In order to provide the best support we can for these new students, we've been talking lots about what we can do to get to know them and to really understand what they need. Over the course of these discussions, I've been reminded about how profoundly different it is to provide support for a student with a learning disability than it is to provide support for a student with a more global intellectual impairment.
While both students can struggle with understanding new concepts and "hanging on" to new learning, there are very distinctive reasons for these challenges, and we are only able to provide them with the supports and structures they need if we deeply understand these differences, and why they matter.
Our learners who have been diagnosed with a learning disability will have an aspect of their learning which is more challenging- perhaps math calculation, or reading fluency, for example, but will have other areas of relative strength, which can help them to develop strategies and to employ tools, to make their challenges less impactful. Individuals with a learning disability have average or above-average intelligence. Where we successfully assist these students to learn compensatory skills (work-arounds), they find success with all aspects of the curriculum, heading off to the world of post-secondary education and work to enjoy life independently and with few barriers.
Often, the tools that are the most successful for these learners are the tools that benefit all learners. It's not about finding things that are weird or different....it's about providing access to things that EVERYONE benefits from using. That's the beauty of a differentiated classroom community.
Examples include digital options such as word prediction, speech-to-text and text-to-speech tools, summarizing or hi-lighting tools (aren't we lucky that between Google Read and Write, Google Chrome and the App Store that many of these things are available free or nearly free for our kids to access!). Who doesn't want to lay on their bed with a cup of tea and an iPod recording an essay that's easily emailed to the computer for editing...but that's for another post.
The term Intellectual Disability is quite different. It is "characterized by significant limitations in both intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior, which covers many everyday social and practical skills." (http://aaidd.org).Intellectual disabilities are sometimes described as cognitive impairments. They generally fall into two categories:
Mild Intellectual Disability and Profound Intellectual Disabilities.
Diagnostically speaking, average intelligence is defined as having an IQ (Intelligence Quotient) score of 100. Individuals with Mild Intellectual Disabilities will have IQ scores less than 70, individuals with Profound Intellectual Disabilities will have IQ scores that fall below 55.
It is easy to see that someone with a profound intellectual disability needs additional help. These are individuals with such significant communicative and adaptive challenges that it is clear someone is needed to provide support for them on an ongoing basis.
It can be much more difficult to recognize that someone with a mild intellectual disability needs us. Individuals with mild intellectual disabilities may be slower to acquire new skills and concepts, may find communicating with others or caring for their own personal needs difficult, or may have very short attention spans and be very concrete and literal. At the same time, they may be quite comfortable in conversation with peers and adults, be able to navigate their school day without someone to help them work their way between environments in the school, and be quite keen to participate in class activities.
What happens sometimes, is that these students are perceived as disorganized, or distractible, or disengaged. It may be that a student with an intellectual impairment participates in class and seems very interested in the conversation, but is not able to produce assignments without significant adult support. Perhaps he or she is able to answer the straightforward questions, but becomes overwhelmed and lost when asked to be more reflective or inferential in his or her response.
For me, the most critical thing we can do to support these learners is to always be mindful of the difference between "can't," and "won't." It is more difficult for learners with an intellectual disability to understand figurative or metaphoric language. These are students who not be able to process multiple step directions, or to keep track of all of the dates/timelines/bits and pieces that we require of most students in a classroom. If we're not really careful, it can be easy to think of them as dis-engaged or, (I cringe even typing it), lazy, without remembering all of the very real reasons they may actually be unable to do more without assistance.
These are learners who will have a gap socially with other students. They will not understand the banter of peer interactions, or the consequences of some of their choices, in the same way as their same-age peers. They may be self-conscious about this, or may just become confused and frustrated. They are definitely more prone to succumbing to peer pressure, it's harder for them to "see things coming."
Often, learners with intellectual impairments require more than differentiated environments or adaptations to their curriculum. They need specific modifications to the content or expectations with respect to their learning. They will simply not be able to cope with all of the material that is explored by their peers.
There are some specific things we can do as educators to support this group of vulnerable learners:
1.Support their language skills. Advance load the vocabulary instruction, and carefully scaffold reading comprehension tasks. Take time to answer their questions and help them make sense of what they are hearing or reading. Know that they may not be able to understand or work with the same volume or complexity of material that their peers may explore.
2. Make math manageable. Basic facts such as arithmetic, time, and measurement will make more sense to students with intellectual impairments. Problem solving and reasoning tasks will be really tough. Use visuals, concrete examples, manipulative tools.
3. Understand that this learner will have a short attention span. It's not that this learner doesn't want to focus. He or she actually CAN'T for too long. Prompts, decreased distractions and starting with the easier bits of the task will help.
4. Directly teach "tricks" to remember things: little rhymes for rote lists, repeating information orally to oneself, remembering bits of info in clusters, creating little pictures and diagrams.
5. Help with the transfer of knowledge. Learning something in English class won't necessarily mean the student can do it in Social Studies. Wherever possible, teach with meaningful context, point out connections, remind students they learned something in another environment that can help them here. These students will learn new skills and information in little bits. They need us to break things down, and to help "chain" the bits together.
6. Structure opportunities to practice social skills. These are often learners who won't "get" the interactions of their peers or notice body language. Coach them. Encourage them.
(Adapted from https://www.education.com/slideshow/areas-difficulty-children-mild/language-skills/)
For me, though, the most important thing of all is missing off of this list. Learners with mild intellectual disabilities deserve all of the success, engagement and connection with their school communities that other students experience. Regardless of the size of their steps, or of whether they are working adaptations or modifications to their curriculum, this group of learners deserve to be working alongside their peers, and their individual learning needs to be acknowledged and celebrated.
After all, THEY ARE ALL OUR KIDS!
