Ray Perez

DPED Student

What is Autism Spectrum Disorder?

A developmental disorder that impacts the way individuals communicate and
interpret their environment, often resulting in challenges with social
interactions and processing information
Appears in the first 3 years of life and affects the brain's normal development
of social and communication skills.

DSM-5 ASD Criteria / Early Signs of Autism

Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across
contexts
Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests,
o Stereotyped or repetitive motor movements,
o Insistence on sameness, inflexible adherence to routines, or ritualized
patterns or verbal nonverbal behavior
o Highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity
o Hyper- or hypo-reactivity to sensory input or unusual interests
Symptoms must be present in early childhood ( 3 years old)
Symptoms cause clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or
other important areas of current functioning

Related Developmental Disorder

Asperger Syndrome (similar to autism but with normal language
development).
Rett Syndrome(Very different from autism, and only occurs in females).
Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (Rare condition where a child learns
skills, then looses them by age 10).
Pervasive Developmental Disorder (Also called typical autism).

Secondary school environments can be challenging for

students with ASD
Transitions: require multiple changes & predictable and yet still unpredictable
Sights and sounds of hallways: Noise and commotion can be overwhelming, and
a fter navigating the hallways, students are often stressed and unsettled
Students with ASD often have difficulty: Picking out important information from
the environment and understanding what they are supposed to do

How can you support students with ASD in your classroom ?

Elements of classroom structure

Structure is Key-
 Make information accessible
o Spell out where homework goes and where to get materials for the day
o Provide structure
Provide structure
o Make task expectations clear
Create a predictable
5 Key Support Strategies
1. Priming

What is priming?
Priming is exposure to academic course material or tasks before instruction
Why should you use this strategy?
It gives students the chance to become familiar with the material or skills, and
increases the likelihood they will learn and use key concepts
Priming is most effective when it is built into the students daily routine
2. Academic Modifications

What are academic modifications?

When the content or format of assignments are adapted to meet the
students specific needs
Examples:Read directions out loudand extended time on assignments
IEP at a glance/cheat sheetcan be useful to communicateacademic modifications

3.Visual Supports
What are visual supports?
Visual supports are any tool presented visually that supports an individual as
he or she moves through the day
Visual supports might include:
Pictures
Written words
Objects within the environment
Visual boundaries
Schedules
Maps
Labels
Organization systems
Timelines
Scripts
Visual supports can also take the form of:

Self-management tools that help the student stay focused and understand their
behavior

Graphic organizers that help the student highlight important information

Social scripts that help the student understand what to say or how to act in
particular situation
4. Reinforcement
What is reinforcement?
Reinforcement rewards students for behaving in ways that are productive and
support their continued growth

Examples of reinforcement:
Verbal praise
Computer time
Homework pass
5.Home Base
What is home base?
Home base is a designated place where students with ASD can go to regain
control during times of stress.

Where can you turn?

Three primary supports can enhance your efforts when working with students with
ASD:

The Individualized Education Program (IEP)

Special Education teachers
Paraprofessionals
If you feel your student needs supports...

Identify your schools key contact for beginning process of acquiring additional
supports.

IEP
The IEP is the central document that serves as the students roadmap to education

It lays out students present skills and skills that teachers should work with the
student to improve,
including academic and non-academic goals
It structures the learning process for students with ASD and other special needs to
ensure they are reaching their full potential

Special Education Teachers

The special education teacher is the guide to the students disability and IEP.

Special education teachers help monitor the IEP to make sure the student is making
progress. If the student is not making progress, they can think of alternative ways to
help the student make progress

If the student is not making progress, they can think of alternative ways to help the
student make progress.
 What is ADHD?

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) a pervasive pattern of inattention,

impulsivity, and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that is more frequent and severe than
is typically observed in individuals at a comparable level of development.
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric
Association (4th ed., text revision)

Subgroups
ADHD-predominantly inattentive type-for some students inattention is the
primary symptom of their ADHD.
ADHD-predominantly hyperactive-impulsive type-for some students a
combination of hyperactivity is the primary symptom of their ADHD.
ADHD-combined type-for some students it is a combined inattention and
hyperactivity-impulsivity.

Key Elements of ADHD

It is not caused by environmental situations or disabilities.

It is neurobiological. This means it occurs in the brain, and it is
developmental.
It begins before the child reaches the age of seven.
It is a chronic condition, and isnt due to an accident or injury.
Most important trait is an inability to attend beyond what is typical for peers
of comparable age. Although a school setting is normally the situation
where ADHD become most apparent, it is not situational.
According to the textbook, students normally have a harder time with
completing their work.
The term for this is Production Deficit. The Acquisition Deficit part isnt
generally the problem. Students are able to absorb and understand the
information given to them, but they have difficulty in completing work that is
given

Characteristics
Students who have ADHD are not able to regulate where their attention is
directed. This is called behavior inhibition. Cognitive Characteristics:
 1. Working Memory: Students with ADHD apparently do not learn from
experience, and that is due to their working memory. They have difficulty retrieving
information from their memory bank that they might have heard of before. The
textbook used a great example of when a teacher reprimands a student for getting
up out of his seat during a group lecture. A typical student would remember the
teachers words as he began to stand again and probably would sit back down.
This isnt the case for a child who has ADHD. A student with ADHD might do this
little ritual over and over again. They cannot recall that the teacher already gave
instructions and consequences for this type of behavior.
2. Self-directed speech or self talk: Students with ADHD are not able to have
self-talk, or a private conversation with themselves to motivate themselves to keep
on task when working on a project or homework. Many students usually self-talk
aloud when they first begin to develop this important skill, but as they get older and
more mature it is something that they would do silently. I still self-talk, and it is a
great way to remain focused especially when we all have such very busy lives. It is
unfortunate that students with ADHD do not have this capability.
3. Control of emotions and motivation: Students with ADHD cannot control
their emotions the way others can so when they become frustrated or cant
accomplish a task at hand they become aggressive and a bit violent at times to
express their frustrations. They have temper tantrums as a way of expressing how
angry they are at not being able to do something. A person who doesnt suffer from
ADHD is able to step away from the problem that is frustrating them or stumping
them, take a deep breath, and come back to the problem after theyve cooled off,
and have a new and fresher way to approach the problem.
4. Reconstitution/Planning: There are two works that go along with this cognitive
characteristic and they are analysis and synthesis. Analysis refers to the skill of
breaking down what is observed into component parts and synthesis is the skill of
combining parts in order to perform new actions Students who have ADHD have a
hard time with both analysis and synthesis.

Academic Characteristics:

a) Some students with ADHD are gifted and talented. When this is the case,
teachers try to challenge these students so that they remain focused.
b) If a student has effective intervention , they can be really successful in school.
c) The more severe the symptoms of ADHD, the greater difficulty the student has
with academic success.
d) Technology is apparently even a huge help to students with ADHD. Technology
can help students become more organized, and if they are more organized then
they have a better chance of doing well in school, and can complete their
assignments more easily. The example in the textbook was more geared towards
and older student, a student in high school, but the example given was a
Smartphone. This type of technology could be used to help that student become
more organized.
Social & Emotional Characteristics:

1. Self-Esteem: I am sure we all go through times in our lives when our self-
esteem is low, and then other times when our self-esteem is high. Self-esteem,
according to the textbook means a persons overall regard for himself or herself as
a person. A student who has ADHD can have either a positive or negative self-
esteem, but it is very difficult to try to determine which one they have. It is sad to
have read that teachers and parents were more negative about students,
especially girls, with ADHD than about other students . That is a bit disturbing to
have read. We as teachers are suppose to pump up our students and encourage
them. Parents are suppose to be nurturing, loving and caring, but if they have
negative thoughts about their children it is no wonder the child has low self-esteem.
I was appalled to have read this about the way teachers and parents react to
students who have ADHD. Their behavior does not send a very positive message to
other students, teachers or parents.
2. Social-Functioning: Students have a difficult time maintaining and developing
friendships with their peers because they are not particularly accurate at judging
their own social abilities Students with ADHD have problems coping in many social
situations, school, home, and often other settings. They dont understand that there
are certain ways to act in certain situations. When they are playing on the
playground with their friends they can be fun and playful, but when they should be
calm and sitting still in a classroom they cannot differentiate the difference between
these situations. Bullying tends to become a factor with students who have ADHD,
they can either be the ones doing the bullying or are victims of bullying. Social
functions are difficult with children who have ADHD, and they have a hard time
being accepted by their peers.

Behavioral Characteristics:

a.) Students who have ADHD sometimes have a hard time working in large groups
or even alone,
b) Students that have ADHD are often disruptive in the classroom, but their actual
behavior symptoms are not extremely apparent to the teacher,
c) Students that are ADHD and hyperactive impulsive have behavior characteristics
that teachers can pinpoint immediately.
Some of the disruptive behaviors of students are:
a. Failure to complete their work in a timely manner.
b. Failure to pay close attention to detail when the teacher is explaining the lesson,
or they tend to make careless mistakes.
c. They have difficulty organizing tasks and other activities.
d. They have difficulty remaining focused in order to finish up schoolwork or even
homework

Recommended Educational Practices (Teaching Strategies)

 1. When trying to teach a student who has ADHD, it is important to remember the
three Cs, clear, concise and complete. Normal students are able to absorb
many instructions given to them at one time, but students with ADHD have a hard
time so it is important to give them directions in a manner that they will understand
and be able to follow. Simple, clear and to the point instructions are necessary. It is
also a good idea to have the student repeat the instructions that they were just
given by the teacher to make sure that the instructions were understood. If a
student repeats the directions or instructions back to the teacher, than they are
more likely to remember what they are. The assignments should also be broken into
small, less complex pieces so that the task can be completely correctly. Sometimes
teachers have a very detailed project that she wants the students to complete, but
it is so important to only give one direction at a time. Another strategy would be to
have all the students in the classroom repeat a correct response to a question. If all
the students repeat the answer to the question that was posed to them, the more
likely they are to remember the answer and question if by chance it is brought up
again, and chances are it will be.

2. Another teaching strategy to use for students with ADHD is to give

rewards more often. These rewards can be used to reinforce when they have
done something correct or when they have behaved appropriately. The rewards
given should also be a variety. The textbook suggests having a menu of eight to ten
different choices for them to choose from. Rewards are a good thing, and when a
student does do something right, they should be praised. Positive reinforcement is
always a good thing for teachers to provide their students with.

Schedule.
Keep the same routine every day, from wake-up time to bedtime. Include time for
homework, outdoor play, and indoor activities. Keep the schedule on the refrigerator
or on a bulletin board in the kitchen. Write changes on the schedule as far in
advance as possible.

Organize everyday items.

Have a place for everything, and keep everything in its place. This includes clothing,
backpacks, and toys.

Use homework and notebook organizers.

Use organizers for school material and supplies. Stress to your child the importance
of writing down assignments and bringing home the necessary books.

Be clear and consistent.

Children with ADHD need consistent rules they can understand and follow.

Give praise or rewards when rules are followed.

Children with ADHD often receive and expect criticism. Look for good behavior, and
praise it
 What is Visual Impairment?
Visual Impairment any vision loss
Low vision - difficulty accomplishing visual tasks but can use compensatory
strategies or technological modifications.
Blindness no vision or only light perception

Vision loss can be congenital or adventitious

IDEA Definition of Visual Impairment

Visual impairment including blindness means impairment in vision that, even with
correction, adversely affects a childs educational performance. The term includes
both partial sight and blindness.

Legal Blindness

Central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with corrective lenses
-or-

Central visual acuity of more than 20/200 if the visual field is less than 20
degrees in each eye 20/200 person cannot identify the largest letter on a standard
eye chart

Causes of Visual Impairment

Structural problem
Functional
Damage to the eye due to illness
Damage due to injury
Examples of Visual Impairments

Strabismus
Aniridia
Cataract
Amblyopia
Glaucoma
Cortical visual impairment

Cognitive and Academic Characteristics

Limits on range and variety of experiences (and incidental learning)

Restricted mobility
Limited interaction with and control of ones environment
Affects all developmental skills Full range of cognitive abilities
Reading and writing obviously affected

Braille Literacy Skills

Cells of raised dots to represent letters, contractions, and short-form words

Read by moving fingers over the lines of Braille cells from left to right
Braille reading rates are slower than print reading
Different types of Braille for different purposes and levels
o Alphabetic Braille
o Literary Braille
o Nemeth code

Print Literacy Skills

Large print
Optical low-vision devices
Braille
Books on tape/CD
Computer with speech synthesis
Closed-circuit television (CCTV)
Kurzweil reader
Access technologies

Social and Emotional Characteristics

Social behavior is usually learned through observation and imitation

May need direct, systematic instruction in social skills
May be socially immature, more isolated, and less assertive than others
May demonstrate stereotypic behaviors

Assessment
 Ophthalmologist (physician) and optometrist
Functional vision assessment students efficiency in using vision
Learning media assessment students approach to using sensory
information for learning
Clinical low vision evaluation determines whether student could benefit
from optical devices, nonoptical devices, or adaptations

Early Childhood Education

Home-based programs for infants/toddlers

Help family learn to work with child
Provide resources for parents
Center-based preschool programs for children at age 3
Focuses on teaching developmental skills

Elementary and Secondary School

Services Consultant model

Itinerant teacher model
Resource model
Special classes and schools

Recommended Educational Practices

Expanded core curriculum

Compensatory skills
Social interaction skills
Career education skills
Principles of Special Methods
Need for concrete experiences
Need for unifying experiences
Need for learning by doing

Parent and Family Perspectives

Concerns and situations that cause stress

o Providing for their childs needs
o The future, finances, siblings, social issues
Impact of disability on family over time
o Happier, stronger family relations
o More worry, more compassionate
Changing attitude towards others with visual impairments
Strategies and supports that assisted
o Actively helping, reading information, praying
o Discussing with professionals, recreation/leisure
 What is Hearing Impairment?
Hearing Impairment permanent or fluctuating; adversely affects education

Deafness so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information

through hearing; adversely affects educational performance

Hard of Hearing- permanent or fluctuating; adversely affects educational

performance; not included under deaf

Deaf Culture

Refers to members of the Deaf-community who embrace the linguistic

minority culture of
Deaf culture
Deaf culture identity- being deaf
Using ASL
attending a residential school for the Deaf
Deafness is not considered a disability

Causes of Hearing Loss

Congenital present at birth

Acquired/adventitious occurs after birth

Prelingual occurs prior to speech and language development

Postlingual occurs after speech and language have developed

Types of Hearing Loss

1. Conductive outer or middle ear problem; amplification may help

2 .Sensorineural inner ear or nerve problem

3 .Mixed

Additional Factors in Hearing Loss

Bilateral or unilateral hearing loss

Fluctuating hearing loss
Degree of hearing loss
Measured in decibels (dB) 7 classifications of hearing loss ranging from
normal hearing (0-15 dB) to moderate (41-55 dB) to profound hearing loss
(+91 dB)

Hearing Loss and Child Development

The ability to communicate is impaired

Communication is fundamental
Children acquire language through communication
What is learned through experience
Hearing loss reduces the quantity and quality of experiential learning

Cognitive and Academic Characteristics

Typical IQ distributions
Language development problems
 Reading is a challenge due to communication-language connection
o Many parents do not read to deaf children
Mastering writing is a problem
o Achieve higher in mathematics; problem
o Experiential deficits
o Language difficulties
o Traditionally-based instruction

Assessment Includes

Audiological evaluation
Measures of general health
Intelligence tests
Achievement tests
Language assessment

Determination of Eligibility

Inability to recognize most words spoken conversationally

A significant receptive or expressive delay
Impairment of speech articulation, voice or fluency
A significant discrepancy between verbal and nonverbal performance on an
intelligence test
Significant delay in the development of reading skills
Inattention or serious behavior problems related to the hearing loss

Determining Appropriate Educational Placements and IEPs Special

Education:

1. Preferred communication needs of child and family

2. Linguistic needs

3. Severity of hearing loss and potential for using residual hearing

4. Academic level

5. Social, emotional, and cultural needs

Goals of Early Intervention

1. Help family understand the hearing loss and gain confidence as parents
2. Help the baby learn to communicate, use any available hearing, and interact
socially
3. Help baby to become a fully participating member of the family
Elementary and Secondary School Services

General education classroom (interpreters)

General education classroom with supplementary instruction
Separate class for students who are Deaf or hard of hearing
Other settings

Recommended Educational Practices

Integrated vocabulary and concept development

Experiential ladder of learning
Visual teaching strategies
Sign, finger-spelling, and speech reading
Equipment like interactive whiteboards, computers, televisions
Materials like pictures, artifacts, captioned films
Accommodations as needed

Perspectives of Parents and Families

Broad range of emotions, reactions and challenges

Need understanding of impact of hearing loss
Need to find appropriate services and develop communication strategies
Deal with reactions of family and friends
Decide which communication approach to use
Deaf parents in the Deaf community might prefer a child who is deaf

Parent Reported Factors of Success

Skilled and caring professionals

Family support
Early identification and early intervention
Involvement in extracurricular activities
The value of reading
Perseverance

Trends and Issues in Deaf Education

Universal Newborn Hearing Screening

Impacted early identification and intervention
Cochlear Implants
Positive outcomes for some, negative for some
Debate over oral only or oral + manual
Seen as intrusive in the Deaf culture
Bilingual-Bicultural
o Approach ASL is primary language of instruction
o Incorporates Deaf heritage
 o Con: most parents not fluent in ASL

What is Emotional and Behavior Disorder?

Emotional Disturbance (ED) is a condition exhibiting one or more of the following
characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely
affects a childs educational performance:

A. An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health

factors.
B. An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers
and teachers.
C. Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances.
D. A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression.
E. A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or
school problems.

Subgroups:
Anxiety Disorder: Student exhibits a sense of fear and death or common
occurrences of OCD and PTSD
Disruptive Behavior Disorder: ADD, ODD and conduct disorder (fights,
bullies and displays cruelty to animals)
Eating Disorder: Anorexia nervosa (student believes they are overweight and
refuse to eat)
Mood Disorder: Affective disorders (Displays highs and lows with bipolar
disorder and depression)
Tic Disorder: Involuntary, rapid, stereotyped movements of specific muscle
groupsmost well known as tourette syndrome
Cognitive and Academic Characteristics:
Most have been found to have low-average to average intellectual ability (IQ)
Experience significant academic difficulties
 Range from low GPA to high risk for retention to high risk or dropping out of
school
Fail to achieve in school and their problems are in many subject areas
It is not clear whether emotional disorders cause academic problems, or if
academic problems cause students to have behavior problems
Social Characteristics:
o Have more relationship problems
o Lack of social skills if one of the primary reasons that students are
identified with having emotional and behavior disorders
o Live in situations where adults and others model inappropriate social skills
o Need to be taught and shown through example
Behavior and Emotional Characteristics:
Often do not completely different from other students, just occur more
often, are more intense, last longer, and have an impact on their learning.
Internalizing Behaviors- Behaviors that are withdrawn or directed inward.
Ex: talks about suicide, looks sad and depressed, cries frequently out
of the blue, complains of severe headaches ad a result of fear, etc.
Externalizing Behaviors- Behaviors that are directed towards others
Ex: aggressive toward objects or people, argues excessively, throw
temper tantrums, etc.
It is possible that students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders can be
both types.
Behaviors are often because of emotions.
May be afraid of going to school, enclosed spaces, catastrophic events, or
being sick.
May feel angry.
May refuse to do any assignment because they dont want to.
Sometimes students may deal with depression (feel worthless and only
see negative traits)

Recommended Educational Practices (Teaching Strategies):

Effective practices include: prevention, collaboration, procedures required by
IDEA, and specific interventions.
Prevention:
One component of prevention is early intervention. Professionals agree that if
early interventions could be implemented with young children who are at risk for
developing behavior disorders, some children would not experience later problems.

Collaboration:
The only way to ensure effective services is to create systems for effective
interagency collaboration that is, collaboration that spans school and nonschool
agencies. These agencies might include the school, a community mental health
agency, a family social services agency, the juvenile justice system, a state hospital
or other residential facility, etc.

Requirements for Interventions in IDEA: Functional Behavior

Assessment:
FBA is a multidimensional problem solving strategy for analyzing the
studentsbehavior within the context of the setting in which it is occurring. The
purpose is to decide the function of the behavior and determine how to address it.
Functional Behavior assessment involves these five steps:

1.Identify the problem behavior.

2.Describe in detail the settings in which the behavior occurs.
3.Gather information about the behavior using interviews, rating scales,
observations, review of student records, and other techniques.
4.Review the data.
5.Form a hypothesis about the function of the behavior based on the data gathered.

Behavior Intervention Plan:

BIP is a set of strategies designed to address the function of the behavior in
order to change it. The team also develops a contract which is a behavior
intervention strategy that clearly spells out expectations, rewards, and
consequences for students.

Specific Interventions:
Peer Mediated Instruction:
Learning to participate in groups with other students without disruption. Peer
tutoring and cooperative learning are examples of peer mediated instruction.
In peer tutoring each student works with one other student to practice math facts,
review vocabulary, or complete another instructional task. One student is the tutor,
or the student responsible for acting as the peer teacher; the other student is the
tutee, or the student answering the questions.

Teacher Instruction:
Students with emotional and behavior disorders clearly struggle with academic
achievement, and evidence increasingly points to the importance of using specific
programs and procedures to help them learn.
Communication Disorders -Speech Disorders:
Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is a motor speech disorder. Children with CAS
have problems saying sounds, syllables, and words. This is not because of muscle
weakness or paralysis, but rather a brain planning problem. The brain moves body
parts (e.g., lips, jaw, tongue) needed for speech and with CAS, a child knows what
he or she wants to say, but his/her brain has difficulty coordinating the muscle
movements necessary to say those words.

General things to look for include the following:

Child can understand language much better than he or she can talk
Child may have difficulty imitating speech, but imitated speech is more clear
than spontaneous speech
Child may appear to be groping when attempting to produce sounds or to
coordinate the lips, tongue, and jaw for purposeful movement
Child has more difficulty saying longer words or phrases clearly than shorter
ones
 Child may appear to have more difficulty when he or she is anxious
Child is hard to understand, especially for an unfamiliar listener
Child sounds choppy, monotonous, or stresses the wrong syllable or word
Orofacial Myofunctional Disorder (OMD):

With OMD, the tongue moves forward in an exaggerated way during speech and/or
swallowing. The tongue may lie too far forward during rest or may protrude between
the upper and lower teeth during speech and swallowing, and at rest.

Speech Sound Disorders: Articulation and Phonological Processes:

Most children make some mistakes as they learn to say new words. A speech sound
disorder occurs when mistakes continue past a certain age. Every sound has a
different range of ages when the child should make the sound correctly. Speech
sound disorders include problems with articulation (making sounds) and
phonological processes (sound patterns).

An articulation disorder involves problems making sounds. Sounds can be

substituted, left off, added or changed. In children, these errors may make it hard
for people to understand what they are saying. A phonological disorderinvolves
patterns of sound errors. For example, substituting all sounds made in the backof
the mouth like "k" and "g" for those in the front of the mouth like "t" and "d" (e.g.,
saying "tup" for "cup" or "das" for "gas").

Implications for the classroom

It is important to understand that no two children with Speech Disorders are

alike,just as no two typically developing children are alike. These strategies have
been shown to be effective with many children with speech disorders, but certainly
not all. Individualization should always be the overriding thought when creating
strategies and plans for instruction.

Early Intervention Services

If a child is suspected of having a speech disorder, an evaluation by a qualified

Speech Language
Pathologist (SLP) is essential. They can help determine where the childs deficits are
and design a
program for explicit instruction on speech and language
.
Use of different modalities of classroom communication

Using many different modes of communication in the classroom can help support
children with speech issues. Voice output devices, picture exchange communication
system (PECS), sign language and even just simplifying and modifying the language
that the adults use in the classroom can help a child with a speech disorder to
better access their environment

Use of visual pictures and other contextual cues when giving children
classroom directions

.Children with speech disorders often have trouble comprehending directions when
given by the teacher in a busy classroom. The use of contextual cues and visual
pictures paired with the verbal direction will gofar in supporting a child with a
speech delay.