, or concepts in a text; make predictions about a text based on knowledge of similar texts; reread or read on to confirm or clarify understanding)

Gr 10 English Applied: READING AND LITERATURE STUDIES (Ministry of Education, 2007, p. 88)

Demonstrating Understanding of Content 1.3 - identify the important ideas and supporting details in both simple and complex texts (e.g., imagine and describe a photograph that captures the main idea in a newspaper article; use a web organizer to record details about a character; describe a favourite team’s success during the past season to a peer after tracking the team’s performance using sports statistics; explain the key ideas in a graphic text to a partner) Teacher prompt: “Which of these details are most helpful for understanding this character? Which are most helpful for imagining what the character looks like?”

Gr 10 English Academic: READING AND LITERATURE STUDIES (Ministry of Education, 2007, p. 73)

Demonstrating Understanding of Content 1.3 - identify the most important ideas and sup- porting details in texts, including increasingly complex texts (e.g., flag key passages that reveal character in a text; highlight or make notes about ideas or details that support the author’s thesis;  prepare a series of tableaux to represent key events in a story; determine what essential information is conveyed by the captions in a graphic text) Teacher prompt: “What details in the essay are most necessary to support the author’s thesis?”

Resources

Bennett, S., Dworet, D., & Weber, K. (2008). Special Education in Ontario Schools (6th ed.). St. Davids, Ontario: Highland Press.

Ministry of Education. (2006). Ontario Ministry of Education. Retrieved June 12, 2012, from The Ontario Curriculum: Grades 1-8: Language: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/language.html

Ministry of Education. (2007). Ontario Ministry of Education. Retrieved June 6, 2012, from The Ontario Curriculum: Grades 9 and 10 English: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/secondary/english910currb.pdf

Winzer, M. (2008). Children with Exceptionalities in Canadian Classrooms (8th ed.). Toronto, Ontario: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Intellectual Disabilities and Inclusion

Inclusion

Inclusion is a term which expresses commitment to educate each child, to the maximum extent appropriate, in the school and classroom he or she would otherwise attend. It involves bringing the support services to the child (rather than moving a child to the services) and requires only that the child will benefit from being in the class (rather than having to keep up with the other students). Proponents of inclusion generally favor newer forms of education service delivery.

Full Inclusion

Full inclusion means that all students, regardless of handicapping condition or severity, will be in a regular classroom/program full time. All services must be taken to the child in that setting.

In addition to problems related to definition, it also should be understood that there often is a philosophical or conceptual distinction made between mainstreaming and inclusion.  Those who support the idea of mainstreaming believe that a child with disabilities first belongs in the special education environment and that the child must earn his/her way into the regular education environment.

In contrast, those who support inclusion believe that the child always should begin in the regular environment and be removed only when appropriate services cannot be provided in the regular classroom.

http://www.weac.org/

From Special Education in Ontario Schools Normalization: The Principle of Normalization suggests that people with disabilities should be seen for their similarities with their non-exceptional peers rather than their differences, and be interacted with in a manner consistent with these individuals' strengths, not their weaknesses or diagnostic label. They should be allowed to thrive in the larger society to the maximum possible extent, consistent with their chronological age and adaptive ability. Though this principle is widely accepted today, it wasn't always the case.

Inclusion: Including persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities without reservation in mainstream society is still an issue, in large part because of conflict that seems to arise out of the impatience of the supporters of inclusion, and the guarded hesitancy of the larger society. At the most liberal end of the spectrum are those who argue that all persons should be fully included in society immediately, and most especially in schools.

            It is not that educators reject inclusion, but rather that some prefer a more cautious approach or are concerned that appropriate supports are not provided. Teachers regularly argue that students should be considered on an individual basis, for not all students are ideally suited for immediate inclusion, and that consequences can be potentially disastrous for everyone involved.

Empirical evidence shows that generally children who begin their school lives in inclusive classrooms treat that environment as natural. And most of the time, the inclusion is successful and continues to succeed for all children as they grow. Where success is not universal is in those situations where the inclusion does not start until later grades, and where it is arbitrary.

Intellectual Disabilities- Issues related to inclusion

Pro

 All children should be educated in neighbourhood school within general classrooms.

With support, general education teachers can include all students.

Typical students become more accepting of human differences and show less discomfort interaction with people who have disabilities.

Curriculum can be modified.

Inclusion provides access to social relationships in normalized learning environments.

Typical peers accept students with severe disabilities. Inclusion removes the stigma associated with segregated placements.

Cautions

 Inclusion implies substantive changes in classroom structures, the conceptualization of professional roles and a continuous need for collaboration.

 Intense needs challenge the boundaries of practitioner knowledge and organizational support.

Student may take up an inordinate amount of teacher time

Teachers feel that they have limited resources and are not properly trained.

Teachers require very specialized expertise.

Generally, the more sever the disability, the more negative the attitudes some teachers have towards inclusion.

Not all children are on the same academic level, and those with disabilities may fall behind.

Training often emphasizes early developmental skills usually thought of as too routine or too basic to be part of a regular instructional program.

Children’s educational rights must be at the forefront: students require education that prepares them for adult independence.

For total functioning and future needs, children need access to alternative and specialized curricula and experiences.

Most children with severe disabilities do not know how to conduct themselves socially, and therefore must be monitored for inappropriate social behaviour.

The intellectual gap between students may be too great for interaction to occur.

Children with disabilities do not interact with peers unless they are supported and encouraged to do so.

Winser, M. (2008). Children with Exceptionalities in Canadian Classrooms (8^th e d.).

Toronto, Canada: Pearson Prentice Hall, pp 478-479

                 
Sensory Impairments: Hearing

Educators need to take a child’s hearing loss very seriously, as it is the fastest growing disability in the world and hearing impairments can have such a detrimental effect on speech and language development.

Definitions:


Decibels

The intensity of sound or loudness is measured in decibels (dB), with 0 dB being the faintest sound that people with normal hearing are able to detect.

Degrees of Hearing Loss

Hearing Impairment broadly covers any hearing loss ranging from mild (loss range is 25-40dB) to completely deaf (loss range is 91dB+).

Deaf Persons

With or without a hearing aid, these people are unable to hear and process language effectively.

Hard-of-Hearing persons:

With the use of a hearing aid, these people are generally able to hear enough language in order to process it successfully.

Prevalence:

About 10% of those living in North America have some form of hearing loss; this rate rises to 50% for seniors. Hearing loss is not a common disability at birth: about 1 in 1000 babies are born deaf or is deaf by age three. 5% of school-aged kids have some degree of hearing loss, ranging from mild to profound. About 10 – 20% of these kids require some kind of special education. These percentages are estimates only, as accurate prevalence figures are difficult to obtain for many reasons, including inconsistent data and other research problems.

Etiology:

Outer Ear

Problems such as external otitis (swimmer’s ear), wax build-up, auditory atresia (missing/undeveloped auditory canals), Microtia (misshapen or tiny pinna), foreign objects stuck in the ear, and perforation of the eardrum are all possible causes for outer ear impairment which may cause hearing loss.

Middle Ear

Otitis Media (middle ear infection), is very common in infancy, and early childhood; and, 20-30% of elementary school kids suffer from this type of infection at least once. In addition, Otosclerosis (a hereditary condition, which is rare in childhood), congenital defects, and head trauma can all result in hearing losses. Most of these losses are conductive (sound is reduced or blocked before it gets to inner ear) and do not exceed 65 dB.

Inner Ear

Impairments involving the inner ear are sensorineural problems (sound may get to the inner ear, but cannot properly be received or transmitted) and can cause profound hearing loss. Meningitis, maternal Rubella and hereditary factors can result in these kinds of hearing disabilities in childhood. In addition, prolonged exposure to loud, intense noises can destroy the tiny hair cells in the inner ear, which can cause permanent hearing loss. Many other causes for inner ear problems are not yet known. Premature and low birth weight babies carry and increased risk for hearing impairments, and some birth complications can cause deafness. Apnea at birth can cause hearing problems as well.

Syndrome

Hearing loss may also be associated with various syndromes, including Treacher-Collins syndrome, Waardenburg’s syndrome and Down syndrome.






Bennett, S., Dworet, D., & Weber, K. (2008). Special Education in Ontario Schools (6th ed.). St.
     Davids, Canada: Highland Press, pp. 191-193.

Winzer, M. (2008). Children With Exceptionalities in Canadian Classrooms (8th ed.). Toronto,
     Canada: Pearson Prentice Hall, pp. 321-333.

Visual Sensory Impairments - Definitions, Prevalence, Etiology

Visual impairment- Genetic term; it ranges from people reading this text who have very mild visual impairment, to those with low vision, and includes those who are totally blind.

Low vision- a person’s corrected vision is lower than normal.

Blindness- an individual has no sight or so little that learning takes place through other senses.

Visual activity- the measure of the smallest image that is distinguishable by the eye.

Visual field- the entire area that can be seen when staring straight ahead, reported in degrees.
        

        Visual impairment is primarily an adult disability, about one-tenth as prevalent in children as in adults. In the general public, rates are 2.6 percent. People with low vision far outnumber totally or functionally blind people, with only 10 to 15 percent of the entire population of persons with visual impairments being totally blind. Although visual impairment is a low-incidence occurrence in the Western World, it is of particularly high prevalence in Third World countries where conditions such as water-borne blindness, vitamin A deficiency and lack of sanitation allow visual impairments to thrive.

        In children, blindness is the least prevalent of all disabilities. 1 in every 10,000 Canadian babies is diagnosed with legal blindness, and 1 in every 1000 children under the age of 18 has severe visual impairments. The majority of children with visual impairments attend general classrooms. Teachers must be aware of this issue and make the required adaptations and accommodations that will assist the students. Among the school aged population, students with low vision comprise between 75 and 80 percent of those who are visually impaired. Some children may be able to read by seeing clearly through one small area, but then have trouble getting around from place to place. Others may be able to see the entire work area, but have difficulty reading it.

        Many people have minor visual losses caused by one of the four common refractive errors: Myopia (being unable to focus images precisely), Hyperopia (too short an eye/too flat a corneal surface), Astigmatism (irregularity in curvature of the cornea) and Presbyopia (eye loses the ability to accommodate near objects). Eye pathologies, such as cataracts, glaucoma, retinoblastoma and retinal detachments, are most common in adults and are the result of damage or disease to one or more eye structures. There are a number of syndromes that are associated with visual impairments; Usher’s Syndrome stresses the link between visual and auditory impairments, and is the leading cause of deaf-blindness. Joubert Syndrome is a rare neurological disorder where individuals show ataxia, slow motor activity, and often abnormal eye movements. Leger Congenital Amaurosis is an inherited retinal degenerative disease.

A Few Facts on Visual Impairments:

-Worldwide, 285 million people are visually impaired due to various causes. 39 million of them are totally blind.

-221 million people are visually impaired because of in corrected refractive errors. Almost all of them could have normal vision restored with eye classes, contacts, or refracted surgery.

-90% of people who are visually impaired live in low and middle income countries.

-51% of all blindness is due to age-related cataracts.

Winser, M. (2008). Children with Exceptionalities in Canadian Classrooms (8th ed.).
Toronto, Canada: Pearson Prentice Hall, pp. 359 – 389.