Mild/Moderate Intellectual Disabilities

1. Mild/Moderate Intellectual Disabilities By Stephen Cross

2. Intro to Mild/Moderate Disabilities • Designed for: • Para-Professionals • Bus Drivers • School employees (Librarians, Custodial workers, Cafeteria workers)

3. Agenda • I. Definition • II. Eligibility • III. Characteristics • IV. Stategies

4. Definition • There are two different definitions used in the United States today. • IDEA ’04 (Federal Government) • American Association of Mental Retardation (now referred as AAIDD)

5. Federal Government Definition • Intellectual Disabilities means significant sub average general intellectual functioning, existing with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period, that adversely affects a child’s education performance.

6. AAID Definition • Intellectual Disabilities are a disability characterized by significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills. This disability originates before age 18.

7. Accompanies the AAIDD Def. • 1. Limitation in present functioning must be considered within the context of community environments typical of the individual's age peers and culture. • 2. Valid assessment considers cultural and linguistic diversity as well as differences in communication and in sensory, motor, and behavioral factors. • 3. Within and individual, limitations often coexist with strengths.

8. Accompanies the AAIDD Def. Cont. • 4. An important purpose of describing limitations is to develop a profile of needed supports. • 5. With appropriate personalized supports over sustained period, the life functioning of the person with mental retardation generally will improve.

9. Mild/Moderate IQ Range • Mild: IQ range of 50 to 69 • Outcomes: Learning difficulties, able to work, contribute to society • Moderate: IQ range of 35 to 49 • Some independence in self-care, need support for work and community living

10. Simple Definition • 1. Sub-average general intelligence • 2. Adaptive behavior impairment • 3. Having occurred during the developmental period • 4. Must be aversive to students education

11. Sub-Average General Intelligence • Sub-Average General Intelligence – IQ score is two standard deviations below the mean of an IQ test. • Mean of an IQ test - 100 • Standard Deviation 15 • Students cannot be eligible for services on this requirement alone.

12. Adaptive Behavior Impairment • Adaptive Behavior: age-appropriate behaviors needed to live independently • Personal Hygiene • Money management • Social skills • Personal Responsibility

13. Characteristics • Motivation • Attention • Sociobehavior • Academic • Memory • Generalization

14. Poor Motivation • Motivation - focuses student’s attention, emotions, and activity • Repeated Academic Failure = Poor Motivation • Most student’s motivation is based on external loci of control.

15. Locus of Control • Internal Locus of Control – Positive and negative events happen because of individual • External Locus of Control – Positive or negative events are beyond their control

16. External Locus of Control • Underdeveloped sense of Self-Determination • Learned Helplessness - Belief that failure will crown the most extraordinary efforts • Outer Directedness - Relying on situational or external cues for guidance

17. What can we do? • Set them up for success! • Communicate positive expectations – Tell them what you expect of them • Organization – Class Folders

18. What can we do? Cont. • Create realistic instructional goals – What can they do? • Provide Immediate Feedback – Be polite, be right, move on • Teach to deal with Failure– Everybody falls . . . Getting up is the hard part

19. Attention • Lack of Sustained Attention – Can’t focus for long -Attention Span • Lack of Selective Attention – Don’t know what to focus on -Distractibility

20. Attention Strategies • Remove the excess – Get to the point. • Chunking– Group liked information together. • Familiar Examples– Activate prior knowledge

21. Attention Strategies Cont. • Stress importance– Explain why it’s important • Self-Monitor – Teach checklist skills • Provide Frequent breaks – Build breaks into lesson plans

22. Sociobehavior Characteristics • Unable to read social cues: Students can’t pick up on non verbal cues • Easily taken advantage of: Students are desperate to fit in, will do anything • Personal Space: Must be taught personal bubbles

23. Sociobehavior Characteristics cont. • Unaware of inappropriate behavior– teach examples and nonexamples • Hyperactive – trouble staying calm • Low Self-Esteem – result of repeated failures

24. Sociobehavior strategies • Practice PracticePractice • Peer Reinforcement –Peer buddies, general ed. students • Reinforce appropriate behavior– Praise appropriate behavior • Model appropriate behavior

25. Academic • Delay in acquiring Reading, Math, and Writing skills • Problems with: • Decoding • Comprehension • Fluency • Math computations

26. Academic Strategies • Mnemonics – for remembering rules • Repeated readings - for fluency • Math - Concrete, Semi-Concrete, and Abstract • Direct Instruction/MLT

27. Memory • Long Term – Same as non-disabled students • Short Term: Lack Selective Attention • Delay in learning sets – remembering rules to apply for certain tasks • Problems with Generalization

28. Memory Strategies • Group Information • Teach Mnemonics • Acronyms – First letter of each word combines to make a word. Ex. HOMES – Lake Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Eerie, Superior • Acrostics – Every Good Boy Does Fine

29. Generalization • Difficulties in performing learned tasks in different setting with different people • Not able to recognize already known skills needed in different settings

30. Generalization Strategies • Practice skill until mastery • Practice must be realistic • Multiple opportunities • Stress meaningful content

31. The Vicious Cycle of Intellectual Disability Characteristics • Due to the sociobehavior characteristics, students feel peer rejection. This causes them to withdraw from others and from engaging in their education. • Due to the lack of engagement, the student’s motivation is decreased which leads to little to no effort and poor grades • This creates a sense of failure and rejection leading to a vicious cycle

32. References • Mastropieri, M.A, Scruggs, T.E. (2010) The Inclusive Classroom: Strategies for Effective Differentiated Instruction. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. • Smith, D.D, Tyler, N.C. (2010). Introduction to Special Education. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.