Intellectual Disability (formerly Mental Retardation) - Classification by the degree or level of intellectual impairment as measured by IQ test - Mild 50-55 to approximately 70 - Moderate 35-40 to 50-55 - Severe 20-25 to 35-40 - Profound Below 20-25 - Reading problems- 80% of all children identified Deficits in written language- perform lower than their age- matched peers without disabilities across most written expression tasks Underachievement in math- more than 50% have math IEP goals Poor social skills- 75% have social skills deficits Attention deficits and hyperactivity Behavioral problems- higher than usual incidence of behavior problems Low rates of self- esteem/self- efficacy lower levels of self- efficacy, mood, effort, and hope - The Defining Specific and significant achievement deficits in the presence of adequate overall intelligence The performance gap becomes especially noticeable and handicapping in the middle and secondary grades The difficulties experienced by children with learning disabilities, especially for those who cannot read at grade level, are substantial and pervasive and usually last across the life span - Cognitive functioning Memory: difficulty remembering information Learning Rate: well below that of typically developing children Attention: slower to attend to relevant features of a learning task than students without disabilities Generalization and Maintenance: trouble using new knowledge and skills in settings different from the context in which they first learned those skills Motivation: exhibit an apparent lack of interest in learning or in problem- solving tasks helplessness - Adaptive Behavior Self- care and Daily Living Skills: individuals who require extensive supports must be taught basic self- care skills Social Development: maintaining and sustaining friendships and personal relationships present significant challenges for many with ID Behavioral excesses and challenging behavior: more likely to exhibit behavior problems than are children without disabilities - Positive Attitudes Many display tenacity and curiosity in learning Get along well with others Are positive influences on others
For students with ID be aware that they often struggle with multiple step directions, the vocabulary we use, etc. Emotional and Behavioral Disorders Common - Externalizing Behaviors Lying Temper tantrums Stealing Property destruction Threats of violence and violence toward peers and/or teachers - Internalizing Behaviors Overly shy or immature Withdrawn Hypochondria Easily upset and difficult to calm - Academic Achievement Low GPA- one or more years below grade level academically Difficulty passing competency exams for their grade level High absenteeism At risk for school failure and early drop out Reciprocal relationship between behavior problems and low academic achievement Many have learning disabilities and/or language delays Achievement deficits tend to worsen as students grow older Many score in the slow learner or mild intellectual disabilities range on IQ tests - Social Skills Less participation in extracurricular activities Lower quality peer relationships Lower levels of empathy towards others Higher rates of juvenile delinquency High rates of recidivists as juvenile delinquents Autism Spectrum Disorders Impairment in social interactions: extreme aloofness, deficits in joint attention Communication and language deficits
o About half of children with autism do not speak o Echolalia is common among those who do talk o Concrete or literal processing of verbal information is common Repetitive, ritualistic, and unusual behavior patterns: some children exhibit stereotype- a pattern of persistent and repetitive behaviors Insistence on sameness and preservation: children with autism often have issues about routines Unusual responsiveness to sensory stimuli: about 70-80% exhibit abnormal reactions to sensory stimulation- hypersensitivity or hyposensitivity Varying levels of intellectual functioning, uneven skill development o 70-80% also meet the diagnostic criteria for intellectual disabilities o about 10% to 15% exhibit splinter skills o About 10% have savant syndrome o Many exhibit overselectivity- focusing on a minute feature of an object/person rather than the whole Problem Behavior o Some students exhibit property destruction, aggression toward others, and even self- injury o Many experience a variety of sleep problems o Some have extremely narrow food preferences o Some engage in pica The frequent, high- intensity, and sometimes dangerous behavior problems of some children with autism create stress on parents and can lead to family dysfunction if not brought under control Speech and Language Disorders Speech Sound Errors: distortions, substitutions, omissions, additions Articulation Disorders: a child is not able to produce a given sound physically Phonological Disorders: a child has the ability to produce a given sound and does so correctly in some instances but not others Fluency Disorders: stuttering and cluttering are examples Voice Disorders: a phonation disorder causes the voice to sound breathy, hoarse, husky, or strained resonance disorders results in hypernasality or hyponasality Language Impairments: a receptive language impairment interferes with understanding of language; an expressive language impairments interferes with expression through language Deafness and Hearing Loss
Students who receive special education because of hearing loss are a heterogeneous group Levels of functioning influenced by: o Type and degree of hearing loss o Age of onset o Attitudes of parents and siblings o Opportunities to acquire a first language o The presence or absence of other disabilities Generalizations about how deaf people are supposed to act and feel must be viewed with extreme caution English Literacy and Speaking Skills o Have smaller vocabularies than their peers with normal hearing and the gap widens with age o Learn concrete words more easily than abstract words o Have difficulty with function words and omit endings of words o Have difficulty differentiating questions from statements o Have difficulty understanding and writing sentences with passive voice and relative clauses o May have atypical speech and are unable to monitor their own speech Academic Achievement o Students with hearing loss have difficulty with all areas of academic achievement, especially reading and math o The gap in achievement between children with normal hearing and those with hearing loss usually widens as they get older o Approximately 30% of deaf students leave school functionally illiterate o Academic performance must not be equated with intelligence o Problems attributable to inadequate development of a first language and the mismatch between the demands of spoken and written English and the students ability to understand and communicate in English Social Functioning o Behavioral difficulties in school and social situations more likely in children with hearing loss than children with normal hearing o Reports of feelings of depression, withdrawl, and isolation frequently reported by children and adults who are deaf with adventitious hearing loss o Poor readers were more likely to exhibit problem behavior in school according to one study o The extent to which a child with hearing loss successfully interacts depends on others attitudes and the child s ability to communicate in some mutually acceptable way Blindness and Low Vision
Cognition and language o Impaired or absent vision makes it difficult to see the connections between experiences o Abstract concepts, analogies, and idiomatic expressions can be difficult to understand without slight Motor development and mobility o Visual impairment often leads to delays and deficits in motor development Social adjustment and interaction o Children with visual impairments interact less and are often delayed in social skills o Many persons who have lost their sight report that the biggest difficulty socially is dealing with the attitudes and behavior of those around them Factors Influencing Social Involvement Several factors influence the limited social involvement of children with visual impairments Many cannot benefit from peers or adult role model because of the low incidence of the disability The inability to see and respond to the social signals of others reduces opportunities for reciprocal interactions Some individuals with visual impairments engage in repetitive body movements or other behaviors which places them at a great social disadvantage Many report the biggest difficulty socially is dealing with the attitudes and behavior of sighted people Physical Disabilities, Health Impairments, and ADHD Orthopedic Impairments Cerebral Palsy o A disorder of voluntary movement and posture o Most prevalent physical disability in school age children o No clear relationship between the degree of motor impairment and degree of intellectual impairment (if any) o Classified according to muscle tone and motor movement: Spastic, Athetosis, Atazia, Rigidity, Tremor, Mixed Spina Bifida o Congenital malformations of the brain, spinal cord, or vertebrae o Can result in paralysis below affected vertebra o Hydrocephalic condition common; treated with a shunt Muscular Dystrophy
o Progressive weakening and degeneration of the muscles o No known treatment exists to stop or reverse any form of muscular dystrophy Spinal Cord Injuries o Caused by penetrating injury, fracture, stretching, or compression of spinal cord o Car accidents, sports injuries, and violence most common causes o Results in paralysis below affected vertebra o Males represent 80% of traumatic spinal cord injuries Attention- Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder The essential feature is a persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity- impulsivity that is more frequent and severe than is typically observed Three ADHD subtypes: combined, predominantly inattention, and hyperactive- impulsive Most students with ADHD have the combined type Children with ADHD can be served under the other health impairments category or under Section 504 Estimates of prevalence of ADHD range from 3% to 7% of all school- age children Most children with ADHD struggle in the classroom There is comorbidity with other disabilities As a group, students with physical disabilities or health impairments function well below grade level academically o Daily health care routines and medications have negative side effects on academic achievement o Educational progress is often hampered by frequent and sometimes prolonged absences from school for medical treatment when flare- ups or relapses require hospitalization o As a group, students with physical disabilities and health impairments perform below average on measures of social- behavioral skills o Concerns about physical appearance are frequently identified as reasons for emotional difficulties and feelings of depression Variables Affecting Educational Performance Factors that affect educational needs include o Severity with which the condition affects different areas of functioning o Age of onset- children with congenital or acquired impairments have different needs o Visibility- the visibility of impairment may cause some to underestimate the child s abilities and limit opportunities Low Incidence Disabilities: Severe/Multiple Disabilities, Deaf- Blindness, and Traumatic Brain Injury
Severe, Profound, and Multiple Disabilities Severe o Significant impairments in intellectual, motor, and/or social functioning o IQ scores of 35 to 40 or 40 to 55 Profound o Profound developmental disabilities in all five of the following areas; cognition, communication, social skills, motor- mobility, and activities of daily living o IQ scores of 20 to 25 and below Multiple o Multiple disabilities means concomitant impairments, the combination of which causes such severe educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for one of the impairments Deaf- Blindness o Deaf- blindness means concomitant hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for children with deafness or children with blindness o The majority have some functional hearing and/or vision More than 90% have one or more additional disabilities 57% also have physical disabilities 66% have cognitive impairments 38% have complex health care needs Most students with severe disabilities o Exhibit significant deficits in intellectual functioning o Possess more than one disability o Need special services and supports because of motor impediments; communication, visual and auditory impairments; and seizure disorders o Treatment of medical conditions and health problems results in frequent and often extended absences from school o Exhibit significant and obvious deficits in multiple life- skill or developmental areas o Slow acquisition rates for learning new skills o Poor generalization and maintenance of newly learned skills o Limited communication skills o Impaired physical and motor development o Deficits in self- help skills o Infrequent constructive behavior and interaction o Stereotypic and challenging behavior
Prevalence o Estimates range from 0.1% to 1% of the population Giftedness and Talent The ability to rapidly acquire, retain, and use large amounts of information The ability to relate one idea to another The ability to make sound judgments Appreciate more than one and opposing points of view The ability to perceive the operation of larger systems of knowledge that may not be recognized by the typical person The ability to acquire and manipulate abstract symbol systems The ability to solve problems by reframing the question and creating novel solutions for the highly gifted- those with IQ scores 3 standard deviations or greater above the mean (IQ>145) o Intense intellectual curiosity o Fascination with words and ideas o Perfectionism o Need for precision o Learning in great intuitive leaps o Intense need for mental stimulation o Difficulty conforming to the thinking of others o Early moral and existential concern o Tendency toward introversion