Special Education Team: Educating Students with Intellectual Disability BY n;curricular SPED ;ream Grand Canyon University Intellectual disabilities (ID) in education require proper planning. Collaboration. Communication, accommodations, modified lessons, and detailed individualized Instructions. Intellectual disabilities affect many aspect of a person dally life with a variety of emotional, mental, social, and physical characteristics Joseph P. Kennedy Jar. Foundation, n. D. ). Intellectual disabilities are also known as mental retardation (National Institute of Health, 2010).
When educating students diagnosed with intellectual disabilities individual education plans (PEP) play a large role in the education process and ensure disabled students are meeting goals, reaching academic milestones, and progressing correctly. Designing a SPED (special education team) is essential for educating students with intellectual disability. A SPED should consist of a regular education teacher, a special education teacher, parents of the student, and health care professional or organization in the community.
For ESP. 351 my designed SPED will consist of special education teacher, Mrs.. Branding Hoffman, regular education teacher, Ms. Amy Kelly, parents of the students within the classroom, and the Stars Community Outreach Organization. Mrs.. Hoffman is a special education teacher at the elementary school I have been observing in and has been in special education for 13 years and at the school for 7 years. Ms. Kelly has been teaching regular education for 10 years at the school I complete practicum hours.
The Stars Community Outreach Organization Is an established facility that assists all people struggling with a variety of disabilities, birth to elders. The Stars Community Outreach Organization helps with doctors, therapies, community involvement, events, shopping, transportation, employment, education, financial assistance, and much more. The facility also offers daycare for disabled children whom parents need childcare for. Communication, collaboration, and consistency will this SPED team will ensure students are provided with a free appropriate and equal education.
Module 1 required students to perform an interview with a special and regular education teacher to gather background information on terminology, law, identification of ID, classification of ID, accommodations for students with ID, and ‘OFF narcoleptics AT learning Ana social aspects AT living Walt ID I en Interview process gave me great insight into teaching students with intellectual disabilities. The initial topic of the interview with both teachers was identifying ID within students. Mrs.. Hoffman had more detailed ways of identifying ID within students and classifying them according to their specific needs and characteristics of ID.
Ms. Kelly had ways of identifying ID students within regular education classrooms. Both teachers expressed the notion that typically children with ID are diagnosed prior to beginning school and laced on Peps with SPED teams developed prior to beginning education. Ms. Kelly said “Students struggling with learning and building relationships with peers and interacting social are expressing early signs of a disorder or disability and should be observed and tracked to ensure students are getting what they need from their education. Mrs.. Hoffman said identifying ID in students is easier than identifying other disabilities because ID affects so many aspects of a student’s daily life. We discussed the characteristics of ID students which are social, emotional, mental, and hysterical. Mental characteristics affect the student’s ability to learn and process knowledge gained. Physical characteristics can include impair motor skills, ability to communicate, and physically perform activities and tasks in the classroom.
Emotional characteristics can be classified when students are emotionally unstable or have behavior issues that disrupt themselves from learning or classmates. Social characteristics can be adjusting to change, building relationships, and using appropriate social skills while interacting with people in social settings. Classification of ID students was the next topic of the interview. Classifying ID students can be difficult agreed both the regular and special education teachers. Classifying intellectual disabilities can be categorized into these several groups, borderline, mild, moderate, severe, and profound (Kerr, 2008).
Mrs.. Hoffman discussed how categorizes vary and allow teachers to classify students with different severities of intellectual disability. Ms. Kelly recommended students with moderate, severe, and profound levels of intellectual disabilities are placed in special education lasses full time with some interaction with regular education students. Mrs.. Hoffman explained how borderline levels of ID are classified as functioning but slower learners than normal students. Additionally we conversed about ID student’s ability to learning, organize knowledge, recall knowledge, and their social skills.
Both teachers agreed that students with ID need to be taught skills in order to learn, organize knowledge, or recall knowledge. Ms. Kelly suggested using retrieval cues, memory books, and taped lessons to help students retain information but depending on severity of the ID is owe effective the methods will be. Mrs.. Hoffman detailed how learning is difficult for students with ID because IQ levels are below normal and the students cannot master the ability to gain skills essential for learning.
Students with ID have difficulties with social skills because the learning aspect is not present in these students and they do not learn how to adapt to social settings and changes quickly Joseph P. Kennedy Jar. Foundation, n. D. ). Teaching should teach students social skills by establishing rules and consequences, keeping them accountable for their actions, modeling appropriate social behaviors, skills, and conduct, and incorporating social skills within the lessons and classroom.
Additionally keeping their actively involved in activities and community events wall Nell teen gal. social Skills Ana De addle to accost to social settings. Working in small groups or whole class groups can help ID students learn how to interact with peers. Special and regular education teachers can help ID students gain social skills and abilities to learn. Intellectual disabilities affect students in a variety of ways because of characteristics present, severity of disability, and prior intervention.
Teachers can collaborate with each other, parents, community organizations, and health care providers to appropriately accommodate ID students and provide them with an adequate equal education. Teachers need to build basic life skills with ID students to ensure they are able to function adequately in general life and possess the ability to learn. Educators are responsible to educate all students through proper accommodations and interventions. Providing students with an PEP and SPED team will ensure they are being educated to meet milestones and academic goals
