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Los Angeles Unified School District
Division of Special Education
Schools for All Children
Developmental and Learning
Characteristics of Students with
Mental Retardation
Donnalyn Jaque-Antón
Associate Superintendent
Definition
A disability that originates before the age of 18 and is characterized by significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills
AAMR 2002
Significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance
CFR 300.7(c)(6)
Causes of Mental Retardation
Chromosomal abnormalities including genetic, metabolic and neurological disorders
Congenital infections
Prenatal drug exposure
Perinatal/postnatal factors
Levels of Mental Retardation
Mild
Moderate
Severe
Profound
Significant/PervasiveSupport
Supports are Constant, High
Intensity
LimitedSupport
Supports are Needed Consistently
IntermittentSupport
Supports are on as Needed Basis
Adapted from: Institute On Violence and Destructive Behaviors, University of Oregon (1999)
Levels of Support for Students with
Mild Mental Retardation
Intermittent Supports
As needed basis
High or low intensity
Most likely to be required at life transitions
Limited Supports
Needed consistently over time – but not on a daily basis
Non-intensive
Transitional sensitive
Levels of Support for Students with
Moderate Mental Retardation
Significant Supports
Regular and frequent involvement Situational sensitive
Levels of Support for Students with
Severe Mental Retardation
Pervasive Supports
Consistent
High intensity
Across environments
Levels of Support for Students with
Profound Mental Retardation
Educational Implications
Attention, memory, and decision making
Good attention to task at hand
Decision-making capability varies
Difficulty generalizing
Educational Implications (continued)
Cognitive characteristics related to skill acquisition:
Difficulty in organizing thought Persistence in using incorrect
methods Difficulty in self-evaluation Less preparation and slower
movement times
Addressing Educational Challenges
Student learns through direct interactions with things activities & people
Teacher provides activity-based “hands-on” learning experiences
Addressing Educational Challenges (continued)
Student learns through associations
Teacher uses meaningful context such as daily routines & organization of materials
Addressing Educational Challenges (continued)
Student’s understanding is likely based upon their own perceptions, experiences, or scripted answers that are not completely understood
Teacher explicitly links cause–effect, especially through social skills instruction
Addressing Educational Challenges (continued)
Student learns through repetition
Teacher provides multiple opportunities to learn and practice skills systematically
What is Systematic Instruction?
Identification of the learning target
Breaking down the learning target into incremental steps
Knowing where each student enters the learning sequence
Practicing across environments
Systematic Instruction Includes
Task Analysis Teaching Strategies Reinforcement, shaping, fading
and prompting hierarchies Data collection
Task Analysis
Break down a task into a behavior chain consisting of separate, teachable, smaller steps/links
Steps/links should be individualized to meet student’s needs
Behavior chains range in amount of steps/links
Teaching Strategies
Direct Instruction is often used to teach rote association, vocabulary skills, “early academic skills,” and sometimes “behavior scripts”
Teaching Strategies
Tasks are broken into small skills
Tasks are taught using a structured format
(Stimulus>Response>Consequence)
Provides multiple opportunities to practice
Teaching StrategiesEffective for varied skills and
group sizeKeep the individual or groups
attention by serial responding, active participation, pacing and varying materials
Consequence tends to be an external reinforcer
Reinforcement
A tool used to support, establish, maintain, or generalize a behaviorKinds of reinforcersHow much
Shaping/Fading/Prompting
“Shape” or prompt the correct response Block error or use maximum prompt to
cue correct response Verbally prompt correct response Model correct response Reduce choices (simplify task) As student gains mastery fade or
reduce the prompts
Data Collection
We need to:Monitor student learningMonitor effectiveness of
teaching strategiesWrite observable, measurable
goals and objectivesDemonstrate adequate yearly
progress
Significant/PervasiveSupport
Supports are Constant, High
Intensity
LimitedSupport
Supports are Needed Consistently
IntermittentSupport
Supports are on as Needed Basis
• Alternate curriculum or Life Skills• Intensive social skills training• Parent training and collaboration• Multi-agency collaboration (wrap-around)
services
•Modifying Core curriculum•Varying response output•Small group targeted
instruction•Pre-teach/Re-teach/
Remediation•Social Skill Training
• Based on Core Curriculum• Universal Access• Based on individual student’s need• High-quality instructional methods
& strategies that ensure progress• Frequent assessment to monitor
progress• Positive reinforcement systems
Adapted from: Institute On Violence and Destructive Behaviors, University of Oregon (1999)
Curriculum
An applied curriculum that connects the general education concepts being taught with the context where those concepts are utilized in managing one’s everyday life is key to making the standard curriculum accessible for students with moderate to severe disabilities.
Teaching Students with Moderate to Severe Disabilities by Hammill & Everington
Strategies for Access to Standards-based Instruction
Curriculum provides multiple means of representation
Alternate modes for subject matterVisualAuditoryDifferentiated
Curriculum provides multiple means of expressionAllows students to respond
with their preferred modalityAccommodates the differing
cognitive strategies and motor systems of students
Strategies for Access to Standards-based Instruction (continued)
Curriculum provides multiple means of engagementStudents’ interests in learning
are matched with the mode of presentation and their preferred means of expression
Students are engagedCenter for Applied Special Technology (CAST)
Strategies for Access to Standards-based Instruction (continued)
Importance of Choice-Making
Relates to Self-determination Motivation Positive behavior
support
Structuring Choice-Making
Within a task Between tasks Order of tasks With whom to do
task “More” of task Yes or no
Positive outcomes
Can live independently or semi-independently
Can develop meaningful social and personal relationships
Can be meaningfully employed within the community
Can enjoy a high quality of life
"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our
lives."--Annie Dillard