Teaching Students with Low Incidence Disabilities

1. Teaching Students with Low Incidence Disabilities Focus on characteristics of Adolescents

2. What are low-incidence disabilities: Rarer, and often more severe or noticeable disabilities. • The categories for low-incidence disabilities are: • Multiple Disability • Deaf-Blindness • Autism • TBI • Orthopedic Impairment • Hearing Impairment • Other health impairments • Developmental Delay • Visual Impairments

3. Characteristics All of these share four characteristics • They are uncommon, with prevalence staying the same throughout the years. • The assumption that an uncommon disability is always a severe disability • They tend to be more visible, and can be more easily identified by a non-expert • You will likely not teach many of these students.

4. Developmental Cognitive Delay: Rationale and Prevalence Among Adolescents • IDEA ‘04 • Young students, between the ages of 3 to 9, are to be labeled as developmentally delayed • Preventing from forcing a diagnosis that may be incorrect. Reason: Only a small number of disabilities can be diagnosed in young children accurately. Prevalence In Adolescents: Analysis varies between as low as 0.5% to 3 %

5. Issues in Labeling DCD • Two main reasons for the DCD label: • Experts do not want to hang a potentially incorrect diagnosis on a child • A child may just be developing slowly and will later catch up to peers. • These children vary widely in their educational needs, some have very mild disabilities while some have very severe disabilities, so a wide variety of accommodation is needed. • Additionally, as individuals grow, the effect of disability on development is as profound as development has on the observed problems of disability

6. Accommodations for Students with Developmental and Chronic Disabilities Overall most accommodation has to be tailored to the individual student, as each child is unique in their needs. • Here are some good starting points in creating accommodations for these students: • Teach sequentially as necessary • For example, one concept or activity component at a time • Task analysis: • Teaching one step at a time to help support memorization and sequencing • Individualized and small group instruction when possible • Provide multiple opportunities to practice skills in a number of different settings • Use physical and verbal prompting to guide correct responses, and provide specific verbal praise to reinforce these responses Not All Students Will Respond to the Same Approaches or Techniques.

7. For most of these students, accommodations often take place in a mainstream classroom. Overall, evidence suggests that these students can learn better when taught alongside their peers, not when separated However, many students with severe or profound disabilities do not often get accommodations within a mainstream classroom but instead are served in more restrictive special schools or classrooms with students of (presumed) similar conditions. This trend will likely continue for some time because of limited support for the resources needed for finding accommodations and strategies for these students in mainstream classes.

8. References Bradley, E. A., Thompson, A., & Bryson, S. E. (2002). Mental retardation in teenagers: prevalence data from the Niagara region, Ontario. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 47(7), 652-659. Robinson, N. M., Zigler, E., & Gallagher, J. J. (2000). Two tails of the normal curve: Similarities and differences in the study of mental retardation and giftedness. American Psychologist, 55(12), 1413. Emerson, E. (2003). Prevalence of psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents with and without intellectual disability. Journal of intellectual disability research, 47(1), 51-58. Resources: http://www.projectidealonline.org/v/intellectual-disabilities/ http://www.brighthubeducation.com/special-ed-learning-disorders/104639-modificatons-for-students-with-intellectual-disabilities/ http://do2learn.com/disabilities/CharacteristicsAndStrategies/DevelopmentalDelay_Strategies.html https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/treatments-approaches/educational-strategies/common-modifications-and-accommodations