Week 15

This is what I did indvidually for my group:

Specific Learning Disability
Disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or un using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.

Students with learning disabilities have a variety of different ranges in their academic, personal, and social abilities. Some students can have IQ’s putting them in the category of gifted, while their ability to do a specific task or communicate lacks. Students who have great communication skills can also have difficulty getting what they are saying onto paper, this could also classify them for a learning disability. Students can lack social skills typical for their age due to unusual or disruptive behaviors that the students around them are not used to. Students who have dyslexia, a specific learning disability can be very intelligent but have trouble reading, writing or spelling. When experiencing these difficulties, other difficulties that might come along with them are; lack of organization and the inability to project organized ideas. Some students who are academically challenged find something they excel at, for some students this is art and others it is things like technology or other forms of art.

Students with specific learning disabilities differ from the students around them because they excel at some things while they lack others, they may look different or act differently around typical students their age. Disruptive behavior may put a social strain the student with a learning disability. Because these students have different strengths and weaknesses than the typical student, the students may look down upon them and call them “stupid” or “dumb”.

Support strategies for students with learning disabilities depend on what specific disability they have and where they struggle due to this disability. General strategies for students with processing problems would be to sit near someone who can help them study or keep focuses, break long work periods into smaller work periods, use organized study guides, and use action games for learning. An example of a strategy that could be used for students with a processing problem specifically in math would be using real life examples as the basis for their math problems. Another specific learning disability deals with speaking difficulties, general strategies for this would include, making notes ahead of time of all the main points you want to discuss and practice them before hand. While if you have a specific speaking difficulty in writing strategies, use email or another way of communication opposed to the phone. Assistive technology is also a large accommodation for students with learning disabilities, for speaking difficulties, an example of assistive technology would be using software to “read” written material. Students with writing difficulties may also need helpful strategies; one of the general strategies is to use prewriting techniques, such as graphic organizers or other similar strategies. A few examples of assistive technology for these students would be using computers for resources such as spell check or grammar checking, another would be to use inspiration software as a prewriting tool and last would be to use voice activated software. Other modifications are included in a student’s IEP and can include, a certain ration of students and teachers in a classroom, extended time on a test or being allowed to use a computer in the class while the other students are writing their work.

Students with these learning disabilities or learning disabilities similar to these are given an individualized educational program, or an IEP, the goal of these are to support the success of the students. The IEP plan is part of the six key provisions of public law 94-142 which is the Education of All Handicapped Children Act. Another key part of this act is Zero Rejection; all children with disabilities are provided a free and appropriate education. The parents of students with learning disabilities are usually a large part of their child’s education, this act insures that the parents are included in the development of the IEP plan and they are allowed to view all their child’s records.

There are many different specific learning disabilities which all have their individual organizations but one organization that deals with specific learning disabilities or LD is the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities, or NICHCY. This organization covers a lot more than just specific learning disabilities, they cover federal laws such as IDEA which deals with specific learning disabilities and they also cover different age groups and disabilities. For LD the organization discusses the benefits of IDEA 2004. They give you a slideshow telling you the details of the learning disabilities, a trainers guide to becoming an active participant in this organization and deal with learning disabled children and an overview of the laws in affect for these students.

Neurological Impairment

Limitation or impairment in the capacity of the nervous system, with difficulties exhibited in one or more of the following areas: the use of memory, the control and use of cognitive functioning, sensory and motor skills, skills in speech and language, organizational skills, information processing, affect, social skills or basic life functioning.

Examples of disabilities for students with neurological impairments are cerebral palsy (CP), neural tube defects, Seizure disorders and traumatic brain injury (TBI). Characteristics of CP are disorders of movement and posture. Children with cerebral palsy have abnormally high muscle tone. Depending on the type of cerebral palsy the student has they will have abnormal appearances in their arms and legs. CP can also affect a student’s balance, coordination or leave their arms and legs unsteady. Students with neural tube defects or NTD, have problems during development that leave their spine and brain exposed to the amniotic fluid. One main example of NTD is spina bifida. Characteristics of these impairments are the inability to walk like a typical student and due to the damage of the nervous system some children may lose feeling in parts of their bodies. Characteristics of traumatic brain injury can cause learning disabilities with the characteristics of lack of communication, personal or academic skills, along with the characteristics listed above for cerebral palsy. Children with TBI can experience cognitive, social or language deficits which would give them such characteristics as being mute or having a lack of knowledge for their language they once knew. Another characteristic of children with TBI experiencing cognitive deficits would be not being able to process or understand information as well as the typical student. One other characteristic would be the inability to remember or store information in their memory like a typical student would be able to do.

Children with neurological impairments are different from the typical children their age in different ways depending on the type of neurological impairment they have. Some children might need to assistance in language and be unable to communicate with the students around them while others with this impairment may be different in the way they organize their things or school work and they would differ in basic daily functions such as eating lunch, walking down the halls and using the bathroom.

One part of neurological impairments affects a child’s memory, some general strategies to help these students are chunking information, rehearsal and repetition of information usually in some sort of chant, the use of flashcards and lists to keep organized and trigger the student’s memory. Strategies for students who have output difficulties are separate grades for content and mechanics, reduce the length of assignments such as papers or math problems and focus on the most important points and ask for or do extra credit to maintain grades. For students with this problem there is an example of assistive technology, this is using photocopiers to keep visual examples of all your work and notes, use voice activated software and other software that will allow the students to focus on just the essential points of their work. Other modifications for students with neurological impairments are making tasks simpler so they are able to use less cognitive abilities to accomplish the same goal.

The public law 99-457 or the Education for All Handicapped Children Act states that there should be plans and programs for children from birth on, not only when they enter the school systems. This applies to students with neurological impairments because many of them are born with this impairment or acquire it early on, this allows interaction when students are born and prepares them for the road ahead of them deal with the school systems. This act was eventually changed to the IDEA act in 2004. This act was designed for children along with the families and parents, putting a plan and support system in from birth until the child starts school, when another group of government officials takes over the process of providing the students with the best possible education and a support system for transitional and difficult times.

An organization for children with neurological impairments is, APA, American Academy of Pediatrics. This group helps treat students with neurological impairments using patterns. They are trying different strategies all relating to child development to benefit these children in the best way possible. The most well thought of strategy is patterning; this is doing a series of exercises to improve a child’s neurological organization.

Emotional Impairment

One or more of the following characteristics exhibited over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects educational performance: an inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors; an inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers; inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances; a general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression; or a tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems.

Students with emotional impairments also tend to have behavioral disorders as well. Students with emotional impairments tend to react to situations differently than typical students. A student with an emotional disorder does not smile often and tends to have outbursts when they get frustrated with situations. Students react differently to their emotional impairments, some students take their frustrations out in anger while others keep to themselves and sometimes harm themselves, this is an example of how emotional and behavioral impairments go hand in hand. Children who do not know how to properly express their emotions sometimes use inappropriate words and body language to do this and in turn face the consequences, when they are sometimes unsure of what they have done wrong. Home life can influence a student with emotional disorders and also lead to their emotional disorders; students often take their emotions and negative behaviors out on other students around them at school. Students who are opposite from the ones just explained tend to hide their feelings and express them in only tears and negative attitudes. This affects their social life and leaves them with few to no friends.

Students with emotional impairments are different from the typical students in the surroundings because they either have extreme outbursts, stopping them from being sociable and making friends or they are kept to themselves and depressed, which also keeps them from being sociable and making friends. They are also different because they tend to fall behind academically due to this impairment. The typical students in a classroom with students like this are usually shocked by their emotions and behaviors that they are unsure of what to do and how to react, so they choose not to.

Modifications, accommodations and instructional strategies used for students with emotional impairments are not as easy to come up with as for specific learning disabilities or other impairments. Students with emotional impairments are sometimes places with one on one teacher’s in a general classroom to try and get their academic standings a little better since they are often a lot lower than the typical student their age. Another strategy for students who have emotional impairments where they tend to keep to themselves have trouble with their social skills, making a game that the student would play with a small group of students or doing an activity they would enjoy may encourage them to speak up or make friends. Students who tend to have behavioral outbursts need to be put in a calm environment where things won’t put them over with their emotions. Sending these students to counseling is also a way to maybe make their emotional outbursts or temper tantrums occur less often. Working one on one with these students may open them up to talk and not break down as well.

The federal law that applies to students with emotional impairments can be the IDEA 2004; part of this plan is transition services and the quality of personnel. These two aspects would apply to this type of students because a lot of students with emotional impairments struggle with transitions, they have a tough time working in a comfortable place, but take them out of their comfort zone and things can only get worse. The other aspect that applies to them is the quality of personnel, the one on one aids working with students with emotional impairments are that they must have a full state certification and a license to teach. This ensures that these people know how to handle the students and their impairments.

An organization for children with emotional disabilities is Bridges4Kids. This is an organization that helps children with family, school and personal partnerships. They provide you with positive behavior supports, accommodations, general information about emotionally impaired students and resources that may be helpful to parents or educators looking into information on students with emotional impairments or disabilities.

Autism
One characteristic of children with autism is the lack of theory of mind, or the ability of human beings to understand the thinking and feelings of other people. These students are unable to shape the behavior of other people and see things from any other perspective but their own due to their theory of mind. Children with autism often suffer from hypersensitivity to sound or noises in their environment. Autistic children have a more extreme reaction to sounds then a typical child or person. Another characteristic of an autistic student deals with their motor skills. They have difficulties with gross and fine motor skills, these include, running, jumping, and being able to properly control and move ones body. Their height and weight can appear to be typical but their academic skills can appear to be at a first or second grade level while they should be performing at a fifth or sixth grade level. Children with autism can also suffer socially; they have difficulties with making friends and understanding the typical student in their classroom. This goes along with their lack of theory of mind. Dealing with another type of autism, students can be extremely intelligent and excel in their academics while they lack any type of social skills. They have very socially unaware and have no “people skills.”

Children with autism differ from typical children their age because they receive an enormous amount of extra support dealing with academics, social and personal skill. They have a normal appearance but have difficulties with bodily movement and motor skills. They tend to have social difficulties and they are very unaware of their surroundings.

Our final portfolio!

Our group worked together and split up our work fairly. I think we did a good job and worked well as a group.

Learn & Serve 12/8

Today was my last day of learn and serve and there were three students missing. These three students are three out of the four most distracting students. It was like working with a totally different class. They were all well behaved and calm. Today was only a half day so they may have had that to look forward to but I think that it had to do with the other negative influences being removed from the room. I went to learn and serve earlier than I usually do today so that I could finish my hours on time, and I really enjoyed what they were doing when I got to class. When I got to class they were all sitting on the rug, they were going over the date and the days of the week. They had to put on the board what today, yesterday and tomorrow would be. Then they had to tell us what the date was, the month and the year. Once they established that it was the eighth, they had to tell us the different ways to write, say, or show eight. They used picutres, written out, roman numerals, spanish, subtraction and addition sentences, and weight. Another thing that I noticed today was that a student with behavioral impairments is often times very influenced by their peers, the one student with extreme behavioral impairments that was in class today, was on the green on the traffic light all day and so proud of himself. Using discipline like the stop light is a good way to remind a child to keep on track and he gets very upset if you threaten or do move him up. At the end of the day he was so excited that his mom was going to give him a prize when he got home. My learn and serve teacher asked me if I would be interesting in attending a field trip with the class later in the year, I think that this would be a great experience, taking students with these disabilities into an unfamiliar environment may show me a different side to them and also show me how they adjust to change outside of their routine.

Graduating Peter: Third Extra Creidt

Watching Graduating Peter, I noticed that he changed a lot from fifth grade to his graduation. I was impressed with how he didnt give up easily like some people who don't have any type of disabilities do. Peter was diagnosed with depression at the end of his fifth grade year and from that point on recieved therapy and was worked with at a more severe level. I think that the life classes were very helpful and it was good to put Peter in a setting with other people who also had disabilities. Parent involvement was a large part of this video, Peters parents were a large part of his success and ability to graduate. I think they worked well with him and they were well educated on his disabilities. His parents got frustrated at times when they felt that Peter wasn't getting the help he needed or wasn't improving with the help he was recieving but they always tried to stay positive which i think helped Peter. Peters depression was a problem through the entire video, I think two of the main things that helped him with his depression were being on the soccer team and being in the organization that allowed students with disabilities to work with students without disabilities. In both of these palces Peter felt welcomed and wanted. At soccer the boys looked at Peter as one of them, on and off of the soccer field they treated Peter as just another player. When Peter met with the organization and went to the amusment parks and fairs, he seemed to have a great time. The students working with the students with disabilities once again treated them like eachother aside from their disabilities. I think that this had a lot to do with turning around Peters depression along with the therapy he was recieving and the medications he was put on. One big difficulty with students with disabilities is their social skills. I think that Peter developed a lot of social skills and was well accepted when he graduated. He had trouble with his transition, when other students didn't know what to think of his differences but once they learned to look past that Peter was able to expand his social skills. Peter graduated with his class but not with the same requirements, he took very few academic classes and worked more on life skills and preparing for the work field. Peter got a job working first in the laundry room at school, and then in the kitchen. He needed help adjusting to his tasks but once he got the hang of it he didn't need assistance or instruction. I noticed that Peters life was very routine and he was not well adjusted to change but once it became everyday, he was okay with it all. Parts of peters experiences were upsetting, but the way he overcame them and graduated with a good group of friends, a girlfriend, or prom date and a job was impressive.

Week 14: Chapter 12 Video Cases

Summary of chapter 12:

This chapter talks about different physical impairments such as cerebral palsy and the different types, and spina bifida, which the two children in the case videos both had, seizure disorders, and orthopedic and musculoskeletal disorders. It also talks about health impairments, such as cancer or diabetes and how they can affect a child and their learning. Other disorders that they talk about a specific learning disorders, such as ADD or ADHD. This chapter talks about early intervention and ways to help children at the early stages, this can prevent secondary or behavioral problems from beginning. One last major thing that the chapter discusses is modifications and accomidations such as scheduling, setting, presentation, activities, and responses to their actions during acitivities.

Including students with physical disabilities best practice viewing questions:

1. Teacher Lisa Kelleher describes her role as a teacher in an inclusive classroom as being quite multifaceted. Are there any aspects of her role that surprised you or made you envision your future role as a teacher differently? Explain.

No, this did not surprise me because I was in inclusion classes in elementary, middle school and in high school and I also was placed in an inclusion class for my first learn and serve. I have seen the extra work teachers have to put into modifying their room or lessons for students placed in these inclusion classes.

2. What skills does elementary classroom aid Danielle Doucette bring to her work with MaryAnne, the child who has spina bifida? How does Danielle take MaryAnne's academic and social/emotional development into account when planning activities?

When Danielle Doucette goes to work with MaryAnne she has to know about MaryAnee’s disorder along with how to adapt the environment to best fit her learning ability. Danielle takes MaryAnne’s development into account when she plans activities by making her able to be on the same levels as the students or doing the same type of activity with just little modifications. Her social and emotional development was taken into account when she makes sure that MaryAnne feels as “normal” as the other students as possible, for example her electric wheelchair and her standing machine that allows her to be working at a table on the same level as other students who sometimes come to work with her.

3. What questions has this video raised in your mind about your own familiarity with adaptive technologies for children? How can you take action on Lisa's suggestion that teachers familiarize themselves with how the equipment works (e.g., an electric wheelchair) even before you have your own classroom?

The only questions that this video really raised for me was, how am I going to be able to modify the lesson to more than one student’s needs while still teaching to my best potential for the student who do not need modifications? You can take actions to familiarize yourself with the assistive technology by interacting with students who use these types of technology at your learn and serves and in other settings that you see these types of opportunities to get to know the equipment. You can also look into them online or in stores, if you know that you students are going to be using this in the near future.

4. In the bonus video, "Encouraging Social Interactions in an Inclusive Classroom," Lisa explains how she makes sure that all students have opportunities to play together, typically through music or art. Can you think of any activities you've used successfully to engage a full range of learners? If not, what types of activities do you plan to add to your repertoire?

Activities that you could use to engage a full range of learners is playing games that consist of basic math or spelling questions that all the students would know, but also throw in some more challenging problems for the students that excel in these subjects.

5. The classroom artifact entitled "MaryAnne’s Schedule" blocks out MaryAnne's schedule for the day in words and illustrations. How could a chart like this be used more generally to help students with other types of learning challenges (such as ADHD)? Explain.

A chart for students with ADHD that could be similar to the one used for MaryAnne could be a behavior chart. On this chart they could use different expressions stickers such as smiles, frowns and some inbetween to show the students overall performance of the day. If a teacher gives the student an incentive such as, if you get 4 smile faces out of the 5 days this week you will receive a prize at the end of the week, the student is more likely to cooperate and behave.

Assistive technology in inclusion classrooms best practice viewing questions:

1. Kindergarten teacher Tony Byers describes his responsibility to teach Jamie, a girl in his classroom who has cerebral palsy, so that she can feel like an equal participant. Have you had any experience in working with children who are physically challenged? If not, how can you gain experience before you have your own classroom?

Yes I have, I have worked with students with physical challenges in my learn and serves, at summer camp and with my cousin who is autistic. I think that when students are younger like in the video they are more accepting to these students with challenges and as they get older it seems that students tend to reject the students that are not the same as they are.

2. Inclusion facilitator Sara Woodruff is an advocate for assistive technologies. She explains that there are many ways to help children access their voices and their minds as best they can. What assistive technologies--either high-tech or low-tech--have you seen or read about? How and when would you be likely to incorporate them into your teaching?

I have read about assistive technologies that read students their questions and materials that they need so that they can avoid the difficulties of reading when the goal is to obtain an understanding of math or some other subject. I have read about others but I would be most likely to incorporate this into my teaching when I put students into small groups to work and I am unable to read the student their assignment or sit with them and give instructions, I could also use this on a test so that the student wouldn’t need to waste their time trying to read the questions but can focus on the actual content of the questions.

3. As you watch Jamie complete an activity using a speech output device, what do you notice about the way Sara interacts with her? What can you learn from Sara's approach in general, and the way she describes her goals for Jamie?

As Jamie completes her activity Sara interacts with her in a very positive way, she is enthusiastic and optimistic about Jamie and she provides her with a generally happy environment. You can learn from Sara’s approach by watching how she is so focused on Jamie’s goals and feelings, she focuses specifically on one goal at a time and watches the progress.

4. According to Tony, having Jamie use assistive technology "helps show the other children that there's a wide range of communication capabilities in our population as a whole. Children are shown an alternative way of communicating that is different rather than better or worse." What questions about your own understanding of the potential of assistive technologies has this video raised?

What do you tell students who see Jamie using this assistive technology that do not understand why they are not allowed to use it without making Jamie sound like she is at a loss? That is one of the questions I had after watching this video.

5. In the bonus video entitled "Adapting the Curriculum: Mr. Byers' View," Tony describes the tension he feels between teaching spontaneously and the need to slow down and adapt every lesson for all students. Can you think of any experiences you've had that have created a similar tension? Explain your ideas.

When I was in high school, I had a deaf sign language teacher, she felt that you could not move on until every single student in the classroom knew the signs she was teaching and had perfected them. There were students in the class that seem to care a lot less than others, this was upsetting to me because I was one of the students who did care, and sign language came very easy to me. I tended to get very bored in this class, and this got me in some trouble which in turn held me back from receiving my regents in sign language because I chose to drop the class. This created similar tension because I wanted to move quickly while she wanted to hold everyone back for one or many even two students.

Learn & Serve 12/1

Today in learn and serve the students were reading when I got to class, then we went to the library, they worked on the computers like normal and they got books. I worked with one specific student who has more sever problems than most of the students in the class, he doesnt vocalize his thoughts and he doesn't do work unless you sit with him and work with him. This student probably has some type of speech impairment. Specialist have come in to work with him individually and as part of a group or the entire class, but nothing seems to be improving. He was doing well with the activity and seemed to be enjoying it. The teacher and I were discussing the student and his abilities and she was talking about all the different ways she has attempted to teach him and reach out to this students with speech impairments. She has talked to other teachers, his family, and used other resources to try and find new ways to teach him, instead of wasting his days at school, getting nothing accomplished. The teacher I work with feels that the student also interfers with the other students learning as well, taking time out to specifically try and help thsi student that doesn't have the ability to learn in the way that she teaches them, along with being a distraction to the other students. We went back to the room and we worked on math like we usually do, I worked with the second graders on writing out their numbers. They all excelled at this and seemed to enjoy working on this type of activity. When the students were done one of the students read to me and they got ready for lunch.

Learn & Serve 11/24

Today in learn and serve the students went to the library as usual, worked on the computers and got books out, then we went back to the room. When we got back to the room the students got to make soup. The teacher was surprisingly trusting in the students. They got to cut the food and mix the food in bowls. Each student brought in something for the soup. Some brought carrots others potatos some noodles and others corn. They each were given a job, to either wash the potatos, peel the potatos, cut them. While other students mixed the ingredients in bowls or waiting for their instructions. Most of the students were very well behaved because they looked forward to this activity and knew if they acted up they would be removed from the activity. The students were very good with the household tools they used and some of them had never used tools like this before. When I was done with learn and serve the students all hugged me and then I left. The environment at learn and serve was very unsual compared to what I have seen in this classroom before, the students were well behaved and they listened to directions. The students made this soup because they were learning about Thanksgiving and its traditions, they told me what they were thankful for and how they celebrated Thanksgiving.