Chapter 5: Developing Adaptations to Promote Participation in Inclusive Environment

1. Chapter 5: Developing Adaptations to Promote Participation in Inclusive Environment By: Becky Guzie

2. Introduction • An adaptation is considered any adjustments to • Instruction • Environment • Materials • Educators must be able to identify the need, develop and use instructional adaptations to help increase the participation of students with complex learning needs

3. Indentifying and Developing Individualized Adaptations • Understand the capacities, needs, and educational priorities of the student • Environments student operates in • Activities and skills necessary to participate in selected environments • Ability of the student to engage in the required activities and skills assessed in the actual environment • Performance discrepancies (difficulty areas) • Priority skills are targeted for instruction • Intervention strategies are developed

4. What Are the Students Capacities, Needs, and High-Priority Educational Goals? • Learn about student • Positive profile of social, academic abilities, strengths, learning concerns • Knowledge of the student’s preferences, learning styles, past instructional methods, and reliable physical and motor movements • Consider how student performs in different environments and conditions • Develop shared vision

5. What Environments Should Be Selected for Instruction that Promotes Achievements of Goals and Are Age-Appropriate and Inclusive? • Select “real world” environments educational goals can be accomplished • Promote access and participation in general education instruction • Home, work, community

6. What Are the Required Activities and Skills in the Environment? • Look at how a person without disabilities performs tasks • Form a discrepancy analysis • No universal way to complete a task • Most logical and efficient method to carry out task

7. How Does the Student Perform in Environment? • Assess the performance of a student with disabilities against one without • Take student to specific environment and use inventory to record performance • If student cannot carry out a portion of activity team members must ask why

8. What Are the Student’s Performance Discrepancies and What Might Be the Source? • Review performance of student in specific environment • Educators question why discrepancies exist • Student learning factors • Instructional factors • Physical sensory or motor factors • Motivation factors • Environmental factors • Make “best guess”

9. What Are the Priority Instructional Objectives in the Environment? • After identifying discrepancies instructional priorities and objectives can be written • Enhance participation • Increases social inclusion • Having frequent and multiple applications across environments • Health and vitality • Honors student’s and family’s preferences • Refines broad educational goals to more context-specific

10. Interventions to Address Performance Discrepancies • Teach directly • Feasible for the student to learn and perform skill as a person without disabilities • Employ Instructional Adaptations • Modify skills or activities • Modify physical environment • Modify rules and policies • Provide personal assistance • Use Adaptive Materials or Devices • Portable objects, equipment, tangible devices, or instructional materials individually designed for the student • Commercial or teacher made

11. Implement and Evaluate the Effectiveness of Instruction • Direct Instruction is necessary • Use of adaptive device is to simplify task-not teach • Evaluation Criteria • Performs intended function • Integrated into the instructional sequence • Accompanied by sufficient instruction to learn adaptation • Facilitates independence or interdependence • Results in least-intrusive assistance • Attractive and safe • “fits” in the specific context • Results in acceptable rate and quality performance • Does not interfere with interactions

12. Consideration for Using Adaptations • Teaching the Skill • Is it necessary? • Soliciting Student Preference • Allows student to engage in an activity they enjoy • Increasing Participation • Can increase responsibility, foster development, self-esteem • Ensuring Longitudinal Use • Can it be used now and in the future? • Physical Demands • Effects on students long term • Design and Construction Demands

13. Precautions for Using Adaptations • Each student is an individual • Systematic instruction when using adaptations • Ongoing evaluation of student with and without adaptation • Expected that adaptations will require several modifications

14. Summary • Educational teams must work together and know student • Adaptations can be a key to minimize disabilities and maximize opportunities • Student potential is limited only by the bounds of the collective creativity of members of the educational team