Early Identification and Intervention

1. Early Identification and Intervention • What does it mean to have a good start in this world? • Today we will talk about: • Disabilities • The people behind the labels • Identification and Interventions Early success in school is necessary but not sufficient to success in later schooling. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/misunderstoodminds/intro.html

2. Who are people with disabilities • http://adaptiveenvironments.org/neada/site/student_videos • Are they so very different from those without disabilities? • What about the social and academic sides of disabilities? They are both behaviors.

3. Just a few of many examples of people with disabilities Einstein (physicist), Edison (inventor), Washington (President), Wilson (President), Rockefeller (Vice President), Cruise (actor), Bell (inventor), Disney (corporate entertainer), Patton (General), Glover (actor), Von Braun (rocketry), Wright brother (inventors), Lennon (singer), Winkler (director), Ford (actor), Smith (actor, singer), Leno (comedian), Bush (President), Flagg (author), “Stonewall” Jackson (General) ... Listed in such work as “Blessed With Dyslexia” by Stacy Poulos and LDA-Ontario by Eve Nichols.

4. Types of Disabilities (SC) • Mental Disabilities (MD or ID) http://www.aamr.org/content_100.cfm?navID=21 • Emotional Disabilities (ED) http://www.schoolpsychologistfiles.com/EmDisability.html • Learning Disabilities (LD) http://www.overcoming-learning-disabilities.com/definition-of-learning-disabilities.html • Some extras Autism Spectrum Disorders, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder...

5. Characteristics of high-incidence disabilities • Reading Problems - • Written Language Deficits - • Math Underachievement - • Nonverbal / Social Skills Deficits - • Attention Problems and Hyperactivity - • Behavioral Problems – • Physical / Motor Delays • Processing and memory

6. LD prevalence data • 5.6% of all people • Estimates as high as 15% • Over half (52%) of all students in special education are LD • Widely varies across US (RI=63%; AL=26%) • Placement (as of 1998) • 43.8% served in general education class • 39.3% in resource rooms • 18.8 in a separate class • <1% in separate school, hospital, residential facility • 98% of states exclude below average intelligence and environmental disadvantage • 52-70% of children identified do not meet state and federal criteria (MacMillan & Speece, 2000). Many could be labeled MR (Gottlieb et al., 1994).

7. Why the increased number of students with disabilities? • Environmental concerns • Changes in the home • Instructional lapses • Lyon said that LD is simply a “sociological sponge to wipe up the ills of general education” (Bolick, 2001).

8. Some Possible Causes of Disabilities(no one cause exists) • Brain DamageSome students with learning disabilities show definite signs of brain damage, which may be the cause of their learning problems. Some professionals believe that all children with LD suffer from some type of brain injury or dysfunction of the central nervous system. • Biochemical ImbalanceSome researchers believe that biochemical disturbances within a child's body are the cause of learning disabilities. • HereditySiblings and children of persons with reading disabilities have a slightly greater than normal likelihood of having reading problems. There is growing evidence that heredity may account for at least some of family linkage with dyslexia (Pennington, 1995). • Environmental FactorsSome educators believe that the majority of children labeled LD are the products of poor instruction, cultural differences and misunderstandings, or disproportionate expectations.

9. Acknowledging a Disability • Parental Conflict • “Doctor” Shopping • Defensiveness • Find the Cause • Find the Cure • Acceptance v Rejection • Parent Help http://www.ldanatl.org/aboutld/parents/help/index.asp • Family Stress http://www.greatschools.net/LD/family-home-life/learning-disabilities-and-the-family.gs?content=1081

10. Conferencing with Parents • Trust of educators varies upon parents • Meetings • Take A L A P • Avoid barriers to communication • Watch your educational vocabulary but still explain everything • avoid distance • do not blame • work with parents • avoid labeling, just describe

11. Legal support for young children • Head Start (1964) • 92-424 required Head Start to include 10% of enrollment to children with disabilities • 99-457extends 94-142 increases support to ages 3-5 (sets intervention or econ support) and adds support 0-2 • 101-476 IDEA brings services to infants who are exposed to substance abuse. • 102-119 expanded 99-457 to include comprehensive services to students with disabilities ages 3-5 and begin IFSP and multidisciplinary evals for ages 0-2

12. Identification and Prediction Issues • Prenatal • Alpha-fetoprotein blood test to determine birth defects or Down syndrome • Sonography (Ultrasound) to see proportions and body • Amniocentesis to test placenta to determine a number of disabilities • Postnatal screening • Apgar test to determine weaknesses • Heart rate, respiratory effect, muscle tone, physical state (e.g. skin color) • Evaluations with Curriculum (presented later) • What is the predictability of such tests and evals?

13. Interventions: Services • Hospital • May provide interventions from first day • Home and Family • In-home interventions to account for in-home routines • Early Childhood Intervention Center • Aimed at working with children at center and in home • Therapists to work with children up to 45 min/day • Use developmentally appropriate practices (e.g. exploration) • Day-Care and Early Childhood Center • Usually not designed for students with disabilities • Teachers usually need additional training • Lead to many positive personal and social effects long term due to abilities to make decisions • School possible between ages 3-5

14. Intervention: Curriculum • Assessments: • Type- motor development, fine motor, speech and language, social and emotional, self-help • Format- transdisciplinary play (assesses in a natural setting) • Curriculum • Special Equipment (wheelchair, hearing aid ..) • Segmentation and task analysis (drinking, eating ..) • Exposure to a variety of educationally sound experiences (phonemic and phonological) • Highly interactive • Explicit strategies both behaviorally and academically

15. Do not underestimate people with exceptional learning needs • http://www.stservicemovie.com/ • Will you be a Johnny for life????????

16. Summary • What are the possible placements where an infant with a disability can be served? • How is a child assessed before birth to determine if a disability may be present? • How is a child tested after birth? • What is needed to help struggling children prepare for school? • What is the job of the early childhood teacher?