educ 2301: introduction to special populations learning from stories of people with disabilities...

EDUC 2301: Introduction to Special Populations

Learning from Stories of People with DisabilitiesChapter 12

A Changing Society

LEARNING FROM PERSONS’ WITH DISABILITIES STORIES

Every summer I went to summer school, and during the school year I was in every little special group. I was in the speech group, the corrective posture group, the purple reading group, the green reading group. In third grade, the only word I could read was “the.” I used to keep track of where the class was reading by following from one “the” to the next…By the time I was 15 or 16, I could get by in class with reading. But I could never spell. I was a workshop major in high school, and my typical report card was two C’s, three D’s, and an F. I just got used to it.

Paul Orfalea, founder and chairperson of Kinkos, Inc.

©2012 Cengage Learning.All Rights Reserved.

CULTURAL FACTOR 1: HISTORICAL AND CURRENT TREATMENT IN THE UNITED STATES

Throughout history, persons with disabilities have been ignored, exiled, exploited, tortured, and even destroyed. Nomadic societies saw persons with disabilities as problems—actual barriers to the group’s productivity because people with disabilities were viewed as being unable to contribute to their communities.


Current Conditions

• The 2000 Census identified more than 33 million adult persons with disabilities living in the United States. 18.5 million of these individuals reported being employed. Both persons with disabilities who were working and those not working stated a need for similar types of accommodations.

• Even with advances in medicine, education, and laws attempting to remove barriers that exclude individuals with disabilities, these individuals continue to encounter discrimination ranging from outright intentional exclusion and access to substandard services, programs, activities, benefits, jobs, or other opportunities.


CULTURAL FACTOR 2: INITIAL TERMS OF INCORPORATION INTO U.S. SOCIETY

• Prior to 1975 there was little if any public or governmental attention that concerned the education of students with disabilities. These students were regularly excluded in public education.

• Passage of PL 93-112, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act in 1973 provided a link between disability and antidiscrimination laws.

• However, overt and subtle forms of discrimination continue to exist in schooling, employment, hiring, access, and political representation.

• Universal Design began largely as physical accommodation practices that revolutionized the way people thought about access issues to create a more inclusive world


CULTURAL FACTORS 3 & 4: SHARED VALUES, VIEW OF SPIRITUALITY AND HUMANS' RELATION TO NATURE

Print media may be one of the clearest indications that a disability culture exists. Hundreds of books have been written that feature disability culture and political newsletters. Organizations that promote the independence for persons with disabilities have sprung up in huge numbers, giving form to shared values and experiences that constitute culture for members of this group.


CULTURAL FACTOR 5: ACCULTURATION AND EXPERIENCE WITH EXCLUSION AND ALIENATION

• Inclusion for persons with disabilities in schooling involves integrating students with disabilities in regular classrooms whenever possible with the supports necessary for them to succeed.

• This sometimes controversial policy differs from mainstreaming which involves the placement of students with identified disabilities in some “regular education” classes when they have demonstrated that they can function academically within those classes without additional help or resources.


CULTURAL FACTOR 6: LANGUAGE DIFFERENCES, STRENGTHS, AND CHALLENGES

• Many of the terms employed to describe persons with disabilities serve to exclude and unfairly characterize them. Words like retard, spaz, and crippled are characterizations of persons with disabilities that are widely used.

• In fact, it is still considered acceptable in dominant-culture comedy to mock persons with mental retardation and make fun of physical and psychological disabilities.

• In addition, some forms of body language that are equally disrespectful include touching someone’s assistive device without permission; speaking loudly to a person with visual impairment; and communicating with a caretaker who accompanies a person with a disability rather than communicating with the person with whom the interaction is directed.


POTENTIAL BARRIERS IN LEARNING–TEACHING RELATIONSHIPS WITH DOMINANT-CULTURE TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS

• Initial attempts to include students with disabilities were, in many ways, ineffective and served to squelch students progress toward equal rights by contributing to the stigma and exclusion associated with self-contained special education, lowered expectations for and watered-down instruction, and in presenting the appearance that the needs of students with disabilities were being adequately and equitably met.

• Persons with disabilities may find themselves treated like children or treated with disdain; assumed to be incompetent or totally dependent; pitied or not taken seriously.


PL 94-142

• Public Law 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, mandated a free and appropriate education for all children, including the right to the following:

• Learning in the least restrictive environment (LRE)• Learning with the aid of an individualized education program (IEP)

designed to meet the student’s unique needs• A plan to screen and identify students with disabilities• Full-service schooling at no cost to their families• Due process• A nondiscriminatory evaluation• Confidentiality• Services performed by personnel who receive ongoing training


Types of DisabilitiesIntellectual Functions Learning Disabilities

Physical Disabilities Social/emotional Disabilities

Mental Retardation / Intellectual Disability

• Characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors (living skills, communication skills, social skills)

• Historically been defined as an Intelligence Quotient score under 70

• Often associated with Down Syndrome (Trisomy 21) or Klinefelter’s Syndrome

Developmental Delay

• Usually a consequence of an illness or trauma in early childhood, but not always.

• Cognitive development is slowed beyond what is considered typical for a specific age or developmental milestone.

• Often require remediation or delayed instruction – not able to keep academic pace with similar-aged peers.

• May be mild or severe.

Down Syndrome

• Chromosomal Disorder• Incidence – 1 in 700-800• Characteristics

– Fold of skin over eye– Mental Retardation

Learning Disabilities

Dyslexia Dyscalculia

(reading) (mathematics)

Dyslexia

• A learning disability that impairs a person's fluency or accuracy in being able to read, speak, and spell.

• Symptoms can include:– delays in speech– slow learning of new words– difficulty in rhyming words– low letter knowledge– letter reversal or mirror writing (for example,

“d” instead of “b”).

Instructional Techniques for Students with Learning Disabilities

• Control task difficulty• Teach in small interactive groups• Use graphic organizers and visuals• Provide modeling and “think aloud”

strategies• Use both direct instruction and cognitive

strategy instruction• Teach self-regulation skills• Provide opportunities for extended

practice with feedback

Physical Disabilities

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Visual Impairment

• The condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.

• Causes• Conditions and varying degrees• Treatments• Often use mobility aids (cane, dogs, etc),

reading magnification aids, computer aids, and some behavioral techniques.

Hearing Impairment

• What is it?• Deaf Culture prefers the terms deaf and

hard-of-hearing.• Causes• Treatments• Prevention• Often use American Sign

Language for communication

Blindness & Deafness

• This combination of disabilities causes additional difficulties, since both senses are non- or low-functioning.

• Many blind/deaf students are taught in special state schools with specially trained teachers.

• Tactile learning techniques are heavily utilized.

Orthopedic & Motor Disabilities

• Includes cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, ALS, spina bifida, severe trauma, missing limbs, etc.

• Classroom furniture arrangement can be an issue – is your room wheelchair accessible?

• Need for alternative to activities that require students to move around the room

Speech Disorders

• Includes stuttering, muteness, speech sound disorders, voice disorders/ impairments, dysphagia, receptive and expressive

• How are students able to communicate with you besides speech? Is speech required to master content?

• Treatment usually involves the services of a speech pathologist in or out of the classroom.

• Stuttering

Creating accepting classroom community for students with speech disorders

• Create atmosphere of comfort avoiding time pressures and tension

• Listen in calm manner, patiently allowing time for students to finish their thoughts

• Do not criticize or point out speech errors• Do not allow for ridicule of students• Use flexible grouping so students have

opportunities to talk in small groups• Develop cueing systems that allow

students to let you know when they are comfortable responding.

Emotional & Behavioral Disabilities

Autism

• A disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior.

• Asperger syndrome is a type of autism that is characterized by cognitive and language delays.

• Autistic students are usually not mainstreamed, but some very minor cases might be, with a resource aide.

Attention Deficit Disorder

• Actual name is ADHD predominantly inattentive (names changed in 1994).

• Characterized primarily by inattention, easy distractibility, disorganization, procrastination, forgetfulness, and lethargy

• Often treated with medication, changes in diet, and with specific behavioral strategies such as creating routines, getting organized, avoiding distractions, limiting choices, using goals and rewards, ignoring behaviors, and physical exercise.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

• A neurobehavioral developmental disorder primarily characterized by "the co-existence of attentional problems and hyperactivity, with each behavior occurring infrequently alone“.

• Similar treatments to ADD are used, but medication is used more often to control ADHD than ADD.

• ADHD students are not responsible for their hyperactive behavior and should not be punished for it, but redirected.

Educational Interventions

• Listening – visual displays, key word note-taking system to jog memory

• Distractability – minimize visual distractions in class

• Attention Span – work in short time units• Impulsivity – checklists for what student

needs to do, reward system tied to completion

• Short-Term Memory – frequent review in flashcard style

Oppositional Defiance Disorder

• An ongoing pattern of disobedient, hostile and defiant behavior toward authority figures which goes beyond the bounds of normal childhood behavior.

• ODD is treated with behavioral therapy.• Students with extreme ODD are usually

placed in behavioral units, but minor cases are often mainstreamed.

• Behavior contracts and clear boundaries work well with students with ODD.

Serious Emotional Disturbance

•Those who are from birth to age of majority who have had a diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder of sufficient duration to meet diagnostic criteria.•It must be determined that the child's condition results in functional impairment, substantially interfering with one or more major life activities, or the abilities to function effectively in social, familial, and educational contexts•Childhood Depression and Childhood Anxiety can be serious emotional disturbances

Create Appropriate Emotional Environment

• Respond to students’ feelings and intentions rather than overt behavior

• Listen before responding, giving student opportunity to explain

• Develop a positive relationship with student about one topic

• Establish rules and consequences• Consider changes you can make –

emotionally safe environment• Catch the student being good• Use humor

Childhood Depression

• Origins• Symptoms• Treatments

– Therapies– Medications

Childhood Anxiety

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder• Phobias• Panic Disorder• Separation Anxiety Disorder• Obsessive-compulsive Disorder

Temporary Emotional Conditions

• Severe depression or emotional response to temporary or situational contexts:– Death of a family member or friend– Unplanned move or homelessness– Extreme poverty– Parents’ divorce

• Temporarily are just as debilitating as other described emotional or behavioral conditions

• Patience and understanding from teachers can help ease the emotional strain of students.

Giftedness

• How students are identified– Outstanding abilities– High performance in specific areas– Creativity

• Programs developed to serve gifted students

For Reflection and Discussion

1. In what ways does inclusion advance rights for students with disabilities?

2. What are the principles of Universal Design and how do they enhance

accessibility for all individuals?

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All Rights Reserved.

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