#severe disabilities

[deaf-sakura]

Wanna help a SPED classroom?

I had such an amazing response to posting my classroom wishlist on here to the point where I had to shut it down because I had PLENTY. Like, y’all really took care of me and my kids and I’m forever grateful for that.

...Can’t say the same about most special education classrooms though! We go through a lot of resources in order to maintain a healthy, comfortable environment, and we’re chronically underfunded/under cared for/under cared about by school systems. Here are some of the things we go through that you may not find in a regular classroom, especially once you hit middle/high school:

Adaptive school supplies, like chubby crayons, electric scissors, or paint dobbers.

Adaptive functional supplies, for kids who struggle with self-care and feeding (this could be anything from adult-sized bibs to suction cup/high rimmed bowls that are easier to work with for someone with limited mobility).

Cleaning supplies and spare clothes, because we work with a lot of personal hygiene and bodily fluids, and a healthy environment is totally nonnegotiable. We do tons of disinfecting, diapering, and laundry, and the resources for this are usually overlooked by districts because they are such a specific need for us.

Craft supplies and toys, which can be chronically undersupplied for older students, even if they can still GREATLY benefit from the hands-on learning and engagement.

You wanna help? Here’s what you can do:

Reach out to a SPED classroom in your community! (It’s usually best to just email a teacher directly, we can tell you about our rooms better than anyone else in our building).

Ask what we need! No two rooms are the same because our kids can be so wildly different. I for instance have a GREAT occupational therapist who can bring us adaptive tools as needed, however we usually need to pay for other vitals like bibs and spare clothes with funds raised or directly out of pocket. Another room may not have ANY diaper users so clothes aren’t an issue, but their school chronically forgets to provide them with clorox wipes or hand sanitizer. See if there’s anything you could just drop off at the school sometime during the week.

Volunteer! Your time and love can be just as valuable as any physical resource, especially if you’re still in school yourself. If you’re a student looking to help the kids in your school, see if you can come in during your free block to work with the kids, or see if the teacher is doing any fundraising/special events that they could use help with (and yes, it’s ABSOLUTELY okay to do this if you’re looking for volunteer/community service hours!) If you’re an adult outside of the school district it may not be as easy to work directly with kids due to district policy/teachers’ comfort level with having strangers in the room, but it’s always worth exploring!

Remember that our “kids” don’t stay “kids”- I use the word ‘kids’ pretty liberally because my students are all about 13/14 years old, but that won’t be the case a decade from now. So what happens after high school for them? They may go onto assisted employment, which are usually run by local nonprofits that get contracted by companies for things like shredding or recycling services (see if your company can get on board!), or they can go onto day care/assisted living facilities, which can be JUST as underfunded/undersupplied as any classroom. They can be a great place to reach out to!

Look out for teacher wish lists on Tumblr or Amazon, or go to donorschoose.org to support us online! This is probably the easiest way to support us, especially if you’re not sure how much you can commit or would rather keep donations anonymous.

So yeah, I know this is pretty long, but I just got such amazing support from the people on this website that I’m wondering if that can be spread to local communities. If you have love and support to give, please reach out because we could always use it, and thank you for keeping us in mind!

(please feel free to reblog even if there’s not a lot you can do at the moment!)

[positivebridgesblog]

Volunteering for people with Severe Disabilities

Unfortunately people with disabilities, especially those with severe and profound disabilities are socially devalued by our society. It is sometimes falsely assumed that people with disabilities are “burdens on society”, unable to contribute to the fabric of the community. However, although it may take a bit more effort, people with disabilities- even those with severe/profound disabilities, can contribute to their local communities. Volunteering is one tool that can be used to reduce the social devaluation of people with disabilities within our society. Volunteering helps people with disabilities to develop positive social valued roles within our community, for example a young man who has a volunteer role doing gardening, may go from being known as “the boy with an intellectual disability” to the “young man who comes here to do the gardening on a regular basis” or simply “the gardener”. Instead of being seen as the passive recipients of welfare or community services, by volunteering, people with disabilities can be seen as making a contribution to society–a role which is socially valued within our society. Volunteering is one way in which emphasis can be placed on a person’s abilities not disabilities. Volunteering plays a crucial role in helping to build a society that is cohesive and connected. Volunteering involves grass-roots participation and provides a network of social relationships that connect people to their own communities –a connection that is vital to building democratic, healthy and self-sustaining communities. In other words, volunteering helps to build social capital in its bonding, bridging and linking forms ...Research studies have confirmed that high levels of associational activity (that is, bonding social capital) and also a dense network of crosscutting ties among groups (that is, bridging social capital) are needed to realize the benefits of social capital to best effect. Volunteering presents the opportunity for individuals to create social networks, this is particularly important for people with severe and profound disabilities, as the opportunities for them to create such social networks are severely limited .Due to the severity of a person’s disability, it is also quite possible that the person has to heavily rely on other people to assist in the creation of these social networks. Flexible arrangements within regards to volunteer roles for people with disabilities,particularly those with severe/profound disabilities are extremely important. Some people with severe/profound disabilities tired very easily, particularly if they have complex medical conditions- such as severe epilepsy. Those with complex medical needs should always be accompanied by a support worker or someone who can quickly attend to their complex medical needs in an emergency. People with severe/pround disabilities share the same reasons to volunteer as everyone else: they want to learn new skills, want to meet new people, contribute to their community and build their self confidence. They also want to enhance their independence, feel part of their community, feel they are making a positive contribution to their community, have more choice and control over their lives and most importantly for their life to have meaning and volunteering is one way in which this can be achieved.

[positivebridgesblog]

The Needs of People with severe/ profound Disabilities

People with severe and profound disability are the most vulnerable among disabled persons. Often they are persons with multiple disabil- ity, with a severe or profound intellectual disability associated to a mo- tor and/or sensorial disability, causing a restriction of autonomy as well as of perception, expression and relating capacities. These restrictions cause complex needs and the danger of social exclusion from society. For these persons, communication and relating to other persons are the most difficult questions and determine their quality of life. Their physical and mental well-being are connected, as the physical well- being is necessary to be open for relationships and learning. The physical well-being depends on the satisfaction of basic needs: hun- ger, thirst, sleep, and mental comfort. Persons with severe and pro- found disability often have difficulties to satisfy these needs them- selves and often do not have the verbal language to express them- selves. Thus they depend on the capacity of their contact persons to decipher their expressions by other means. A thorough and continous observation is necessary to understand the minute signs of these persons. This can only be ensured by long-term contact persons like family members or staff who have received training in non-verbal communication methods. Everyone has also the right to a mental well-being. People need to be respected, in particular in their privacy. Persons with severe and profound disability need to be listened to, to be informed of any change in their life, of any decision affecting their daily existence. They need to be recognized as persons. Language is very important for social life. Even if a person is de- prived of language, he or she needs to be included in all communica- tion. If this does not happen, a psychosomatic reaction may occur, for instance that a person gets an ulcer or a depression if a change in his or her life has not been sufficiently explained. Behavioural difficulties may also be simply the reaction to a mental suffering that the contact persons have not noticed. This difficult communication needs time and, consequently, a stable environment. This is one of the key factors for a person with complex dependency needs to be really recognized as a person and not re- duced to a body that needs care.

[positivebridgesblog]

Levels of Disability

Many people with disability engage in work and make a valuable contribution to society. Employment can provide financial independence, a better standard of living and improved physical and mental health.Entering employment can provide individuals with increased confidence, expanding their social network and social skills as well as opportunities to develop a career by gaining new work skills and knowledge. The type of disability that an individual has can affect their likelihood of participating in the labour market. People with sensory or speech impairment had the best labour market outcomes with a participation rate of 54% and an unemployment rate of 7.0%, while people whose disability was psychological had the lowest participation rate (29%), and the highest unemployment rate (19%). People with sensory or speech impairment may be able to benefit from assistive technologies but this is not the case for people with psychological disability such as mental illness. People with mental illness may experience disruption to their work attendance and career due to the episodic nature of their disability. The severity of disability is an indication of a person’s limitations in the core activities of communication, mobility and self-care. Of people aged 15-64 years with disability, almost one quarter (23%) had profound or severe disability, while nearly half (47%) had moderate or mild disability. About one third (30%) of people with disability did not have a core activity limitation, yet they may have had a school or work restriction. As with disability type, the severity of a person’s disability is reflected in their ability to participate in the labour force. Generally, labour force participation decreases as the severity of disability increases. In 2009, those aged 15-64 years with moderate or mild disability had a participation rate of 53%, while those with profound or severe disability had a labour force participation rate of 31%. This pattern was evident across all types of disability. For example, the participation rate of those with moderate or mild physical restriction was 51%, while those with profound or severe physical restriction had a participation rate of 28%. To see a pattern in unemployment rates, severity and type of disability need to be looked at together. For example, the unemployment rate for people with intellectual disability was high in comparison with other disability groups, regardless of severity. Those with moderate or mild intellectual disability (20%) had a higher unemployment rate than those with moderate or mild physical disability (8.8%). This may partly reflect the unique barriers that people with intellectual disability face in accessing education and work. The Australian Government, through the National Disability Agreement, provides support to people with disability who wish to enter employment Under the National Disability Strategy 2010-2020, federal, and state and territory governments are making a concerted effort to improve and increase employment services for people with disability. In addition, planned reforms to the Australian welfare support system, including the National Disability Insurance Scheme, aim to create increased opportunities for people with disability to enter and maintain employment. Increases in labour force participation may improve both financial security and personal wellbeing for people with disability.

[thepolicyminute]

Pathway to Special Education Licenses

A license with no PD or coursework requirements ? Check out the Structured Guidance & Supports model for special education and computer science licenses. #EDChatMA #MAEdu

A license with no required coursework? DESE wants your comment on proposed “Structured Guidance and Supports” pathway for some teacher licenses. DESE proposing a NEW “Structured Guidance and Supports” or SG&R for certain licenses that do not have MTELs. Licenses that do not have a matching Massachusetts Test for Educator License (MTEL) require educators to demonstrate knowledge of content and…

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[thinkinclusive]

Join my @Edmodo group: Educators of Students with Significant/Multiple Disabilities

If you are a teacher, join my @Edmodo group: Educators of Students w/ Significant/Multiple Disabilities http://t.co/dqafzrjByV Code: m58ue4

— Tim Villegas (@think_inclusive) September 8, 2013

[thinkinclusive]

Alternative Assessment...boring? No Way!

I just came back from two days of collaboration on revising the blueprints for the Georgia Alternative Assessment for next year.  Translation: What will be the alternative achievement standards to assess our students with significant cognitive disabilities? This (to many of you) is foreign language but to special educators who serve “low-incidence” populations (that sounds very formal doesn’t it…) it is mainly a thorn in our side.  Don't get me wrong...we love our students, but who really likes giving tests? Ever since No Child Left Behind (NCLB) federally mandated every public school student in the United States participate in state-wide assessment, each state has had to come up with their own alternative assessment. NCLB mandates that those students whose are unable to take the regular state assessment even with accommodations must be assessed under an alternate assessment. For the past few years (in GA) this has taken the form of the Georgia Alternative Assessment or GAA (a portfolio assessment of student work over the course of the school year). Other states have different kinds of assessment including task based assessment over the course of a few weeks that measure progress toward the standards in all of the different content areas, English Language Arts/Math/Science and Social Studies. Also…each state determines what alternate achievement standards are going to look like. Georgia’s match up with the regular Georgia Performance Standards (GPS) and now the Common Core Standards that are going to roll out over the next year or so. Georgia has devised the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards  (CCGPS) which will take place of the GPS. What does this mean for you (the educator…the parent)?

Well, not much is changing. The NCLB mandate for assessment is not going away soon…in fact, probably not at all. And to this end…it is not all bad news. As educators we need to realize that the spirit behind alternative assessment is really access to the general curriculum. After all…this is what disability rights groups for so many years have been fighting for.   There was a time in the not so distant past that little was expected of our students with severe and profound disabilities in terms of the general curriculum.  Whether in segregated schools or in state institutions…people with significant disabilities were often thought of more in terms of cattle than pupils.  Fast forward twenty or so years and we are in a much better situation…BUT the work is not done.  Also keep in mind…if the GAA goes away…something else will surely be on the horizon.

The truth is we don’t really know how much our students grasp what is going on in the classroom until we really challenge them.  And when instruction is going on in a self-contained classroom where there is little opportunity for students to interact with their peers…authentic assessment is hard to come by.   Often instruction and access to the general curriculum is conducted in a “self-contained” vacuum and although exposing our students to much more than they were previously…it is still lacking in achieving the best for our students.  Just because we don’t know if they are grasping the concepts does not mean we should not try to expose them to the concepts. I have found that our students will consistently surprise us on what we say they “can’t do” if we have faith in them as human beings. What I think is vital for our students with significant cognitive disabilities is an opportunity to learn with their peers in general education classroom where the standards are rich and vibrant and where there are high expectations for every student. This may seem like “pie-in-the-sky” thinking for many educators but there are examples of this going on all across the US…including here in Georgia. I will be posting examples in future blog posts.  

So educators…take heart in knowing that even though the GAA portfolio is a monster to complete (close to 10-20 hours or more of work per portfolio…outside of the classroom) it gives the best chance for our students to have access to the general curriculum and likewise…not leaving anyone behind.

For more information on NCLB and alternative assessment check out this document produced by the National Center on Educational Outcomes: http://www.cehd.umn.edu/NCEO/OnlinePubs/AAMASParentGuide.pdf