1. Labeling
????
Labels help us to know a child’s educational needs, but too often labels
become a substitute for getting to know the individual child’s strengths,
personal goals, and needs.
2. Exceptional students
► Students who have abilities or problems so
significant that they require special
education or other services to reach their
potential.
3. Language
► How we talk about people betrays our attitude
toward them. If we say “that is a learning
disabled student,” then we are saying that the
most important thing about that student is his/her
struggle with perception and taking in information.
This person may be gifted and talented, this
person may have a lot of knowledge about his/her
areas of interest and hobbies, this person may
consider some other aspect (e.g., religion or
culture) to be more significant in terms of identity
than learning disabilities. Yet through labeling, we
have reduced this person to a problem.
4. A word about names
► Handicap comes from “cap in hand” when people with
disabilities often were forced to beg for a living. This
word is offensive to some, even though it is used in
educational settings to describe certain conditions.
► Further, people often do not wish to be identified by a
disability, as if being in a wheelchair, having a visual or
hearing deficit, or having a learning disability were the
major part of their identity. All people are so many
things; their abilities are just one piece of who they are.
► Pay attention to the way in which people wish to refer
to themselves and wish to be referred to.
For an interesting and often challenging set of thoughts about this very issue in relation
to people with disabilities, read John Hockenberry’s book, Moving Violations.
Hockenberry, a news reporter, became paraplegic at the age of 19. This book is his
autobiography.
5. If you don’t know how people wish
to be referred to…
► Go with person first, disability second: a
student with a learning disability, a student
with Down Syndrome, etc.
Just to confuse you: sometimes within a culture, people will decide that they
want to be thought of in certain ways—and many disabilities lead to the
formation of cultures. For example, there is a deaf community, composed of
people who have hearing disabilities, although not every person who has hearing
difficulties is part of that culture and some hearing people are part of the culture
because their parents were deaf. There is a culture of people who use
wheelchairs, although not every person in a wheelchair subscribes to that culture.
This diversity among people means that some people will have a strong cultural
identity connected to their disability and may want you to use that disability first
(e.g., deaf person). Other people will want you to refer to the disability second.
6. Disorders, disabilities, handicaps
► Disorder: a broad term meaning a general
disturbance in physical or mental
functioning
► Disability: the inability to do something
specific such as walk or hear
► Handicap: a disadvantage in a particular
situation, sometimes caused by a disability.
7. Disorder, disability, handicap
Disorder: A general
malfunction of mental,
physical, or
psychological
processes.
Disability: a Handicap: a limitation
functional limitation that an individual
or an inability to experiences in a
perform a specific particular environment.
act.
These students are disabled (they cannot walk) but not handicapped in this setting.
8. Universal design for learning
► The whole point of UDL is that we can use
technology to keep classrooms from
handicapping students. With UDL,
disabilities do not have to stop a student
from learning. This means that the
disability exists, but it is not a barrier to
learning.
The question becomes, how can we use what we have to address the needs
students have? This is the creative aspect of teaching. Sometimes it requires
us to use an old tool in a new way.
9. Intelligence: a can of worms
Unfortunately, because intelligence is a valued trait in our society, assessing
intelligence has from the beginning been mixed up with politics in the worst
way.
10. Intelligence
► Inthe process of creating assessment,
some scientists also had a desire to prove
that one group was smarter than another.
11. Intelligence Unfortunately, they
didn’t do a “double
For example, some blind” experiment
people thought that where the person
the bigger the head, measuring the skull
the smarter a person would have no idea
was. In order to about the person
explore that idea, whose skull it was.
they placed mustard So, their prejudices
seed in various skulls towards one race and
in order to measure against another
the volume. They influenced their data
used skulls from two (it’s easy to stuff a
different races of little extra mustard
people. seed in some skulls
and to not completely
fill others).
It was in the early 1900’s when this theory was discredited, using a then new
statistic, the correlation.
This information from Stephen Jay Gould, The Mismeasure of Man
12. Intelligence
► Intelligencewas part of Hitler’s theory of a
master race. Unfortunately, he was not the
only person with this set of ideas. There
were “eugenicists” in the United States who
wanted smart people to breed with other
smart people. (Carl C. Brigham, the “father
of the SAT” was a eugenicist).
Information on Carl C. Brigham:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/sats/where/three.html
13. Intelligence
The struggle continues. In 1996, Herrnstein and Murray published this book that
has the essential argument that people who don’t do well on IQ tests should have
less access to authority in their lives. They didn’t question whether our measures
of intelligence might be culturally biased; they simply bought into the results—that
some groups are smarter than others and our IQ tests are adequate to measure
intelligence.
14. Here is the basis
of the argument
about intelligence:
that people on
the left hand side
of this graph are
more likely to
have certain social
troubles than
people on the
right hand side of
the graph.
http://wps.prenhall.com/wps/media/objects/803/822654/psychplace/genintell/genintell.html
15. Correlation
► This is a correlational problem. Low IQ (whatever
that is) is correlated with certain types of crime
and certain social problems.
► Yet, we know that correlations do not determine
causes. Low IQ does not necessarily CAUSE
certain types of crime or other problems. For
example, part of being in poverty is poor nutrition,
which would mean poorer brain development, low
IQ, and possibly a need to commit crimes just to
survive financially.
16. AND…
there were plenty of very smart Nazis, not to
mention very smart white collar criminals, very
smart computer hackers, very smart but dishonest
CEO’s (think: Enron, Bernie Madoff), and very
smart political operatives (Watergate, Irangate,
Ohio’s “coingate,” etc.).
In other words, high IQ is also associated with
certain types of crime which these authors usually
fail to mention.
Intelligence does not create morality.
17. SO…
► There are lots of new theories of
intelligences and some attempts to revamp
the old theories.
► There are some useful functions of
intelligence testing, primarily for
determining when a student might have a
learning disability. Use this information, but
remember IQ is not a measure of personal
value.
18. Intelligence
One trait or many?
Old intelligence theory: New intelligence
There is one trait, “g,” that theory:
defines intelligence There are several traits
that contribute to
intelligence.
Although most educators acknowledge there are multiple traits to intelligence,
current intelligence assessment is still based on the single trait theory.
Intelligence: (a) the ability to acquire knowledge, (b) the capacity to think and reason
in the abstract, and (c) the ability to solve novel problems.
19. Fluid and crystallized intelligence
► Fluid intelligence: mental efficiency,
nonverbal abilities grounded in brain
development. This is not related to culture.
► Crystallized intelligence: ability to apply
culturally approved problem-solving
methods. This increases across the life
span.
20. This represents a way of trying to understand a single trait, “g,” and yet account
for the various ways in which people are intelligent.
21. Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences
Interpersonal
Linguistic
Intrapersonal
!
Spatial
Logical-
Mathematical
Naturalist
Musical Bodily-Kinesthetic
Existential
It’s a good idea to create classrooms where The ability to think about the big questions of life
students use all these means to express (e.g., philosophy). Not officially part of Gardner’s
their ideas. theory but being considered by him.
22. Using and misusing Gardner in the
Classroom
► Gardner’s theory is popular, but it has led to
some classroom practices that don’t really
work and don’t really support intelligence
development
► Bottom line: look at anything that claims to
be multiple intelligences both critically and
with an eye to common sense.
23. Emotional intelligence
► The ability to process and use emotional
information accurately and efficiently.
► Includes: perceiving, integrating,
understanding, and managing emotions.
► Usefulness: research shows that programs
that increase this type of knowledge are
effective in improving student behavior.
This represents an attempt to get beyond sheer brain power as being valued by
our society. Certainly a part of morality is the ability to express emotions
appropriately. People with a lower IQ could potentially have a high EQ and
therefore considered to be valued members of our society.
24. Sternberg’s Triarchic Model of Intelligence
“Laborer”
“Manager”
“Trainee”
To improve intelligence:
Practice thinking:
Analytical
Creative
Practical
Triarchic—implies there are three things: Processing, Contextual, Experiential
25. Practical: ability to adapt
to changing
environment.
Processing
Context
Analytic: ability to Intelligence
think abstractly,
process information,
verbal ability
Experiences
Creative: Ability to
formulate new ideas and
combine unrelated facts.
creativity
Insight: the ability to Automaticity: the result of learning to
deal effectively with novel perform a behavior or thinking process
situations. so thoroughly that the performance is
automatic and does not require effort.
26. Performance—doing something
Metacomponent—your ability
Knowledge acquisition:
to think about & manage a
Learning
task
In order to do something, you need all three abilities—to manage what you
are doing, to learn, to do. Each contributes to your overall intelligence.
There are people with varying abilities in each area (for example, someone
who can learn a lot but can’t do things very well).
27. Tacit knowledge: knowing how rather than knowing that—knowledge that is more
likely to be learned during everyday life than through formal schooling.
Your choices:
Change yourself
Change what is around you
Leave
It takes a certain amount of wisdom to realize what is changeable, what is not, and
when it’s time to give up and get out of there.
“You gotta know when to hold up, know when to fold up, know when to walk away,
and know when to run…”
28. See Piaget’s theory of equilibrium (Chapter Two)
Insight—the ability to deal effectively with novel situations
Automaticity—the result of learning to perform a behavior or thinking process
so thoroughly that the performance is automatic and does not require effort.
29. Measuring intelligence
► Alfred Binet created a test designed to measure a
person’s mental age—in intelligence testing, a
performance that represents average abilities for
that age group.
► For example someone who is chronologically 9
years old might perform like the average 15 year
old and therefore be more intelligent than normal
or might perform like the average 3 year old and
therefore be less intelligent than normal.
30. What is IQ?
► Intelligence Quotient (IQ)=(mental age/chronological age)x100
► Using our previous examples:
► The child who is chronologically 9 and does as well as the average 15
year old on the test:
► (15/9)100=167
► The child who is chronologically 9 and does as well as the average 3
year old on the test:
► (3/9)100=33
IQ is a score that compares mental and chronological age.
31. Deviation
► Deviation IQ: score based on statistical
comparison of an individual’s performance with the
average performance of others in that age group.
► In other words, how far from the average do the
scores tend to be? A small deviation says the
deviation from the average is small and a large
deviation says that deviation from the average
tends to be large.
► Don’t worry about this concept—we will explain it
much more in depth at a later time. Just be aware
of it.
32. Group vs. individual IQ tests
► Traditional intelligence tests are administered
individually
► There are group IQ tests, but children don’t tend
to do as well on them—the scores tend to
underreport a child’s capability.
► This is because of several reasons: one is that in
an individual test, the child receives more
attention from an adult, which is usually
motivational; also, in a group test, a child might
have problems that are unaddressed by the adult
administering the exam (e.g., losing his/her place
on the answer sheet).
Take IQ results from group tests with a whole salt shaker of salt!
33. What does IQ mean?
► IQis a “normally distributed” characteristic
which means that if you graph how many
people get which score, you will come up
with a bell-shaped curve (therefore, The Bell
Curve, the title of Herrnstein and Murray’s
book). The highest point of the curve will
be over the score 100, which is the average
IQ. Statistically speaking, 68% of the
people will score between 85 and 115 on an
IQ test.
34. Flynn effect
► Because of better health, smaller families,
increased complexity in the environment,
and more and better schooling, IQ test
scores are steadily rising.
► Remember: your great-grandparents didn’t
have to deal with smart phones…
35. Intelligence and achievement
► With what does IQ correlate?
► To some degree, school success (well, duh,
that’s what it was supposed to do).
► But not necessarily with “success in life,”
e.g., income, status, etc.
► IQ ain’t everything…even though some
people try to make it important.
36. Problems with Measuring
Intelligence
► Cultural bias: occurs when one or more
items on a test penalize students of a
particular ethnic or cultural background;
questions asked depend on certain types of
knowledge or experience that are not
universal instead of intelligence.
► Expectations: teachers may base their
expectations of students on scores, not
what the students are really doing.
37. Cultural bias: A gorilla takes an IQ test
After teaching some gorillas how to communicate through sign language, researchers
decided to give them IQ tests. One question on the test asked, “which item is edible?”
and gave options such as an orange, a flower, a nail, and a tractor. The gorilla
answered “a flower” because gorillas do really eat flowers. This is an example of
cultural bias! By the way, the gorillas scored at the same level as the average human
pre-schooler.
38. Cultural bias
► Because of cultural bias, it is important not
to assign too much significance to IQ of
students not from middle class White US
homes.
39. “Nature vs. Nurture”
Intelligence is
Intelligence is influenced
determined by your
by how you are raised
genes
Can you imagine how your
environment might influence
intelligence?
Nature view of intelligence: Nurture view of intelligence:
intelligence is solely emphasizes the influence of the
determined by genetics environment.
Other alternatives:
•Both “nature” and “nurture” are significant.
•The tests we have don’t work very well for all
populations, so we don’t know.
40. Nature vs. Nurture
I. Q. Correlations*
► Foster parent-child .20
► Parent-child .50
► Siblings reared together .49 Weak correlation
► Fraternal twins .53 Strong correlation
► Identical twins reared apart .75
► Identical twins reared together .87
*Erlenmeyer-Kimling and Jarvik, 1963
These are the correlations between various groups of IQ scores. Remember the
correlation is stronger the closer the score is to 1.
41. What to do with IQ
► It is used to help diagnose learning disabilities and
can be helpful there (a learning disability exists if a
student’s IQ and achievement don’t match—the IQ
indicating a higher level of achievement than is
currently there).
► Avoid judging students by their IQ scores.
Sometimes it is better to choose to remain
ignorant of their scores unless you have a specific
need to know.
► Remember the limitations of IQ—it is based on a
single-trait idea of intelligence rather than multiple
traits.
42. Ability Grouping
+ - all the groups in
•Instruction is easier to •Hard to manage
plan if all kids are at single classroom
same level •Kids might be placed in the wrong
group
•Kids in low group feel bad
•Kids in low group achieve less
than when they are with kids of all
abilities
Ability grouping: the process of placing students of similar abilities together and
attempting to match instruction to the needs of different groups.
Between-class ability grouping/tracking: places students in different classes or
curricula on the basis of ability.
Untracking: redesigning schools to teach students in classes that are not grouped by
ability.
Joplin plan/non-graded elementary school: arrangement wherein students are
grouped by ability in particular subjects, regardless of their ages or grades.
43. So, what to do in the classroom?
Use Positive Grouping Strategies Individualize Instruction
► Don’t keep kids stuck in groups ► Give extra time for completion
—change them around to of assignments to those who
accommodate kids’ needs & need it
abilities ► Get kids to tutor those who
► Be sure low groups get high need help
quality learning experiences AND/OR► Have students work in small
► Remember, kids change groups. Make sure the groups
► Don’t use negative labels for are balanced with stronger kids
low-end groups & those who need help.
► Be aware of problems with ► Break large assignments down
ability grouping—be prepared to into smaller units for those who
change your practice if those need it.
problems arise ► Provide options for those who
need it—doing something visual
instead of a book report
44. More ideas for the classroom
► Offer honors assignment options or challenge pull-
out activities
► Provide additional times during school breaks
when struggling students can get extra help
► Provide tutoring before and after school
► Staff a “homework center” with parents, teachers,
and community volunteers
► Don’t “dumb down” the curriculum—teach learning
strategies instead.
45. More on grouping
► Within-class ability grouping: system of
grouping in which students in a class are
divided into two or three groups based on
ability in an attempt to accommodate
student differences.
► Flexible grouping: grouping and regrouping
students based on learning needs.
46. Get real
► Even when students are tracked or grouped
by ability, there is still a diversity of learners
within a classroom. There is no such thing
as a homogeneous classroom.
► This is where technology can help. If you
create tools that students can use to help
them learn, then they can select the tools
they need to get the job done.
47. An analogy
The way we used to do schooling with “one size text or teaching method fits all”
was the same as sending a bunch of carpenters out on the job with only a
hammer. A hammer is definitely a useful tool and it can be used for a number
of tasks (I have heard a hammer called a “persuader” because it can be used to
tap all sorts of things into or out of place). But the hammer isn’t the only tool a
carpenter needs. Also, different carpenters need different types of hammers,
and hammers of different weights. Go to Home Depot and you can see the
array of hammers available.
48. The analogy, continued
Likewise, we should
provide students with
a wide array of
The carpenter learning tools,
carries a wide including a range of
array of tools so possible texts, a range
he or she can do of ways of presenting
any job that information (visually,
comes up. aurally, etc.), and a
range of
metacognitive
strategies with which
to use the tools.
Technology makes it possible to provide students with the tools they need for learning.
49. Conclusion
► If we individualize the tools we use in the
classroom, then we can use a flexible
grouping plan, in which a mini-lesson would
be taught to the group of students who
need that particular lesson. Groups would
be formed and dissolved after the lesson on
the basis of immediate need; no one would
be relegated to the “low group” on a
permanent basis.
50. Learning styles: students’ personal approaches to learning, problem solving, and
processing information.
Learning Styles
Real Life
Application:
Surface: deal with the immediate information only a deep
understanding of
Works for tests that deal with facts and memorization
Educational
Psychology will
help you to be a
What do you better and
know about your happier teacher.
personal learning My goal is to
style? help you to learn
this material on
a deep level.
Deep: connect current learning to other types of learning
Works for real life situations (being able to use the knowledge)
and for tests that deal with understanding.
Deep learners have intrinsic motivation and set goals for themselves.
51. Cautions about learning preferences
► Learning preferences: preferred ways of
studying and learning, such as using
pictures instead of text, working with other
people versus alone, learning in structured
or unstructured situations, and so on.
► There’s a lot of hype but not a lot of
research support for this. Remember,
younger students may not be able to
determine what works best for them.
52. Visual/verbal
► There is a three-fold difference:
► Low or high cognitive spatial ability
► Visualizer vs. verbalizer cognitive style
► Visual vs. verbal learning preference
► Yet there is not a lot of information about what to
do with this in the classroom. Given the fact that
you will have both verbalizers and visual people in
the classroom, it’s a good idea to use both words
and images when possible.
53. An example of a visual thinker
This is Temple Grandin. She wrote a book called, “Thinking in Pictures and Other
Reports From My Life With Autism.” She has a fantastic ability to imagine (and
draw) buildings and other constructions from several points of view. She
describes her visual imagination as being like a CAD program—she can imagine
something and turn it around in her head just like a computer can. The reason it
is important for you to know this, is that some people have a harder time thinking
in words than others.
54. What to do in the classroom?
Encourage metacognition:
Help kids to learn about
themselves as learners so they can
Vary your instruction make intelligent decisions about
their environment, their
processing, etc.
Respond to students as individuals.
56. Some history
► Prior to the mid nineteenth century,
people with disabilities such as blindness,
deafness, epilepsy, and mental retardation
did not receive education in the schools.
Some remained with their families all their
lives and others were warehoused in
institutions.
57. More history
Gallaudet University (for the deaf
and hard of hearing),
Washington, D.C.
Ohio State School for the Blind
During the mid-nineteenth century, specialized institutions began to be developed to
address the educational needs of people with disabilities. For example, the Perkins
Institute for the Blind was established in Watertown, Massachusetts. This was where
Annie Sullivan received her education (she was partially blind due to trachoma) which
allowed her to teach Helen Keller, who was both blind and deaf. Keller also attended
Perkins for awhile.
Literature connection: for anyone who loved the Little House on the Prairie series,
Mary (who became blind) went to a school for the blind.
58. History
► The advantage of institutions like these was that
they gave people access to education.
► There were significant disadvantages, however.
Students were not fully integrated into society
following their education in essentially a
segregated world. Members of the deaf
community responded by creating a vibrant and
lively subculture complete with its own language
(various forms of American Sign Language).
► Finally, institutions for the “feeble minded” took
an immoral twist as you can see from the
following article.
59. History
► The advantage of institutions like these was that
they gave people access to education.
► There were significant disadvantages, however.
Students were not fully integrated into society
following their education in essentially a
segregated world. Members of the deaf
community responded by creating a vibrant and
lively subculture complete with its own language
(various forms of American Sign Language).
► Finally, institutions for the “feeble minded” took
an immoral twist as you can see from the
following article.
60. The Voice of a Lost Generation: Freddie Boyce Survived Neglect at Fernald,
Radiation Experiments
SCOTT ALLEN / Boston Globe 1May 2006
In August 1941, Mina Boyce, a 21-year-old widow and an alcoholic, handed her
baby over to state social workers, setting little Freddie Boyce on the miserable road to the
"Water E. Fernald School for the Feebleminded."
Over the next seven years, Freddie lived in seven foster homes and then was
locked behind the iron gates of Fernald, an institution for people with mental retardation.
There he would stay until his "parole" 11 years later.
The injustice, similar to the fate of thousands of children unlucky enough to fall
into government custody before 1960, might have been forgotten, but Boyce never
accepted the idea that he was "feebleminded." Decades later, when documents revealed
that he and other children had been subjected to unethical radiation experiments while at
Fernald, Boyce seized his chance: He rounded up his friends from Fernald, filed a lawsuit,
and exposed a dark chapter of American history.
The question here is, how was “feeblemindedness”
diagnosed? Also, there is a huge ethical issue in terms
of using children in an institution for radiation
experiments. Those were truly dark days…
62. But people who know Boyce say he possesses a rare resilience that has allowed
him to rise above a nightmare that left many others bitter, ashamed, or demoralized.
Boyce, they said, never blamed himself for his predicament. He forgave his keepers at
Fernald, even the ones who administered arbitrary beatings and humiliations. And, even
as he prepares to die, he retains his almost dizzying optimism, stocking up on prizes for
his carnival concession booth just in case he gets well enough to go back on the road as
he has for the last 43 years.
"I don't know anyone who has as many friends as Freddie," said Abra Figueroa,
Boyce's ex-wife and close friend, who came from Oklahoma to visit him last weekend.
Boyce, who loves to discuss Stephen Hawking's theories on black holes and keeps
a poetry anthology at his bedside, is not, and never was, mentally retarded. Dr. Norman
Frost, a pediatrician, once wrote in The New England Journal of Medicine that the main
difference between Boyce and "normal" people is that "he is better looking and more
charming." With his soothing, low voice and sharp Portuguese features, he always had a
gift for luring people to the carnival midway.
Important Ed. Psych. concept: Why is it some kids
Does this sound like a “feeble- can go through a hellish childhood and end up as
minded” person? positive adults and others can’t? What can we do
as teachers to encourage resilience?
64. Boyce worked hard to build a life, hiring a tutor to visit him weekly and gradually
saving money from his carnival work to buy a house in Norwell. He made his peace with his
mother, coming to see her as a victim of her own difficult childhood, and with the staff at
Fernald, which he saw as part of a system beyond their control. But his 1987 marriage to
Figueroa lasted less than two years, and he came to think of himself as someone who had
difficulty forming intimate relationships.
"I accepted I have a life that's always going to have pieces missing," Boyce told
journalist Michael D'Antonio, author of "The State Boys Rebellion," a book about those who
grew up at the Fernald School.
Finally, in 1993, a librarian at Fernald discovered an old ledger book that described the
way Boyce and other children in the 1950s had been seduced into taking part in medical
experiments with promises of Red Sox tickets, Christmas parties, and other tokens. The
children in the so-called "Fernald Science Club" had been fed oatmeal laced with slightly
radioactive milk as part of a nutrition study for Quaker Oats.
When The Globe published a story on the experiments, it made international news and
triggered a congressional inquiry.
The attitude towards these children by those who allowed and ran the experiments
is that these children were the equivalent of laboratory animals. It is this kind of
experimentation which led to the establishment of Human Subjects Review Boards,
which review experiments carried out on people in order to keep something like this
from happening again.
65. While we cannot say for certain that the radiation experiments at Fernald were
definitely the cause of Freddie's cancer, we can say with great confidence that they may
not be discounted as the cause or part of the cause. Boyce quickly became the face of the
scandal, aggressively calling reporters to tell his story and organizing former "Fernald
Science Club" members to sue Quaker Oats, the researchers who did the experiments,
and the state and federal agencies that were supposed to protect children. Although the
radiation levels were probably too low to do much harm — and Boyce doesn't blame the
experiments for his cancer — the group received a $3 million settlement for violations of
their rights, which worked out to $50,000 to $65,000 for each of the several dozen
people.
Perhaps more important to Boyce, the controversy gave him a platform. He
remembers feeling "weak-kneed" as he entered the ballroom of a Washington, D.C.,
hotel to testify about the Fernald experiments before a federal panel investigating the
abuse of human research subjects. But Boyce made the most of his chance, telling
panelists, "The idea of getting consent for experiments under these conditions was not
only cruel but hypocritical. They bribed us by offering us special privileges, knowing
that we had so little that we would do practically anything for attention."
Not only is this a story of travesty, but it is also the story of how one person can
make a difference.
66. In the years that followed, Boyce received a personal apology for the radiation
experiments from President Bill Clinton, while D'Antonio's 2004 book made clear that the
radiation experiments were part of a larger tableau of suffering. Boyce did interviews
about his past with everyone from People Magazine to "60 Minutes," where staffers called
him "one-take Freddie" for his ability to speak from the heart in punchy soundbites.
Steven Spielberg was so impressed by Boyce's story that his production company,
DreamWorks, bought the film rights to "The State Boys Rebellion" and commissioned
Jose Riviera, award-winning screenwriter of the movie "The Motorcycle Diaries," to
produce a script. Meredith Bagby, the former DreamWorks executive who spearheaded the
project until this month, said the movie is not a certainty yet, but the screenplay is
"amazing."
"It's an instant story like 'Cuckoo's Nest' or 'Cider House Rules' " by John Irving, said
Bagby. "It's about kids, and no matter how bad it was, they always had this child-like
optimism."
Boyce, who can no longer eat much solid food and is receiving treatment only for
pain, knows he won't be around if and when the movie gets made, but he doesn't seem to
mind. He only hopes that other "Fernald Science Club" members carry on the effort to get
a formal apology for their mistreatment from the state of Massachusetts.
"I feel like I made my life," he said. And he's proud that a Hollywood movie may be
his epitaph. "I want to see the story come out as strong as possible so that these institutions
can't do what they did to us again."
source:http://www.boston.com/news/globe/health_science/articles/2006/05/01/the_voice_o
f_a_lost_generation?mode=PF 5may2006
67. Further…
► Even within regular schools, special education
had become a ghetto for those whom the
education system didn’t want to teach. Biased
tests insured that identified special education
students were disproportionately non-white and/
or non-middle class. Once a student was labeled
as in need of special education, that label often
stayed throughout the student’s education.
Students who were identified as needing special
services often received a less rigorous
education; less was expected of them. If they
graduated from high school, it was with
inadequate skills.
68. So…
► Laws were passed to bring remedy to the
situation.
► These laws encouraged mainstreaming (keeping
special education students in regular classrooms
to the fullest extent possible) and mandated that
appropriate educational goals be established.
► Less than fifty years ago, it was acceptable to
fail to educate certain students. It is no longer
acceptable to do this, just as racism is no longer
socially acceptable (it happens, but it is more
clearly considered to be wrong now).
► This is one of the great strides of the
educational system in the United States.
69. IDEIA: latest amendment of PL94-142, guarantees a free public education to all
children regardless of disability
Laws
► IDEIA: Individuals with Disabilities
Education Improvement Act
► You need to know about:
FAPE (Free & Appropriate Public Education)
LRE (Least Restrictive Environment)
Protection against discrimination in testing
Involving parents in developing child’s education
IEP (Individualized Education Plan)
Zero reject: a basic principle of IDEIA specifying that no student with a disability, no
matter what kind or how severe, can be denied a free public education.
70. Free and Appropriate Education
► The US educational system is supposed to
provide a no-cost education that works for
each individual child, no matter what that
child’s needs are.
71. Least restrictive environment
► Where possible, students are educated
with their “typical” peers instead of being
segregated due to disabilities or
handicaps.
Least restrictive environment: one that places
students in as typical an educational setting as
possible while still meeting their special needs.
72. Least restrictive environment: options
Residential facilities still exist and they still serve educational needs—often for students
with multiple handicaps who cannot be accommodated at a regular school.
73. Least restrictive environment
► Had Freddie Boyce been kept in the “least
restrictive environment,” even if he had
been identified as in need of special
education, he would have been exposed to
higher level learning and he probably would
have had a chance to demonstrate his
abilities, leading possibly to reassessment
and an exit from his educational ghetto.
Is this system perfect? No—no system is. But it sure is a lot better than sticking
kids in an asylum.
74. Least restrictive environment:
Mainstreaming
► Mainstreaming: the practice of moving
students with exceptionalities from
segregated settings into regular classrooms,
often for selected activities only.
What this means to you as a teacher: Students are placed in regular classrooms for
activities that they are able to handle. If you are a “specials” teacher, such as
physical education, art, or music, you will be teaching students who are
mainstreamed for these classroom activities. Students may also be mainstreamed
for particular subjects (e.g., a student with autism who is gifted in math might be
mainstreamed for the math instruction portion of an elementary classroom). As a
teacher, you will need to be prepared to provide high quality, appropriate education
to these students along with the students who are in the classroom full time.
Integration: fitting the child with special needs into existing class structures.
75. Least restrictive environment
► Adaptive fit: the degree to which a student is able
to meet the requirements of a particular school
setting and the extent to which the school
accommodates the student’s needs in that setting.
► Inclusion: a comprehensive approach to
educating students with exceptionalities that
advocates a total, systematic, and coordinated
web of services; integration of all students,
including those with severe disabilities, into the
regular classroom.
76. Least restrictive environment: resources
► The special educator works with the
regular teacher. The special educator’s
job includes assessing the student,
maintaining records, developing special
curriculum materials, coordinating
everyone involved in the student’s
schooling, working with parents, and
assisting in adapting instruction to the
needs of the student.
It is really important to talk with the specialist when you are working with students
who have special needs. That person can help you to have a successful teaching
experience with students who have special needs and abilities.
77. Inclusion: a personal story
This is my fiddle group in 2003, when we went to Pigeon Forge, TN and Nashville.
One student in this group has Down’s Syndrome. He is an enthusiastic participant,
playing autoharp (one chord per song) and percussion. When I was a child, I never
saw a child with Down’s Syndrome because they were not educated in regular schools.
I was concerned about how the other students would deal with this special needs
student in the group, but they have been very supportive. Now we have a second
student with Down’s Syndrome. Mainstreaming has helped special needs students to
learn to fit into mainstream society and it has helped non-special needs students to
learn tolerance and appreciation.
78. Protect against discrimination in
testing
► Assessments that lead to special placements
have to be fairly administered and the
special placement can’t simply be made on
the basis of one assessment.
What a difference this would
have made in the life of
Freddie Boyce.
79. Parents’ rights
► Parents have a right to be involved in their children’s education and
they have the right to have an independent evaluation if they are not
in agreement with the school’s plan. They have the right to
information in the language that they speak.
Due process: guarantees parents’ right to be involved in identifying and placing their
children in special programs, to access school records, and to obtain an independent
evaluation if they’re not satisfied with the one conducted by the school.
Some parents are very strong advocates for their children. Some in the school system
may perceive this as negative. You will get along best with these parents if you
recognize and affirm their desires to help their children.
80. Individualized Education Program
► Every student with special needs gets a plan created
by teachers, parents, and specialists. The plan is
supposed to help students take the next steps in
their educational program.
As you go to your field
placements, try to attend an
IEP meeting so you can find
out more about this process.
Individualized educational program (IEP): an individually prescribed instructional plan
devised by special education and general education teachers, resource professionals,
and parents (and sometimes the student). It specifies: assessment of student’s current
level, long- and short-term objectives, services and strategies to be used, schedules for
implementing the plan, criteria to evaluate the plan’s success.
81. Amendments to IDEA (1997)
► Nondiscriminatory assessment: was reaffirmed.
► Due process: school officials or parents can
request an impartial hearing if they are not
satisfied with the IEP.
► IEP: parents must get a copy of the IEP and they
are allowed to bring experts of their own to IEP
meetings
► Confidentiality: districts must keep confidential
records of each child and protect the
confidentiality of the records.
82. Section 504 Protections
►A part of the civil rights law that prevents
discrimination against people with
disabilities in programs that receive federal
funds, such as public schools.
► Has fewer rules than IDEIA.
83. Americans with Disabilities Act of
1990
► Federallegislation prohibiting discrimination
against persons with disabilities in
employment, transportation, public access,
local government, and telecommunications.
84. Confidentiality
► As you go into your field placements, you need to be aware
that you must keep the information you know about ALL
students confidential. You may NOT reveal anything to
anyone outside of that school.
► Confidentiality is not only the law, but it may also save a
student’s life or prevent a kidnapping. Often families that have
been involved in violence need to make sure that abusers do
not know where a student is going to school.
► If you are going to talk to another person outside the school
about a student or a situation in your field placement
classroom, you may not use identifying information (including
the name of the school, the name of the teacher, the name of
the student, or a description that would identify any of those
folks). This goes for any form of communication—by mouth,
by e-mail, by blog, by letter, by telephone, etc.
► If you know that a student is being abused, you need to report
this to your field placement teacher.
Remember: Loose lips sink ships.
85. Learning Disabilities
Learning disabilities (also called specific learning disabilities), difficulties in acquiring
and using reading, writing, reasoning, listening, or mathematical abilities.
What? When there is a difference
between a student’s intelligence (a
measure of ability or potential) and
achievement in the classroom or on a test
(a measure of what the student can do),
then there may be a learning disability.
Why? These students may have difficulty processing information they perceive. For
example, some students have perfectly good vision but have difficulty perceiving the
order of letters or remembering the structure of a letter (mixing up lower case d, b, p,
and q because of their similarities—a “stick” and a “ball”). Other students may hear
perfectly well but cannot process what they hear in order (for instance, they cannot
repeat even a short string of numbers in the correct order).
86. Learning Disabilities: Psychological
consequences
► Learning disabled students often try very
hard and fail at what seems to be simple for
other students to do.
► This ongoing experience of failure has
profound lifelong psychological
consequences. The person feels stupid and
may give up trying to learn anything.
► Without appropriate help, these students
will fall farther and farther behind.
87. Learning Disabilities Can Be
Overcome
My brother John has dyslexia. Although he tried and tried, he did not learn
to read until after fifth grade due to a learning disability. He had the
distinction of being in two special programs in elementary school: the
gifted program and the Learning Disabilities program.
John worked really hard and so did his teachers. He learned to read well
and he now enjoys reading about World War II. He is a successful
computer programmer.
Reading, writing, speaking, and listening are all challenges that he deals
with daily, but he has a range of effective strategies to help him accomplish
these things..
But the journey for John was difficult and often disheartening.
By the way, it is my brother’s preference to be referred to as a person with dyslexia. He
rejects the “learning disabled” label for himself.
88. Learned helplessness
► The expectation, based on previous
experiences with a lack of control, that all
one’s efforts will lead to failure.
► In other words, if people with learning
disabilities are not identified quickly, they
struggle and fail often enough that they
believe that NOTHING they do will help. So,
they quit trying.
89. Learned helplessness
► This concept comes from the work of Martin
Seligman (Learned Helplessness: A Theory for the
Age of Personal Control).
► Seligman exposed animals to shock from which
they could not escape (he quit doing animal
research as soon as he possibly could). He found
that when he then gave those animals a means for
escape, they would not budge. They had learned
that nothing they did would help, so they gave up.
90. Learned Helplessness
► People also have the same kind of reaction.
When nothing they do works, they tend to
give up. This creates depression and it also
explains why people in abusive relationships
have a hard time doing something about it.
► It is SO important for children to experience
success in school so they won’t fall into
learned helplessness.
91. Working with Students who have
Learning Disabilities
► That which other students pick up without instruction is
difficult or impossible for students with learning
disabilities. Use Task Analysis to figure out how to
address particular areas in which students need to
practice. For example, LD students may need help,
practice, and special strategies in learning how to
sequence information.
► Don’t double the task for a learning disabled student,
particularly one who has experienced a lot of failure. If
you want students to understand a science concept,
then allow the student with reading struggles to gain
access to the concept through some other means
besides reading (see Universal Design for Learning slide
show).
92. Working with Students with Learning
Disabilities
► Set students up for success. Help them to
work in their own Zone of Proximal
Development, not in the ZPD of the other
students.
► A sense of pervasive failure can be
overcome but it takes compassion and
BABYSTEPS to do so. Give students ways to
be successful in small tasks and build up
from there. Weight lifters don’t bench press
their maximum on the first day they go to
the gym.
93. Working with Learning Disabled
Students
► These students may have intellectual strengths or
strong interests. Work from these strengths and
use the interests as a means to learning. For
example, there are a lot of books about sports and
popular music that are easy to read but written for
older students.
► These students need access to good study skills.
They need scaffolding for “doing” school—taking
notes, reading textbooks, doing tests, etc.
94. Working with Learning Disabled
Students
► Don’tput a student with a learning disability
in an embarrassing situation. For example,
round robin reading (each student takes a
turn reading a paragraph) exposes students’
reading abilities (or lack thereof) publicly.
Use other means for getting texts read (see
Universal Design for Learning web site).
95. Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity
Disorder (ADHD)
A learning problem characterized by
difficulties in maintaining attention
because of a limited ability to
concentrate.
•Energetic— “hyper”
•Easily distracted—doesn’t
concentrate well
•Impulsive—does things
without thinking
•Forgetful, needs lots of
supervision
Some ADHD students also have learning disabilities.
96. ADHD: The Controversy
► Is this a disorder of the kid or a disorder of the classroom?
► If we are asking kids to do things that are fundamentally not
interesting and seem completely irrelevant to their lives, then is
it any wonder that some kids don’t concentrate well?
► If we are asking kids to sit still for hours on end and we are not
paying attention to their physical needs to be active, is it any
wonder that some kids are wiggly?
► Why is it that some kids who are diagnosed with ADHD can
concentrate for hours on a video game but not in school?
► Should we be medicating kids to make them more compliant
with poor teaching practices?
► How would “ADHD” kids be in a classroom that focused on
constructivist, hands-on, kinesthetic learning?
These are things to think about in relation to this diagnosis. There are times for
medication, but perhaps not as often as it is currently being prescribed.
97. Teaching violin to a student with
ADHD
I was teaching in a stringed instrument music program
at a school. In one of my first lessons with a group of
children, I played the tune we were going to work on.
As I was putting their little second fingers on the A
string, preparatory to having them learn to play the
tune, I heard the tune being played back at me.
The kid who had been identified as having ADHD (and was taking a huge amount of
medication) had figured out how to play the tune by watching and listening to me play it
ONE TIME. One contributor to his difficulties in class, I could see, was that he could
take in information at a prodigious rate. Because I had the choice to do so, I decided to
give him private lessons instead of having him work with a group. That way I could
address his strengths and teach him at a rate that would work for him. Although he was
one of the youngest in the school taking a stringed instrument, he quickly became the
best.
98. Strategies for ADHD (and any other
K-12 kid who is disorganized)
► A Home Work Binder –ADHD children need all of their
information in one central location, so they only have to
keep track of one item. Put several spiral notebooks in a
binder, (one for each subject at school) and staple a large
envelope to the front of each spiral. All homework gets
put in the envelopes, and is only taken out to work on or
turn in. All written information for the class, including
homework assignments, is kept in the correct spiral,
and is not removed unless turning in. Pencils and other
supplies need to be kept filled in a pencil bag in the
binder. Monitor the binder and periodically help the
student to clean out unnecessary papers.
These strategies are adapted from Flylady.net. Flylady.net is for adults who have
difficulty with organization.
99. ADHD Strategies
► Home Calendar – ADHD children need one
location at home to check for assignments,
appointments, holidays, chores, etc. Place
one large calendar in a central location in
the house. Students need to develop a
habit of looking at the calendar every day
and transferring school information from
their notebook to the home calendar (e.g.,
assignment due dates).
100. ADHD Strategies
► Take things in babysteps. Large
assignments are overwhelming. Break
larger assignments down into smaller ones
that can be accomplished quickly. Even a
whole sheet of multiplication problems can
be broken down—do one line of problems
and then stretch. Do another line and then
touch your toes ten times.
101. ADHD Strategies
► Reduce chaos. Students with ADHD need to know what is
happening next and they need clear, non-distracting work
areas. They need clear routines (when you come into
class, sit in your seat and open your notebook to the
correct section. Get out a pen or pencil and get ready to
take notes, for example). You will need to explicitly teach
these routines instead of depending on the student to pick
them up from other students. They may need to sit where
they can see fewer things (e.g., not near a window and
not near another student who has difficulty working).
Periodically supervise the student in cleaning out his/her
desk or locker in order to reduce chaos.
This takes extra work, but it will pay off enormously in student achievement.
102. ADHD Strategies
► Use a timer. Ask the student to work for a
certain amount of time (e.g., 5 minutes for
a younger child, 15 for an older one).
When the time is done, the student will
need a chance to move around in some way
that is acceptable to you. Then get the
student to work for another period of time
using the timer. Parents should use this
strategy also at home with homework.
103. ADHD Strategies
► Encourage parents to reduce chaos at
home. While we think that “the more toys,
the more fun a child will have,” yet, in fact,
there is a such thing as too many toys. If
parents are willing to simplify and reduce
what is in a child’s room (a few favorite
things that can be rotated across months),
they may see a marked improvement in
behavior at home.
104. ADHD Strategies
► Parents also need to create routines for students
with ADHD. This is part of reducing chaos.
Students need to have a regular time to do their
homework, a regular time to check their calendar
and update it, and a regular bedtime. Consistency
is key.
You will run into plenty of parents who will be unable to implement this kind of plan for
their children. They will have the best intentions in the world but will simply not be
able to follow through (possibly because of having poorly-addressed ADHD
themselves). If this is the case, then you need to do the best you can with creating a
consistent classroom environment for these students.
105. Articulation disorders: any of a variety of pronunciation difficulties, such as the
substitution, distortion, or omission of sounds
Voicing problems: inappropriate pitch, quality, loudness, or intonation.
Communication Disorders
These are exceptionalities that
interfere with students’ abilities to
receive and understand
information from others and
express their own ideas or
questions.
Language disorders:
(receptive disorders)
Speech disorders: Problems in understanding
(expressive disorders) language or using language
Problems in forming to express ideas. These are
and sequencing really serious because
sounds language is the basis for
learning.
Language disorder symptoms: seldom speaking, even when playing; using few words
or short sentences; overrelying on gestures to communicate.
106. Intellectual disabilities
Functional limitations:
•Poor communication
Intellectual limitations:
•Lack of general knowledge •Poor self care
•Difficulty with abstract ideas •Poor/immature social skills
•Poor reading & language skills •Underdeveloped motor skills
•Poor learning & memory
strategies Levels by IQ (the old way of
•Difficulty transferring ideas to classifying mental retardation):
new situations Mild (IQ 50-70)
Moderate (IQ 35-50)
Severe/Profound (IQ below 35)
Intellectual disability/mental retardation: significantly below average
intellectual and adaptive social behavior, evident before age 18.
107. Intellectual disabilities
Levels of disability are determined now by the amount of support a person needs in
order to live his/her life:
IEP goals relate to intellectual & social needs.
Pervasive Extensive Limited Intermittent
Less support
More support
Transition programming: gradual preparation of exceptional students to move from
high school into further education or training, employment, or community involvement.
108. Behavior Disorders
Students with behavior disorders display serious and persistent age-inappropriate
behaviors that result in social conflict, personal unhappiness, and often school failure.
Externalizing: Internalizing:
Turns problem onto other Turns problem onto self through
people, with defiance, cruelty, withdrawing socially, feeling guilt,
hostility, aggression shyness, low self confidence
109. Working with students who have behavior
disorders
► Some of the ADHD strategies will work here (reducing chaos, setting
student up for success by breaking assignments down into small steps).
► Positive reinforcement—reward positive behaviors.
► Replacement—teach appropriate behaviors that can be substituted for
inappropriate behaviors. Use words to tell about your feelings instead of
fighting (and help the student to find the words). If you want to spit, spit in
the toilet.
► Ignoring—don’t recognize disruptive behaviors when they first happen so
you don’t reinforce them. This should be a first strategy (unless the
behavior is obviously dangerous). Some students thrive on being able to
disrupt a classroom.
► Time-out—isolating a student may give that student a chance to get
him/herself under control and may keep you from rewarding negative
behavior by allowing attention to be paid to it (by you or other students).
► Overcorrection—requiring restitution beyond the damaging effects of the
immediate behavior. For example, when a student runs down the hall,
overcorrection would be to have the student WALK the length of the hall
five times.
110. Working with students who have
behavior disorders
► Prevention means that a student has a successful day in
the classroom, you have a positive relationship with the
student, and the rest of the class is not negatively
impacted by a student’s issues.
► In order to prevent problems, pay attention to a student’s
working patterns. Does this student need to have a little
break from work a little more often than the rest of the
students? Create a way for this to happen so that it
doesn’t disrupt the classroom. Does the student need a
place to remove him/herself when feeling pressured by
social incidents in the classroom? Figure out a place for
the student and help the student to make a choice to use
that place. Can you identify the build-up of frustration and
intervene before the student acts out?
111. Flexibility
► Different people work in different ways. When a teacher
demands that all students work in the same way, this sets
up some students for failure. Some students express their
frustrations about failing in very negative ways. When this
sort of thing happens, ALL students are affected negatively.
► Figure out all the different ways a student can accomplish
work in your classroom. How can you be flexible in terms
of those who need silence versus those who like a little
noise (or music) when they work? How can you help
students balance their physical need to move with your
need for them to get their work done (and those of you
who will be teaching high school need to pay as much
attention to this as those who will be teaching younger
students because this need does not go away)? How can
you help students learn how to use their own abilities and
skills in order to accomplish work (this is called
metacognition and it is a critical Educational Psychology
concept)? How can you scaffold students in their
development of positive work skills and discipline?
112. Preventing Suicide
► Suicide is common enough that teachers need to
be aware that it is possible and they need to have
the tools to deal with it.
► When you get a job in a school or school system,
you need to find out what the counseling
resources are locally and what the proper
procedures are for getting help for your students.
You do not want to be trying to help a troubled
student AND trying to find out what you are
supposed to do at the same time.
113. Preventing Suicide
When you suspect a student might be thinking of suicide, you need to talk directly to
the student.
You need to ask directly if the student is thinking about suicide. This will not cause
someone to begin to think of suicide—many times people are relieved when
someone cares enough to ask.
114. Preventing Suicide
► When you ask, a student will either say yes
or no. Of course, it’s a great relief when
they say no. You can offer ongoing support
and let the student know you care.
► If the student says yes, you need to ask the
student if he or she has a plan for how they
might commit suicide (e.g., method, such as
pills, carbon monoxide, etc.).
115. Preventing Suicide
► A person who admits to thinking about suicide but does not
have a plan needs help, but is not in immediate danger. Find
out who in your school can help and make appropriate
referrals. Report the student to your administration. Follow up
with the student to see if he or she is getting help and how he
or she is feeling.
► A person who admits to thinking about suicide AND who has a
plan is in immediate danger. Something needs to be done
right away. Talk to your administrator. Someone (you, the
school counselor, the principal) should call a suicide hot line,
the student’s parents, or some mental health agency for help.
► Suppose there is no help available. Then, make a contract with
that student. Give them your phone number (if this is allowed
by the school system). Tell them that before they hurt
themselves, they have to call you. Get them to sign a written
contract. Then be prepared for a phone call. DO NOT do this
contract if you are unable to potentially be of help 24/7.
116. Documentation
► When you are dealing with a student who has
behavioral difficulties or is suicidal, you need to be
sure that appropriate authorities know what is
happening. This means your school principal and
the school counselor. You may also need to
inform the parent of the nature of your
conversations with the student. Keep this in mind
when you are talking with students—the content
of your conversations may have to be reported.
Do not promise secrecy or that you won’t tell the
student’s parents because you may not be able to
keep that promise.
117. Documentation
► You need to document conversations you have
with students that are significant (e.g., around
student behavior, around counseling-type issues,
around suicide).
► This is really important to do in part because it
might help someone help the student but it also
may clear you if something terrible happens—your
documentation may show your attempts to get
help for a student.
118. Documentation
► When you document, you need to write down events in
behavioral terms. For example, instead of writing “x acted
wild in class,” you write exactly what the student did: “x
ran through the classroom screaming.” Date and sign your
documentation.
► Give your principal the “heads up” if you are dealing with a
student in difficulty. Find out what you are supposed to do
in the situation, according to the procedures established by
the school.
► When you talk to parents about a student’s behavior, use
the same type of behavioral terms. This is the least
judgmental way of describing someone and it is less likely
to put the parent on the defensive.
119. Drug abuse
► Be aware of the symptoms of drug abuse:
► inexplicable and frequent mood swings
► apparent lying by your child about what he has been doing when out
of the house
► an unaccountable decline in school performance, including increased
tardiness and truancy
► appearing listless and hung over
► repeated injuries
► significant weight loss or weight gain
► shortened attention span
► depression
► school failure or suspension
► jumpiness or anxiety
► deteriorating health
► personality changes, such as paranoia or increased forgetfulness.
http://www.drspock.com/article/0,1510,5578,00.html
120. Drug abuse
► If it’s September, and you are teaching high school
freshmen, you probably won’t know the students
very well. If you suspect drug abuse, talk to the
school counselor, but also try to talk to teachers
who do know the student you are concerned
about—e.g., middle school teachers (or teachers
that teach at both levels, such as band directors or
art teachers). Those teachers might be able to
give you a sense of the student’s normal behavior
patterns.
121. Drug abuse prevention
► Scare tactics don’t work—and information about
drugs can get students curious about them.
► What works is to teach students effective
strategies for dealing with peer pressure and
solving personal problems.
► Students also need to know that NOT everyone is
doing drugs—they need accurate information
about those who abstain from drugs.
122. Less prevalent problems, more
serious disabilities
► Health impairments
► Deafness
► Blindness
► Autism
123. Health impairments
► Assuming there are no architectural
barriers, students who need braces or
crutches or other mobility devices need little
or no accommodation in the classroom as
far as learning is concerned.
124. Cerebral palsy/multiple
disabilities
► Cerebral palsy: condition involving a range
of motor or coordination difficulties due to
brain damage.
► Spasticity: overly tight or tense muscles,
characteristic of some forms of cerebral
palsy.
125. Cerebral palsy
► This is a physical disability that can
profoundly affect a person’s ability to
communicate but that does not necessarily
affect the person’s ability to think. In other
words, a person with cerebral palsy may
have a perfectly normal (or very high)
intelligence, even though he or she may
have difficulty with being understood.
126. Cerebral palsy
► This is where Universal Design for Learning can
really make a difference to a person. Using
technology, a person with cerebral palsy can learn
and can express him or herself. This means
finding where the person has the most physical
control (e.g., a hand, a chin, a foot, etc.) and
using that body part to control a computer mouse.
► People with cerebral palsy may not be able to use
a traditional book, so it is important to make sure
their texts are available on the computer.
Watch the movie, My Left Foot. It’s true story about an Irish man with cerebral
palsy who became a writer.
127. Seizure disorders
► Epilepsy: disorder marked by seizures and caused
by abnormal electrical discharges in the brain.
► Generalized (tonic-clonic) seizure: a seizure
involving a large portion of the brain. This may
involve the whole body and may last 2-5 minutes.
► Absence seizure: a seizure involving only a small
part of the brain that causes a child to lose contact
briefly. These may be brief, and it may look like
the child is day dreaming.
Students with seizures (particularly generalized seizures) may feel really embarrassed
if other students witness a seizure. If this happens, you will need to explain to the
other students what is going on and that it is not anyone’s fault. You may need to
facilitate students accepting the student with epilepsy.
128. Seizure disorders: an historical
example
Harriet Tubman, of underground
railroad fame, received a blow to her
head by a slave master. For the rest
of her life, she experienced brief
seizures (of the absence type).
Despite these seizures, which
occasionally occurred as she was
leading people out of slavery, she
managed to help 300 people gain
their freedom. She never lost a
“passenger” on her portion of the
underground railroad.
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blharriettubman.htm
129. Hearing Disabilities
Identifying a possible hearing disability:
•Student favors one ear by cocking head or
cupping a hand behind the ear.
•Misunderstands or fails to follow directions,
exhibits nonverbal cues (frowns or puzzled
looks) when directions are given verbally. Hearing disability:
•Being distracted or seeming disoriented at Partial hearing impairment: with
times. a hearing aid, this student can
•Asking people to repeat what they have learn through listening
just said. Deafness: hearing is bad enough
•Poorly articulating words, especially that the student cannot use
consonants. listening in order to learn.
•Turning up the volume loud when listening Working with students who have
to recordings, radio, or t.v. hearing disabilities—give both verbal
•Showing reluctance to participate in oral and visual information. Speak clearly,
activities. making sure student can see your
•Having frequent earaches or complaining face. Minimize distracting noise.
of discomfort or buzzing in the ears. Check for understanding.
For some learning disabled students who have difficulty processing verbal information
(but who have no physical hearing impairment) these strategies are also helpful.
130. Visual Disabilities
Identifying a visual disability:
•Student holds head in awkward position when reading,
holds book too close or too far away.
•Squints frequently, rubs eyes
•Tunes out when information is presented on chalkboard
or by other visual means (overhead).
Visual disability: •Constantly asking about information that is available on
Uncorrectable visual
the board.
impairment that interferes •Complains of headaches, dizziness, or nausea
with learning •Redness, crusting, swelling of the eyes
•Losing place while reading, mixing up letters.
•Uses poor spacing when writing, has difficulty staying in
the line.
Working with students who have visual disabilities:
Seat them near chalkboard and overhead
Talk while you write—give them the same information aurally
Use large-print books or computerized texts where you can change the font.
Peer tutors may be able to help.
Low vision: vision limited to close objects.
Educationally blind: needing Braille materials in order to learn.
131. Autism/autism spectrum disorders
► Developmental disability significantly
affecting verbal and nonverbal
communication and social interaction,
generally evident before age 3 and ranging
from mild to major.
132. Autism
► There are three distinctive behaviors that characterize
autism. Autistic children have difficulties with social
interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal
communication, and repetitive behaviors or narrow,
obsessive interests. These behaviors can range in impact
from mild to disabling.
► The hallmark feature of autism is impaired social
interaction. Parents are usually the first to notice
symptoms of autism in their child. As early as infancy, a
baby with autism may be unresponsive to people or focus
intently on one item to the exclusion of others for long
periods of time. A child with autism may appear to
develop normally and then withdraw and become
indifferent to social engagement.
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htm
133. Autism
► Children with autism may fail to respond to their name and often avoid
eye contact with other people. They have difficulty interpreting what
others are thinking or feeling because they can’t understand social
cues, such as tone of voice or facial expressions, and don’t watch
other people’s faces for clues about appropriate behavior. They lack
empathy.
► Many children with autism engage in repetitive movements such as
rocking and twirling, or in self-abusive behavior such as biting or head-
banging. They also tend to start speaking later than other children
and may refer to themselves by name instead of “I” or “me.” Children
with autism don’t know how to play interactively with other children.
Some speak in a sing-song voice about a narrow range of favorite
topics, with little regard for the interests of the person to whom they
are speaking.
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htm
134. Autism
► Many children with autism have a reduced sensitivity to pain, but are
abnormally sensitive to sound, touch, or other sensory stimulation.
These unusual reactions may contribute to behavioral symptoms such
as a resistance to being cuddled or hugged.
► Children with autism appear to have a higher than normal risk for
certain co-existing conditions, including fragile X syndrome (which
causes mental retardation), tuberous sclerosis (in which tumors grow
on the brain), epileptic seizures, Tourette syndrome, learning
disabilities, and attention deficit disorder. For reasons that are still
unclear, about 20 to 30 percent of children with autism develop
epilepsy by the time they reach adulthood. While people with
schizophrenia may show some autistic-like behavior, their symptoms
usually do not appear until the late teens or early adulthood. Most
people with schizophrenia also have hallucinations and delusions,
which are not found in autism.
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htm
135. Asperger Syndrome
► The most distinguishing symptom of AS is a child’s obsessive interest in a
single object or topic to the exclusion of any other. Children with AS want to
know everything about their topic of interest and their conversations with
others will be about little else. Their expertise, high level of vocabulary, and
formal speech patterns make them seem like little professors. Other
characteristics of AS include repetitive routines or rituals; peculiarities in
speech and language; socially and emotionally inappropriate behavior and the
inability to interact successfully with peers; problems with non-verbal
communication; and clumsy and uncoordinated motor movements.
► Children with AS are isolated because of their poor social skills and narrow
interests. They may approach other people, but make normal conversation
impossible by inappropriate or eccentric behavior, or by wanting only to talk
about their singular interest. Children with AS usually have a history of
developmental delays in motor skills such as pedaling a bike, catching a ball, or
climbing outdoor play equipment. They are often awkward and poorly
coordinated with a walk that can appear either stilted or bouncy.
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/asperger/asperger.htm
136. Autism and Asperger in the
classroom
► These students need stable routines and help with
transitions. They need non-chaotic environments.
► Autistic students may have difficulty with certain
types of stimulation (e.g., the buzzing of
fluorescent lights) and may need accommodation
for that.
► These students need help with learning how to
interact socially with other students. They need
this social information taught to them—it is not
something they learn intuitively.
137. Assessment of Exceptional
Learners
Curriculum: Adaptive Behavior:
How is the student How is the student managing
performing in relation to every day life needs (taking care
what the teacher is of self physically, developing
teaching? socially, etc.)?
Curriculum-based assessment: attempts to measure learners’ continuous
performance in specific areas of the curriculum.
Adaptive behavior: a person’s ability to manage the demands and perform the
functions of everyday life.
138. Gifted and Talented
Students who are gifted and talented are those at the upper end of the ability
continuum who need support beyond regular classroom instruction to realize their
full potential.
Gifted students can learn
quicker and more deeply than
other students their age. They
need a richer curriculum.
Talented students have a
particular strength (such as
music or math) that needs
support.
139. Creativity
Creativity—the ability to identify or prepare original and varied solutions to problems.
Three kinds of intelligence: Fluency—many ideas
Synthetic, analytic, practical Flexibility—new perspectives
Originality—new ideas
The ideas of creative students may surprise and even shock you—creative people think
differently from the rest of the world. If you want to encourage creativity, cultivate a
positive reaction, even when an idea seems off the wall at first. Remember that the
ideas of many creative people (Stravinsky, Galileo, Columbus, Picasso, Gertrude Stein,
Pasteur, etc.) seemed off the wall when they first had them. A good strategy is to get
the student to talk more about the idea so you can compose yourself. “That’s… uh…
interesting” is not a good response. “Wow. Tell me more about that,” is better.
Encourage the other students to support creativity rather than making fun of it.
140. Identifying the Gifted and
Talented
► Traditional ways of identifying the gifted and
talented (IQ scores, standardized test scores,
teacher recommendations) tend to miss students
who are gifted and/or talented.
► More helpful identifiers: look for students who
want to work alone, have imagination, have highly
developed verbal ability, are flexible in thinking,
persistent in challenging tasks, bored with routine
tasks, impulsive, having little interest in the details
of something.
141. Teaching the Gifted and Talented
► Acceleration: keeps the curriculum the same but
allows students to move through it more quickly.
► Enrichment: provides advanced and varied
content. Avoid turning enrichment into
“busywork.”
► Assess to find out where students have already
learned the content of your curriculum.
► Provide alternative activities to challenge students’
abilities and interests.
► Utilize technology to provide challenge.
142. Teaching the Gifted and Talented
► One of the most important things to
remember: gifted students need to be
challenged so they can develop a work ethic
and strategies for dealing with difficult
material. If a bright student goes all the
way through elementary, middle, and high
school without really having to work, this
student will be in real trouble in college.
143. Another plug for universal design for
learning
► This is where you can use UDL. Gifted students can study
the same topic as your other students, but more in-depth.
Use the internet and the public library to find texts that will
challenge your gifted students. Think about college-level
assignments you have received. Can you adapt those for
your gifted students (even in an elementary school, you
might be able to adapt these types of assignments—or ask
around and find out what assignments middle and high
school students have)? Tell the students that you are
preparing them for college to motivate them. Set up a
grading system that acknowledges effort as well as product
—that way your gifted students can’t just coast.
144. Gifted and Talented Programs: the
controversy
► Ifour current measures tend to miss students who
are gifted and talented, then is it fair to pull out
those who are so-identified? What message does
this give to the students who are left behind?
► What if, instead of having pull out programs, we
created an enriched curriculum with options for
acceleration for ALL students? Would this not
meet the needs of the gifted and talented but also
benefit everyone else?
These are questions to think about. Actually, it’s a Universal Design for
Learning concept, that if you create options for those who are identified
gifted in your classroom, other students may also want to use these options.
You might discover a gifted student!
145. Options
Enrichment Acceleration
► Independent study and/or ► Early admission to
projects kindergarten and first
► Learning centers grade
► Field trips ► Grade skipping
► Saturday programs ► Subject skipping
► Summer programs ► Credit by exam
► Mentors and mentorships ► College courses in high
school
► Simulations and games
► Correspondence courses
► Small-group investigations
► Early admission to college
► Academic competitions
