Download Cultural Differences in Teaching Native Americans

Caring for Our People:
Special Education
Training by
Spirit Lake Consulting, Inc.
Our training is...
•
•
•
Being created with input from community
members
Designed to be useful for people with
disabilities, family members and staff
Under constant development to provide
the latest up-to-date information and
meet community needs
Introduction
Who gets special education?

More than 10% of children nationwide

20-30% on most reservations
It’s the law!

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires
quality services for students with disabilities,
including preschoolers & infants
WHO QUALIFIES?
There are thirteen categories for special education:
1.
Mental Retardation
2.
Learning Disabilities
3.
Serious Emotional Disturbance
4.
Visual Impairment
5.
Hearing Impairment
6.
Deafness
7.
Deaf-Blindness
WHO QUALIFIES?(continued)
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Autism
Speech or Language Impairment
Traumatic Brain Injury
Orthopedic Impairment
Multiple Disabilities
Other Health Impairments
DEFINING THESE CATEGORIES…
Mental Retardation
.... a condition in which a person has
trouble learning, absorbing, and practicing
every day skills, which slows them from
being able to take care of themselves and
interact with others. This disorder is usually
present from birth, although some cases of
retardation can occur later in life.
DEFINITIONS (continued)…
Learning Disabilities
… defined by law as "an imperfect ability to
read, write, speak or perform mathematical
calculations and which is not due to physical,
sensory or emotional impairment, mental
retardation or socio-cultural disadvantage."
DEFINITIONS (continued)…
Serious Emotional Disturbance
Includes depression, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity
Disorder, Conduct Disorders
An ADHD child may impulsively push someone too
hard on a swing, knock the child down on the
ground and be sorry she did this afterward. A child
with a conduct disorder might push the kid out of
the swing and say she didn't do it.
DEFINITIONS (continued)…
Visual Impairment
The terms partially sighted, low vision, legally
blind, and totally blind are used to describe
students with visual impairments.
•
•
•
•
"Partially sighted" indicates a visual problem that has resulted in
a need for special education;
"Low vision" generally refers to a severe visual impairment, not
necessarily limited to distance vision.
"Legally blind" means that a person has less than 20/200 vision
in the better eye or a very limited field of vision.
“Totally blind” students learn via braille or other non-visual
media.
DEFINITIONS (continued)…
Hearing Impairment
… is when there is an impairment in hearing
that affects a child's educational performance
but that is not included under the definition of
deafness (see next slide).
Each state defines the degree of hearing loss
which determines a student's eligibility for
special education services. Hard of hearing is
defined as a hearing loss of 35-60 decibels in
the better ear.
DEFINITIONS (continued)…
Deafness
…is a hearing impairment that is so
severe that the child is impaired in
understanding speech.
Deafness is usually defined as a
hearing loss of 70 decibels or greater
in the better ear.
DEFINITIONS (continued)…
Deaf-Blindness
…refers to a combination of hearing and visual
impairments which cause such severe
communication and other developmental and
educational needs that they cannot be
accommodated in special education programs
solely for children with deafness or children
with blindness.
DEFINITIONS (continued)…
Autism
…this category includes individuals with all levels of
pervasive development disorder – the most known of
which being autism. People with PDD have deficits in
social interaction and communication.
Asperger’s Syndrome, Rett’s Syndrome and Childhood
Disintegrative Disorder are also classified under PDD.
DEFINITIONS (continued)…
Speech or Language Impairment
… includes communication or language disorders that
affect communication and/or oral functioning that
affects speech.
Speech disorders include articulation disorder and
phonological disorder.
Children with language disorders may have trouble
with matching a word with its meaning, creating
sentences, or comprehending what someone is
saying.
DEFINITIONS (continued)…
Traumatic Brain Injury
… usually occurs in an accident when the brain literally
bounces back and forth inside the skull, often hitting in
both the front and the back of the brain. Brain injury
can also occur due to lack of oxygen.
Brain injury is the most common cause of death and
disability in children. Effects can be as serious as
mental retardation, learning disabilities, loss of vision
or speech, inability to remember new things and
number of other complications.
DEFINITIONS (continued)…
Orthopedic Impairment
… according to the ADA (2005), an individual with a
physical disability is a person who either :
• has a physical or mental impairment that
substantially limits one or more major life
activities;
• has a record of such an impairment;
• is regarded as having such an impairment.
These conditions can be related to any physical
disorder or condition or anatomical loss affecting one
or more body systems. The loss can be muscularskeletal (e.g., a missing limb) or neurological (I.e., the
body part does not function, such as in paraplegia).
DEFINITIONS (continued)…
Multiple Disabilities
… refers to a combination of disabilities, such
as mental retardation and orthopedic
impairment, that cannot be served in programs
for either individual disability alone.
DEFINITIONS (continued)…
Other Health Impairments
… cover a variety of diseases and disorders focused on
a special education category that refers to people who
have limited strength, energy or alertness that affects
their ability to learn in a normal classroom.
Less than .5% of students are diagnosed with other
health impairments.
Some of these disorders are present at birth, such as
sickle cell anemia, asthma, hemophilia or epilepsy.
Other impairments are caused by acquired conditions
such as lead poisoning, rheumatic fever, HIV, or cancer.