EDUC 2301: Introduction to Special Populations

Special Needs: Disabilities and Education

A Changing Society

LEARNING FROM PERSONS’ WITH DISABILITIES STORIES

Every summer I went to summer school, and during the school year I was in every little special group. I was in the speech group, the corrective posture group, the purple reading group, the green reading group. In third grade, the only word I could read was “the.” I used to keep track of where the class was reading by following from one “the” to the next…By the time I was 15 or 16, I could get by in class with reading. But I could never spell. I was a workshop major in high school, and my typical report card was two C’s, three D’s, and an F. I just got used to it.

Paul Orfalea, founder and chairperson of Kinkos, Inc.

©2012 Cengage Learning.All Rights Reserved.

HISTORICAL AND CURRENT TREATMENT IN THE UNITED STATES

Throughout history, persons with disabilities have been ignored, exiled, exploited, tortured, and even destroyed. Nomadic societies saw persons with disabilities as problems—actual barriers to the group’s productivity because people with disabilities were viewed as being unable to contribute to their communities.

©2012 Cengage Learning.All Rights Reserved.

Current Conditions• The 2000 Census identified more than 56.7 million people with

disabilities living in the United States. 19% of population. 18.5 million of these individuals reported being employed. Both persons with disabilities who were working and those not working stated a need for similar types of accommodations.

• Even with advances in medicine, education, and laws attempting to remove barriers that exclude individuals with disabilities, these individuals continue to encounter discrimination ranging from outright intentional exclusion and access to substandard services, programs, activities, benefits, jobs, or other opportunities.

• 2009-2010 School year 6.4 million children

ages 3-21 received some form of special

education. That’s over 13% of the student

population

Special Education

• Specially designed instruction, at no cost to parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability, including instruction conducted in the classroom, in the home, in hospitals and institution

• Students with disabilities are entitled to related services such as transportation, occupational and physical therapy, and psychological, counseling, speech/language pathology, audiology, and interpreting services.

Specially Designed Instruction

• Intensive• Relentless• Structured• Appropriately paced• Small group• Frequent assessments• Specialized, designed instruction (for

blindness, deafness, behavior disorders)

PL 94-142 & Individuals with DisabilitiesEducation Act (IDEA)

• Public Law 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, mandated the following:– Free appropriate education (FAPE)– Learning in the least restrictive environment (LRE)– Learning with the aid of an individualized education program

(IEP) designed to meet the student’s unique needs– A plan to screen and identify students with disabilities– Due process– A nondiscriminatory evaluation– Confidentiality– Services performed by personnel who receive ongoing training– IDEA Part B (ages 3-21) Part C (ages birth-2)

• http://idea.ed.gov/

ACCULTURATION AND EXPERIENCE WITH EXCLUSION AND ALIENATION

• Inclusion for persons with disabilities in schooling involves integrating students with disabilities in regular classrooms whenever possible with the supports necessary for them to succeed.

• This sometimes controversial policy differs from mainstreaming which involves the placement of students with identified disabilities in some “regular education” classes when they have demonstrated that they can function academically

within those classes without

additional help or resources.

©2012 Cengage Learning.All Rights Reserved.

Benefits of Inclusion

• Higher academic achievement- graduation rates for students with disabilities in the U.S. increased by 14% from 1984 – 2005

• Higher self-esteem – By being included in a regular paced education setting, children with disabilities have shown to be more confident and displayed qualities of raised self-efficacy.

• Better social skills- Learn social skills through observation, gain a better understanding of the world around them and become a part of the “regular” community.

Least Restrictive Environment

• To the greatest extent possible, students with disabilities must be educated with children who are not disabled.

Benefits of Inclusion

• Educating non-disabled students and students with disabilities together creates an atmosphere of understanding and tolerance that better prepares students of all abilities to function in the world beyond school. Students without disabilities who engaged in an inclusive physical education program reported increases in self-concept, tolerance, self-worth, and a better understanding of other people. Positive aspects that come from inclusion are often attributed to contact theory. Contact theory asserts that frequent, meaningful, and pleasant interactions between people with differences tend to produce changes in attitude.

Categories of Disabilities

• Learning Disabilities• Speech or Language

impairment• Mental Retardation• Emotional

Disturbance• Other Health

Impairments (ADHD)• Multiple Disabilities• Autism

• Orthopedic Impairments

• Hearing Impairments• Developmental Delay• Visual Impairment• Traumatic Brain

Injury (TBI)• Deaf Blindness

Learning Disabilities

Dyslexia Dyscalculia

(reading) (mathematics)

Dyslexia

• A learning disability that impairs a person's fluency or accuracy in being able to read, speak, and spell.

• Symptoms can include:– delays in speech– slow learning of new words– difficulty in rhyming words– low letter knowledge– letter reversal or mirror writing (for example,

“d” instead of “b”).

Instructional Techniques for Students with Learning Disabilities

• Control task difficulty• Teach in small interactive groups• Use graphic organizers and visuals• Provide modeling and “think aloud”

strategies• Use both direct instruction and cognitive

strategy instruction• Teach self-regulation skills• Provide opportunities for extended

practice with feedback

Speech Disorders

• Includes stuttering, muteness, speech sound disorders, voice disorders/ impairments, dysphagia, receptive and expressive

• How are students able to communicate with you besides speech? Is speech required to master content?

• Treatment usually involves the services of a speech pathologist in or out of the classroom.

• Stuttering

Creating accepting classroom community for students with speech disorders

• Create atmosphere of comfort avoiding time pressures and tension

• Listen in calm manner, patiently allowing time for students to finish their thoughts

• Do not criticize or point out speech errors• Do not allow for ridicule of students• Use flexible grouping so students have

opportunities to talk in small groups• Develop cueing systems that allow

students to let you know when they are comfortable responding.

Intellectual Disability

• Characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors (living skills, communication skills, social skills)

• Intellectual Disability (preferred terminology instead of MR

• Historically been defined as an Intelligence Quotient score under 70

• Often associated with Down Syndrome (Trisomy 21) or Klinefelter’s Syndrome

Down Syndrome

• Chromosomal Disorder• Incidence – 1 in 700-800• Characteristics

– Fold of skin over eye– Mental Retardation

Serious Emotional Disturbance

•Those who are from birth to age of majority (considered to be an adult – 18 years) who have had a diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder of sufficient duration to meet diagnostic criteria.•It must be determined that the child's condition results in functional impairment, substantially interfering with one or more major life activities, or the abilities to function effectively in social, familial, and educational contexts•Childhood Depression and Childhood Anxiety can be serious emotional disturbances

Oppositional Defiance Disorder

• An ongoing pattern of disobedient, hostile and defiant behavior toward authority figures which goes beyond the bounds of normal childhood behavior.

• ODD is treated with behavioral therapy.• Students with extreme ODD are usually

placed in behavioral units, but minor cases are often mainstreamed.

• Behavior contracts and clear boundaries work well with students with ODD.

Create Appropriate Emotional Environment

• Respond to students’ feelings and intentions rather than overt behavior

• Listen before responding, giving student opportunity to explain

• Develop a positive relationship with student about one topic

• Establish rules and consequences• Consider changes you can make –

emotionally safe environment• Catch the student being good• Use humor

Childhood Depression

• Origins• Symptoms• Treatments

– Therapies– Medications

Childhood Anxiety

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder• Phobias• Panic Disorder• Separation Anxiety Disorder• Obsessive-compulsive Disorder

Temporary Emotional Conditions

• Severe depression or emotional response to temporary or situational contexts:– Death of a family member or friend– Unplanned move or homelessness– Extreme poverty– Parents’ divorce

• Temporarily are just as debilitating as other described emotional or behavioral conditions

• Patience and understanding from teachers can help ease the emotional strain of students.

Other Health Impairments/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder/ADHD

• Characterized primarily by inattention, easy distractibility, disorganization, procrastination, forgetfulness, and lethargy

• Often treated with medication, changes in diet, and with specific behavioral strategies such as creating routines, getting organized, avoiding distractions, limiting choices, using goals and rewards, ignoring behaviors, and physical exercise.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

• A neurobehavioral developmental disorder primarily characterized by "the co-existence of attentional problems and hyperactivity, with each behavior occurring infrequently alone“.

• Similar treatments are used for ADD and ADHD, but medication is used more often to control ADHD than ADD.

• ADHD students are not responsible for their hyperactive behavior and should not be punished for it, but redirected.

Educational Interventions

• Listening – visual displays, key word note-taking system to jog memory

• Distractability – minimize visual distractions in class

• Attention Span – work in short time units• Impulsivity – checklists for what student

needs to do, reward system tied to completion

• Short-Term Memory – frequent review in flashcard style

Multiple Disabilities

• Students with two or more disabilities, the combination of which causes such severe educational problems that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for one of the impairments

Autism

• A disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior.

• Asperger syndrome is a type of autism that is characterized by cognitive and language delays.

• Autistic students are usually not mainstreamed, but some very minor cases might be, with a resource aide.

Physical Disabilities

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Amazing+Girl+Without+Arms+Takes+Care+of+the+Family&aq=f

Orthopedic & Motor Disabilities

• Includes cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, ALS, spina bifida, severe trauma, missing limbs, etc.

• Classroom furniture arrangement can be an issue – is your room wheelchair accessible?

• Need for alternative to activities that require students to move around the room

• http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Erik+Crosses+A+Ladder+that+Spans+a+Crevasse&aq=f

Hearing ImpairmentsDeaf and Hard-of-Hearing

• What is it?• Deaf Culture prefers the terms deaf and

hard-of-hearing instead of hearing impaired

• Causes• Treatments• Prevention• Often use American Sign

Language for communication

Developmental Delay

• Usually a consequence of an illness or trauma in early childhood, but not always.

• Cognitive development is slowed beyond what is considered typical for a specific age or developmental milestone.

• Often require remediation or delayed instruction – not able to keep academic pace with similar-aged peers.

• May be mild or severe.

Visual Impairment

• The condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.

• Causes• Conditions and varying degrees• Treatments• Often use mobility aids (cane, dogs, etc),

reading magnification aids, computer aids, and some behavioral techniques.

Traumatic Brain Injury

• 1,000,000 children each year receive head injuries each year with 15,000 to 20,000 incurring lasting effects

• TBI – trauma to the brain caused by an external force that results in behavioral dysfunction

Blindness & Deafness

• This combination of disabilities causes additional difficulties, since both senses are non- or low-functioning.

• Many blind/deaf students are taught in special state schools with specially trained teachers.

• Tactile learning techniques are heavily utilized.