Intellectual Disability: Definition and Classification of Students

February 27, 2013Leave a comment

There are multiple issues surrounding the definition and classification of students with an intellectual disability. It is important to consider this aspect as it relates to special and regular educators as well as parents of children with an intellectual disability.

Definition of Students with an Intellectual Disability

Intellectual disabilities also referred to as Mental retardation (MR) is a generalized disorder appearing in childhood. It is characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning. It is often defined as an IQ score under 70. Once focused almost entirely on cognition, the definition now includes both a component relating to mental functioning and one relating to individuals’ functional skills in their environment. As a result, a person with a below-average intelligence quotient may not be considered mentally retarded.

Classification of Students with an Intellectual Disability

There was an overwhelming feeling that it is most important to look first at the individual. Although labels are a predominantly a strong social factor, it seems that it not only hurts the children to label them, but also the words ‘intellectual disability’ can be harsh to parents and children. Not only do people receive the label intellectual disability but sometimes also mental retardation. The label ‘retardation’ has many negative associations beyond a special needs label. Labels are needed to access not only where the child is at but also what is actually the reason for the child’s special services. This can help to find ways to help the child and better understand the child’s development. It is really hard to know how to appropriately address a child when you do not know the history of the child including their diagnosis, but at the same time the specific label ‘mental retardation’ seems to be the worst label in our social context because of how else those words are used. Intellectual disability may help to bridge the gap and the next term they use may be even better, but truly individual’s need to learn to appreciate their differences in order for stereotypes to disappear.

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getting your child to sleep alone through the night in their own bed

Getting Your Child to Sleep Alone Through the Night in Their Bed

February 20, 2013February 20, 20131 Comment

Getting your child to sleep alone through the nigh in their own bed can be challenging and exhausting. Here are some ideas to help both of you get a peaceful night’s rest.

First: Assess the child. What is enabling their sleep pattern? What steps do you need to take to change things?

Second: Assess what stage you are at. Is it an all night thing, or somewhere in the middle of the night they end up in your bed? Are they in their bed and just having a rough go of making it through the night?

Third: Take the next natural step for your child. Come up with a road map for your family and stick with it. Nothing great happens without a plan and people that will see the plan through. Think of this as your personal agreement to getting your child to sleep alone through the night in their own bed and to saving everyone’s sanity.

Ideas for your Road Map to Getting your Child to Sleep Alone…

You could: let them sleep on the floor next to your bed, let them fall asleep and move them, snuggle with them in their bed. My son’s sleep is a little out of order lately because I’ve had some recent health issues, but normally to get him to sleep where I want him to it uses a little bit of reason, a little bit of reinforcement, a little bit of love, and a little bit (or lot) of patients. It all depends on what makes your child tick and motivates them. Do they like their bed? Are you projecting any anxiety over the big kid move? Assess the full situation, take it all into account, and then lay down the rules about how the night routine is going to work. Special clocks, special doors to keep children locked in and following the plan (I like barn style kid room doors personally), and great bedding might just work. Good luck on this great adventure!

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Learning Disabilities: Definition, Rights, & Education

February 13, 2013Leave a comment

Learning disabilities are defined by IDEA, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 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.

Rights of Those with Learning Disabilities

Those with learning disabilities have rights, such as:

Entitled to an Individualized Education Plan (IEP)
An education in the least restrictive environment (LRE)

Four Key Components to Educating Those with Learning Disabilities

Motivation: Helping a child to succeed without their own motivation is impossible. Find what makes them tick or what is really going to motivate them to reaching for a better education and truly overcoming their learning disability. This may mean positive reinforcements that can be provided by the teacher or in cooperation with the parent. If money is an issue, think outside the box. Motivation can come in all shapes and sizes and once the child experiences success, they are more likely to try again without any external motivation.
Acquisition: This simply refers to them acquiring the information. People have all sorts of different learning styles, so make sure that you are teaching the child how they learn. Do they need hands on projects? Do they need flashcards? Learning comes in all shapes and sizes.
Retention: Many individuals with Learning Disabilities have a hard time remembering and recalling information. This means constant review is necessary
Performance: Having a child know information is great, but they also need to be able to apply the information both to tests and into the real world

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Educating Special Needs Children: How to Truly Help

February 5, 2013Leave a comment

Educating special needs children provides it own challenges and rewards. Children with mental retardation, autism, severe disabilities, and multiple disabilities need special education that focuses on their current developmental levels. By focusing on their current levels, instead of the information normally provided in their chronological age/grade level, the children can be given goals that they can obtain, which can lead to more successful accomplishments. Here are some ideas to help children with special needs succeed in school:

Educating Special Needs Children with Intellectual Disabilities

Intellectual disabilities include a disability characterized by significant limitation in both intellectual functioning and conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills. It is also characterized by people at or below the IQ range of 70 to 75. There are more than 250 identified causes of intellectual disabilities. They include prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal factors that may be influenced biologically and/or environmentally. Children with intellectual disabilities may have complications learning because they can have difficulties differentiating important issues/material from unimportant issues/material. They may also have problems generalizing experiences from one setting to a universal application. Because of this, it maybe helpful for teachers to stimulate real world experiences into the children’s classroom education.

The strategy of picking curriculum should include:

being team-oriented
set curricular goals
being socially valid and practical
reflecting priorities from ecological assessment
requiring active student participation in learning
fostering self-determination
be individualized so that the curriculum can achieve increased priority skills related to ecological assessment
expanded relationships with schoolmates
foster membership in the school and community
real world experiences that help them generalize information
By coming up with an individualized plan and strategy, the teacher can get the most out of the child’s learning experience.

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