GDEAF 2004 Tuesday, July 20, 2004 Melody Stoner, PhD Student Georgia State University

1. Writing IEPs that Work for Students who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing and Exhibit Multiple Disabilities GDEAF 2004 Tuesday, July 20, 2004 Melody Stoner, PhD Student Georgia State University

2. Who Am I? (Part 1 of 2) • Teacher of high school students at AASD • Special needs • Language delayed • Functional curriculum • Vocational objectives • Doctoral student at Georgia State University in Special Education • Concentration in language development of students who are deaf/hard of hearing • Former secondary English teacher in general education setting

3. Who Am I? (Part 2 of 2) • Mother of a beautiful two year old daughter

4. Who Are You?

5. Why is this information important to you? • As a teacher of the deaf, you will teach students who have additional disabilities • “Softer” disabilities (i.e., learning disabilities) tend to remain unidentified in our population, while more obvious disabilities (i.e., cerebral palsy) are identified and managed • Additional disorders have a synergistic effect • Disabilities work together to compound effects of individual disabilities

6. Gallaudet Research InstituteRegional and National Summary, 2002-2003Students who are D/HH with identified additional disabilities

7. GRI Summary of the South RegionStudents who are D/HH with identified additional disabilities

8. Gallaudet Research InstituteRegional and National Summary, 2002-2003Functional assessment of students who are D/HH (Part 1 of 3)

9. Gallaudet Research InstituteRegional and National Summary, 2002-2003Functional assessment of students who are D/HH (Part 2 of 3)

10. Gallaudet Research InstituteRegional and National Summary, 2002-2003Functional assessment of students who are D/HH (Part 3 of 3)

11. GRI Summary of the South RegionFunctional assessment of students who are D/HH

12. What do all those numbers and charts mean? • Recall why this is important to you… • Your students most likely have other disabilities, perhaps unidentified • A functional assessment of your students will provide more information than a label will

13. Consider the following statistics… (Part 1 of 6) • 3% and 1.8% identified as low-vision or blind • 13% difficulty with vision

14. Statistics, continued(Part 2 of 6) • 8.7% identified as having MR • 35% difficulty with thinking/reasoning • 58.8% difficulty with expressive communication • 59.1% difficulty with receptive communication • 29.9% difficulty with social interaction/classroom behavior • 38.7% difficulty with maintaining attention

15. Statistics, continued(Part 3 of 6) • 3.5% identified as having CP • 12% identified as having difficulty with hands, arms, or legs • 10.3% identified as having difficulty with balance

16. Statistics, continued(Part 4 of 6) • 6.8% identified as having LD • 35% difficulty with thinking/reasoning • 58.8% difficulty with expressive communication • 59.1% difficulty with receptive communication • 38.7% difficulty with maintaining attention • 29.9% difficulty with social interaction/classroom behavior

17. Statistics, continued(Part 5 of 6) • 6.5% identified as having ADD • 38.7% difficulty maintaining attention • 29.9% difficulty social interaction/classroom behavior

18. Statistics, continued(Part 6 of 6) • 1.7% identified as having ED • 29.9% difficulty with social interaction/classroom behavior • 35% difficulty with thinking/reasoning • 58.8% difficulty expressive communication • 59.1% difficulty receptive communication

19. What do you think? • Are these your students? • They are mine… • They exhibit difficulties in these areas without always being identified • What can you do? • Observe, collect data, write a great PLOP, and meet their needs with a well-thought out, comprehensive IEP

20. Case Studies2003-2004 School Year

21. Antonio Alanis(Permission granted to use real names of all students) • 16 year old Hispanic male • Attended school in Mexico without services • Moved to the U.S. three years ago • Began school in a self-contained classroom for students who were deaf within a large metro-area public school • Moved to the Atlanta area two years ago • Began attending AASD at age 14 • Placed in special needs classroom • Limited English and ASL skills • Primarily used gestures and home-based signs

22. Antonio, continued • Spanish spoken in the home • Communicates with parents and siblings in the home and peers in community via gesture and limited writing • Additional challenge faced by Antonio • Suspected MID • Result of limited language input in formative years or is this a true estimate of Antonio’s ability? • Placed in language-delayed classroom for 2004-2005 school year • Emphasis on concept development and language/communication skills

23. What is the functional impact of Antonio’s challenges in the classroom? (Part 1 of 3) (Suspected MoID) • Easily distracted and needs structure in instruction and activity • Needs cues for relevant information • Has a limited concept of “theme” • Needs instruction in organization of new information within a thematic structure • Easily forgets new information • Needs repetition and organizational structure • Difficulty generalizing • Needs multiple repetitions of new information in various settings

24. What is the functional impact of Antonio’s challenges in the classroom? (Part 2 of 3) (Suspected MoID) • Poor question comprehension/response • Needs cue to attend to question and type of response required • Difficulty taking turns • Needs cue to wait for other’s acknowledgement before speaking • Difficulty admitting role of participation in argument with peer • Needs assistance reviewing issue and effects of his actions • Uncomfortable communicating with unfamiliar others in community • Needs assistance advocating for self

25. What is the functional impact of Antonio’s challenges in the classroom? (Part 3 of 3) (Suspected MoID) • Unfamiliar with community services (i.e., grocery store, hospital) • Needs multiple CBI trips with prior instruction and follow-up to clarify “theme” of specified community service • Authoritative in classroom, but follower in community • Needs specific support moving from being a follower to being a leader with teacher removing supports as he develops • Little sense of self-direction for future and limited concept of what he “could be • Needs vocational instruction with community trips to investigate options

26. 17 year old Yemeni female Attended schools in Kansas and Colorado School for the deaf Self-contained classroom for the deaf within a larger public school Moved to Atlanta area around five years ago Began attending AASD Placed in special needs classroom Native language in the home is Yemeni Sheama Atteya

27. Sheama, continued • Communicates with mother using some signs and English print • Communicates with siblings and father using gestures • Additional challenges faced by Sheama • Low-Vision • MoID • Heart disorder • Placed in special needs classroom for 2004-2005 school year • Emphasis on vocational training and language/concept expansion

28. What is the functional impact of Sheama’s challenges in the classroom? (Part 1 of 6) (Low-Vision) • Difficulty determining depth and distance • Difficulty scanning and matching • Needs direct physical hand-over-hand instruction • Needs instruction in types of designs and colors that match and don’t clash as well as what fits and doesn’t fit • Limited spontaneous learning from immediate visual environment • Needs to be physically cued that something in the environment is important to her • Limited direct eye contact and seemingly uncontrollable eye movements • Appears not to be paying attention nor care if communication partner is attending to her • Needs instruction in critical nature of eye contact in effective communication within functional communication curriculum

29. What is the functional impact of Sheama’s challenges in the classroom? (Part 2 of 6) (Low-Vision, continued) • Easily tired and needs low lights on difficult days • Needs frequent breaks when doing text-intensive work • Needs reminders to make written work neater • Needs to be seated close to the board • Needs a minimum of visual distractions • Doesn’t always see others, so assumes they can’t see her • Needs to be reminded that others are present and can see her actions/words • Doesn’t always follow group conversations; conversation may be quick and she misses critical information • Needs to be cued as to who is speaking and to attend to that person • Teacher also needs to summarize conversations for her

30. What is the functional impact of Sheama’s challenges in the classroom? (Part 3 of 6) (MoID) • Difficulty generalizing • Needs multiple practice opportunities in a variety of settings • Simple concepts must be taught with multiple opportunities for practice • May need physical hand-over-hand instruction, gradually reducing to gentle touches to guide • Poor mental and physical organization, seems to miss half of information presented • Needs structured environment as well as instruction in how to structure new concepts • Needs lots of repetition in short chunks • Needs to be cued as to what is critical in the message • Needs to be cued as to who is speaking and to attend to that person, and a cue for the next speaker

31. What is the functional impact of Sheama’s challenges in the classroom? (Part 4 of 6) (MoID, continued) • Limited understanding of importance of personal hygiene • Needs a structured system for personal hygiene • Needs instruction in taking the point of view of another person • Little concept of the whole • Needs instruction in thematic constructions • Needs instruction in how to organize new information into the overall theme • Needs instruction as to ways different themes can be interrelated • Has difficulty carrying on a conversation of more than two or three exchanges as well as limited understanding of turn taking and basic conversational etiquette • Needs more instruction in “topic” and relevant vocabulary for various topics • Needs instruction in higher order thinking skills

32. What is the functional impact of Sheama’s challenges in the classroom? (Part 5 of 6) (MoID, continued) • Poor question comprehension/response • Needs cue to attend to question and type of response required • Uncomfortable communicating with unfamiliar others in community • Needs assistance advocating for self • Little sense of self-direction for future and limited concept of what he “could be • Needs vocational instruction with community trips to investigate options

33. What is the functional impact of Sheama’s challenges in the classroom? (Part 6 of 6) (Heart Disorder) • Chest pain may cause fear • Teacher needs to reassure • Consult with physician to determine what degree of chest pain is life threatening • May manifest self as indigestion • Collaborate with nurse to determine how to treat various episodes • May become light-headed and faint • Collaborate with nurse to determine best response • Becomes tired easily • Have built-in break times • May malinger • Need to consult with nurse to determine when pain is real and serious • Always treat an event as real; with experience, you will learn the characteristics of a real event

34. Eric McGruder • 15 year old African-American male • Began school in Macon, GA with interpreter • Transferred to AASD three or four years ago • Placed in special needs classroom • English language used at home

35. Eric, continued • Communicates with parents and siblings in the home and peers in community via some English signs and limited writing • Additional challenge faced by Eric • MID • Placed in special needs classroom for 2004-2005 school year • Emphasis on vocational training and language/concept expansion

36. What is the functional impact of Eric’s challenges in the classroom? (Part 1 of 2) (MoID) • Has a limited concept of “theme” • Needs instruction in organization of new information within a thematic structure • Easily forgets new information • Needs repetition and organizational structure • Difficulty generalizing • Needs multiple repetitions of new information in various settings • Redirect attention • Needs to be cued as to what is relevant

37. What is the functional impact of Eric’s challenges in the classroom? (Part 2 of 2) (MoID, continued) • Poor question comprehension/response • Needs cue to attend to question and type of response required • Uncomfortable communicating with unfamiliar others in community • Needs assistance advocating for self • Little sense of self-direction for future and limited concept of what he “could be • Needs vocational instruction with community trips to investigate options

38. 18 year old white male Began attending AASD at age 3 English language used at home Communicates with parents and siblings in the home and peers in community via gestures and some English-based signs John Albert Smith

39. John Albert, continued • Additional challenges faced by John Albert: • MoID • Cerebral palsy • Seizures • Placed in special needs classroom for 2004-2005 school year • Emphasis on vocational training and language/concept expansion

40. What is the functional impact of John Albert’s challenges in the classroom? (Part 1 of 4) (MoID) • Has a limited concept of “theme” • Needs instruction in organization of new information within a thematic structure • Easily forgets new information • Needs repetition and organizational structure • Difficulty generalizing • Needs multiple repetitions of new information in various settings • Difficulty maintaining attention and rehearsing new information • Needs to be cued as to what is relevant • Poor mental and physical organization, seems to miss half of information presented • Needs structured environment as well as instruction in how to structure new concepts • Needs lots of repetition in short chunks • Needs to be cued as to what is critical in the message • Needs to be cued as to who is speaking and to attend to that person, and a cue for the next speaker

41. What is the functional impact of John Albert’s challenges in the classroom? (Part 2 of 4) (MoID, continued) • Little concept of the whole • Needs instruction in thematic constructions • Needs instruction in how to organize new information into the overall theme • Needs instruction as to ways different themes can be interrelated • Has difficulty carrying on a conversation of more than two or three exchanges as well as limited understanding of turn taking and basic conversational etiquette • Needs more instruction in “topic” and relevant vocabulary for various topics • Needs instruction in higher order thinking skills • Poor question comprehension/response • Needs cue to attend to question and type of response required

42. What is the functional impact of John Albert’s challenges in the classroom? (Part 3 of 4) (Cerebral palsy) • Difficulty using left hand • Needs assistance in communicating efficiently and effectively via writing and signing • Sometimes uses a communication board • Needs additional time to complete assignments, often work with a partner/group or less work requiring use of hand • Often tired • Needs frequent scheduled breaks

43. What is the functional impact of John Albert’s challenges in the classroom? (Part 4 of 4) (Seizures) • When loses consciousness, will be exhausted and confused • Be ready to provide support and rest • If a lesser seizure, may seem to be daydreaming and will miss information • Need to pair with another student to rein back in • May need to guide student away from hazards in some seizures • Need to know what types of seizures are possible so can document • Description of seizure • Time of day • Length of seizure • Be aware of different protocols in place to address different types of seizures when they occur • Sometimes there is no treatment if there is no injury

44. How should you assess a student for the purpose of developing a good PLOP? (Part 1 of 2) • What are your ideas? What kind of information do you think you should gather on your students? • How should you gather information on the student? • Multiple opportunities • Formal and informal • Where should you gather information on the student? • Multiple locations • Multiple situations

45. How should you assess a student for the purpose of developing a good PLOP? (Part 2 of 2) • How should you record/present the information on the student? • Videotapes • CD-Roms • Pictures • Photocopies of written work • Bar graphs and line graphs for demonstrating improvement over time • Portfolios to show an accumulation of work • Standard testing material record keeping forms • Modify as necessary to fit your needs, but make note of this

46. Writing • Multiple samples in a variety of settings • Formal and informal classroom assignments and interactions • With peers, parents, and larger community outside the classroom • If working, with co-workers on the job site • Multiple genres in a variety of settings • Narrative • Expository • Persuasive • Functional (i.e., completing forms) • Topic given versus no topic given • Picture support versus no picture support • Lots of guidance, some guidance, minimal guidance, or no guidance at all • Multiple raters

47. Reading • Word recognition in isolation • Graded vocabulary lists • Functional vocabulary lists • Word recognition in context • Comprehension • Multiple texts, multiple genres, multiple tests • Fiction and non-fiction • Picture support and no picture support • Background knowledge versus no background knowledge • Practice versus no practice • You will be able to provide a “grade level range” for your student, depending upon the context and text, rather than a static “grade level”

48. Listening • Multiple texts, multiple genres, multiple tests • Students are generally able to perform at a higher level in listening than in reading • You will be able to provide a “grade level range” for your student, depending upon the context and text, rather than a static “grade level”

49. Social/Emotional/Behavioral Skills • Observe in formal and informal interactions with a variety of partners and groups • Determine where breakdowns in communication are and establish situations to support effective communication • Determine what social skills are lacking and pick the most critical • They’re not all critical • Set up situations to teach formally, always look for the teachable moment, “people watch” and discuss, and model yourself

50. Mathematical Calculation and Reasoning • Multiple formal grade level assessments • Lots of assistance • Some assistance • Minimal assistance • No assistance • Informal assessments of problem-solving strategies • Provide opportunities to use math reasoning in real-life situations independently and with assistance