1. Autism
1.1. Use visual cues to help the student understand when it is time to speak, listen, change activity
1.2. Use simple explicit language - Say write this down instead of take notes OR don't step in the puddle instead of watch out for the puddle
1.3. Use buddy system - ask sympathetic students to help the child during stressful times like lunch and break times, group work, PE, and transition between classerooms
2. Deaf-blindness
2.1. Assistive Listening Devices - A microphone for the teacher or a group mic for discussions
2.2. Note taking - provide a Braille or recorded version of the notes in class
2.3. Reading machines - Devices that increase the size of font and reduce glare to make text easier to read
2.4. Interpreters - Depends on student needs but visual (American Sign Language), oral, or tactile like in the picture
3. Deaf
3.1. Sit the student at the front so he/she can lip read and hear better
3.2. Use captioned videos
3.3. Alternative communication like some simple sign language
3.4. Sharing class notes so student can focus on class
4. Development Delay
4.1. Be aware of the development milestones
4.2. Talk to your pediatrician about getting a development screening, they are usually free through Child Find
4.3. Early Intervention Services are for children under 3 are usually free or based on family income
4.4. Special Education Services are for children older than 3 and are provided by your local public school
5. Emotional Disturbance
5.1. Use Positive Behavior Support - Emphasize positive behavior
5.2. Get psychological or counseling services for the student
5.3. Emotional Disturbance covers many mental diseases including anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, conduct disorder, eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and psychotic disorders
6. Hearing Impairment
6.1. Sit the student at the front so he/she can lip read and hear better
6.2. Use captioned videos
6.3. Alternative communication like some simple sign language
6.4. Sharing class notes so student can focus on class
6.5. Case Study
6.5.1. Caroline's Story Caroline is six years old, with bright brown eyes and, at the moment, no front teeth, like so many other first graders. She also wears a hearing aid in each ear—and has done so since she was three, when she was diagnosed with a moderate hearing loss. For Caroline’s parents, there were many clues along the way. Caroline often didn’t respond to her name if her back was turned. She didn’t startle at noises that made other people jump. She liked the TV on loud. But it was the preschool she started attending when she was three that first put the clues together and suggested to Caroline’s parents that they have her hearing checked. The most significant clue to the preschool was Caroline’s unclear speech, especially the lack of consonants like “d” and “t” at the end of words. So Caroline’s parents took her to an audiologist, who collected a full medical history, examined the little girl’s ears inside and out, ran a battery of hearing tests and other assessments, and eventually diagnosed that Caroline’s inner ear (the cochlea) was damaged. The audiologist said she had sensorineural hearing loss. Caroline was immediately fitted with hearing aids. She also began receiving special education and related services through the public school system. Now in the first grade, she regularly gets speech therapy and other services, and her speech has improved dramatically. So has her vocabulary and her attentiveness. She sits in the front row in class, an accommodation that helps her hear the teacher clearly. She’s back on track, soaking up new information like a sponge, and eager for more.
7. Intellectual Disability
7.1. For babies and toddlers - The Early Intervention plan can help make an Individualized Family Service Plan
7.2. Help child work on adaptive skills like social rules, basic reading, writing, and math, health and safety
7.3. Get supplementary aid and services based on need
8. Multiple Disabilities
8.1. Allow partial participation - students will not be excluded but the activity may be modified
8.2. Use Assistive Technology like a computers, alternative communication tools like a picture board, and digital, recorded, visualized class materials
8.3. Encourage the students independence and support transition planning
8.4. Case Study
8.4.1. Sharon's Story Sharon is an active five year old who loves to spend time with her grandmother. She also loves to fingerpaint and play with the family dog. Sharon has multiple disabilities. When she was born, she didn’t get enough oxygen. As a result, she has an intellectual disability, problems with mobility, and a speech impairment that makes it hard to understand what she’s saying. That doesn’t stop Sharon from chattering, though. She has a lot to say. For Sharon’s parents, it’s been a long road from Sharon’s birth to today. When she was just a baby, she began receiving special services called early intervention. These services help children with disabilities from birth to their third birthday. In early intervention, Sharon learned to crawl and to stand and—finally!—to walk with braces. Now in preschool, Sharon receives special education services. Like early intervention, these services are meant to address her special learning needs. Her parents are very involved. They sit down often with the preschool staff and talk about Sharon’s progress. The team also talks about Sharon’s challenges and how to address them. Last week, for example, Sharon got a picture board to help her communicate. She’s busy learning to use it. Sharon’s parents know that Sharon will always need some support because of her multiple disabilities. But her parents also know how determined Sharon can be when she’s learning something new. She’s going to learn it, by golly, there’s no stopping her.
9. Orthopedic Impairment
9.1. Find out the scope and severity of the orthopedic impairment
9.2. If not one of the IEP teachers, get a copy of the IEP plan that you can know the goals and strategies that were planned
9.3. Use of Assistive Technology depending on the impairment - wheelchairs, electronic touch screens, mini computers for communication
10. Other Health Impairment
10.1. Try to learn as much as you can about the health impairment the student to know when to get the nurse
10.2. Provide assignments for when student may be absent from school
10.3. Be part of the team that helps students transition after coming from a detracted time away from school
11. Specific Learning Disability
11.1. Break tasks into smaller steps, giving both written and verbal instructions
11.2. For students with a listening disorder allow them to borrow notes or record the lessons
11.3. Teach organization skills, study skills, and learning strategies
12. Speech or Language Impairment
12.1. Learn as much as you can about the student's specific disability
12.2. Use Assistive Technology like an electronic communication device.
12.3. Consult with others (especially the speech language pathologist) to find out teaching strategies and ways to adapt the curriculum for the specific needs of the child
13. Traumatic Brain Injury
13.1. Give the student more time to finish schoolwork and tests.
13.2. Give directions one step at a time. For tasks with many steps, it helps to give the student written directions.
13.3. Have consistent routines. This helps the student know what to expect. If the routine is going to change, let the student know ahead of time.
13.4. Realize that the student may get tired quickly. Let the student rest as needed. Reduce distractions.
13.5. Case Study
13.5.1. Susan was 7 years old when she was hit by a car while riding her bike. She broke her arm and leg. She also hit her head very hard. The doctors say she sustained a traumatic brain injury. When she came home from the hospital, she needed lots of help, but now she looks fine. In fact, that’s part of the problem, especially at school. Her friends and teachers think her brain has healed because her broken bones have. But there are changes in Susan that are hard to understand. It takes Susan longer to do things. She has trouble remembering things. She can’t always find the words she wants to use. Reading is hard for her now. It’s going to take time before people really understand the changes they see in her.
14. Visual Impairments, including blindness
14.1. Case Study
14.1.1. Julian's Story When Julian was almost two years old, he developed this adorable habit of closing one eye when he looked at you. It almost seemed as if he were winking. The possibility that Julian had a visual impairment didn’t initially occur to his parents, but when Julian’s right eye started crossing inward toward his nose… Off they went to the eye doctor, who confirmed that, yes, Julian had a visual impairment—amblyopia, often called “lazy eye.” As the most common cause of vision problems in children, amblyopia is the medical term used when vision in one eye is reduced because that eye and the brain are not working together properly. (1) Julian was also very farsighted, especially in the eye he’d taken to closing. Soon Julian had a brand-new pair of durable glasses suited to his active two-year-old self. The eye doctor also put an eyepatch over Julian’s better eye, so that he would have to use the weaker eye and strengthen its communication with the brain. Otherwise, the eye doctor said, the brain would begin to ignore the images sent by the weaker eye, resulting in permanent vision problems in that eye. Julian took good care of his glasses, but he didn’t take well to the patch, unfortunately. He ripped it off every time his parents put it on…and back on… and back on again. So today his eye still turns inward if he doesn’t wear his glasses.