1.) How is your disability defined by the federal and state laws? (Consider federal education laws such as IDEA and NJ special education code)
The federal government considers physical disabilities and health disabilities as separate special education categories:
- IDEA ’04 uses the term orthopedic impairments to refer to conditions called physical disabilities, such as Cerebral Palsy. Students with physical disabilities have problems with the structure or the functioning of the bodies (318, Smith Deutsch).
- IDEA ’04 uses the term Other Health Impairments to describe, collectively conditions and diseases that create special health care needs or health disabilities for students. Epilepsy and Diabetes are categorized under health disabilities or other health impairments. Other health impairments means “having limited strength, vitality, or alertness, including a heightened alertness to environmental stimuli, that results in limited alertness with respect to the educational environment, that is due to chronic or acute health problems” such as epilepsy. Adversely this affects a child’s educational performance (318-19, Smith-Deutsch).
- Cerebral Palsy is defined by state law as “Orthopedically impaired” meaning a disability characterized by a severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a students’ education performance. The term includes malfunction or loss of bones, muscle or tissue. A medical assessment documenting the orthopedic condition is required. (http://www.njsbf.org/njsbg/student/teachers/specialed.cfm).
- Epilepsy and Diabetes are defined by New Jersey state law as “Other health impairments, which is:“ a disability characterized by having limited strength, vitality or alertness, including a heightened alertness with respect to the educational environment, due to chronic or acute health problems, such as attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, a heart condition, tuberculosis, rheumatic fever, nephritis, asthma, sickle cell anemia, hemophilia, epilepsy, lead poisoning, leukemia, diabetes or any other medical condition, such as Tourette syndrome, that adversely affects a student's educational performance. A medical assessment documenting the health problem is required (http://www.njsbf.org/njsbf/student/teachers/specialed.cfm).
2.) What are the developmental characteristics of persons with this disability?
Epilepsy: Seizures can last anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes but on any given day, a person with epilepsy may not experience seizures and can feel 100% healthy. People with epilepsy “can have many symptoms, from convulsions and loss of consciousness to some that are not always recognized as seizures by the person experiencing them or by health care professionals: blank staring, lip smacking, or jerking movements of arms and legs” (http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/about/). Emotionally, a person who experiences these seizures has feelings of fear and anxiety due to anticipation of when their next seizure might take place. Socially, they can go out with their friends but need to take caution with certain activities such as being involved in high energy and contact sports. As for education, the epilepsy should not hinder their academic performance unless they experience a large number of seizures and spend a significant amount of time in the hospital. Today medications help control the seizures without any effect on learning or motor skills and for some 70% of those affected, medication ends the occurrence of seizures. (321 Deutsch Smith).
Juvenile Diabetes: Children with JD are at risk for visual and renal problems, as well as problems with nerve pain in the extremities. Careful monitoring of glucose levels can stave off most physical issues. All other developmental characteristics are unremarkable http://www.diabetes.org/home.jsp.
Cerebral Palsy: Physical disabilities include jerky movements, spasms, involuntary movements and lack of muscle tone. (Smith, D.D. (2007) Introduction to Special Education: making a difference. (6th Edition New York: Pearson /Allyn and Bacon). Social disabilities include being very shy and trouble making friends leads to isolation. (www.journals.cambridge.org). Cognitive disabilities include speech impairment in some cases and some degree of mental retardation in ½ of the cases. Emotional disabilities include feeling like an outcast or isolated. Levels of functioning depend on its type and severity , the level of mental impairment, and whether other complications develop or other medical conditions are present. (http://www.children.webmd.com/tc/celebral-palsy-what-happens).
3.) If you were a teacher in a general education classroom, what information and strategies would help you best support a child with this disability? This would include academic and social support.
As teachers in general education classrooms, we would: a.) Speak to the child’s special education teacher or to a professional from a related service that they use in order to find out more details about this student and the severity of their condition. b.) Do research on our own in order to gain more knowledge and a better understanding of the disability so that we could adapt to it in our classrooms. c.) Meet with the child and parents to discuss the child’s IEP and how we can work together to achieve our goals.
Special info and strategies: Epilepsy
I would want to know more about the 4 different seizures (absence seizures, simple partial seizures, complex partial seizures, and generalized tonic-clonic seizures) they can have and the signs that are visible before they happen as well as the proper steps to take after one was to happen. WWW.mylabschool.com features a step-by-step procedure on how to manage seizures at school. A child with epilepsy can have a seizure due to straining their eyes in order to read smaller print. A specific strategy I would have is to make my study guides with bigger and bolder print as well as power point presentations so that not only will my student with epilepsy not have to strain, but my students with not perfect vision will not have to strain either (www.efa.org).
Special info and strategies: Juvenile Diabetes
For a child with type 1 diabetes, particular needs might include (1) permission to check blood glucose levels at any point during the day; (2) freedom to immediately treat high or low glucose levels; (3) advance permission for extra trips to the bathroom or water fountain; and (4) ensuring that staff members are present who are trained in testing blood glucose levels, recognizing symptoms of high or low blood glucose and giving immediate treatment for the conditions (http://www.jdrf.org/index.cfm?page_id=103473).
Special Info and Strategies: Cerebral Palsy
For a child with Cerebral Palsy, strategies include: -Pre-referral -Early Intervention -Setting up the classroom to accommodate the learner -Instructional accommodations ( more time on tests, different equipment needed etc…) -Having other students help them if needed -Knowledge of cerebral palsy and the different types (Smith, D.D. (2007) Introduction to Special Education: making a difference. (6th Edition New York: Pearson /Allyn and Bacon).
As for the classroom, we would all be able to use academic enablers. Academic enablers are skills and behaviors that influence successful academic performance. (337 Deutsch Smith) These skills include: * Interpersonal skills, which are social skills necessary to work with others in cooperative learning situations. This skill is a great skill not only for the child with the disability but for the classmates working with him/her as well. It will develop confidence in the child with the disability that they are just as capable as anyone else to be able to do the work and it will help the other students to see this student in an equal way. * Motivation is key in not letting the students give up. If the student that is disabled is struggling in class, we need to keep their motivation high by setting goals for them that we know they can achieve. * Creative ways in teaching and study skill ideas can help not only a student with a disability accelerate, but the other students in the class as well.
4.) What resources would help you as a teacher to serve this child? (websites, agencies, people within your school, curriculum materials)
Epilepsy:
I would be in contact with certain people in my school such as the student’s special education teacher or a professional from a related service they use. These people have worked with them in the past and will know the child’s particular needs and will probably have tips on adapting my classroom and ways of teaching in order to benefit the student. I would search websites such as: - www.efa.org (Epilepsy Foundation of America) in order to become knowledgeable about the disability - www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/ will give me updates to IDEA from the US Department of Education any answer and questions pertaining to the legal aspects involved in teaching special education - www.nichcy.org is the National Info Center for Children & Youth with Disabilities. It is an excellent website with a wealth of information on every disorder and disability and updates you every month on any changes in IDEA or updated laws relating to the disabled. As far as curriculum materials, I would want to discuss the child’s IEP in order to understand their goals and capabilities and help them to achieve those goals. I would also maintain the Core Curriculum Content Standards as found on the website http://education.state.nj.us/cccs/. Lastly, I would learn how to react in the case that a student had a seizure in my class by meeting with a specialist who would walk me through the procedure. I also would have the “Managing Seizures at School” procedure printout by www.mylabschool.com hanging on the wall so that everyone in the class would be aware what to do in the case that a student with epilepsy does have a seizure.
Juvenile Diabetes
http://www.jdrf.org/ - The Juvenile Diabetes Resource Foundation is a non-profit organization for helping children with JD. http://www.diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/ - A clearinghouse for diabetes related information, articles, and websites. http://www.diabetes.org/home.jsp - The homepage of the American Diabetes Association.
Cerebral Palsy
Physical Therapist- helps child with movement. Treats physical disabilities and motor problems through many non- medical means. Speech/Language therapy- diagnoses and treats problems in the area of speech and language development. (Smith, D.D. (2007) Introduction to Special Education: making a difference. (6th Edition New York: Pearson /Allyn and Bacon). www.education-world.com- this is an online resource for teachers teaching special kids www.ucpa.org- website about cerebral palsy and its symptoms/resources. For My Child Help and Hope 4 Life- agency that has a hotline and gives special education tips and strategies for teachers. www.infinitecmedia.org/children.html- offers teachers training videos for children with this disability including Adaptation for General Education Classroom.
This blog is designed as a resource tool for teacher candidates learning about special education and students with special needs. Small groups within the class will create their own blogs about specific students with special needs, such as children with ADHD, and then link that blog to this central site.Each blog will contain information about the federal and state definition of the disability group, the general physical, social, cognitive, and emotional developments, as well as useful resources for teachers.
1 comment:
1.) How is your disability defined by the federal and state laws? (Consider federal education laws such as IDEA and NJ special education code)
The federal government considers physical disabilities and health disabilities as separate special education categories:
- IDEA ’04 uses the term orthopedic impairments to refer to conditions called physical disabilities, such as Cerebral Palsy. Students with physical disabilities have problems with the structure or the functioning of the bodies (318, Smith Deutsch).
- IDEA ’04 uses the term Other Health Impairments to describe, collectively conditions and diseases that create special health care needs or health disabilities for students. Epilepsy and Diabetes are categorized under health disabilities or other health impairments. Other health impairments means “having limited strength, vitality, or alertness, including a heightened alertness to environmental stimuli, that results in limited alertness with respect to the educational environment, that is due to chronic or acute health problems” such as epilepsy. Adversely this affects a child’s educational performance (318-19, Smith-Deutsch).
- Cerebral Palsy is defined by state law as “Orthopedically impaired” meaning a disability characterized by a severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a students’ education performance. The term includes malfunction or loss of bones, muscle or tissue. A medical assessment documenting the orthopedic condition is required. (http://www.njsbf.org/njsbg/student/teachers/specialed.cfm).
- Epilepsy and Diabetes are defined by New Jersey state law as “Other health impairments, which is:“ a disability characterized by having limited strength, vitality or alertness, including a heightened alertness with respect to the educational environment, due to chronic or acute health problems, such as attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, a heart condition, tuberculosis, rheumatic fever, nephritis, asthma, sickle cell anemia, hemophilia, epilepsy, lead poisoning, leukemia, diabetes or any other medical condition, such as Tourette syndrome, that adversely affects a student's educational performance. A medical assessment documenting the health problem is required (http://www.njsbf.org/njsbf/student/teachers/specialed.cfm).
2.) What are the developmental characteristics of persons with this disability?
Epilepsy: Seizures can last anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes but on any given day, a person with epilepsy may not experience seizures and can feel 100% healthy. People with epilepsy “can have many symptoms, from convulsions and loss of consciousness to some that are not always recognized as seizures by the person experiencing them or by health care professionals: blank staring, lip smacking, or jerking movements of arms and legs” (http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/about/). Emotionally, a person who experiences these seizures has feelings of fear and anxiety due to anticipation of when their next seizure might take place. Socially, they can go out with their friends but need to take caution with certain activities such as being involved in high energy and contact sports. As for education, the epilepsy should not hinder their academic performance unless they experience a large number of seizures and spend a significant amount of time in the hospital. Today medications help control the seizures without any effect on learning or motor skills and for some 70% of those affected, medication ends the occurrence of seizures. (321 Deutsch Smith).
Juvenile Diabetes: Children with JD are at risk for visual and renal problems, as well as problems with nerve pain in the extremities. Careful monitoring of glucose levels can stave off most physical issues. All other developmental characteristics are unremarkable http://www.diabetes.org/home.jsp.
Cerebral Palsy: Physical disabilities include jerky movements, spasms, involuntary movements and lack of muscle tone. (Smith, D.D. (2007) Introduction to Special Education: making a difference. (6th Edition New York: Pearson /Allyn and Bacon).
Social disabilities include being very shy and trouble making friends leads to isolation. (www.journals.cambridge.org). Cognitive disabilities include speech impairment in some cases and some degree of mental retardation in ½ of the cases. Emotional disabilities include feeling like an outcast or isolated. Levels of functioning depend on its type and severity , the level of mental impairment, and whether other complications develop or other medical conditions are present. (http://www.children.webmd.com/tc/celebral-palsy-what-happens).
3.) If you were a teacher in a general education classroom, what information and strategies would help you best support a child with this disability? This would include academic and social support.
As teachers in general education classrooms, we would:
a.) Speak to the child’s special education teacher or to a professional from a related service that they use in order to find out more details about this student and the severity of their condition.
b.) Do research on our own in order to gain more knowledge and a better understanding of the disability so that we could adapt to it in our classrooms.
c.) Meet with the child and parents to discuss the child’s IEP and how we can work together to achieve our goals.
Special info and strategies: Epilepsy
I would want to know more about the 4 different seizures (absence seizures, simple partial seizures, complex partial seizures, and generalized tonic-clonic seizures) they can have and the signs that are visible before they happen as well as the proper steps to take after one was to happen. WWW.mylabschool.com features a step-by-step procedure on how to manage seizures at school.
A child with epilepsy can have a seizure due to straining their eyes in order to read smaller print. A specific strategy I would have is to make my study guides with bigger and bolder print as well as power point presentations so that not only will my student with epilepsy not have to strain, but my students with not perfect vision will not have to strain either (www.efa.org).
Special info and strategies: Juvenile Diabetes
For a child with type 1 diabetes, particular needs might include (1) permission to check blood glucose levels at any point during the day; (2) freedom to immediately treat high or low glucose levels; (3) advance permission for extra trips to the bathroom or water fountain; and (4) ensuring that staff members are present who are trained in testing blood glucose levels, recognizing symptoms of high or low blood glucose and giving immediate treatment for the conditions (http://www.jdrf.org/index.cfm?page_id=103473).
Special Info and Strategies: Cerebral Palsy
For a child with Cerebral Palsy, strategies include:
-Pre-referral
-Early Intervention
-Setting up the classroom to accommodate the learner
-Instructional accommodations ( more time on tests, different equipment needed etc…)
-Having other students help them if needed
-Knowledge of cerebral palsy and the different types
(Smith, D.D. (2007) Introduction to Special Education: making a difference. (6th Edition New York: Pearson /Allyn and Bacon).
As for the classroom, we would all be able to use academic enablers. Academic enablers are skills and behaviors that influence successful academic performance. (337 Deutsch Smith) These skills include:
* Interpersonal skills, which are social skills necessary to work with others in cooperative learning situations. This skill is a great skill not only for the child with the disability but for the classmates working with him/her as well. It will develop confidence in the child with the disability that they are just as capable as anyone else to be able to do the work and it will help the other students to see this student in an equal way.
* Motivation is key in not letting the students give up. If the student that is disabled is struggling in class, we need to keep their motivation high by setting goals for them that we know they can achieve.
* Creative ways in teaching and study skill ideas can help not only a student with a disability accelerate, but the other students in the class as well.
4.) What resources would help you as a teacher to serve this child? (websites, agencies, people within your school, curriculum materials)
Epilepsy:
I would be in contact with certain people in my school such as the student’s special education teacher or a professional from a related service they use. These people have worked with them in the past and will know the child’s particular needs and will probably have tips on adapting my classroom and ways of teaching in order to benefit the student. I would search websites such as:
- www.efa.org (Epilepsy Foundation of America) in order to become knowledgeable about the disability
- www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/ will give me updates to IDEA from the US Department of Education any answer and questions pertaining to the legal aspects involved in teaching special education
- www.nichcy.org is the National Info Center for Children & Youth with Disabilities. It is an excellent website with a wealth of information on every disorder and disability and updates you every month on any changes in IDEA or updated laws relating to the disabled.
As far as curriculum materials, I would want to discuss the child’s IEP in order to understand their goals and capabilities and help them to achieve those goals. I would also maintain the Core Curriculum Content Standards as found on the website http://education.state.nj.us/cccs/. Lastly, I would learn how to react in the case that a student had a seizure in my class by meeting with a specialist who would walk me through the procedure. I also would have the “Managing Seizures at School” procedure printout by www.mylabschool.com hanging on the wall so that everyone in the class would be aware what to do in the case that a student with epilepsy does have a seizure.
Juvenile Diabetes
http://www.jdrf.org/ - The Juvenile Diabetes Resource Foundation is a non-profit organization for helping children with JD.
http://www.diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/ - A clearinghouse for diabetes related information, articles, and websites.
http://www.diabetes.org/home.jsp - The homepage of the American Diabetes Association.
Cerebral Palsy
Physical Therapist- helps child with movement. Treats physical disabilities and motor problems through many non- medical means.
Speech/Language therapy- diagnoses and treats problems in the area of speech and language development. (Smith, D.D. (2007) Introduction to Special Education: making a difference. (6th Edition New York: Pearson /Allyn and Bacon).
www.education-world.com- this is an online resource for teachers teaching special kids
www.ucpa.org- website about cerebral palsy and its symptoms/resources.
For My Child Help and Hope 4 Life- agency that has a hotline and gives special education tips and strategies for teachers.
www.infinitecmedia.org/children.html- offers teachers training videos for children with this disability including Adaptation for General Education Classroom.
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