1. Disabilities
Adapted from
Who Am I in the Lives of Children
Feeney, Christensen, Moravcik (2001)
Prepared by Dr. Carla Piper
2. IDEA -Individuals with Disabilities Act
Categories defined as:
Mental Retardation Autism
Hearing Impairment Traumatic Brain Injury
Speech or Language Other Health
Impairment Impairments
Visual Impairment Specific Learning
Severe Emotional Disability
Disturbance Developmental Delay
Orthopedic Impairments
IDEA 2004
4. Limitations in Four Functioning Areas
Mobility
Communication
Information Acquisition
Information Processing
Or limitations in more than one functioning area
Understanding may help you recognize signs
or symptoms and be better able to support
children with disabilities.
5. Orthopedic Impairments
Children who are mildly or moderately physically impaired may have
some or all of the following characteristics:
Stumble and bump into things often
Have difficulty with large muscle activities such as crawling, climbing
stairs, or riding a tricycle
Have difficulty with activities involving eye-hand coordination, such
as stringing beads, building a tower of blocks, cutting, or drawing
(also a sign of visual impairment)
Have speech problems due to inability to control breathing and
muscles needed in articulation.
Have difficulty chewing or swallowing
Show a lack of stamina and display overall weakness.
6. Orthopedic Adaptations
For children with problems involving skeleton, joints, and
muscles
Encourage child to participate as fully as possible
Rearrange and adjust furniture to make things more
accessible
Allow children to play as typically as possible with other
children
Let children discover abilities and limitations by trying the
activities themselves
7. Visual Impairments
Children with vision problems may have some or all of the following
characteristics:
Rub their eyes excessively, squint, or frown
Shut or cover their eyes or tilt or thrust their head forward
Hold objects close to their eyes and show difficulty with tasks
requiring close use of eyes
Stumble over objects
Be unable to identify distant things
Be irritable or blink frequently when doing close work
Have inflammation or other eye problems such as swelling or sties.
8. Visual Adaptations
Child may have partial sight that is correctable with glasses
Many can see light and dark, broad shapes but not details
Provide good overall lighting and avoid glare or deep
contrasts between dark and light
Keep room traffic patterns simple and uncluttered
Let children help in changing furniture
Provide detailed verbal descriptions to accompany your
actions.
Keep the child close to you in group activities
Provide child with larger toys with textures and sounds
9. Hearing Impairments
Children with hearing problems may have some or all of the following
characteristics:
Have trouble paying attention, especially in group activities
Not answer when called
Get confused about directions or not understand them at all
Give the wrong answer to questions.
Say “what?” or look confused by questions, statements, or directions
Have undeveloped speech, substitute sounds, omit sounds, or have
poor voice quality
Avoid people: Prefer to play alone
Get tired early in the day
Turn one side of the head towards sounds, indicating a hearing loss
in one ear.
10. Hearing Adaptations
Problem may be in perceiving the volume or clarity of sounds
Damage to outer or middle ear – conductive loss
Damage to inner ear or nerves that carry sound to the brain – Sensori-neural
loss
Place yourself facing the light source at child’s eye level to establish
eye contact
Sit in circle so all faces are visible
Use simple sentences and rephrase sentences when child doesn’t
understand rather than simply repeating same sentence
Address child by name
Use visual cues to aid understanding
Encourage dramatic play and puppets
11. Speech and Language Impairments
Children with speech-language problems may have some or
all of the following characteristics:
Not talk by age two.
Not speak in two- or three-word sentences by age three
Be very difficult to understand after age three (still relying
mostly on vowel sounds and omitting the beginnings and
endings of words).
Use poor sentence structure after age five, such as “Me
school go”
Stutter after age five
12. Speech and Language Impairments
Have poor voice quality
Have difficulty hearing speech sounds
Have difficulty understanding what is said
Appear shy and embarrassed when speaking
Have trouble compared with other children:
following directions
describing things
using correct parts of speech
putting words into sentences
13. Speech and Language
Adaptations
May be associated with other conditions –
hearing, cleft palate, autism, cerebral
palsy, attention deficit disorder, emotional
problems, or learning disability
Auditory processing problems
Unable to tell the difference between speech sounds
(auditory discrimination)
Trouble isolating important sounds from noise
May have trouble remembering what they hear or
14. Speech and Language Adaptations
Be careful not to rush, interrupt, or
pressure child
Model correct language
Build on language activities
Incorporate songs, rhymes, and chants
into daily routines
Listen closely to decipher
communication
Encourage talking among children and
use them to help
15. Mental Retardation
Children with mild to moderate cognitive deficits may have some or all
of the following characteristics:
Be unable to follow directions that contain more than one or two
steps
Have a short attention span for their age
Not be able to choose an activity independently
Have a tendency to imitate rather than create
Have poor eye-hand coordination
Be slow to learn simple games or classroom routines
Be slow in learning language
16. Mental Retardation Adaptation
Mildly retarded children may have difficulties in self-
help skills, motor development, social skills, and
language development
Relate to child as you would a slightly younger child
Give directions one at a time
Simplify and guide daily routines
Allow more time to make transitions
17. Mental Retardation Adaptation
Use shorter sentences and simplified
vocabulary
Use a multi-sensory approach to
teaching
Provide many opportunities for
practicing new skills
Encourage independence with self-help
skills
Give many examples of a concept to
reinforce learning
18. Learning Disabilities
Children with learning disabilities may have some
or all of the following characteristics:
Engage in constant motions and purposeless
activity
Have poor perceptual motor skills
Have a low tolerance for frustration
Be distractible, have a short attention span
Have poor coordination, both large and small
muscle
Have poor auditory and visual memory
Have a variety of language deficits
19. Learning Disabilities
Focus on child’s strengths
Provide children with descriptive praise when they are successful
Give directions one at a time and allow adequate time for child to
comply
Verify child’s understanding of a request
Practice tasks over and over
Teach with concrete materials
Use several sensory modalities
Control the amount of stimulation by simplifying a task
Keep transitions short
Plan all procedures and organize materials
Large groups may be over-stimulating
Focus on task at hand and use attention-getting words – “Watch me”
20. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Children with attention deficit disorders may
have some or all of the following
characteristics:
Be impulsive, acting quickly without thinking
about the consequences
Have a short attention span
Unable to concentrate on one task or activity
long enough to complete it
May switch from activity to activity without
seeming to gain satisfaction
21. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Have difficulty organizing and completing work
and lack direction
Be distractible,
Have trouble paying attention to the task at hand
Unable to redirect attention to original task once
distracted
Be constantly in motion and fidget and squirm
when seated
Have trouble following through on instructions
and directions (not due to noncompliance or lack
of understanding)
22. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder Adaptations
Be careful not to assume that every active child
has ADD or ADHD
Some teachers have had unrealistic expectations
for children’s behavior and doctors have over-
prescribed medicines
Provide a clear structure for a child with ADHD
Simplify physical environment and reduce visual
stimulation
Define child’s work or play area
23. ADHD Adaptations
Position yourself nearby for assistance
and encouragement
Make picture charts showing sequence of
daily routines
Warn children of changes in schedule
State your expectations for behavior
clearly
Acknowledge constructive and
appropriate conduct
24. Students with Serious
Emotional Disturbance
Tend to be more
aggressive, unhappy, anxious, or withdrawn
Unusual behaviors – rocking, self-
mutilation, running with arms flapping, extreme
fearfulness, withdrawal or loss of self control
Document your observations
Consults with a mental health professional
25. Abused or Neglected Children
Children who have been abused or neglected may have some or all
of the following characteristics:
Be overly compliant and passive or show extreme avoidance of
confrontation with children and adults
Be extremely demanding, aggressive, and filled with rage
Be prematurely competent; for example, they may prepare
meals, take the bus alone, or care for younger siblings when it is
neither developmentally nor culturally appropriate to do so
Be extremely dependent
Be developmentally delayed or regressed with infantile behavior
26. Gifted Children
Children who are gifted may have some or all of the
following characteristics:
Exhibit intense curiosity
ask many questions
conduct investigations into how things work
Develop passionate interest in a particular topic
(or topics)
Have advanced reasoning ability or demonstrate
the capacity for abstract thinking and the use of
symbol systems at an early age
Be highly independent in thought and behavior
27. Gifted Children Continued
Be unusually perceptive and aware of
people and things in their environment
Have extraordinary memories
Show great persistence in self-chosen tasks
Motivated to pursue an interest and
accomplish a goal at a self-determined high
standard
Have advanced language ability with an
unusually large and sophisticated
vocabulary
the ability to use and appreciate verbal
humor
28. Gifted Children Adaptations
Make observations and discuss with family
Provide opportunities for child to pursue interests
Provide open-ended learning materials for self-directed
involvement
Find out what child really wants to know and find materials
to support his/her interest
Find materials designed for older children
May need less structure than most children
Allow for large blocks of time for exploration
Allow child to concentrate and work in depth
Be available as a resource
