Category: Disabilities

How to Help with Language Delays

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Children with learning disabilities often have difficulty/delays with spoken language and word recognition. If you’re asking yourself how to help with language delays, the following how-to guide provides some helpful insight in teaching these principles to those with learning disabilities and many of the idea can also be applied to their peers, so that all students can achieve academic success. These ideas can be used by all caregivers for consistency and to help the child succeed in all environments.

Spoken language is often first found as a delay in toddlers. A parent may notice that their child is not using the same number of words as their peers and perhaps cannot produce many of the same sounds. Often the parent may seek advice from their pediatrician and then be referred to the appropriate services. In Arizona, children zero to three are referred to Arizona Early Intervention Program, AZEIP. The child then goes through an evaluation process with multi-disciplinary professionals. This is often when delays are identified and appropriate services, such as Speech-Language therapy and Early Intervention, are deemed appropriate. For children with speech delays, there is often much hope at this point that the intervention will help to resolve any learning disabilities that the child may have later on.

The teaching techniques include, but are not limited to:

  • Teach in the child’s natural environment where the same principles can be applied daily, so that the child can have more time to learn skills. This means that the parents have the greatest responsibility as they see the children the most.
  • Teach at the child’s developmental level and not the age level, so that the child can get individualized instruction that is appropriate for them. This means looking at the whole child. What do they like? How can you get them to engage?
  • Constantly engage the child in verbal communication where output is rewarded, so that the child gets used to hearing their voice and knows that sound is socially appropriate. This can start as soon as the baby is born, but it’s never to late. It just might seem to have slower progress.
  • Play helps keep the child engaged and learning social rules, like turn taking. Games are great at this. Join a play group or just get down and engage with the child.
  • Feeding and swallowing techniques, or oral motor stimulation, may be used to promote the child’s oral awareness and functioning. For example, the child may have low oral motor strength/ tone and therefore not be able to produce appropriate sounds. Bubbles, pin wheels, and shakes can all help to promote oral strength.

Supports Available for Children with Mental Retardation

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According to the American Association on Mental Retardation (2004), it is important to consider the adaptive behavior components that the child processes. These can be broken into three components: conceptual, social, and practical . The conceptual component includes language, reading, writing skills, money concepts, and self-direction. The social component includes responsibility, self-esteem, gullibility, ability to follow rules and laws, and the ability to avoid victimization. The practical component includes the individual’s ability to perform daily living tasks, such as bathing, and the ability to have a future occupation.

There are lots of supports available for children with Mental Retardation. After considering their needs, it is important to find the support for them to fulfill their needs. Some things that might be necessary are considering the appropriate teacher and classroom environment. Throughout a child’s life, they may need other additional supports such as therapists, respite providers, financial support, employee assistance, in-home living assistance, befriending, health assistance, behavioral support, and extra help with community access and use (Drew, 2005).

With so many professional in the child’s life, it is imperative to look at the different techniques available to the child. According to Drew (2003), there are three different techniques: transdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, and interdisciplinary. A transdisciplinary approach includes a primary therapist, usually the child’s therapist, which uses no specifically focused discipline, but instead focuses on the needs of the individual in-service (Drew, 2005). The lead therapists may consult other professionals in order to better support the child’s needs. A multidisciplinary approach includes a lot of different individuals that each work with the child on their specific discipline (Drew, 2003). For example, a child might receive occupational therapy, speech therapy, and physical therapy, but these professionals do not exchange information to work as a team but instead each focuses on their specific therapy goals. An interdisciplinary approach includes lots of providers that share information with one another, but each focus on their own discipline. The same speech, occupational, and physical therapists, under interdisciplinary approach, can use more overlap to as a team address important issues to the family and perhaps sooner meet the goals set by the family for the child. Many believe that collaboration is best as it can help to achieve the child’s ideal goals. Normally the goals are set by the family in support by the professionals during either an IFSP’s, individual family service plan, an IEP’s, individual education plans, and/or an ISP’s, individual service plans. In order to reach collaboration, it is important for providers to attend these meetings. Some other options for collaboration include technological approaches. No matter the approach that the providers take, it is most important that they are making the effort to connect to one another.

Research has found that predominantly more children with disabilities are born into poverty levels (Drew, 2005). This does not mean that children with mental retardation are not found in every socioeconomic class as there is also a genetic link to Mental Retardation, but there is a link with poor-health care and poverty to higher rates of developmental disability (Drew, 2003). This can help to explain why so many children with disabilities are from culturally different backgrounds. It has also been speculated that perhaps the social norm of IQ tests and other norm-referenced assessments do not give adequate allowance on the diversity of cultures behavioral differences and language barriers (Drew, 2003). It is important for professionals to evaluate the best way to service a family. They should think about the language of the family to give the child a fair assessment and to make sure that the family fully understands the child’s education and health. It is also important that the professionals consider the cultural views of the family on school, disabilities, health, and parent-teacher interaction. Professionals should also make sure that the family has transportation or is willing to meet at a different location.

For professionals, families, and children, there are many options and considerations to take into account once a child is diagnosed with Mental Retardation. It is important that everyone keep the family and child’s best interest in mind, so that the child can succeed in reaching their goals and fulfilling their individual potential.

References

American Association on Mental Retardation. (2004). Definitions of mental retardation. Retrieved November 1, 2005, from http://www.aamr.org/Policies/faq_mental_retardation.shtml

Drew, C. J., & Hardman, M. L. (2003). Mental retardation: A life cycle approach (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.

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Foundations for Understanding Emotional Disabilities

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Emotional behavioral disorders, EBD, affect many children. This article will give you the basics to understanding emotional disabilities.

EBD refers to a wide range of disorders and as such is hard to define in one single sentence with one single thought. EBD can co-exist with other disorders and can include disorders such as, schizophrenia, affective disorders, anxiety disorders, or individuals who have other sustained disturbances of behavior, emotions, attention, or adjustment (NASP, 2005). It is defined as “An emotional disability characterized by one or more of the following: Displayed pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression, consistent or chronic inappropriate type of behavior or feelings under normal conditions, inability to learn that cannot be adequately explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors, displayed tendency to develop physical symptoms, pains, or fears associated with personal or school problems, inability to build or maintain interpersonal relationships with peers and/or teachers” (Georgia Department of Education, 2002). EBD can affect the child’s relationships, attention, goals, development level, maturity, self-care, academic progress, and social adjustment.

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As the definition is flexible, the history within emotional and behavioral disorders has also fluctuated in ways to deal with emotional and behavioral disorders, as well as, what is included within the definition of emotional behavioral disorders. There has been development on the causes of EBD. The child’s emotional and behavioral health may have links with the genetical make up, their temperament, brain disorders, the community, the school, and/or the home. Children with emotional behavioral disorders have found education in a variety of places. For example, there are boarding schools, mental health hospitals, home schooling, and options within the public school system (Heward, 2003).

Each child is different and as such the disability will effect them differently. Some children become introverted while others lash out. It is important to watch for warning signs that something is wrong with your child. If you have questions, as other caregivers, teachers, and your doctor. Once diagnosis is given individual plans can be worked with your child’s specific needs in order to help them be successful.

References:

Georgia Department of Education. (2002). Retrieved September 11, 2006 from http://www.glc.k12.ga.us/builderv03/lptools/lpshared/pdf/comp_ebd.pdf

NASP. (2005). Retrieved September 10, 2006 from http://www.nasponline.org/information/pospaper_sebd.html

Wikipedia. (2006). Mental Illness. Retrieved September 10, 2006 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_illness

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Development of Students with Learning Disabilities

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All children develop differently, however, there are common trends and milestones that many children exhibit. Students with learning disabilities may perform differently in academic and social-emotional development. The following lists some differences between the academic and social-emotional development of students with and without learning disabilities.

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Students with Learning Disabilities

Academic

  • Language
    • Smaller vocabulary
    • Use shorter sentences
    • Difficulty adjusting language toward listener
    • Difficulty interpreting others
    • May have difficulty with on-going conversations
  • Struggle with disappointing their school’s, parents’, and their own expectations (Smith, 2004)

Social-Emotional Development

  • Learned helplessness
    • Children feel defeated before they begin assignments/projects
    • Children credit success to luck
  • Social Imperceptiveness (Smith, 2004)
    • Poor perception of self which leads to less peer acceptance
    • “Lack insight into the affect, attitudes, intentions, and expectations others communicate verbally and nonverbally” (Smith, p 274).

Students without Learning Disabilities

Academic

  • Language
    • More complex vocabulary
    • Longer, more grammatically complex sentences
    • Easily hold on-going conversations
  • Find more success in completing projects, tests, and other assignment to the standards set by themselves and others

Social-Emotional Development

  • Learned success
    • Children have more self-esteem and can apply this to find success in academics and with peers
    • Contribute success to self
  • Social Competence
    • Ability to easily communicate
    • Ability to relate to others
    • Can alter language and behavior for different settings and with different people
    • Has a wide variety of relationships, including friends

Reference

Smith, C.R., (2004). Learning Disabilities: The Interaction of Students and Their Environments (5th ed.). New York: Pearson Education, Inc.

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Visual Impairments

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Those with visual impairments can find many challenges in education and in their social environments. By educators being prepared and open toward including those with these impairments, they can help to bridge the gap in the children’s development. Children can also find help through specialized programs and organizations. It is important for the teachers, parents, and students to explore all of their options available to the child and pick the best environment for the child in order to maximize their education and quality of life.

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Visual Impairments

Sight involves many complex processes, so that individuals can explore their world through pictures. It takes a part of the eye to filter light through, part to convert the light energy into electrical energy, and then the brain has to translate that into objects/pictures (Turnbull et Al, 2002). When part of this process is damaged at birth or later in an individual’s life, this will lead to visual impairments (Turnbull et Al, 2002). There are three main classifications for the visual impairments within schools: low vision, functionally blind, and totally blind (Turnbull et Al, 2002). If a student is obtaining no valuable information from their sight, then they are considered to be totally blind, but when the student is using their sight to enhance the information that they primarily obtain through their other primary senses, they are classified as functionally blind (Heward, 2003). If the child, however, uses their sight as their primary source for obtaining information and sometimes uses other senses to enhance this information, then they are considered to have low vision (Heward, 2003). To be legally blind a person must have a field of vision that is limited to seeing only twenty percent of their field of vision, which is clinically measured by a professional (Turnbull et Al, 2002).

When a child has any vision loss, they are often confronted with additional issues that interfere with obtaining an education. When it does interfere with education, the child is considered by the definition provided by IDEA to have a visual impairment (Turnbull et Al). The impairment can hinder the child’s self-concept and environmental interactions and exploration. A teacher can assist the child by providing a wide array of experiences where the child can discover the world around them with their other senses (Turnbull et Al, 2002). Through exploring the world, they can expand their vocabulary, fine motor, and cognition skills. It is also helpful to have the children interact with their sighted peers, so that they can build friendships and experience appropriate social interaction, which can in turn help to build self-concepts. It is also important for educators to incorporate assistive learning technology and to be aware of their communication with the child, as often those with sight communicate through physical cues, which those with vision impairments cannot see.

As there are many obstacles for a child with vision impairments to overcome, they can become active in the social experiences available to them. In Arizona, there is the Arizona Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the Foundation for the Blind, the School for the Deaf and Blind, Arizona Industries for the Blind, Arizona Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and many others. These groups offer opportunities for those whom are blind to interact with others that are experiencing the world similarly, through social events, special classrooms/schools, and group therapy.

References

Turnbull, Rud, Ann Turnbull, Marilyn Shank, Sean Smith, & Dorthy Leal (2002). Exceptional Lives: Special Education in Today’s Schools(3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Merrill Prentice Hall.