Mental Retardation, Giftedness, and Emotional Behavioral Disorder

1. Mental Retardation, Giftedness, and Emotional Behavioral Disorder Lizamarie Campoamor-Olegario

2. Core Features of Abnormal Behavior (Mental Illness) • Maladaptive Behavior • maladaptive to one’s self • inability to reach goals and • to adapt to life’s demands • maladaptive to society • interferes, disrupts social group functioning • Loss of ability to control • thoughts, behaviors, or feelings adequately • Mental Disorder • Significant impairment in psychological functioning

3. Disability % • Specific learning disabilities 51.1 • Speech/Lang. impairments 20.8 • Mental retardation 11.6 • Serious emotional disturbance 8.7 • Visual impairments .5 • Autism .5 • Deaf-blindness < 0.1

4. Mental retardation

5. Mental Retardation • Intellectual Disability • Politically more correct • Significantly sub-average Intelligence • benchmark is below 70 IQ • Onset before age 18 • Affects about 1% of general population • Note: Cannot use IQ alone to diagnose MR

6. Mental Retardation • Significant impairment in at least 2 adaptive skills areas: • Daily Living Skills • Personal Social Skills • Occupational Skills • Communication • Self-Care • Home Living • Social Skills • Community Use • Self-Direction • Health and Safety • Functional Academics • Leisure • Work

7. Categories of Mental Retardation • Mild (IQ 70-50) • About 85% of persons with MR • Focus on basic academics • Good vocational prognosis • Can achieve success at about the 6th grade • MA is upto 12 yrs old only

8. Categories of MR • Moderate (IQ 35-50) • Focus on self-help skills, low-level vocational training, sheltered workshops • Some independence possible • MA is upto 7 yrs old only • Severe (IQ 20-35) & Profound (IQ < 20) • Custodial care - basic living skills • MA is upto 3 yrs old only

9. Causes/ Risk Factors • Mild MR: socio-cultural and family environment • Socio-Cultural Conditions • Poverty, homelessness, overcrowding, stressful living conditions, nutritional insufficiency • Family Environment • Parents who are immature, mentally ill, abusive, or criminal; poor child discipline; severe marital or relationship problems

10. Causes/ Risk Factors • More severe MR: genetic and other organic factors • Heritability of intelligence - 50% • Prenatal infections and toxic substances • Fetal alcohol syndrome or milder fetal alcohol symptoms • Fetal addiction/ drug use • Smoking • Exposure to lead and mercury • Untreated maternal high blood pressure or diabetes

11. Causes/ Risk Factors • Infections (TORCH) • Toxoplasma infection (toxoplasmosis) • mostly associated with cats, undercooked meats • Other infections • Hepatitis B, syphilis, and the virus that causes chicken pox, herpes zoster. • Rubella/ German measles • Cytomegalovirus/ mononucleosis • Herpes simplex, sexually transmitted disease • Birth injuries: hypoxia, intracranial hemorrhage

12. Causes/ Risk Factors • Head traumas: shaken baby syndrome • Chromosomal Abnormalities • Phenylketonuria (PKU) • inability to metabolize phenylalanine • Turner’s syndrome (XO) • females having a single x chromosome • Down’s syndrome or trisomy 21

13. Causes/ Risk Factors • Klinefelter’s syndrome • xxy appears in the 23rd chromosome in males • XYY • abnormally large aggressive males who may become aggressive criminals • trisomy 13 (Palau’s syndrome) • trisomy 18 (Edward’s syndrome) • Triple x, – 1:1000 to 2000 females

14. Causes/ Risk Factors • Metabolic and Other Birth Defects • Biotinidase deficiency • Galactosemia • Homocystinuria • Maple Syrup Urine Disease (MSUD) • PKU (phenylketonuria) • Tyrosinemia • Congenital Hypothyroidism • Sickle cell disease • Toxoplasmosis • Duchenne muscular dystrophy

15. “Behavioral” Difficulties • Environmental • inappropriate school setting • bullying • social outcast • domestic violence • physical/ sexual abuse • insecure family situation • loss of important caregivers/ supports • Medical • seizures • other undiagnosed medical illnesses

16. “Behavioral” Difficulties • Psychiatric Illness • Much higher incidence than for general child population • 27% to 71% of children with MR have one or more co-morbid psychiatric diagnoses • Prevalence is underestimated • Psychopathology is more likely to cause

17. IEP Goals and Objectives • Focus on habilitation • i.e., skills for successful adult living • “…daily life, citizenship, and future career” • Emphasize Functional Academics • remember: prompts, additional direct instruction & extra guided practice • Functional Practice Activities • address skill areas for adult expected outcomes

18. IEP Goals and Objectives • Functional reading • Signs, newspapers, magazines, menus, schedules, phone book, advertisements, directions, labels • Functional writing • Shopping list, notes, email, letters, job application, forms, messages • Functional math • Purchasing, budgeting, comparison shopping, banking, using a credit card, food preparation, measurement, time

19. IEP Goals and Objectives • Improving General Work Habits • Attendance and punctuality • Work completion & quality • Working with others • Following directions • Working at a satisfactory rate • Accepting supervision • Demonstrating occupational safety skills

20. Inclusion of student with Severe Disabilities • Six Principles • Parental involvement essential • Students with MR can receive positive academic and learning outcomes • Students with MR realize acceptance, interactions, and friendships • Positive outcomes accrue to students without disabilities (e.g., Educating Peter) • Collaborative efforts between school personnel is essential for success • Curricular adaptations are vital

22. giftedness

23. What is “Gifted?” • Traditional Definition • IQ > 130 • Top 2.2% of Population • Superior mental ability requiring differentiated instruction/curriculum • Problems • IQ testing culturally biased, difficult/costly to administer • More expansive definition needed to provide services for children who may not fit into traditional idea of giftedness

25. What is “Gifted?” • Contemporary Definitions • Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences • Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory • Analytic Giftedness • Intellectual Abilities/ Problem Solving • Synthetic Giftedness • Creativity/ Insightfulness/ Intuition • Practical Giftedness • Applying above to everyday situations • Definitions vary

27. Giftedness Can Be Seen Through Any of These • Can operate on multiple brain channels simultaneously and process more than one task at a time • Has a passionate interest in one or more topics, and would spend all available time learning more about that topic if he or she could • Is able to deal with concepts that are too complex and abstract for age peers

28. Giftedness Can Be Seen Through Any of These • Learns new material faster, and at an earlier age, than age peers • Remembers what has been learned, making review unnecessary.

29. Some early signs of giftedness • Abstract reasoning & problem-solving skills • Advanced progression through developmental milestones • Curiosity • Early & extensive language development • Early recognition of caretakers (for example, smiling) • Enjoyment and speed of learning • Excellent sense of humor • Extraordinary memory

30. Some early signs of giftedness • High activity level • Intense reactions to noise, pain, or frustration • Less need for sleep in infancy • Long attention span • Sensitivity and compassion • Perfectionism • Unusual alertness in infancy • Vivid imagination (for example, imaginary companions)

32. Skills demonstrated by gifted and average children

33. Comparison of Gifted Children and Bright Children

34. Comparison of Gifted Children and Bright Children

35. Comparison of Gifted Children and Bright Children

36. Comparison of Gifted Children and Bright Children

37. Other Characteristics of the Gifted • First-borns and only children more likely to be identified as gifted • Children of gifted parents • Visual-spatial learners more prevalent • Approx. 1/6 of gifted children have some sort of co-morbid learning disability • Dyslexia, ADHD, Central Auditory Processing Disorder • making identification difficult

38. Other Characteristics of the Gifted • More likely to be introverted than general population • Asynchronous development • May be advanced in one or more areas and behind in another • Exacerbated by heightened emotional intensity often found in gifted children • Csikszentmihalyi’s “Flow” Theory

39. Other Characteristics of the Gifted • “Overexcitabilites” • Too creative” for IQ tests

40. Issues gifted children and adolescents face • Understanding and accepting what it means to be gifted • Evaluating one’s life relative to different measures of success • Recognizing the difference bet. “better at” & “better than.” • Coping with the frustration of having too many options

41. Issues gifted children and adolescents face • Overcoming the barriers of others’ expectations (No matter how well they do, there is always someone telling them they could have done better) • Understanding the concept of asynchronous development (Being a child with the intellectual ability of an adult.) • Becoming an advocate for one’s own self-interests. • Understanding the role of socialization.

42. Things Parents Can Do… • Evaluate your parenting style • focus on positive aspects of behavior • allow for unstructured time • balance permissiveness with authority. • Discipline doesn't have to be negative • Provide an enriched environment • In order to avoid stress, children need to • be physically fit and learn to relax • learn to break tasks into manageable bites • need to have positive role models

43. Things Parents Can Do… • Creativity requires a nurturing, expressive climate • Help your child learn critical thinking, problem solving, and study skills • Make learning fun

44. Things that Hinder Creativity in Gifted Children • Insisting that children do things the "right way" • Pressuring children to be realistic, to stop imagining • Making comparisons with other children • Discouraging children's curiosity

45. Problems Associated with Characteristic Strengths

46. Problems Associated with Characteristic Strengths

47. Problems Associated with Characteristic Strengths

48. Problems Associated with Characteristic Strengths

49. Problems Associated with Characteristic Strengths

50. Problems Associated with Characteristic Strengths Adapted from Clark (1992) and Seagoe (1974)