Intellectual Disabilities

As a special educator, I have seen a variety of students who have disabilities. I enjoy working with students with disabilities and find much fulfillment in my job as a special educator when I can change the life of a young individual. In my experiences, I have had the privilege of working with students who had intellectual disabilities. 

Students with intellectual disabilities often have difficulties with processing information and generalizing what they have learned in class with the real world. Some children with this disability have speech delays or have trouble vocalizing and verbalizing. 

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In my experience, I worked with a child who was diagnosed with IDD or intellectually and Developmentally Disabled. He was a cheerful young child who had many issues with number since and sight words. He often did not have comprehension of stories but he was very good at telling time and awareness of his surroundings.  I think that students with this disability are often overlooked because of what they cannot do but we should be focusing on what they can. 

Assistive Technologies are very vital to this group of individuals. Having Eye Gazes, Picture Schedules, and other communication devices help us as teachers to interact with our students with intellectual disabilities who have difficulties with speech and communication. It is important to provide such devices so that their voices can be heard. 

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Direct Instruction is another key element when teaching students with intellectual disabilities. One-on-one assistance is important for students who have intellectual disabilities. Also using various co-teaching strategies such as parallel teaching and station teaching can help with the ratio of teachers to students. Overall using different instructional strategies with these students is important to enhance the learning of these students but also of all students with disabilities.

Citations:

Fecich, S. (2015, July 7). GCSE657. Graduate Class. Lecture conducted from , 2015, 7 July- 2015, 20 August.

ADHD and Learning Disabilities

http://www.healthline.com/health/adhd/facts-statistics-infographic

Imagine having to sit in a seat as still as possible listening to a lecture for an hour after having 3 cups of caffeinated coffee. Wouldn’t be agitating and hard to focus? This is how our students with ADHD feel when sitting in our classes.

As teacher’s it is our responsibility to make sure our students like the above mentioned students are properly educated with the accommodations to improve their educational experiences. ADHD students often have trouble focusing during the lesson. Some strategies that could be used during direct instruction would be allowing time for student breaks (i.e. allowing the student to go get a drink, pass out papers, or simply get up out of his/her seat), use attention grabbing videos/manipulatives, and proximity to the teacher to help maintain focus.

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Students with learning disabilities are also in need of direct instruction to help increase academic success. Direct instruction for these students can come in multiple ways. Instructional strategies for these students often require multiple learning strategies. Some students learn just by listening, some by watching, but as a teacher of a student with a learning disability it is important to present material so that it touches on all facets of the learner. Auditory, visually, kinesthetically, or any other type of learning style would be things to consider. In an example if a teacher is teaching a mathematics lesson on volume, I would show a movie clip about volume that has visuals and different people describing the concept then, I would give a hands on activity to the students to complete with the volume rules.

Another instructional strategy that would help both learners is partner activates. This allows for students to be activity engaged in the lesson material with a  supportive partner who can clarify material or repeat missed material due to lack of focus. A peer mentor/partner is a great way to captivate learners in the learning and engage them in the lesson.

Assistive technologies that can help both learners could range from a simple calculator to a computer program that has visuals and explanations built into its design. Regardless of what you use it is important to remember the child’s disability and to help them throughout every lesson to stay involved and active in the learning.

Citations:

Fecich, S. (2015, July 7). GCSE657. Graduate Class. Lecture conducted from , 2015, 7 July- 2015, 20 August.

Multi disability / Physical disability

       One of the hardest things I have ever had to do with my teaching career was work with students who were multi and physically disabled. It is not because of the planning or the countless hours of work outside of school, but the knowledge that these kids are amazing and the world doesn’t always see it. Students with physical disabilities can come in all varieties. Some have the use of one arm, one hand, only one leg, or they can’t use any of their exterior limbs. Working with these students is also difficult because some diseases can’t be prevented and the child only regresses over time, while others could have been prevented but the tragedies of the roads caused TBI (traumatic brain injury).

         Accommodating for students with physical disabilities and multi disabilities can range from simply having a Personal Care Assistant with the student throughout the day to push or navigate a wheelchair to more intensive accommodations at specialized schools that provide speech, OT, PT, and vision services to aid in improving academic, social, and physical well being.

       Assistive technologies are also useful for students with multi disabilities and physical disabilities. There are technology resources such as an IPad that can provide text to speech and speech to text, depending on the student’s needs. Students also have devices called an Eye gaze that allows for a student with a physical disability to navigate a computer screen or answer simple questions by just the use of the movement of their eyes. Regardless of what type of device is used, the needs of the student is different case by case and an AT eval is important to determine the best fit for a child.

Citations:

Fecich, S. (2015, July 7). GCSE657. Graduate Class. Lecture conducted from , 2015, 7 July- 2015, 20 August.

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http://www.eyegaze.com/instrument-specifications/

Autism and Speech and Language Disorder

When someone mentions the word autism, it would be a surprise if a person did not know what it was. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) affects so many people in our country as the latest statistic suggests that every 1 in 68 babies born will have this disease. The cause is still up for debate, but regardless of the cause the effects of this disease are very diverse and incurable.

Moreover, some born under the ASD diagnosis will have what is call Asperger’s. This disorder causes a person, in most cases, to have difficulties with communicating effectively. In my experience a person who had this diagnosis took everything literally and did not understand Idioms. An accommodation for a student with this disorder could simply be pairing with a peer and working on effective commination skills. Social stories are also affective for Asperger’s and others under the ASD diagnosis.  Differentiated instruction could come in the form of assistive tech. Students with ASD can benefit from communication devices, computer based learning, and hands on manipulatives to demonstrate ideas.

Another common exceptionality is Speech and Language Disorder. Although they are not always correlated, this exceptionality can occur with children/students with ASD. Speech is a very common issue with youth. Due to developmental delays or other disabilities speech issues can cause problems in the classroom. One way schools and educators accommodate for speech problems is by providing students with services such as Speech where students work one-on-one with a licensed speech therapist to help them communicate effectively to their ability. A teacher can also help by using communication AT in their classrooms. 

Citations:

Fecich, S. (2015, July 7). GCSE657. Graduate Class. Lecture conducted from , 2015, 7 July- 2015, 20 August.

https://csd.wisc.edu/slp-autism-spectrum-disorder.htm

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