Los Angeles Unified School District

Division of Special Education

Schools for All Children

Developmental and Learning

Characteristics of Students with

Mental Retardation

Donnalyn Jaque-Antón

Associate Superintendent

Definition

A disability that originates before the age of 18 and is characterized by significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills

AAMR 2002

Significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance

CFR 300.7(c)(6)

Causes of Mental Retardation

Chromosomal abnormalities including genetic, metabolic and neurological disorders

Congenital infections

Prenatal drug exposure

Perinatal/postnatal factors

Levels of Mental Retardation

Mild

Moderate

Severe

Profound

Significant/PervasiveSupport

Supports are Constant, High

Intensity

LimitedSupport

Supports are Needed Consistently

IntermittentSupport

Supports are on as Needed Basis

Adapted from: Institute On Violence and Destructive Behaviors, University of Oregon (1999)

Levels of Support for Students with

Mild Mental Retardation

Intermittent Supports

As needed basis

High or low intensity

Most likely to be required at life transitions

Limited Supports

Needed consistently over time – but not on a daily basis

Non-intensive

Transitional sensitive

Levels of Support for Students with

Moderate Mental Retardation

Significant Supports

Regular and frequent involvement Situational sensitive

Levels of Support for Students with

Severe Mental Retardation

Pervasive Supports

Consistent

High intensity

Across environments

Levels of Support for Students with

Profound Mental Retardation

Educational Implications

Attention, memory, and decision making

Good attention to task at hand

Decision-making capability varies

Difficulty generalizing

Educational Implications (continued)

Cognitive characteristics related to skill acquisition:

Difficulty in organizing thought Persistence in using incorrect

methods Difficulty in self-evaluation Less preparation and slower

movement times

Addressing Educational Challenges

Student learns through direct interactions with things activities & people

Teacher provides activity-based “hands-on” learning experiences

Addressing Educational Challenges (continued)

Student learns through associations

Teacher uses meaningful context such as daily routines & organization of materials

Addressing Educational Challenges (continued)

Student’s understanding is likely based upon their own perceptions, experiences, or scripted answers that are not completely understood

Teacher explicitly links cause–effect, especially through social skills instruction

Addressing Educational Challenges (continued)

Student learns through repetition

Teacher provides multiple opportunities to learn and practice skills systematically

What is Systematic Instruction?

Identification of the learning target

Breaking down the learning target into incremental steps

Knowing where each student enters the learning sequence

Practicing across environments

Systematic Instruction Includes

Task Analysis Teaching Strategies Reinforcement, shaping, fading

and prompting hierarchies Data collection

Task Analysis

Break down a task into a behavior chain consisting of separate, teachable, smaller steps/links

Steps/links should be individualized to meet student’s needs

Behavior chains range in amount of steps/links

Teaching Strategies

Direct Instruction is often used to teach rote association, vocabulary skills, “early academic skills,” and sometimes “behavior scripts”

Teaching Strategies

Tasks are broken into small skills

Tasks are taught using a structured format

(Stimulus>Response>Consequence)

Provides multiple opportunities to practice

Teaching StrategiesEffective for varied skills and

group sizeKeep the individual or groups

attention by serial responding, active participation, pacing and varying materials

Consequence tends to be an external reinforcer

Reinforcement

A tool used to support, establish, maintain, or generalize a behaviorKinds of reinforcersHow much

Shaping/Fading/Prompting

“Shape” or prompt the correct response Block error or use maximum prompt to

cue correct response Verbally prompt correct response Model correct response Reduce choices (simplify task) As student gains mastery fade or

reduce the prompts

Data Collection

We need to:Monitor student learningMonitor effectiveness of

teaching strategiesWrite observable, measurable

goals and objectivesDemonstrate adequate yearly

progress

Significant/PervasiveSupport

Supports are Constant, High

Intensity

LimitedSupport

Supports are Needed Consistently

IntermittentSupport

Supports are on as Needed Basis

• Alternate curriculum or Life Skills• Intensive social skills training• Parent training and collaboration• Multi-agency collaboration (wrap-around)

services

•Modifying Core curriculum•Varying response output•Small group targeted

instruction•Pre-teach/Re-teach/

Remediation•Social Skill Training

• Based on Core Curriculum• Universal Access• Based on individual student’s need• High-quality instructional methods

& strategies that ensure progress• Frequent assessment to monitor

progress• Positive reinforcement systems

Adapted from: Institute On Violence and Destructive Behaviors, University of Oregon (1999)

Curriculum

An applied curriculum that connects the general education concepts being taught with the context where those concepts are utilized in managing one’s everyday life is key to making the standard curriculum accessible for students with moderate to severe disabilities.

Teaching Students with Moderate to Severe Disabilities by Hammill & Everington

Strategies for Access to Standards-based Instruction

Curriculum provides multiple means of representation

Alternate modes for subject matterVisualAuditoryDifferentiated

Curriculum provides multiple means of expressionAllows students to respond

with their preferred modalityAccommodates the differing

cognitive strategies and motor systems of students

Strategies for Access to Standards-based Instruction (continued)

Curriculum provides multiple means of engagementStudents’ interests in learning

are matched with the mode of presentation and their preferred means of expression

Students are engagedCenter for Applied Special Technology (CAST)

Strategies for Access to Standards-based Instruction (continued)

Importance of Choice-Making

Relates to Self-determination Motivation Positive behavior

support

Structuring Choice-Making

Within a task Between tasks Order of tasks With whom to do

task “More” of task Yes or no

Positive outcomes

Can live independently or semi-independently

Can develop meaningful social and personal relationships

Can be meaningfully employed within the community

Can enjoy a high quality of life

"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our

lives."--Annie Dillard