Teaching Students with Cerebral Palsy

Randy JuddEDUC 200Module 6, Part II

Menu:•Cerebral Palsy

▫ What is Cerebral Palsy?▫ Three Types of Cerebral Palsy.▫ Causes of Cerebral Palsy

•Cerebral Palsy Education and Laws▫IDEA▫FAPE▫NCLB Act

•Individual Education Plan (IEP)▫What is an IEP?▫Persons involved in preparing an IEP

Cerebral Palsy

What is Cerebral Palsy?• Cerebral Palsy is a non-progressive condition, not a disease,

caused by damage to the brain, usually occurring before, during or shortly following birth. “Cerebral” refers to the brain and “palsy” refers to a disorder of movement or posture. Symptoms may vary from total inability to control body movements, to only slight impairment. (French, R. 1997-2004)

Three Types of Cerebral Palsy: • Spastic-muscles are tense, contracted and resistant to

movement.• Athetoid-causes involuntary movements of the affected body

parts• Ataxia-disturbance or lack of balance and coordination.

(French, R. 1997-2004)

Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral Palsy• I did not know until I read this article what Cerebral

Palsy is, the different types of Cerebral Palsy, or the causes of it. One of my close friends has a son with Cerebral Palsy (CP). He was born CP as a result of a lack of oxygen supply as a result of complications during the delivery process. The son has severe spastic Cerebral Palsy. He he nearly 10 years old, and has had a feeding tube his entire life. I now have a much better understanding of his condition, I had always assumed it was a disease. I feel that if I am ever assigned a classroom with a CP student in it that I will be much better prepared now that I know what CP is, what the type of CP are and what causes it.

Cerebral Palsy Education and Laws•All laws fall under the umbrella of The

Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA)• IDEA was passed by Congress in 1973• IDEA provides Federal Funding for

educational services for children with disabilities.

• IDEA applies to children from birth to age 21• IDEA requires each student have an

Individual Education Plan beginning at age three.

Cerebral Palsy Education and Laws•Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)• FAPE ensures that ALL children , including

those with disabilities receive a quality free education that is suitable to their needs.

• Schools must make accommodations for students in the classroom

•No Child Left Behind Act• NCLB was designed to ensure quality,

accountable education for ALL children, including those with disabilities.

•(Cerebral Palsy Source, 2005)

Cerebral Palsy Education and Laws• This was my first experience with IDEA,

FAPE, and NCLB. It appears that all three of these laws are broad base initiatives that form the legal cornerstone for protecting the educational interests of not only students with disabilities, but ALL students. I have heard mention of NCLB numerous times, but never understood it. I am sure that I am about to become very familiar with these three laws over the next couple years. I am equally sure that they will, and should be, a major part of my teaching career for many years to come.

Individualized Education Plan (IEP)

• IEP’s are the cornerstone of special education.• An IEP is a formal written document, a blue

print, or a plan for the student’s education team to follow. The IEP lays out a student’s current level of academic achievement (a baseline to start measuring from), goals and objectives to progress towards those goals and objectives. (therefore those goals and objectives MUST be measureable)

• A student will not be placed in a public school without first having an IEP completed.

• IDEA requires that the IEP must be reviewed annually. One reason for the annual review is to determine the yearly goals.

Individualized Education Plan (IEP)• An IEP is a collaborative effort.• Persons involved in preparing an IEP include:

▫The student▫The parents of the student▫A school principal or administrator▫At least one regular teacher or provider▫At least one special education teacher or

provider▫A person who can interpret or evaluate the

results, i.e. school psychologist, or special special education teacher.

▫Other persons with special knowledge or expertise regarding the student (Cerebral Palsy Source, 2005)

Individualized Education Plan (IEP)• This was my first experience with IEP’s. I can

truly see why they are the cornerstone of special education. It literally is a plan, or roadmap, for a student’s educational team to follow. As a teacher I can see that if you were assigned a CP student in your class, you would need to be continually referring to that students IEP for determine their strengths, weaknesses, where the student is now, what the goals are, and assessing the student’s progress, or lack of progress towards those goals. I was able to see my friends son’s IEP; it made a lot more sense when I got to see one for myself.

Teaching Students with Cerebral Palsy

• The quote, or line, that stuck with me the most was, “Perhaps most importantly, educators that are responsible for teaching children with Cerebral Palsy should demonstrate a great deal of emotional support and patience. Encouraging a CP child with positive feedback, assisting the student in developing friendships with general education peers, …can inspire confidence and success in students with Cerebral Palsy. (Watson, E. 2010)

Resources:• French, R. (1997-2004). Cerebral Palsy. APE Fact Sheet.

Retrieved from http://www.tahperd.org/LINKS/links_pdfs/APE%20factsheets/Cerebral_Palsy.pdf

• U.S. Department of Education (2000). Writing the IEP. LD Online, Retrieved from http://www.ldonline.org/article/6398

• (2005). IEP for Cerebral Palsy Students. Cerebral Palsy Source, Retrieved from http://www.cerebralpalsysource.com/Education_and_Patients/iep_cp/index.html

• Watson, E (2010). Education Techniques For Children With Cerebral Palsy. WritingBug, Retrieved from http://www.brighthub.com/education/special/articles/43536.aspx