Autism

Autism defined by IDEA

Mari P. & Allie C.

Autism means a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age three, that adversely affects a child's educational performance. Other characteristics often associated with autism are engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines, and unusual responses to sensory experiences.

IDEA Regulations: Part 300 / A / 300.8 / c / 1 / i

Statistics

CDC Report 2012 from http://www.autism-society.org/

1 in 88 are diagnosed
1 in 54 boys 

Austim Spectrum includes:

 

Autistic Disorder

Rett syndrome

Childhood disintegrative disorder

Pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS)

Asperger syndrome

Characteristics

• Social Relationships:
  • Difficulty establishing relationships
  • Resist human contact
  • Issues with social interaction
  • Lack of eye contact
  • Uninterested in others

Communication

• Delayed language
• Struggle to maintain communication (conversations)
  • Poor communication leads to inappropriate behaviors (screaming, hitting, biting, running)
• Echolalic speech – repeat what others say

Repetitive Behaviors

Interests

• Narrow range of interests
• Can spend hours alone exploring 1 thing obessesively

Student Stress

• Tend to get stressed easily
• Difficultly dealing with stress
• Get stressed or “set off” by little things
• Often need rituals to complete tasks

Non Profit Organizations

www.autismspeaks.org

www.autism-society.org

Teacher Tips

• Create structured/predictable environments
• Establish and display clear procedure for tasks
• Establish and display rules
• Establish consistent pattern for instruction
•  Use visuals (pictures) for displaying rules and procedures
• Foster social interactions
  • Teach children with autism to take turns, wait, complete tasks, be flexible, be quiet…
• Communication
  • Variety of strategies depending on level of ASD
    • Language
    • Sign Language
    • Communication boards

Other tips:

• Social Stories: Brief stories of when certain behaviors are acceptable and not acceptable
• Picture Exchange Communication System: display picture of desired item or task…student responds…no words used
• Visual Schedules: Pictures that depict daily routines displayed in classroom and in student notebook
• Special Education Department: work with SPED to develop a plan that works with each individual student.

Resources from

http://www.autismspeaks.org/family-services/resource-library/tools-professionals

Autism Speaks School Community Tool Kit
This tool kit is intended to be a support for the general education and administrative school staff who interact with students with autism in various capacities.www.autismspeaks.org/school

Eden Autism Services Free Webinars: Teaching Students with Autism
This program provides free monthly webinars and "live chats," free lesson plans, and online discussion forums to help teachers connect and collaborate on the best practices for supporting students with autism.EffectiveStrategies for Students in Grades PreK-5
EffectiveStrategies for Students Grades 6-12

How to Set Up A Classroom for Students with Autism
A Manual for Teachers, Para-Professionals and Administratorswww.autismclassroom.com

Skills®: The Online Autism Solution
Skills® is an online tool for educators of children with autism that provides comprehensive assessment and curriculum, positive behavior support planning for challenging behavior, progress tracking and treatment evaluation all in one place.www.skillsforautism.com

Deaf-Blindness

Deaf-Blindness

Janelle B. & Chelsea E.

 

Legal Definition- Simultaneous 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.

Causes-

·         Illness

·         Accident

·         Genetic syndrome like Usher Syndrome

·         Premature birth

·         Meningitis

·         Post-natal complications

 

Characteristics-

·         Auditory impairment and visual impairment with vision loss being the primary disability

—  Auditory impairment and vision impairment with auditory impairment as the primary disability

—  Auditory impairment and blindness; deafness and visual impairment, and deaf-blindness

—  Congenitally Deaf-Adventitiously Blind

—  Congenitally Deaf-Blind

—  Adventitiously Deaf-Blind

—  Adventitiously Deaf-Congenitally Blind

Degrees

—  Hard of Hearing-Blind

—  Hard of Hearing-Visually Impaired

—  Deaf-Visually Impaired

—  Deaf-Blind

Challenges

·         Dependent on others

·         Communication

·         Navigating surroundings

·         Finding social, living, and employment situations

·         Reaction from others because of differences

  Learning Strategies-

—  Talk with student (where possible) to see what resources they require.

—  Assisted Listening Devices- Small device worn by instructor that increases volume and clarity of lecture.

—  Interpreter

—  Note takers

—  Tutors

—  Readers

—  Handouts that are converted into students preferred reading style (i.e. braille)

—  Large Print/Braille Materials or Taped Textbooks

—  Reading Machines

—  Audiovisual Materials

—  Oral tests, extended test time, reading machine, better lighting and possibly test converted to braille 

Additional Resources

—  http://nichcy.org/disability/specific/deafblindness

—  http://www.nationaldb.org/ISSelectedTopics.php?topicID=941&topicCatID=24

—  http://www.hknc.org/

—  http://www.aadb.org/

— http://wwwcms.hutchcc.edu/...tpshtdb.pdf

—  http://www.usdb.org/deafblind/default.aspx

—  http://www.deafblindinfo.org/

—  http://www.utahbabywatch.org/index.htm

Deafness

Deafness

Benjamin S., Anna P., and Juliane R.

 

Legal Definition of Deafness: 

Deafness is defined as “a hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification.”

*Important to understand the distinction between Deafness and Hearing Impaired.

Hearing impairment is defined by IDEA as “an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.”

Characteristics of Students Who Are Deaf: 

1.      Typically no visible indicators, but students who are deaf often use hearing aides or cochlear implants to amplify sound. 

2.      Students have difficulty learning vocabulary, grammar, word order, and idiomatic expressions.

3.      Frequent requests for repetition or clarification. 

4.      Tendency to bluff when not hearing someone due to the fear of asking them to repeat themselves.  

5.      Students can lack maturity for the following reasons:

a.       Rules of etiquette are acquired through listening and imitating, which is not possible for individuals who are deaf.

b.      Students fail to develop group social skills because interactions involving multiple conversations are confusing. 

Types of Hearing Loss:

                                                                     

1.      Conductive:  Disease or obstruction in the outer or middle ear.  Students can derive benefit from hearing aids and cochlear implants.

2.      Sensorineural:  Occurs in the cranial nerve, inner ear, or central processing center of the brain.  Sensorineural deafness is very difficult to treat. 

3.      Mixed hearing loss:  Occurs in the outer, middle, and inner ear.  Hearing aides may help but have limited effect. 

4.      Central hearing loss: Damage or impairment to the nerves or nuclei of the central nervous system, either in the pathways to the brain or the brain itself.  Central hearing loss is very rare and very hard to treat. 

Suggested Learning Strategies: 

-Teacher Tips: 

1.      Reduce ambient noise in the classroom. 

2.      Face the class while presenting information. 

3.      Use appropriate body language, facial features, and signals while speaking.

4.      Stand in one location, rather than moving around the room.  Make sure the student is sitting near the teacher to facilitate lip-reading.

5.      Use visual aids as often as possible.

6.      Speak clearly, but do not exaggerate sounds while speaking.

7.      Enroll in a sign language course, or at least learn some useful signs.

8.      Create peer support

9.      Help students learn to use their residual hearing to the maximum extent possible. 

-Learning Tools: 

1.      Assigned services- including interpreters, note takers, teachers’ aides or integration assistants. 

2.      Amplification devices for students with some residual hearing

a.       Hearing aids

b.      FM system (student has a small speaker, teacher uses a small microphone)

c.       Cochlear implants (sophisticated electronic hearing device that transmit electric signals to the brain). 

3.      American Sign Language (ASL)

4.      Manually Coded English  (MCE) such as:  Signed Exact English (SEE)

5.      C-Print (a typist is present in class using standard abbreviation to capture what is being said.  Students read information on a computer screen).

6.      Teachers should include closed captioning when showing videos.  

Additional Resources: 

•      Hands and Voices (non-profit): http://www.handsandvoices.org/

•      National Dissemination Center For Children with Disabilities:http://nichcy.org/tags/deafness-or-hearing-impairment

•      National Association of the Deaf: http://www.nad.org/

•      Utah Deaf Services: http://deafservices.utah.gov/

•      Council for Exceptional Children: http://www.cec.sped.org/

•      Bright Hub Education- http://www.brighthubeducation.com/

•      American Society for Deaf Children: http://www.deafchildren.org/

Visual Impairment

VISUAL IMPAIRMENT INCLUDING BLINDNESS

Bruce A. & David S.

Definition

According to IDEA - Sec. 300.8 (c) (13)

Visual impairment including blindness means an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term includes both partial sight and blindness.

An fyi from our text book, Including students with special needs: A practical guide for classroom teachers (Friend & Bursuck, 2012) explains that the term legal blindnessmeans the vision in the best eye, with correction, is 20/200 or lower (what a person with normal vision can see at 200 feet can only be seen at 20 feet), or the visual field is 20 degrees or less (the person sees a small slice of what others can see).

 

Characteristics

According to NICHCY, common signs that a child may have a visual impairment include the following:

·         Eyes that don’t move together when following an object or a face

·         Crossed eyes, eyes that turn out or in, eyes that flutter from side to side or up and down, or eyes that do not seem to focus

·         Eyes that bulge, dance, or bounce in rapid rhythmic movements

·         Pupils that are unequal in size or that appear white instead of black

·         Repeated shutting or covering of one eye

·         Unusual degree of clumsiness, such as frequent bumping into things or knocking things over

·         Frequent squinting, blinking, eye-rubbing, or face crunching, especially when there’s no bright light present

·         Sitting too close to the TV or holding toys and books too close to the face

·         Avoiding tasks and activities that require good vision

If any of these symptoms are present, parents will want to have their child’s eyes professionally examined. Early detection and treatment are very important to the child’s development.

 

Types of Visual Impairment

Not all visual impairments are the same, although the umbrella term “visual impairment” is often used to describe an eye condition or disorder. Common visual impairments you are likely familiar with are near-sightedness and far-sightedness. Less familiar visual impairments include:

Ø  Strabismus, where the eyes look in different directions and do not focus simultaneously on a single point;

Ø  Congenital cataracts, where the lens of the eye is cloudy;

Ø  Retinopathy of prematurity, which may occur in premature babies when the light-sensitive retina hasn’t developed sufficiently before birth;

Ø  Retinitis pigmentosa, a rare inherited disease that slowly destroys the retina;

Ø  Coloboma, where a portion of the structure of the eye is missing;

Ø  Optic nerve hypoplasia, which is caused by underdeveloped fibers in the optic nerve and which affects depth perception, sensitivity to light, and acuity of vision; and

Ø  Cortical visual impairment (CVI), which is caused by damage to the part of the brain related to vision, not to the eyes themselves.

 

Teaching Strategies

 

Encourage independence:  it is often difficult for these students to become as fully independent as they are capable of being.  The classroom teacher should encourage independence as often as possible to avoid the trap of “learned helplessness.” Encourage the student to move independently through the classroom, and organize your classroom accordingly.

Communicate:  with the student, with the students’ parents, with special educators, the O & M specialist, and other teachers who have more experience than you.

Learn about the student’s specific visual impairment:  what aspects of vision are affected, and how does that affect the student’s ability to move around the classroom, see the board, or read a textbook.  Students and parents can be good sources of information.

Adapting your classroom:  account for the student’s specific visual impairment.  Place a student with low vision near the front of the room where he or she can see the blackboard. Control lighting variables when presenting learning materials to those students who are sensitive to light and glare.  Make safe lanes to walk through, and keep cupboard doors closed.

Verbal cues: for those students who cannot see body movements or physical cues, verbal cues are necessary.

Textbooks and instructional materials:  students need access to materials in the appropriate media and at the same time as their peers.  For students who are blind this may mean braille and/or recorded media. For the student with low vision, this may mean large print text or the use of optical devices to access text and/or recorded media while in class.

Use the IEP:  it serves as a guide for what the student’s goals are, and what accommodations are appropriate.