Educational Impairments: Beyond Specific Learning Disabilities. Roberta M. L. Green, Ed.D. ABSNP School Psychologist March 13, 2014

Transcription

1 Educational Impairments: Beyond Specific Learning Disabilities Roberta M. L. Green, Ed.D. ABSNP School Psychologist March 13, 2014

2 Bert s Basic Brain Beliefs The human brain is the most wonderfully complex computer ever designed. All complex behavior is the result of a symphony of brain activity. We are still in the infancy of brain science.

3 Goals of this presentation Familiarize yourself with Miller s Model of Neuropsychological functioning. Improve awareness of Educational Impairment classifications other than SLD. Connect how Educational Impairments manifest themselves in the classroom. Add tools to help you accommodate the needs of students with non-sld Educational Impairments.

4 Social-Emotional, Cultural, Environmental and Situational Factors Overall Academic and Intellectual Processing Speed and Efficiency of Cognitive Processes Executive Processes Memory and Learning Processes Visual Spatial Processes Language Processes Sensory Motor Function Attentional Processes Miller, 2007

5 Educational Impairments Autism Communication Impairment Developmental Delay (until age 9 in MA) Emotional Impairment Health Impairment Intellectual Impairment Neurological Impairment Specific Learning Disability

6 Brain Power= watts

7 Attention is not just one thing We can attend with all of our senses: Vision Verbal Olfactory Tactile Taste Vestibular

8 Subdomains of attention Selective/Focused How well you can select a target from competing background noises. Sustained/Inhibition How well you can maintain your focus and inhibit unwanted thoughts or actions. Divided How well you can do two things at once Switching How well you can shift from one thing to another Capacity How much input you can hold without further processing

9 Selective/Focused Refers to the ability to scan competing stimuli and select or focus on the appropriate stimuli for the situation. For example: in a first grade classroom during circle time, when the teacher is speaking the child should be oriented toward the teacher not the children in the playground, the noise outside or the bug on the wall. Examples for middle school/hs/life?

10 Selective/Focused

11 SUSTAINED The ability to stay focused and selecting the correct responses while inhibiting incorrect ones over time. EX: In middle school this may be the unmotivated child. The child clearly can do the work, understands the directions, but chooses not to complete the work Other examples?

12 Sustained/Inhibition Visual NEPSY-II Inhibition Auditory WJ Auditory Attention TEA-CH Inhibition

13 Divided Attention Doing two things at once Depends on automaticity of the task The more automatic, the less energy a task takes. Decrease automaticity, increases energy needed and decreases the number of things you can do at a time. Pat your head and rub your belly. Real life examples.

14 DIVIDED The ability to do two or more things efficiently at one time. Other examples??

15 Switching Cognitive shifts from one activity to another. Times of transition. Alpha-numerical codes Languages

16 SWITCHING The ability to smoothly and efficiently change tasks. Any transition time in school whether physical or cognitive. Put your math books away and get ready for art.

17 CAPACITY How much can the student hold in his or her working memory? It is sometimes difficult to tease out when it is a memory issue and when it is an attentional capacity issue. How do you think you might get supporting evidence for this as an attentional problem?

18 Capacity Closely associated with working memory or short term memory. Digits Forward WISC-IV You probably learned 7 +/- 2 But more current research it is hypothesized that it is time that limits more than bits. Finger-Windows WRAML-2

19 Stroop Type Task

20 Set Loss

21 Characteristics of Attention It is developmental in nature. It is variable. You have some control over it. It is somewhat subjective.

22 Reality of how things interact

23 Observed Inattentive Behaviors (not always ADHD) Children are inattentive Very distracted by auditory stimuli or visual Difficulty with listening May have solid reading ability, despite poor phonological processing. Child looks lazy, and unmotivated. Can emerge at any time

24 ATTENTION SUMMARY Attention is needed to get information into memory It is developmental and variable in nature Five subdomains are selective/focused, sustained/inhibition, switching, divided and capacity Based on senses so we need to be sure that we have sensory input which is verifiable by motor output.

25 Sensory Motor Functions *the in and the out* Is it easier to listen to me speak, or to pay attention to what is happening in the parking lot? Why? (<1 min) If you could not see, hear, taste, or feel how could you learn? If you could not move, how would other s know that you learned?

26 Vision Acuity Tracking Convergence Hearing Acuity Orientation Integration Sensation

27 Sensation Continued.. Olfactory Kinesthetic

28 You need to perceive to attend

29 Language 5 components or dimensions of language Phonology Morphology Syntax Semantics Pragmatics

30 Phonology Phonology refers to the smallest perceptible part of speech. Three major components of Phonology: Phonological Awareness Phonological Memory Rapid Automatic Naming

31 Phonological Awareness Developmental in nature. At first children process whole phrases as one sound. Then children appreciate the noun and verb phrases Next it is individual words Then syllables in words Then the sounds before the vowel (onset) versus the vowel and all latters after. And finally the individual sounds!!!

32 Phonological Awareness By the time the child is about 5 or 6 a neurotypical child has the ability to manipulate and isolate individual sounds. Cat = /k/ /a/ /t/ Then the child learns to isolate a given sound What is the third sound in fleet? Finally the child can manipulate sounds. Elision Say Cowboy without the boy Say Snail without the /n/ Change the /r/ in rake to /b/ what do you have

33 Phonological Memory This is developmental also, and is dependent on how well sounds are encoded into memory. It is also related to memory capacity. While digits forward is a measure of phonological memory, a better measure (in my opinion) is the ability to repeat nonsense words (though this is also complicated by oral motor planning and moving across syllables).

34 Morphology Smallest meaningful unit in language Free Bound root words Prefix Suffix Happy un er unhappier

35 Syntax Rules which govern how words are put together in a given language. Grammar We ain t going versus We aren t going Word Order We going aren t verus We aren t going

36 Semantics Word Meaning based on: Context Definition

37 Pragmatics Social Aspects of Language Turn taking in conversations Inferencing: Something said in one setting can mean something totally different than another setting. Ex: Children playing catch with a baseball and gloves ask another child to play catch. He says he can t because his football is at home. Body language Posture Facial Expressions Proximity

38 Is it easier to listen to a lecture in English or in a foreign language? If what you see or hear doesn t make sense, do you spend much time with it?

39 Visual Spatial Processes Visual motor integration Visual perceptual integration Facial recognition Rotation issues

40 WITHOUT ATTENTION THERE IS NO LEARNING WITHOUT LEARNING THERE CAN BE NO MEMORY Me

41 Vision drives Memory

42 MEMORY AND LEARNING LEARNING: acquiring new information: Getting something into memory MEMORY: persistence of learning that can be accessed at a later time. Visual Verbal Associative RECALL vs. RECOGNITION

43 TYPES of Memory Sensory Memory (<1 min) Short Term Memory(<1 min) Rote Memory Working Memory Long Term Memory (no known time limit) Declarative (Facts and Events) Episodic (events and experiences) Semantic (facts and concepts) Procedural (Skills and tasks)

44 The process Sense and Attend Long term potentiation Encode Store Retrieve Free Recall

45 SPEED AND EFFICIENCY of Cognitive Processes Cognitive Speed How fast processing happens Cognitive Efficiency Aside Cognitive speed and efficiency plus working memory are the two best indicators of how well a child will do in math and reading for elementary school. These two factors are also strong indicators of response to intervention for learning disabilities.

46 Processing Speed How fast can you access your knowledge? How quickly can you process what is being said? How quickly can you make a decision? How quickly can you apply knowledge?

47 Major types of Processing Speed Issues Verbal Retrieval Fluency Slow decision making in general Slow decision making with ambiguity Processing language Forming new concepts Motor output Motor precision

48 EXECUTIVE FUNCTION The conductor or coordinator of all intelligent behavior Abstract Reasoning Anticipation Attentional control Behavior initiation/productivity Behavioral regulation Common sense Concept formation Creativity Estimation Fluency Goal setting Hypothesis generating Inhibition of impulsiveness Mental flexibility Organization Planning problem solving Rule learning Self-control Self-monitoring Set formation and maintenance Set shifting Working memory

49 Intellectual functioning What is IQ? Classical answer: The ability to think and problem solve with images and language coupled with short term memory and processing speed (mental age) given one s chronological age. Mental age/chronological age X 100 = IQ

50 Problem solving

51 Bert s definition The ability to succeed in one s environment

52 What we teach In general we teach what we value what types of intelligences do we teach to and value? (Discussion?)

53 Cultural, social environmental Remember parents in all cultures want what is best for their children. However, cultural and social biases change the perception of best. Being assertive in one culture, could be rude in another.

54 Since we are a nation of immigrants it is important to recognize cultural differences: Eye contact Body position Respect for teachers Differing expectations in differing cultures Differing world experiences

55 Voluntary versus Involuntary Immigrants Many of the immigrants from Europe in the 1800s were voluntary They wanted to come to the US for a better life so they wanted to assimilate to the culture. How? By: Learning the language Learning how Americans act Learning the history Becoming citizens Dressing like Americans

56 Involuntary Immigrants Came to the US because they were forced from their homeland. May wish to return to their homeland Resist assimilation to US customs and culture May not speak English at home or aspire to learn English.

57 Mixed Immigrants In may cultures the father makes decisions. If he decides to come to the US, the family moves. Father is a voluntary immigrant. Mother may not want to move, but does so out of obedience. She is an involuntary immigrant. Father interacts with US culture and work. Mother holds onto language and culture of country of origin at home.

58 Emotional Disabilities Anxiety Conduct Disorders Mood Disorders Depression Bipolar disorder

59 Autism TRIAD of Impairments Communication Social Behavioral

60 RECAP Session 1 Attention and Sensory Motor are the most basic building blocks Processing speed and STM are best predictors of school success and response to intervention Language and V/S processing are primary ways to think Learning is really getting stuff into memory EF holds the whole thing together Then we have IQ and Academic Ability Finally, outside influences.

61 Educational Impairments Autism Communication Impairment Developmental Delay (until age 9 in MA) Emotional Impairment Health Impairment Intellectual Impairment Neurological Impairment Specific Learning Disability

62 Social-Emotional, Cultural, Environmental and Situational Factors Overall Academic and Intellectual Processing Speed and Efficiency of Cognitive Processes Executive Processes Memory and Learning Processes Visual Spatial Processes Language Processes Sensory Motor Function Attentional Processes Miller, 2007

63 PREVIEW OF SESSION 2 How do underlying functional and processing issues show themselves in the classroom? How can teachers accommodate students in the regular education classroom?

64 REFERENCES +intelligences&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=x&ei=ys4tu6bfiy37kqfrogobg&ved=0cduqsaq&biw=1366&bih=673#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=8szknwuqnz YgNM%253A%3B6a6sK5ZXjqdcdM%3Bhttp%253A%252F %252Fcoffsharbourpublicschool.edublogs.org%252Ffiles %252F2012%252F08%252Fmultiple_intelligences-152hzgi.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F %252Fcoffsharbourpublicschool.edublogs.org%252Ffor-teachers%252F%3B400%3B400 (Howard Gardner) Miller, D. (2007). Essentials of School Neuropsychology. Wiley and Sons,