Understanding Students with Intellectual Disabilities

1. Understanding Students with Intellectual Disabilities ED222 Fall 2009

2. Defining Intellectual Disabilities (MR) • AAIDD definition • Intellectual disabilities is a disability characterized by significant limitations in both intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social and practical adaptive skills • This disability originates before age 18

3. 5 assumptions • Limitations in present functioning must be considered within the context of community environments typical of the individual’s age, peers and culture • Valid assessment considers cultural and linguistic diversity as well as differences in communication, sensory, motor and behavioral factors. • Within an individual, limitations often coexist with strengths • An important purpose of describing limitations is to develop a profile of needed supports • With appropriate personalized support over a sustained period, the life functioning of the person with mental retardation generally will improve

4. Intensities of Support • Intermittent: “As needed” • Limited: Consistent, but time limited • Extensive: Regular involvement (daily), but time limited • Pervasive: Constant, high intensity, potential life sustaining nature

5. Prevalence of ID • Inconsistent rates reported • US Department of Education reported 0.08% in 2006 • 511,041 students with ID, ages 6 to 21, received special education services

6. Characteristics of ID • Limitations in Intellectual Functioning • Measured through IQ tests • Memory (short term) • Generalization • Motivation (outer-directedness) • Limitations in Adaptive Behavior • Three domains: Conceptual Skills, Social Skills, Practical Skills • Self-determination

7. Determining the Causes Causes by Timing Causes by Type Biomedical Social Behavioral Educational • Prenatal • Perinatal • Postnatal

8. Evaluating Students with Intellectual Disabilities • Determining the Presence • Evaluate intellectual functioning and adaptive skills • Intellectual functioning: an IQ test • Adaptive Skills: measures such as AAIDD’s Diagnostic Adaptive Behavior Scale (DABS) • Determining the Nature and Extent of General and Special Education and Related Services • For the older students, the Transition Planning Inventory is useful

9. Partnering for Sp.Ed., and related services • Transition Services key goals • To improve collaboration and links between systems to support student achievement of meaningful school and post-school outcomes • To promote the student’s self-determination and self-advocacy • To increase parent participation and involvement

10. Partnering for Special Education and Related Services • Four levels of transition teams • A statement transition team that includes secondary educators, adult service providers, adults with disabilities, and family members • A communitywide team representing all of the key agencies involved • A school wide team consisting of key professionals and family members • An IEP team for each student

11. Determining Supplementary Aides and Services • Paraprofessionals • Paraprofessionals can be important • More than 280,000 in the U.S. • Paraprofessionals add appropriate levels of support, they may isolate students, velcroed effect • Roles and Responsibilities

12. Planning Other Educational Needs • Functional Skills may include: • Applied money concepts • Applied time concepts • Community mobility and access • Grooming and self-care • Leisure activities • Health and safety • Career Education • Instruction in Inclusive Classrooms • Instruction in Community Settings

13. Early Childhood Services • Prelinguistic milieu teaching • First, follow the child’s lead • Then, set the stage for communication • Finally, be strategic when using games like Pat-a-Cake and Peak-a-Boo

14. Early Childhood Students • Steps in prelinguistic milieu teaching • Prompt the child to communicate • Prompt the child to initiate • Vocally imitate the child’s resultant vocalizations • Comply with the child’s requests • Recode the child’s communication act • Acknowledge the child’s communication act • Talk to the child

15. Elementary and Middle School Students • Self-determined learning models of instruction • 12 student questions • Teacher objectives • Educational support • Three phases: • What is my goal? • What is my plan? • What have I learned?

16. Secondary and Transition Students • Community Based Instruction • Teaching in the natural environment • Community-based instructional approaches • Learn it where you’ll need to do it • Teacher it where you want your students to practice it • Project TASSEL

17. Measure Students’ Progress • Progress in the general curriculum • Date based monitoring: Requires teachers regularly to collect different types of data such as: • Response by response data • Instructional and test data • Error data • Anecdotal data

18. Measure students’ progress • Progress in addressing other educational needs • Ecological inventory process • Life Space Analysis • Gather information about the student’s daily environment • Conduct ecological inventories • Conduct a discrepancy analysis • Perform an Activity Task Analysis

19. Making Accommodations for Assessment • Accommodations may include: • Dictating responses to someone • Having extended time • Having test items orally read • Clarifying test times