Inclusive Education of Students with Down Syndrome Professional Development Session

What is Down syndrome?  1 in every live births  Extra copy of chromosome 21, resulting in 47 chromosomes instead of 46  Different development of body, brain, physical characteristics  Delays in physical, intellectual and language abilities

Characteristics and symptoms  Muscle hypotonia  Hyperflexibility  Dysplastic middle phalanx of fifth finger  Enlargement of tongue  Speech intelligibility  Structure or ear, nose and throat  Hearing, vision and thyroid problems  Heart conditions

Discussion: From what you have read, what do you consider to be possible challenges to having a Down syndrome student in your classroom? Would you feel comfortable doing so?

What is inclusive education?  All students, with and without disabilities, are educated together for most or all of the school day  Students with disability or learning difficulty are not segregated from their developmental or age peers  Based on the belief of every person’s right to fully participate in society

Benefits of inclusion  Academic and social benefits  Non-disabled students develop more understanding, appreciation and a more caring attitude to those with disabilities  Skills developed in the inclusive environment are carried to their homes and lives outside of school

Down syndrome students in the inclusive environment  A student with Down syndrome will develop approximately 5 months for every year of a typical students development  This delay in development can be significantly improved by surrounding the student with typically developing students for a majority of the day

 Students with Down syndrome are known to imitate their peers  Being surrounded by students with steadily developing language and speech will encourage and improve his language, vocabulary and clarity of speech  Students with Down syndrome have the opportunity to socialize with non-disabled peers  Improved speech and language skills in turn improve social skills, social and emotional development

 Students will learn how to communicate emotions and how to behave appropriately  Students are challenged beyond how they would be in a separate special needs classroom

Making inclusion work  Maintain high expectations of all students  Access to the same curriculum  Use positive behaviour support strategies  Understand the individual student(s) and how they learn best  Adjust activities to suit the needs of the student(s)  Short and long term social and educational goals  Keep an open and involved relationship with parents

The use of assistance Students with disability do need one-on-one assistance and classroom aids, and this also helps take some of the pressure off of teaching. It is important to try to include this classroom aid inside an inclusive environment, and not continuously remove the student from the classroom for one-on-one work.

Activity: Case Studies How could you make inclusive education work for the child?

A real world example: Nikki Nikki’s story and image has been used in this presentation with permission.

About Nikki Nikki was born with what is considered to be a severe case of Down syndrome. When she was born, doctors told her parents that she may never walk. Nikki was lucky to have incredibly supportive parents on her side. They insisted on giving Nikki every opportunity to develop, improve and gain skills and independence.

Nikki attended an independent school. Here, she was included in the typical classroom, although she spent a lot of her time with her developmental peers, as opposed to her age peers. This gave Nikki the chance to work and succeed at her own level of development and intellect. She attended school for longer than the average student, in order to give her the most opportunity to become a fully involved member of society.

Nikki has always been highly respected and regarded by her classmates. Not only did Nikki’s inclusion in the classroom benefit her, but it allowed the other students to learn about disability, patience and compassion.

Importantly, Nikki has always been involved in extra-curricular activities, such as sewing, art and dance classes. She has danced with the same teacher for over 20 years. At this school, Nikki has proven that she can not only walk, but she can dance. Again, she is highly respected by all the students and families at the school.

Nikki not only performs in the end of year concert, she also assists in teaching younger groups of children and is a highly valued member of the school. Nikki is highly creative, and regularly makes up routines to her favourite songs to show her teachers. Nikki writes cards and notes to her teachers, with extremely neat and delicate handwriting. Her language and speech are quite well developed.

Nikki suffers from hearing issues, and wears a hearing aid. However she doesn’t always like to wear it! When speaking to Nikki, speaking slowly and clearly is effective, and she is an expert at reading lips. She struggles with elevation (due to muscle hypotonia), and so dance routines need to be modified slightly to suit her abilities. Nikki has individual lessons, on top of her regular classes, to work with her on practicing and adjusting the work.

Unknowingly, her dance teachers have been applying many of the teaching strategies known to be effective when teaching students with Down syndrome. Nikki is a beautiful, talented, bright and respected member of the community. Her inclusion in typical classrooms and activities has allowed Nikki to develop and make incredible gains in all areas of life.

Teaching strategies There are a number of teaching strategies that are known to be effective in teaching students with Down syndrome in inclusive settings.

 Students with Down syndrome are visual learners. So using teaching methods that involve visual cues, objects, pictures etc. is effective  Give students the freedom to choose activities wherever possible  For individual work, only give small segments of work at a time. Students with Down syndrome need more time to process new information  Use as many “hands on” activities as possible. Avoid workbooks as much as possible

 Give plenty of opportunity to practice new skills – homework is a very good idea  Give short, clear instructions. The student will struggle to process too much information at once  Exercise students’ hands before writing  Allow extra time to complete tasks  Encourage retention of information by regularly reviewing already learned concepts  Seat the student close to the teacher

As you can see, these are all strategies that can be effective in the classroom regardless of whether your class contains a student with Down syndrome or not. You may need to adjust some tasks or assignments specifically for a Down syndrome student, but generally the class can run effectively, smoothly and normally.

Activity: How does it feel to suffer from muscle hypotonia? You will place the provided socks on your hands and attempt to perform the tasks laid out around the room. This is how it may feel for a student with Down syndrome.

Suggested resources: The following suggested resources also act as a bibliography for this presentation.

 Supporting the Student with Down Syndrome in Your Classroom: Educator Manual, Down Syndrome Association of West Michigan, 2014  Implementing inclusion, National Down Syndrome Society  Supporting the social inclusion of students with Down syndrome in mainstream education, de Graaf, G., Dutch Down Syndrome News and Update, Vol.2, No.2, pp55-62, 2002  Making Inclusion Work for Children with Down Syndrome, Lorenz, S., Down Syndrome News and Update, Vol.1, No.4, pp , 1999  Inclusive education for individuals with Down syndrome, Hughes, J., Down Syndrome News and Update, Vol.6, No.1, pp1-3, 2006  Benefits to Students with Down Syndrome in the Inclusion Classroom: K-3, Bosworth, D.L., 2001

Final questions & discussion