Inclusive+Classroom+Ch.+3+Questions

a. What are the seven levels of the continuum of services? Where Are Most Students with Disabilities Served? General education classroom General education classroom with consultative services General education classroom with instruction, co-teaching, or other services General education classroom with resource room services Full-time special education classroom Special school Special facilities, nonpublic school (day or residential)

Most students with disabilities are served in the public school with their nondisabled peers in Levels 1 through 5. In other words, most students with disabilities are served in their local public schools. b. What are the four higher-incidence disabilities? Which is most frequently occurring disability? The four higher-incidence disabilities are speech or language impairments, learning disabilities, mild or moderate intellectual disabilities, and emotional disturbance. The most frequently occurring disability is LD. c. Define three speech disorders. Three speech disorders are voice, articulation, and fluency disorders. Voice disorders involve volume, pitch, and flexibility, and quality of voice. Ex.: Speech that is chronically strained, hoarse, breathy, or nasal. Articulation disorders represent the largest subgroup and include difficulty pronouncing words, including omissions, additions, distortions, and substitutions. Fluency disorders are interruptions in the natural flow or rhythm of speech, for example stuttering. d. What is a language disorder? A language disorder is a problem in using or comprehending language, either expressive or receptive. They may involve difficulties with phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, or pragmatics. List and describe the seven characteristics of students with learning disabilities. Language and literacy: Difficulties with both expressive and and receptive language, including discriminating between sounds, misunderstanding grammar, understanding subtleties in language, and “word-finding” abilities or retrieving appropriate words when needed Mathematics: Exhibit difficulties in learning math facts, rules, procedures, or concepts, and in personal math ex. managing money Attention and Memory: Difficulties with sustaining attention to tasks, ex. ADHD. Deficits in both long and short-term memory, and working memory for verbal information, the ability to hold information while simultaneously processing the same or other information. Thinking and Reasoning: Take longer than others to learn new tasks and information, difficulties organizing thinking, drawing conclusions, over-rigidity in thinking, and general lack of effective strategies for solving problems Metacognitive Abilities, Including Study Skills, Learning Strategies, and Organizational Strategies: Lack metacognitive skills necessary to become successful, self-sufficient learners; may appear disorganized and lack an understanding of what to do or how to proceed with academic tasks or assignments. Social-Emotional Functioning: Social skill difficulties, low self-esteem, low self-awareness and self-perception, low self-concept, weak self-confidence, anxiety, or depression. Generalization and Application: Difficulty generalizing learned information to novel situations. Some may master content-area material but fail to apply that information to the general education classroom or real-life settings. List and describe four strategies for making classroom for students with learning disabilities. Adapt the Physical Environment: Rearrange seating positions near students or personnel who can help in the classroom and help focus attention. Arrange desks so that they face away from any obvious distraction. Have a classroom quiet place. Model organization of the physical environment by designating specific locations for books, coats, etc. Demonstrate organization of school items. Structure daily routines and schedules. Adapt Instructional Materials: Adapt materials to reduce literacy requirements whenever possible; ex. use hands-on learning activities, DVD presentations, computer simulations, and partner reading. Use assistive technology applications. Teach students to adapt their own materials and study skills for classroom learning. Adapt Instruction: Maximize students engagement, monitor students’ progress toward goals, make expectations explicit, question students frequently, and ask students to rephrase information in their own words to monitor understanding. Use peer tutors and provide clear directions and frequent reminders for assignments. Use research-based literacy practices. Adapt Evaluation Procedures: Adapt test formats so that they are easy to understand. Practice taking tests with students and teach test-taking skills. Read test items to students with learning disabilities when this doesn’t violate test standardization. Consider alternatives like performance assessment and portfolio assessment rather than traditional test formats. Use frequent formative evaluation to evaluate regular progress toward meeting objectives. g. How do we define mental retardation/intellectual or cognitive disability? A disability characterized by the significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills. The definition also includes five assumptions to be used in applying the definition: 1. Consideration of the context of community, peers, and culture, 2. Consideration of cultural and linguistic diversity, 3. Consideration of strengths and weaknesses, 4. The necessity of developing a profile of needed supports, and 5. The expectation that the individual’s functioning will improve over time with appropriate supports. h. List and describe the four characteristics of students with intellectual disabilities. Intellectual and Cognitive Functioning: Individuals will usually function substantially below their age peers in related areas, including metacognitive abilities, memory, attention, thinking, and problem solving abilities. They may also have difficulty generalizing learned information to novel information. Social and Adaptive Behavior: Individuals will have less-well-developed adaptive behaviors than their peers including using the telephone or dressing appropriately. They may appear socially immature, may struggle making and maintaining friends, and may be easily frustrated. Language: Both receptive and expressive language are problem areas for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Communication skills are typically less well-developed and can result in misunderstandings of directions and there may be difficulty with comprehension of abstract vocabulary and concepts. Academic Skills: There may be a difficulty in learning the basic skills of reading, writing, and mathematics. The rate of learning new information may be very slow and the student may require repetition and the use of concrete examples. i. List and describe the three characteristics of students with emotional/behavioral disorders. Social Behavior: Most students have problems with their social behavior, often manifested as less mature or inappropriate social skills. This may include being aggressive to the point of causing harm to others while interacting, acting out in class, not responding appropriately to discipline, and seeming oblivious to class and school rules. Others may withdraw from others and seem socially isolated and exhibit symptoms of depression. Some may inappropriately attribute their behavior or social problems to causes outside of themselves. Affective Characteristics: Some students with emotional disturbances may have affective disorders like depression, severe anxiety, phobias, and psychosomatic disorders. Academic Characteristics: Students may function two or more years below grade level in reading, math, writing, and spelling. Others may exhibit deficiencies in metacognitive skills, memory skills, and attention which may lead to academic underachievement. These students are also at risk of dropping out of school. j. List three ways you could adapt your teaching style for working with students with emotional/behavioral disorders. Illustrate the rules with clear examples and specify rewards for following rules as well as consequences when rules are disobeyed. Be consistent when enforcing rules, but make sure the overall classroom atmosphere is positive, not punitive. Maintain a positive relationship with students with emotional disabilities. Use positive comments frequently to reinforce good behavior when you see it.