Download Special Education

Special Education
Who is eligible,
When to refer,
and What do I do?
Who are these students?
• Special Education services are available to
students with disabilities, when that
disability interferes with their learning in a
way that cannot be remedied with general
education supports.
Special Education Categories
• Specific Learning
Disability
• Speech or Language
Impairment
• Mental Retardation
• Emotional Disturbance
• Other Health
Impairment
• Multiple Disabilities
• Hearing Impairment
• Orthopedic
Impairment
• Autism
• Visual Impairment
• Traumatic Brain
Injury
• Developmental Delay
• Deaf-Blindness
Specific Learning Disability
• Most common category for Special Education
students (51%)
• ". . . a disorder in one or more of the basic
psychological processes involved in understanding
or in using language, spoken or written, that may
manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen,
think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical
calculations, including conditions such as
perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain
dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental
aphasia."
Types of Learning Disabilities
• Oral Expression
• Listening
Comprehension
• Basic Reading
• Reading
Comprehension
• Math Calculations
• Math Reasoning
• Written Expression
• Reading Fluency
LD – What to look for
Student’s with LD vary
tremendously…….
• A student who is having difficulty
learning in a specific subject.
• A student who is having difficulty
learning in general, even though
you believe he has the cognitive
ability to learn the material.
How do you assess for LD?
• In the past, Texas used a 16 point
discrepancy model.
• Many people hated this model.
– Felt like it failed the “slow learners” and let
children fail before help was given to them.
Response to Intervention
• Eligibility based on whether or not the
student responds positively to other
programs and interventions before Special
Ed. Referral is made.
• Data is collected before, during and after
the general education interventions and
programs.
• Student demonstrates a pattern of strengths
and weaknesses.
Why didn’t my student qualify?
• Not enough data collected to make a
determination (think Excel, not Word).
• No pattern of strengths and weaknesses.
• Difficulties are caused by another factor
(vision, language, hearing, behavior, etc.).
• LD Review Committee recommended that
eligibility criteria had not been met.
Understanding Standard Scores
Average = 95 to 115
Mental Retardation
• Significantly sub-average
general intellectual
functioning existing
concurrently with deficits in
adaptive behavior and
manifested during the
developmental period that
adversely affects a child’s
performance.
MR – What to look for
• Students who are
significantly behind in
their cognitive functioning
than their peers.
• Students whose social and
self-help skills are
significantly behind their
peers.
What Assessment is Done?
• Adaptive Scales
– Both parent and
teacher scales must be
significantly delayed
• Intellectual
Testing
– Full Scale IQ
score falls below
71.
– This equates to
the lower 2% of
the population.
Why Didn’t My Student Qualify?
• The IQ score was to high.
• One of the adaptive scores was to high.
Other Health Impaired
• Students who qualify OHI have a variety of
health issues that are not covered under
other headings.
• Examples are Asthma, Attention Deficit
Disorder, Diabetes, Epilepsy, Heart
Conditions, Hemophilia, Lead Poisoning,
Leukemia, Nephritis, Rheumatic Fever, or
Sickle Cell Anemia.
OHI – What to Look For
• Many issues are identified by medical
personnel before it reaches special
education.
• Raise health concerns with parents
during conferences.
A Word About ADHD
• NEVER say to a parent that you feel that
their child has ADHD. This is a medical
diagnosis, and you and I are not qualified to
make that diagnosis.
• Most ADHD students are handled by 504
programs, and these programs must be
attempted, with progress documented,
before Special Education referral started.
What Assessment is Done?
• Medical records
review.
• Intellectual
• Achievement
– Educational Impact
must be assessed.
– Just having a condition
that is covered under
OHI does not
necessitate special
education services.
Why Didn’t My Student Qualify?
• No Educational Need.
• General Education
remedies are sufficient.
• General Education
remedies have not been
attempted.
Autism
• A developmental disability significantly
affecting verbal and nonverbal
communication and social interaction,
generally evident before age 3, that
adversely affects educational performance.
Autism – What to Look For
• Difficulty developing relationships with people.
• Delayed speech acquisition and inability to use
speech once it is developed.
• Repetitive and stereotypical behavior.
• Lack of imagination.
• Good rote memory.
• Obsessive insistence on sameness of routine.
• Normal physical appearance.
What Assessment is done?
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Intellectual testing.
Achievement testing.
Psychological testing.
Speech and language testing.
In class and recreational observations.
Parent and teacher questionnaires.
Why Didn’t My Student Qualify?
• Autism evaluation ruled out Autism as a
cause for difficulties.
Emotional Disturbance
• Exhibits one or more of the following over a long
time and to a marked degree:
– An inability to learn that cannot be explained by
intellectual, sensory, or other health factors.
– Inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal
relationships with peers or teachers.
– Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under
normal circumstances.
– A general and pervasive mood of unhappiness or
depression.
– A tendencies to develop physical symptoms or fears
associated with personal or school problems.
ED – What Assessment is Done?
• Intellectual Testing
• Achievement Testing
– These tests are mainly used to rule out learning
problems as being the cause of the behavior exhibited.
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Psychological Tests determined by LSSP.
Observations
Questionnaires for parents and teachers.
Several meetings with the student by the LSSP.
Why Didn’t my Student Qualify
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Lack of Marked Degree.
Lack of Prolonged Time Period.
Lack of Educational Need.
Testing revealed other things
(LD, ADHD, Adjustment
Disorder) that could not be ruled
out as cause for behavior.
• Social Maladjustment.