In This Issue:
How To Work with the Student with Intellectual Disabilities in the Classroom
&
How To Work with the Student with Emotional Disturbance in the Classroom
What is intellectual and developmental disability?
A student can be defined as having an intellectual and developmental disability if he/she exhibits certain learning, social and behavior patterns to a marked extent and over a prolonged period of time. Such patterns may include:
• A consistently sub-average intellectual level
• Impaired adaptive functioning in such areas as social skills, communication and daily living skills
• Consistently slow rate of learning and as a result their level of development resembles that of a younger child
• Delays in most areas of development
Some common characteristics of a mild mental disability that may be observed by the teacher over a period of time include:
• academic underachievement
• difficulty with abstract concepts
• difficulty generalizing learned concepts to new situations
• social isolation or withdrawal
• poor social relationships
• anxious and worried, excessive fears and phobias
• easily frustrated even when confronted with a simple task
• resistance to change
• short attention span
However, students who are mildly mentally disabled learn in the same way as normal students. However, adaptations and a variety of techniques need to be utilized. Consequently, certain behaviors should be targeted as priorities when dealing with mentally disabled children in the classroom. These target areas include:
• Functional academics
• General Work Habits
• Career awareness
While many or all of these areas may be exhibited by the mentally disabled child, the teacher should try to focus on one area at a time. Patience, fairness, nurturance , humor and a sense of conviction in maintaining boundaries are all aspects required by the teacher in these situations.
Helping the Child Attain Functional Academics
General
• Design practice activities in any basic skill that may relate to the child’s daily life problems.
• Provide materials that are commensurate with the child’s skill levels.
• Provide activities that will reinforce independent work. If the activity is too hard the child may become too dependent on teacher supervision.
Reading
• Provide activities that focus on reading for information and leisure
• Provide activities that require the child to become more aware of his/her surrounding environment. having the child list the names of all food stores in the community, or all hospitals and so on will increase his/her familiarity with the surrounding environment.
• Have the child collect food labels and compare the differences
• Allow them look up the names of the children’s families in the phone book. Use the smaller local guide for this activity.
• Develop activities that will allow them to become familiar with menus, bus and train schedules, movie and television timetables, or job advertisements.
Handwriting/Spelling
• Have the child make a list of things to do for the day.
• Have the child run a messenger service in the classroom so that he/she can write the messages and deliver them from one student to another.
• Provide activities for older children that incorporate daily writing skills necessary for independency such as social security forms, drivers license application, bank account applications and so on.
Math
• Have the child buy something at the school store
• Have the child make up a budget on how they plan to use his/her allowance
• Encourage the child to cook in school or at home so that they can become more familiar with measurements
• Have the child record the daily temperature
• Involve the child in measuring the height of classmates
• Have older children apply for a loan or credit card
• Show the child how to use a daily planning book
• Provide activities that teach the child how to comparison shop
• Provide the child with a make believe amount of money and a toy catalog and have them purchase items and fill out the forms.
Helping the Child Improve General Work Habits
This particular area is composed of many skill areas that are necessary to allow the child success in the regular classroom. They include:
Work Completion
• Make reward activities contingent upon successful completion of work.
• Have the child maintain a performance chart on the number of tasks completed each day
• Evaluate the length and level of an assignment to make sure it is within the ability level of the child
• Give shorter but more frequent assignments
• Build a foundation of success by providing a series of successful assignments. In this way the child can gain a sense of confidence.
Attendance and Punctuality
• Communicate to the child the importance of being on time to class
• Let the child know your expectations in clear terms concerning attendance and punctuality
• Have the child maintain a record of attendance and on time behavior,
• Develop a make believe time clock that the child has to punch in on when they enter the classroom
• encourage punctuality by scheduling a favorite activity in the morning
• Have the child sign a contract establishing the consequences and rewards of on time behavior.
Working with Others
• Provide the child with small group activities that are geared to his ability levels
• Utilize peer tutors for the child so that relationships can be established
• Have the child participate in many group activities that require sorting, pasting, addressing, folding simple assembly and so on.
• Provide the child with some simple job that requires the other students to go to him/her. For example, place him/her in charge of attendance and have him/her check off the children when they report in.
• Help the child start a hobby and then start a hobby club involving other students
• Have the child be part of a team that takes care of the class pets or some other class activity. Calling it a team will make the child feel more connected.
• Speak with the school psychologist and see if he/she can run a group in your classroom.
Helping the Child with Career Awareness
Career awareness is a skill that can be part of the classroom curriculum in many ways. Many of the skills mentioned above will enhance the child’s career skills which should focus on transitioning to adulthood.
What is emotional disturbance?
A student can be defined as having an emotionally disability if he/she exhibits certain behavior patterns to a marked extent and over a prolonged period of time. Such patterns may include:
• An inability to learn on a consistent basis which cannot be explained by intellectual capability, hearing and vision status, and physical health anomalies.
• An inability or unwillingness to develop or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers, teachers, parents, or other adults.
•Extreme over-reactions to minimally stressful situations over a prolonged period of time.
•A general pervasive mood of sadness or depression.
•A tendency to develop somatic complaints, pains or excessive fears associated with home, school or social situations.
Some common characteristics of emotional disorders that may be observed by the teacher over a period of time include:
• academic underachievement
• social isolation or withdrawal
• excessive lateness
• excessive absences
• frequent trips to the nurse
• negativism
• open defiance to authority or rules
• highly distractible
• poor social relationships
• feelings of hopelessness
• verbal aggression
• confrontational behavior
• inappropriate classroom behaviors
• impulsive behavior
• rigid behavior patterns
• anxious and worried, excessive fears and phobias
• easily frustrated even when confronted with a simple task
• resistance to change
Since the behavior of emotionally disabled children can vary from withdrawal, in the case of depression, to aggressive tendencies, in the case of a conduct disorder, teachers need to be aware of techniques which can be utilized in a variety of situations. However, certain behaviors should be targeted as priorities when dealing with emotionally disabled children in the classroom. These target behaviors include:
• Attendance and tardiness
• Challenges to authority
• Inappropriate verbalizations and outbursts
• Incomplete class work
• Difficulty remaining seated
• Social relationships
• Following directions and paying attention
While many or all of these behaviors may be exhibited by the emotionally disabled child, the teacher should try to focus on one target pattern at a time. Patience, fairness, willingness to confront inappropriate behaviors, a sense of conviction in maintaining boundaries and a fair sense of play in establishing consequences are all aspects required by the teacher in these situations.
Dealing with problems of attendance and tardiness
• Reward the child for being on time. This reward can be extra free time, a token, if a token economy is being used, a note home, a verbal compliment and so on.
• Work with the parent on rewarding on time behavior.
• Plan a special activity in the morning.
• Use a chart to visually project the pattern of punctuality and lateness for the child. This reduces the child’s level of denial and may make him more aware his behavior.
• Encourage and assist the child to start a club in his/her area of greatest interest and make participation contingent upon his positive pattern of attendance.
• Use a point system for on time attendance. These points may be later turned in for class privileges.
• Set up a buddy system if the child walks to school to encourage on time behavior.
• Set up a nightly contract for the child listing all the things he/she needs to do to make the morning easier to manage. Have the parent sign it and reward the child when he brings it in.
Dealing with challenges to authority, inappropriate verbalizations and outbursts
• Arrange a time out area in the classroom. In this case the time spent in the area is not as significant as you being able to begin the consequence and end it. Therefore make the time out period something you can control.
• Structure a time where the child is allowed to speak to you freely without an audience around. In this way, the child will have an opportunity to speak his concerns rather than act them out. It will also allow you to deflect any confrontations to that specific time.
• Approach the child as often as possible and ask him/her if there is anything bothering them that they would like to speak about. Offering them the opportunity, even if they refuse, may reduce their need for “spot light” behaviors in front of the class.
• Offer an emotional vocabulary so that the child is more able to label feelings. Tension is expressed either verbally or behaviorally. Providing the student with the proper labels may reduce frustration.
• Move the student away from those who might set him off.
• Pre-emt his/her behavior by waiting outside before class and telling him/her in private what you expect during class. Also make him/her aware of the rewards and consequences of his/her actions.
• Offer other options and indicate that any inappropriateness is his/her decision. Making the child aware that behavior is his/her responsibility allows him/her to realize that not doing something inappropriate is also in their control.
• Establish clear classroom rules stating rewards and consequences.
• Praise student for complying to rules and carrying out directions without verbal resistance.
Dealing with incomplete class work
• Work out a contract with the child where he/she can determine the rewards for completion.
• Give shorter but more frequent assignments.
• Do not force the child to write if handwriting is beyond correction. Compensate with a word processor or typewriter.
• Correct assignments as soon as possible and hand them back for immediate gratification.
• Reward students for handing in neat, completed and timely assignments.
• Help the student become organized by keeping very little in his/her desk, using a bound book for writing rather than a loose-leaf where pages can fall out and add to disorganization, use large folders for the child to keep work in and so on.
•Have students mark their own work.
• Be very specific on what you mean by “neat”, “organized”, and so on. Abstract labels have different meanings to different people. Instead say,
“Please be neat and by neat I mean….”
Dealing with the child’s difficulty in remaining seated
• Try to determine a pattern when the child gets up out of his/her seat. Once this is determined you can arrange to have him/her run an errand, come up to your desk and so on. In this way you are channeling the tension and in remaining in control.
• Use an external control like an egg timer so that the child has an anchor to control his behavior.
• Praise other students or hand out rewards for remaining in their seats and following the rules.
• Give the child a written copy of the rules that will result in reward or positive feedback. Also give him/her a list of the behaviors that will lead to consequences.
• Close proximity to the child will assist him/her in staying in his/her seat. Seat him/her close to your desk or stand near him/her during a lesson.
Helping the child develop social relationships
• Role play with another student during private time so that the child can get feedback from a peer.
• Provide the child with a “toolbox” of responses and options for typical social situations.
• Speak with the school psychologist about including him/her in a group.
• Arrange for a peer to guide him/her through social situations. The child may be more willing to model peer behavior.
• Start the child in a small group activity with only one child. Slowly increase the size of the group as the child becomes more comfortable.
• Arrange for goal oriented projects where students must work together to accomplish a task. At first limit this to the student and one other child.
• Have the child and responsible peer organize team activities or group projects. Some children raise to the occasion when placed in a leadership role.
• Praise the student as often as realistic when not exhibiting aggressive or inappropriate social behavior.
Helping the child follow directions and pay attention
• Use a cue before giving the child directions or important information.
• Give one direction at a time and make it as simple as possible.
• Have the child chart his/her own patterns of behavior in relation to attention and direction.
• Physical proximity may assist the child in focusing on your directions.
• Praise the student when he/she follows directions or pays attention. However, be aware that if some emotionally disabled students have a hard time accepting praise, especially in front of a group, accomplish this in private.
• Provide optional work areas that may have less distraction.
• Randomly question the child and try to have them participate as often as possible to increase their interest in the lesson.
• Make sure the materials being presented are compatible with the child’s learning levels. In this way you can avoid frustration which is also a cause of inattention.
• Use a variety of visual and auditory techniques, i.e. overhead projector, tape recorder, computer, to enhance the lesson and stimulate attention.
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