Accommodations & Strategies for Students with Disabilities

Background Knowledge There are 14 disability categories under IDEA The categories are broad In California, the Education Specialist credential has two authorizations: – Mild/Moderate – Moderate/Severe

There are many disabilities under the 14 categories. For example: OHI – ADD/ADHD-Diabetes – Epilepsy-Heart conditions – Hemophilia-Lead poisoning – Leukemia-Nephritis – Rheumatic fever-sickle cell anemia – Tourette syndrome SOME OF THESE MIGHT BE SERVED UNDER SEC. 504 IF THE STUDENT IS NOT HAVING A PROBLEM LEARNING

Accommodations You have learned many accommodations already: – Extra visuals – Manipulatives – Pacing of speech – Etc. You’ll also have the support of an Education Specialist….sometimes you have to ask, however.

Accommodations for Severe Disabilities and the General Education Teacher Characteristics: – Need help with major life functions, like eating and toileting – Seldom placed in general education classrooms – If placed, typically come with an aide and/or a great deal of support – If in your class, usually for socialization – Accommodations on your part-typically welcoming student and helping other students accept the presence of the student – Ask for help if you’re not sure

Accommodations for Moderate Disabilities and the General Education Teacher Possibly disabilities—may not be specifically identified: – Moderate intellectual delay, Down syndrome, fetal alcohol issues, moderate behavioral issues, undiagnosed mild brain injury, etc – Typically fall below average academically – Accommodations evidenced-based practices in which you’ve been trained: -Direct instruction, language rich environment, repetition of tasks, carefully sequenced instruction, extra scaffolding, peer support – Gather date if needed for referral to second tier of RtI or whatever intervention program used by your school

“Scaffolding” Accommodations for Moderate Disabilities Show and Tell—model, model, model Fish bowl—have small group of students model as other watch Think alouds—teacher models thinking and process aloud, have a student repeat – Emphasize and model building on prior/experiential knowledge, then turn them loose to talk – Preteach vocabulary effectively, not just by definition – Use Graphic Organizers—try Mega-Graphics – Pause, review, recap, summarize, and have them do the same

“Scaffolding” Accommodations for Moderate Disabilities WORDPICTUREDEFINITION

Accommodations for MILD Disabilities and the General Education Teacher CAPABLE OF ACHIEVING AT AVERAGE TO ABOVE AVERAGE Characteristics--Learning Disabilities: Visual processing Auditory processing Visual motor Etc. A helpful way of looking at learning disabilities is to group them in two broad categories: INPUT OUTPUT Especially in early grades, you may be one to initially identify

How Problem Manifests CAPABLE OF ACHIEVING AT AVERAGE TO ABOVE AVERAGE Difficulties with: -Phonemic awareness -Reading-Spelling -Math-Writing-Memory -Organization-Study Skills-Attention -Following directions-Imagery-Writing Listening comprehension-Reading Comprehension -Critical thinking-Fluency -

How Problem Manifests Auditory processing Visual motor Etc. A helpful way of looking at learning disabilities is to group them in two broad categories: INPUT OUTPUT Especially in early grades, you may be one to initially identify

How Problem Manifests FRUSTRATION, ANXIETY AND TENSION You may be the person to identify— Collect data and use the SST process in your school: – Work samples – Assessments – Behavioral data

Accommodations for MILD Disabilities and the General Education Teacher Universal Design for Learning Some other supports: Copies of your notes or another students Tape or video teaching sequence Additional time Reduce practice, since it takes more time Break tasks into smaller tasks Alternate ways of completing assignment INPUT OUTPUT

Remember-the same accommodations are typically needed for assessments! Extended time Reduced distractions Word processor or scribe Spelling device Calculator Scratch paper Others?

Additional Strategies Mnemonics Use of manipulatives to solve problems Careful teaching of algorithms Strategies like Step Up to Writing, with very structured and repetitive parts SIM-Strategic Instruction Model

What is it? The Strategic Instruction Model is a research based comprehensive approach to teaching adolescents who struggle to become good readers, writers, and learners.

The Performance Gap Demands/ Skills Years in School School Year NCLB 2013 – 2014 School Year The “ GAP ”

Are wealthy people more valuable? Rich were given priority over poor for spaces on lifeboats A great disaster can cause society to examine its values and practices so improvements can be made to save future lives Newspaper article:” Titanic largest and fastest, so it’s probably unsinkable” Titanic lessons from a disaster When a myth is treated as a truth, people fool selves Lesson: Don’t believe it because somebody said it Builders began to believe the myth; took short-cuts Owners liked “unsinkable” idea, so they encouraged people to believe it Used cheaper steel (thin & brittle, 1 hull) so ship would not cost as much Lesson: Safety always produces greatest profit in the long run Fewer lifeboats = more attractive ship = more people buying tickets Fastest ship = more tickets sold = taking great risks in ice burg zone Putting profit over safety = great loss of life Lesson: All human life is equally valuable, regardless of wealth Cabins closest to deck = most expensive = rich reach lifeboats 1st Many of the poorer people were locked below so they couldn’t escape how a great ship sinking led to important lessons that changed. society © 2004 Edwin Ellis

The Framing Routine is another tool for teaching students how to organize information for learning.

So what? What is important to understand about this? is about … America’s involvement in world affairs Road to War War of 1812 Protecting American Neutrality Expansion of sea trade with other nations American ships attacked by France & Great Britain Embargo Act Non-intercourse Act War hawks promote nationalism Native Americans relations worsen as settlers move westward Battle of Tippecanoe War declared against Great Britain War hawks desire to control Canada British burn Washington, D.C. Andrew Jackson’s Victory in New Orleans Treaty of Ghent © 2004 Edwin Ellis

The FRAME Routine Key Topic Main idea is about… So What? (What’s important to understand about this?) Essential details Main idea Essential details Main idea

The FRAME Routine Key Topic is about… So What? (What’s important to understand about this?) Main idea

labeling shapes according to the number of sides Polygons are closed, flat figures with straight lines for sides. Polygons The FRAME Routine Key Topic is about… So What? (What’s important to understand about this?) Triangle Main idea Octagon Main idea Quadrilateral Main idea Decagon Main idea Pentagon Main idea Hexagon Main idea 3 sides 4 sides 5 sides 6 sides 3 angles 4 angles 5 angles 6 angles TRI means 3 QUAD means 4 PENT means 5 HEX means 6 8 sides 10 sides 8 angles 10 angles OCT means 8 DEC means 10