Learning Disabilities: Legislation and Litigation

January 14, 2012Leave a comment

Legislation and litigation play a huge roll in the lives of those with learning disabilities and those that work with them. By the definitions that the government provides, individuals with learning disabilities receive services that aide in their education. The following will reflect on legislation and litigation and its effects on special education today.

Two of the big laws that affect those with disabilities in the US are: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, IDEA, and Americans with Disabilities Act, ADA. Learning disabilities are defined by IDEA as…

A disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia (CEC).

This definition does not include those with motor disabilities, hearing/ vision impairments, emotional disturbance, mental retardation, or cultural/economic/ environmental disadvantages that may result in learning disabilities (CEC). The definition does include: dyslexia, minimal brain dysfunction, perpetual disabilities, brain injury, and developmental aphasia. It is important to note that the IDEA definition only applies to school-aged individuals, however, learning disabilities can occur at all ages since learning is an on-going process. With this in mind, those at LD Online, have materials date September 1992, which state ADA applies to those with disabilities into their adulthood. If this is correct, it means those with learning disabilities are entitled to have access to and be accommodated in employment, transportation, public accommodations, state and local government activities, and communication.

Those with learning disabilities have varying disabilities, which may affect them in different ways and to different extents. As an educator, parent, and professional, it is possible to help those with learning disabilities to compensate for the disability. Individuals with learning disabilities may perform differently considering their familiarity with the task, complexity of the task, the environment, access to assistive devices, and other external support.

References

LD Online. (2011). From http://www.ldonline.org/

The Council for Exceptional Children. (n.d.). From http://www.cec.sped.org

Cerebral Palsy: What is It and What Can be Done to Help

January 13, 2012Leave a comment

There are many unknowns in the land of Cerebral Palsy, CP. What we do know that it is a disability of movement. It can effect a small region of the body like one hand to the whole body. It effects muscle tone, mobility, and motor skills. It normal occurs from an incident during or before birth but can occur up to three to five years of life. It happens when there is damage to the motor control centers of the developing brain. There is no cure but some therapy options can help. Depending on the region effected treatment options may include: special equipment, therapy, surgery, and alternative medicines.

The first signs of it are often noticed in babies and toddlers by missing milestones such as sitting, crawling, walking, or using both hands with out preference. When Cerebral Palsy is not with another preexisting condition, warning signs can easily be missed. I know from the cases I have worked with if it was simply a mobility issue it was diagnosed closer to a year or after. The cases I have seen earlier diagnosed had shunts or coexisting other health impairments. Once a parent suspects and issue, they should go to their doctor right away to start on the process to receiving services and getting their child the help they need. I have seen cases where a child was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy and as an adult no one would of guessed it. This does not mean your child will be completely cured, just that all hope is not lost. So follow up on therapy and equipment use, and push your child, there are great things they can overcome.

Cerebral Palsy can often coincide with other conditions. There can often be speech issues, mental retardation, pain, sleep disorders, seizures, feeding issues, learning disabilities, toileting issues, and behavioral issue. This does not mean that if your child has CP that they will have these other issues; they are simply things to look out for so that they too can receive treatment right away.

For more information, check out:
PubMed

Reading Books with Kids: Phonological Awareness

January 12, 20121 Comment

So the common knowledge is that it is important to read with your kids is important, but what are the specifics. How long should you be reading books with your kids? At what age should you start? What are they learning?

Kids are like sponges. Absorbing everything they are surrounded by, so the real question is what do you what them to absorb and what do you want them to achieve. If you would like them to have a bright education ahead of them, literacy is a key component.

The magic number seems to be 20. 20 minutes a day reading books with your kids can lead to a love of language, imagination, and stories. This can start from the time they’re in your belly but should be in place by 1-2 years old. Kids can learn so much by sharing this intimate time with you reviewing their favorite subjects. Books come on all subject manners, so if your child loves cars, animals, or sesame street, there is a book for them. They can be read in spurts throughout the day or simply at night before they go to bed. As in all parenting concepts, the best way to include things is make them work for you.

Before the age of 5, reading books with your child’s greatest impact in the world of reading is phonological awareness. This means the child can hear and play with the sounds within a word. Hearing the sounds and playing with those sounds can lead to sounding out words for writing and sounding out words to begin reading. If your child’s delayed in reading and writing, then continued practice of reading/listening to stories can help them to accomplish there goals.

Some simple tasks to increase phonological awareness are:

Sing Songs: Songs are easy for kids to follow along with, keep there interest, and have learning built in
Say Nursery Rhymes: or find rhymes that work for you and interest your child
Play Word games: from “What starts with B?” to “what starts with the same letter as ball?” to “what rhymes with ball?”

Problems While Testing Those With Mental Retardation

January 11, 2012Leave a comment

There are a variety of problems associated with assessing students with Mental Retardation, MR. It is most important to remember this population of students are individuals, and they must be evaluated as such. Each child has her/his own strengths and weaknesses. A teacher may also need to consider that there are other possible handicaps that may interfere and require additional supports. Some other disabilities that may coincide with intellectual disabilities include: visually impairment, emotionally disturbed, speech and language impairment, hearing impairment, traumatic brain injury, orthopedic impairment, and/or Autism. It is also very important to take note of any medications the child is on, as they may interfere with the child’s testing abilities. A child’s race, sex, primary language, and ethnic background need to be considered as these to could affect the testing. When assessing a child, a statement needs to be written indicating their handicapping condition is not a result of economic, environmental, or educational disadvantage.

When testing, it is important to remember?

Tests using Standard Scores must be used to qualify a child for special education. The following represents the use of Standard Scores as the rating scale, which qualifies a student for Mental Retardation.

Standard Scores:

Severe: 62 or below (55 or below for Preschool Sever Delay)
Moderate: 77 to 63
Mild: 85 to 78 (or 1 ½ standard deviations on one area)

According to the Arizona Academic Standards, assessments resulting in age equivalents and grades are to be reported as the following levels: (Ages – Grades)

Pre-Academic Functional Level: 3 – 4 Preschool
Readiness Level: 5 – 6 Kindergarten
Essentials Level: 7 – 9 1st – 3rd Grade
Foundations Level: 10 – 14 4th – 8th Grade

The characteristics of children with Mental Retardation that result in eligibility for special education include personal abilities like washing their face, domestic abilities like making their own bed, and community abilities like obeying traffic lights language. A child with an intellectual disability needs to learn these abilities, and by having extra help in special education classrooms, they have the chance to take time to learn the skill. Some other skills they may need to acquire include: Interpersonal relationships skills like imitates simple adult movements, play and leisure skills like using common household objects for play, and/or coping skills like saying “please” when asking for things. A special education classroom provides the added structure to support a student with Mental Retardation to learn basic skills at a slower pace and focus on their specific goals.It is important to remember that each student’s needs are defining by the individual and not the disability.

For more information, check out this related article:

Intellectual Disability and Different Intelligences

Special Needs: Diagnosis and Referral – What you need to know

January 10, 2012Leave a comment

When children are diagnosed with special needs at a young age, often their parents are the first to suspect problems. They can ask their doctors for referrals to a local early intervention service. In Arizona, this program is known as AZEIP, Arizona Early Intervention Program. From assessments done by those contracted through the state, the child is evaluated to determine eligibility. AZEIP’s eligibility is a 50% delay in one area, while the Division of Developmental Disabilities, DDD, is 25% delay in two areas. Children are reevaluated for special needs to enter federally funded long-term care and to enter into the school district.

If a child is not referred at a young age to AZEIP, they can be referred later by a peer, parents, teachers, principal, psychologist, self, and/or other. School district eligibility is individualized, but is often a collaboration of report, test performance, and independent evaluations. Once eligibility occurs, Individualized Education Plan, IEP, is made to clarify the child’s goals and those whom will be working with the child to reach these goals.

It is a slow process going from suspecting an issue to receiving services, so start on it as soon as possible. This process can include data collection or simply keeping track of a child over time. Waiting lists to get in to see doctors, find someone to service you, get an individual to look at your child. The process include multiple professionals and sometimes multiple company. This can simply mean more time and frustration by the parent/caregiver/individual in order to cut through all the red tape and get the services/help that is needed for the specific special needs.

It is important to find someone that will listen to you if you suspect a problem. Developmental Pediatricians specialize in children with special needs and can help give you insight to your child.

For More Information on Developmental Milestones, check out this related article:

Is My Child Different

A Child With Needs

Early child development from a mom and professional.

Month: January 2012