Intellectual Disabilities and Low Incidence Disabilities What are

Intellectual Disabilities and Low Incidence Disabilities What are low-incidence disabilities?

What is an Intellectual Disability? • IDEA definition of Intellectual Disability: o Significant sub average intellectual functioning. The word significant means a score of 2 standard deviations (SD) below the mean on a standardized intelligence test. (a score of approximately 70 or less) o The individual must be well below average in both intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior o The deficits in intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior must occur during the developmental period.

IQ Scores

What is an Intellectual Disability? (continued) • *Because the term mental retardation has outlived its usefulness and is now inappropriate, misleading, and a harmful term the term has shifted to Intellectual Disabilities. • The term intellectual disabilities covers the same population of individuals who were diagnosed previously with mental retardation.

Rosa’s Law • https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=q. HC-P 9 ESs. Dw • Rosa’s law began with Nick Marcellino, the brother of Rosa Marcellino. • Nina Marcellino, the mother of Nick and Rosa, was upset when she learned her daughter was labeled as “retarded” in her elementary school. • The “R” was not used by the Marcellino family! • October 5, 2010 President Barack Obama signed into law Rosa s Law, which changed references in federal laws from mental retardation to intellectual disability, and references to a mentally retarded individual to an individual with an intellectual disability.

Video Watch the video Not Acceptable R-word PSA NOTE: This video has strong and offensive language. You may leave the room if you choose. https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=T 549 Vo. Lca_Q Other videos: https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=i 0 -WEOm. Qtr. I If you're still not sure when it's okay to say the R-word, maybe it's time to listen to the 6. 5 million people who have intellectual disabilities in the United States alone.

Definitions of Intellectual Disability • In 1973, the AAMR(American Association on Mental Retardation stated a definition that was incorporated into IDEA which many states use for eligibility requirements • AAIDD 2002 definition • What is the AAIDD? (The American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities -an American non-profit professional organization concerned with intellectual disability and related developmental disabilities. AAIDD has members in the United States and more than 50 other countries. ) o Intellectual disability is characterized by significant limitations in both intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills. This disability originates before age 18. Heward Exceptional Children, 10 e © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 4 -7

Definitions of Intellectual Disability (cont. ) • Five assumptions essential to applying the definition o Limitations in present functioning must be considered within the context of community environments typical of the individual’s age, peers, and culture. o Valid assessment considers cultural and linguistic diversity as well as differences in communication, sensory, motor, and behavioral factors. o Within the individual, limitations often coexist with strengths. o The purpose of describing limitations is to develop a profile of needed supports. o With appropriate personalized supports over a sustained period, the life functioning of the person with intellectual disability generally will improve.

Classification of Intellectual Disabilities by IQ Score • 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 Heward Exceptional Children, 10 e © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 4 -9

Low Incidence Disabilities: • Severe disability: students with significant disabilities in intellectual, physical, and/or social functioning • Profound disability: exhibits profound developmental disabilities in all five of the following behavioral-content areas: cognition, communication, social skills development, motor-mobility, and activities of daily living • Multiple Disabilities: a combination of disabilities which causes severe educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for one of the impairments • Deaf-Blindness: hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which causes severe communication and other developmental and educational needs • Traumatic Brain Injury: an acquired brain injury caused by an external force, resulting in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairment

Identification and Assessment Assessing Intellectual Functioning • Standardized IQ tests are used to assess intelligence • Important considerations of IQ tests: o IQ is a hypothetical construct o IQ tests measures only how a child performs at one point in time on the items included on the test o IQ tests can be culturally biased o IQ scores can change significantly o IQ testing is not an exact science o An IQ score should not be used to determine IEP objectives o An IQ score should never be used as the sole basis for making decisions regarding special education services Heward Exceptional Children, 10 e © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 4 -11

Assessing Adaptive Behavior • Adaptive behavior is the collection of conceptual, social, and practical skills that have been learned by people in order to function in their everyday lives. • The adaptive skills exhibited by a person with ID are critical factors in determining the supports a student requires for success in school, work, community, and home environments. • Measurement of adaptive behavior has proven difficult because of the relative nature of social adjustment and competence. • Most instruments consist of a series of questions that a person familiar with the individual answers Heward Exceptional Children, 10 e © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 4 -12

• Characteristics: Memory: difficulty remembering information (especially short-term memory). • Learning rate: well below that of a typically developing child. • • Attention: slower to attend to relevant features of a learning task • Generalization and Maintenance of Learned Skills: trouble using their new knowledge and skills • Motivation: lack of interest in learning or problemsolving tasks, develop learned helplessness. • Self-Care and Daily Living Skills: must often be taught basic self-care skills, due to deficits in self-help skills • Social Development: making and sustaining friendships

Characteristics (cont): • Slow acquisition rates for learning new skills • Limited communication skills • Impaired physical and motor development • Students with ID are more likely to exhibit behavior problems • Completely out of touch with reality and may not show normal human emotions • Ritualistic self-stimulatory, self-injurious, aggressive behavior

Prevalence and Causes • During the 2009– 2010 school year, 460, 964 students ages 6 through 21 received special education under the category of ID. • These students represented 7. 8% of all school-age children in special education. • ID is the fourth largest disability category. • Prevalence rates vary greatly from state to state. 4 -15

Biological Causes • Prenatal causes include: o Syndromes o Chromosomal disorders o Maternal illnesses/Parental age • Perinatal causes include: o Prematurity o Birth injury o Neonatal disorders • Postnatal causes include: o o Head injuries Infections Degenerative disorders Malnutrition 4 -16

Environmental Causes • Psychosocial disadvantage occurs when no biological risk factor is evident as a cause of ID. • Environmental influences include • Poverty and malnutrition • Chronic social or sensory deprivation • Minimal opportunities to develop early language • Lack of access to prenatal or birth care • Child abuse and neglect • Parental immaturity or cognitive disability • Parental drug use or smoking • Parental lack of preparation for parenting 4 -17

Prevention • The biggest single preventive strike against ID was the development of the rubella vaccine in 1962 • Toxic exposure through maternal substance abuse and environmental pollutants are two major causes of preventable ID that can be combated with education and training • Advances in medical science have enabled doctors to identify certain genetic influences using the following screening procedures and diagnostic tests • • • Ultrasound and maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein Amniocentesis Chronic villi sampling Genetic counseling Mandatory newborn screening tests for inherited and biomedical risk factors 4 -18

Educational Approaches: • Academic Curriculum: should include the basic skills of reading, writing, and math. Curriculum needs to include Functional Academic Targets. • Functional Curriculum: these learning activities will maximize a student’s independence, self-direction, health and fitness, and enjoyment • Self Determination: this allows learners to set goals, plan and implement a course of action, and evaluate performance

Instructional Methods: • Mediated Scaffolding: providing prompts and cues • Task Analysis: breaking down complex or multi step skills • Active Student Response: active engagement o An observable response made to an instructional antecedent • Systematic Feedback: positive reinforcement o Information provided to students about their performance • Transfer of Stimulus Control: gradually and systematically withdrawing response prompts • Generalization and Maintenance: the use of what is learned across settings and over time • Direct and Frequent Measurement of Student Performance: Objective and frequent recording the performance of behavior

Educational Placement Alternatives • During the 2008– 2009 school year, 17% of students with ID were educated in the general education classroom • 27% were served in resource room programs • 48% were served in separate classes • 7% of students with intellectual disabilities are educated in separate schools, residential facilities, or home/hospital environments 4 -21