Learners with Intellectual Disability

• Biological Postnatal Causes are infections, malnutrition, and toxins that can cause intellectual disabilities.
• These are problems that can occur before birth. We can group prenatal causes into (1) chromosomal disorders, (2) inborn errors of metabolism, (3) developmental disorders affecting brain formation, and (4) environmental influence.
• Intelligence Tests WISC-IV - one of the most commonly used IQ tests for children, it consists of a full-scale IQ, as well as four composite scores: Verbal Comprehension, Perceptual Reasoning, Working Memory, and Processing Speed.
• Instruction can take place in the classroom, under simulated conditions, or in real life settings. Research indicates that instruction of daily living skills for students with intellectual disabilities is generally more effective when conducted in the actual settings where students will use these skills.

  Instruction in Real-Life settings with Real Materials
• Customised Employment and Self- Employment is based on an assessment of the individual's strengths, weaknesses, and interests.
• Acting autonomously - means behaving according to your own preferences without dependency on others.
• Is characterized by significant limitations in both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills.

  Intellectual disability
• One of the most severe disorders is fetal alcohol syndrome, children with this is characterized by a variety of abnormal facial features and growth retardation, as well as intellectual disabilities. Pregnant women's exposure of radiation is also dangerous to the development of the fetus. Infections in the pregnant women can also affect the developing fetus and can result to intellectual disabilities such as rubella (German measles).
• Prader-Willi syndrome has a chromosomal abnormality from their father. The degree of intellectual disability varies, but the majority fall within mildly intellectually disabled range, and some have IQs in the normal range.
• Verbal prompt - can be a question or a command.
• In secondary school, the vast majority of students with intellectual disabilities take at least one vocation course and a life skills/social skills course. And when they do take general education courses, the majority receive a modified general education curriculum.

  Transition to Adulthood
• Is a structured environment in which a person receives training and works with other workers with disabilities on a job requiring relatively low skills.

  Sheltered Workshops
• In an effort to meet instructional needs of students with mild intellectual disabilities within inclusive settings. Thisincludes using peers to provide instructions and feedback in a reciprocal format. Paired students have an opportunity to be a tutor and a tutee during each session. The students with intellectual disabilities are paired with students with no intellectual disabilities.

  Classwide Peer Tutoring
• From the causes of intellectual disabilities, we can also identify how we can prevent them.

  • Genetic Counselling
  • Newborn screening
  • Prenatal Care
  • Avoiding exposures to harmful substance or toxins
  • Immunization
  • Parental Care
• Onset of intellectual developmental disorder is in the developmental period.
• Inborn Errors of Metabolism results from inherited deficiencies in enzymes that are used to metabolize basic substances in the body such as amino acids. carbohydrates, vitamins, or trace elements. The most common of these is phenylketonuria (PKU). PKU involves the inability of the body to convert common dietary substance phenylalanine to tyrosine which results in abnormal brain development.
• Major areas of problems for people with Intellectual Disabilities:

  • Attention
  • Memory (especially working memory)
  • Language Self-regulation
  • Motivation
• Transition programming for individuals with intellectual disabilities involves two related areas: community adjustment and employment.


  Person-Centered Planning
• Placements for school-aged students with intellectual disabilities from general education to residential facilities. Less intellectually disabled are the most integrated. Even the students with severe disabilities are sometimes placed in the general education classrooms, with schools providing extra support services.

  Service Delivery Models
• Calculation of IQ Tests - Although not all IQ tests call for this method of calculation, dividing mental age (the age level at which a person is functioning) by chronological age and multiplying by 100 provides a rough approximation of a person's IQ.
• Hydrocephalus - results from an accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid inside and outside the brain. The blockage of the circulation of the fluids creates a buildup of excessive pressure in the brain and enlargement of the skull. The degree of intellectual disability depends on how early the condition is diagnosed and treated.
• Community residential facilities - or group homes, accommodate small groups (3 to 10 people) in houses under the direction of "house parents".
• A major issue facing special educators is how to ensure that students with intellectual disabilities have access to general education curriculum, as dictated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The more severe the ID, the more complex the issue of access.
• Supported Competitive Employment the person with intellectual disabilities has a competitive employment position but receives on-going assistance, often from a job coach.
• This disability originates before age 18.


  Intellectual disability
• Psychosocial Postnatal Causes of intellectual disabilities are poor environmental circumstances such as abuse, neglect, and under stimulation. Less severe environmental factors are inadequate stimulating adult-child interactions, poor teaching, and lack of reading materials.
• Social intelligence involves understanding and interpreting people and social interactions.
• When compared to teacher-lead conditions, this resulted in improved academic performance for all students, increased amount of engaged academic time, and positive acceptance from teachers and students as it provides a flexible instructional strategy to meet the carrying needs of an inclusive classroom.

  Classwide Peer Tutoring
• In keeping with the philosophy of self-determination programming, many professionals now recommend person-centered transition planning.
• Usually involve a parent, teacher or other professional answering questions related to the person's independence and daily living skills and maladaptive behaviour.

  Adaptive Behavior Measurement
• Fragile X syndrome is the most common known hereditary cause of intellectual disabilities. The bottom of the X chromosome is pinched off in some of the blood cells. In association with intellectual disability, it occurs in 1 of 4000 males and 1 in 6,000 females.
• The authorities recommend a merger of functional and academic curricular standard. This notion of blending academics and functional skills is embodied in functional academics, teaching academics in the context of daily living skills. Whereas children who do not have disabilities are taught academics (e.g., reading) to learn other academic content (e.g., history), the child with intellectual disabilities is often taught reading to learn to function independently. In functional reading, the child learns academics to do such things as read a newspaper, read the telephone
• The researchers conducted follow-up studies of students who had received preschool interventions. At ages 27 40, the participants demonstrated a number of difference favoring them over individuals who had not received the intervention

  Perry Preschool Project
• Although sheltered workshops are still the most common work setting for individuals with disabilities, more and more authorities are voicing dissatisfaction with these workshops.
• Formerly known as mental retardation as it was change to intellectual disability because of growing negativity associated with the term mentally retarded. In November 2009, Rosa's Law was introduced in the US Senate. Its purpose is to eliminate the terms mental retardation and mentally retarded in the books and change it to the term intellectual disability.
• These are problems that can occur while giving birth that can result to brain injury and intellectual disabilities.

  Perinatal Causes
• Educational programming for students with intellectual disabilities, especially with more severe cases, often includes two features: systematic instruction and instruction in real life settings with real materials.
• Participants were identified before birth by targeting pregnant women living in poverty. Results reported through the age of 20, indicated that the infants from the day-care group attained better scores on intellectual academic measures and were more likely to have attended a 4-year college.

  Abecedarian Project
• Workers make very low wages because sheltered workshops rarely turn a profit. Usually managed by personnel with limited business management expertise, they rely heavily on charitable contributions
• A teacher may use pictures of real life things or set up a simulated store with shelves of products and cash register.

  Instruction in Real-Life settings with Real Materials