Janet Walters
MTTC
Video Report
The two disabilities that I researched are traumatic brain injury and emotional disturbance. Traumatic brain injury falls under the larger category of learning disability. Traumatic brain injury is an injury to the brain caused by the head being hit or shaken violently. Students with TBI may have difficulty concentrating, talking, and listening to others. They may have difficulty with reading, writing, and understanding the sequence of events. According to IDEA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, traumatic brain injury affects language, memory retention, information processing, and speech. Each year, more than 30,000 children suffer a brain injury that causes lifelong disabilities. TBI falls under the federal definition of learning disability: “…learning disabilities include such conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.” Learning disability, defined by IDEA as a “disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using spoken or written language, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations.” It is important to understand that according to the law, learning disabilities do not include problems that are the result of mental retardation or environmental or economic disadvantage. A learning disability, therefore, is not the result of poor home environment or lack of educational background; it is the result of a condition that impacts the brain, such as brain injury, dyslexia, or brain dysfunction. A child who has reduced brain function due to attention deficit disorder falls under the category of learning disability. According to information from the U.S. Dept. of Education, approximately 5% of all school-age children receive special education services for learning disabilities. Students with traumatic brain injury make up a small percentage of the students who are considered learning disabled.
A second disability I want to describe is emotional disturbance. According to IDEA, emotional disturbance is a condition exhibiting (1) an inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual factors, (2) an inability to maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships, and (3) inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances. Students with emotional disturbance often have trouble concentrating, and they often achieve below grade level. Each year, more than 400,000 students receive services for emotional disturbance. For those students, the IEP usually includes a program that focuses on mastery of academics and development of social skills, self-control, and self-esteem. “Becky,” a freshman at Itasca ISD, has been identified as emotionally disturbed. Her teachers need lots of patience for her outbursts and her tendency to use her identification for her own advantage.
An
excellent source for descriptions of disabilities with links to federal and state
agencies can be found at the web site for the
Another excellent source for parents or other advocates of children with disabilities is the web site for the Council for Exceptional Children: www.cec.sped.org. At that site, you will find a listserv, excerpts from the journal published by the Council for Exceptional Children, and a link to eric.org with instructions for finding information about various disabilities. I typed in traumatic brain injury and quickly found 20 articles.
According to the National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities, among the strategies that have been found effective to use with learning disabled students are the following: (1) allowing flexibility in classroom procedures, for example, using tape recorders for note taking and test-taking when students have trouble with written language and (2) using computers for drill and practice and word processing. The same web site points out the importance of career education (both vocational and academic) for students who are identified as emotionally disturbed. The implementation of the technology applications courses at Itasca has had a profound impact on the lives of several students, who—because of the skills they learned in the tech ap courses—have earned scholarships or entered the job market right after high school. As one student recently said, “If I had not been in desktop publishing, where I discovered Photoshop, I probably would have been on the street corner selling drugs.”
The software programs I reviewed in my video report were Kurzweil and Inspiration. Kurzweil software is an assistive software that can be placed on classroom computers so learning disabled students can listen and read in the regular classroom using headphones. High school students can use the software for the same function; in addition, the software includes features, such as the following: the ability to highlight texts in different colors easily, adjustable reading speed, and word prediction for writing assignments. The Kurzweil products can be found at the following web site: http://www.kurzweilaustin.com/. Inspiration is an instructional program that allows students to use symbols and images to create and organize their thoughts. For students who have difficulty with sequencing, they can easily move their thoughts on the computer monitor as they plan an essay or project. In addition to Kurzweil and Inspiration, one should not discount the importance of word processing programs that allow all students, including those with special needs, to use the spell-check feature for those students who struggle with spelling and to use the copy-and-paste function to re-arrange text as students revise their rough drafts.
Summary of Two Disabilities for Video
Report
|
criteria
descriptors |
Disability/Impairment
1 |
Disability/Impairment
2 |
|
|
Disability/Impairment |
traumatic
brain injury |
emotional
disturbance |
|
|
resource
1 |
|||
|
resource
2 |
|||
|
description
of the disability/impairment and how it effects the learner's ability to
learn |
included
in video |
included
in video |
|
|
Types of
Students |
5th-grade
boy |
7th-grade
girl |
|
|
Grade
Levels |
1 |
K-5 |
K-5 |
|
2 |
Middle
School |
Middle
School |
|
|
Instructional
Areas |
1 |
writing |
writing |
|
2 |
reading |
reading |
|
|
3 |
history |
history |
|
|
Standard
Instructional Technology Tools |
1 |
Appleworks |
Microsoft
Word |
|
2 |
computer
hardware |
computer
hardware |
|
|
3 |
tape
recorder |
tape
recorder |
|
|
Instructional
Strategies |
1 |
cooperative
learning |
cooperative
learning |
|
2 |
peer
tutoring |
peer
tutoring |
|
|
3 |
modeling |
modeling |
|
|
Modifications
and Accommodations of Task and Expectations |
web
mapping |
web
mapping |
|
|
Assistive
Technology Solutions |
audio
tapes, Inspiration software, Kurzweil software |
Inspiration
software, audio tapes, Kurzweil software |
|
Summary of Technology Devices for Video
Report
|
Device
Name |
audiobook |
Kurzweil 3000 software |
|
Function |
A multisensory approach to reading allows students to listen to short
stories and novels as they follow the text. |
Kurzweil software reads aloud text that has been scanned into the
computer. |
|
Size |
An audio
tape or CD is used with a tape player or CD player. |
Kurzweil software works on a PC with Windows 95 or higher. To fully utilize the software, a scanner
and speakers must be connected. |
|
Durable |
The
equipment requires little maintenance. |
The
equipment requires little maintenance. |
|
Easy to
update and/or repair |
The
players are durable and tapes or CD's can be replaced easily and with small
expense. |
Upgrades
are available from Audio Optical Systems of Austin. |
|
Portability
|
The
players can be checked out for home use. |
The
equipment is not portable and must be used in the special education resource
room. |
|
Level of
psychomotor skills needed |
All ages
can use this equipment. |
Younger
students need assistance with the scanner, but the software is user-friendly. |
|
Aesthetic
options available |
The
collection of tapes and CD's include popular fiction and classical
literature. |
NA |
|
Needs of
the school environment |
The
equipment can be easily integrated into the mainstream classroom or checked
out for home use. |
The
software, along with scanner and speakers, is an effective resource for
students who struggle to read their textbooks, but the student must go to the
resource room. |
|
Capacity
to serve the student (programs, academic levels, communication assistance),
as well as its ability to "grow with the student" |
Audiobooks have the capacity to serve all students who need extra
re-inforcement for reading skills and can serve all
ages. |
The software
has the capacity to serve all ages of students and can respond to any reading
level. |
|
Willingness
to provide a trial or loaner period |
Recorded
Books does not provide trials, but the tapes and CD's are guaranteed for one
year. |
Audio
Optical Systems of Austin will demonstrate on site, but will not provide a
trial. |
|
General
reputation of the company in terms of construction, service, training, and
reliability |
Itasca
ISD has purchased many audiobooks from Recorded
Books and is very satisfied with the service. |
Itasca
ISD is satisfied with the service from the vendor and the software. |
|
Resource
for information |
Itasca
ISD librarian, |
special
education director, |
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
Related to the learner
on your campus, work with the appropriately designated personal on your campus
to review and understand the professionally designed Individualized Education Plan
(IEP) and what it specifies as appropriate resources for assistive
technologies. Provide a brief summary of that review.
All teachers have a copy of the IEP’s for any student they have in their classroom. If the teacher wants more information about how to serve a particular student, he or she can access the student’s entire file, including testing information and ARD decisions. The special education director is readily available for information and training. In addition, special education personnel see the need to provide assistive technology as their responsibility, not the responsibility of the classroom teacher. Students who need tape players or special software programs get that equipment and assistance from special education resource teachers.
My research came from the following web sites: