Intellectual Disabilities

Students with Intellectual Disabilities tend to have a variety of challenges that must be supported on a daily basis. Many of these individuals have trouble processing, storing, generalizing, remembering, and using metacognitive skills (2015, August 11). Class Lecture. They will also have difficulty with reading, writing, spelling, language, and other literacy skills (2015, August 11). Class Lecture. It is very important for teachers to know what the student’s strengths and weaknesses are so that they can determine how they can help them in the classroom and in daily life activities.

Assistive Technology (AT) is a must with these types of students and should be introduced at the earliest age possible (Evmenova, Ault, Bausch, Warger, 2012, p. 1-2). The AT should also be used throughout various settings and not just within the classroom. An article that I read lists 7 areas in which AT should be used and how it can help the students overcome many challenges. I would like to discuss each area and provide some examples of AT that would help students with intellectual disabilities be more successful in life.

The first area that the individual will need assistance in is “home living”. This area includes skills that are used at home such as brushing your teeth, dressing and undressing, eating, and bathing (Evmenova, Ault, Bausch, Warger, 2012, p. 1-2). The picture below is an example of a built up handle for different utensils that the student will use throughout their home environment. It can be adapted for not just eating utensils, but for other items that the student may have trouble holding or grabbing.

 [Untitled photograph of built up handles]. Retrieved from http://www.easycomforts.com/easycomforts/images/p345274b.jpg

The second area that the individual will need assistance in is “community living”. This includes learning how to use public transportation, shopping, and recreational activities (Evmenova, Ault, Bausch, Warger, 2012, p. 1-2). The picture below is a battery controlled card shuffler. I would have never thought this would be an example of AT but I could definitely see where someone might have trouble shuffling cards. Cards can be a fun game that everyone can play and this way the individual can participate in the shuffling part.

[Untitled photograph of a battery controlled card shuffler]. Retrieved from http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41YwzTKQ56L._SY355_.jpg

The third area that the individual may need help in is “lifelong learning”. This includes learning to play with others and having experiences interacting with peers around them (Evmenova, Ault, Bausch, Warger, 2012, p. 1-2). An example of AT that would help the individual learn more about life would be audio books. By listening to stories the individual can learn more about other people and how to interact with those around them.

[Untitled photograph]. Retrieved from http://cdn3.openculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/bigstock_Audio_book_14340599-e1330386218724.jpg.

The fourth area that the individual may need help in is “employment”. This includes getting a job and maintaining the skills required for that job (Evmenova, Ault, Bausch, Warger, 2012, p. 1-2). A great way to make sure that this individual succeeds in this area is to provide a lot of video modeling so that they can see what they need to do. Once the individual got the job, I would have someone video tape the other co-workers to show this individual what exactly they need to do.

[Untitled photograph of someone video recording]. Retrieved from http://apostrophemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/employeessuccess-600x275.jpg

The fifth area that an individual may need assistance with is “health and safety”. We want to make sure that the individual is maintaining a healthy diet, exercising, and taking proper medication when needed (Evmenova, Ault, Bausch, Warger, 2012, p. 1-2). A life alert watch may be a great way to encourage independence but still have a way to ensure the individuals safety in case of an emergency.

[Untitled photograph of life alert watch]. Retrieved from https://www.alert-1.com/data/uploads/media/image/one%20button.jpg

The sixth area that an individual may need assistance in is “social activities”. This is all about the social skills and making friends and having positive relationships in their life (Evmenova, Ault, Bausch, Warger, 2012, p. 1-2). A great app that can help with social skills is Photo Tell. The individual can post pictures and then add an audio caption to each one. This can allow the student to have their own photo story and share it with others.

 

[Untitled photograph of Photo Tell app]. Retrieved from http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/mobileapps-e1398032068301.jpg

The last area of assistance is in “protecting and advocacy”. This entails dealing with money and legal responsibilities (Evmenova, Ault, Bausch, Warger, 2012, p. 1-2). A great tool for this would be some online training about ADA. You can do it with the student and then discuss things one on one to inform them of their rights.

All of these are just some of the great tools to help assist individual with ID. I hope you got some great ideas and tools from this blog. Enjoy!

Students with a Learning Disability

          Students that have a learning disability are yet another unfamiliar group that I have not encountered in my own teaching experiences. During Dr. Fecich’s online class, I learned that a learning disability hinders a child’s ability to think, learn, spell, do math, speak, write, and read (2015, August 4). Class Lecture. For whatever reason a child has a learning disability, this means that they will struggle to learn the most important aspects of school which could cause them to fall behind if not made aware of to their primary teachers. As educators, we need to be mindful of the fact that these students may not look like they have a certain type of disability, but might need more assistance and classroom preparation than others who you can tell have a disability.

            One group of students that fascinate me are those students with ADD and ADHD. I think that these students in particular are misconstrued for having bad behavior, whereas they really just need more organization and varying opportunities to learn. These students will have difficulty remembering things, focusing on certain tasks, remaining still for long periods of time, and tend to interrupt when others are speaking (2015, August 4). Class Lecture. Some examples of varying the content, process, and product are providing guided notes for class lectures, showing videos, broadcasting podcasts, enlarge print for certain worksheets, allow for students to present information, working in groups, and providing more time for assignments. The teacher must plan their lesson with multiple adaptations to keep the student engaged but also help the student to control their behaviors and to learn to act appropriately in class.    

            I found a great news clip on YouTube that shares a story about a school in New Hampshire that is dedicated to students with learning disabilities such as ADD and ADHD. One of the driving factors for this school is to get students off of the medication that they are taking for their disability and to help the students learn to self-regulate. Eventually, they want these students back into a general education classroom where they can work independently once they have mastered the skills taught in this special school. Some examples of the assistive technology that the students use at this school are lap tops, exercise balls to sit on, fresh air, and many manipulatives. They call their teaching style, “energy mindfulness”. The teachers want the students to be aware of their thoughts and try to focus them in on what the students like rather than what the state requires. Take a look!

WMUR-TV. (2014. July 4.). School takes unique approach to teaching kids with ADHD.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qBQKOos6SU. 

Autism and Speech and Language Disorders

[Untitled photograph of autism]. Retrieved from http://www.baylor.edu/content/imglib/1/8/8/8/188841.jpg

As a student teacher, I have not had much experience teaching students with autism. I have had the chance to observe these students in different settings, but I have not actually had to teach to them, especially by myself. After learning about these students, I realized that I might come across more students with autism than any other single disability in my classroom. I think it is important to be very knowledgeable on how to teach these students so that I can educate them on how to be more independent and successful in their future. I started to do some research from the tools Dr. Fecich gave to us in class and I found one website that listed a variety of apps for students with autism (Autism Speaks, 2015, "Autism Apps," para. 1). If you go to autismspeaks.org/autism-apps, you will find a hand full of apps available for your class.

The first app that I reviewed was all about organization. It is called 4KidShare (Autism Speaks, 2015, "Autism Apps," para. 1). Since students with autism have difficulty with organization, this tool is great for keeping track of events and homework. The student can actually pick a date and then do an audio clip of what they need to do for that time frame. This gives them more independence by allowing them to input the event rather than someone else writing it down for them.

https://www.autismspeaks.org/autism-apps/4kid-share

The second app that I reviewed was called ABA Flashcards (Autism Speaks, 2015, "Autism Apps," para. 1). We discussed the usage of flashcards a lot in class and building the students language. This app allows you to make your own flashcards using audio or using text. 

https://www.autismspeaks.org/autism-apps/aba-flashcards

This last app is one that I thought could be used in one of my personal finance classes. It is called Grocery-Gadget- Shopping List (Autism Speaks, 2015, "Autism Apps," para. 1). This app allows the students to go shopping and scan the barcode of items in order to see what you will be buying and how much it is. The app remembers your list for the next time you go. I can use this as an assignment for a unit on budgeting and even use this for all of my students. This would teach my students basic skills about budgeting that everyone should know. 

https://www.autismspeaks.org/autism-apps/grocery-gadget-shopping-list

[ Untitled photograph of speech and language disorder]. Retrieved from http://gnc.gu.se/digitalAssets/1424/1424852_speech--web-size-.jpg

When a student has a speech and language disorder, they do not necessarily have an intellectual disability. These students are struggling to express their thoughts in words and phrases by talking out loud. Because of this, I think it would be best to allow the student to write or type things that might be normally spoken out loud. However, you want the student to also have enough practice of their language in class. You should not let the student think that they can get away with writing or typing everything. The goal is to make their speech better (if possible) and to encourage them to speak out loud. For example, if I assigned my students to complete a class presentation, I would ask the student with a speech and language disability to speak less then the required time. I would still expect them to meet the time limit of the presentation, but rather use other means of presenting. Another way to differentiate would be to allow them to use a text-to-speech option. This way they are still expressing their ideas out loud to the class, but not in a way that is difficult for them. Another option I thought about would be to let the student make a video of their presentation at home so that they feel more comfortable and not have to worry about the pressures of presenting in front of people. I would give the student more time to do this, but in the end, see the same product but just on video. I think there are a lot of ways to assist students with a speech and language disability. These students should not struggle in class because a teacher does not want to adapt their instruction for them. We need to highlight their strengths and give them opportunities to be successful. These students might have the brightest minds but are unable to express themselves at a young age. 

AT for Students with a Physical Disability

Last week in class we discussed the characteristics and abilities of students with physical impairments. What surprised me the most about these students was the fact that the majority of them did not have any mental disabilities and remained at their normal grade level throughout their schooling. Assistive technology plays a huge role in these students’ lives because most of them have difficulty walking or using their hands and arms to complete daily activities. Although some of these students may be born with a physical disability such as spina bifida or cerebral palsy, some of these students might have developed their disability later in life due to a traumatic brain injury from some sort of accident. I found a video of a man who had been in a car accident from black ice that demonstrates the assistive technology that he uses to be successful in life. This man became paralyzed from his shoulders down and became wheelchair bound for the rest of his life. In the video he talks about how he would probably be stuck in a nursing home if it wasn’t for this assistive technology. I liked this video because it shows how a perfectly capable human being can have a life changing accident but still be successful in society. I also like the AT that he uses. The first one is a software program called Dragon Naturally Speaks. This tool is a voice command program for navigating and using a computer. This would be great in my computer classes but would also work for any other class. The student can use this program to take notes, to navigate programs on the computer, and can even take exams if the teacher saves it to their computer or emails it to the student. If you watch the video, you will see that the program allows you to do anything that a mouse can do.

            The other device that this man uses is a mouth stick. Since he is paralyzed from his shoulders down, he cannot use his hands to press anything. He uses this mouth stick in order to type certain things on a keyboard and to even complete daily tasks around his house. I find it amazing to see how 2 small devices can change an entire person’s life. With this type of student, even though they have lost the ability to move their arms or legs, you can almost reteach them how to use other parts of their body in order to help them cope with daily activities. Check out the video and let me know what you think!

Technology Access Center. (2015, August 3). Floyd demonstrates Dragon Naturally Speaking and ways to use a moth stick [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQW1GRaAsIQ.

Learing About Students with Hearing Impairments

Students with hearing impairments, similar to those with other impairments, have varying levels of hearing loss and experience life in different ways. For some students, the help of a small hearing aid can mean that they are living life like any other typical student. For others, they will remain in a silent world living life through all of their other senses. We as teachers need to have an understanding that even though these students cannot hear, they are still capable of doing amazing things.

One aspect of teaching to a student with a hearing impairment that I never really thought about was the environmental factors around them. I get so caught up with the typical content, process, and product aspect of teaching that I often forget about the outside factors that have a huge impact on the student’s learning. In an article by Stacie Heckendorf (2009), she discusses the environmental considerations that need to be adapted depending on the student’s level of hearing loss. For example, think about everything in a classroom that could cause the noise level to get louder and louder. Other students could be talking, doors could be shutting, desks could be moving, air and cooling systems could be going off, and let’s not forget about the coughing and blowing of the nose that students do every day. For students with a hearing loss, each one of these noises could potentially mask the sound of the teacher’s speech restricting the student from focusing on the lesson (Heckendorf, 2009).

As always, I am thinking about how I can help the students in my classroom. One of my main concerns is always about affording assistive technology for the students if the school district cannot. I found a video on YouTube that demonstrated something simple that could be used in class for students with a mild hearing impairment. This video demonstrates the use of an FM system and microphone in order to project speech loud enough for the student to hear. After watching the video, I then went online to see how much this would cost in case I had to purchase it on my own. Although some FM systems were highly expensive, I noticed that there were basic models for less than $60. I think this is very reasonable especially since all students could benefit from this and not just those with a loss of hearing. One other note that they made in the video was for the teacher to always repeat what the students said in class. We know that there are those students who like to talk very soft so we need to make sure we repeat answers and questions so that everyone can hear them. So check out the video and let me know what you think!

Wink Inc. (2015, July 24). Hearing Loss in the Classroom [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln8NHzVfJkQ