Teaching and Educating Students with the Disability - Essay Example

Introduction In today’s, world, there are many cases of disability that are reported now and then. Some disabilities are fatal while others are mild and people with mild cases can live normal lives though more effort is required to ensure that they are living in accordance to the set standards. Despite the fact they are disabled, there are certain standards that usually govern their treatment and education. The standards and charters have ensured that such people are entitled to basic protection and education (Fredericks, 2008). Education for the disabled people has been initiated through specialized training of the teachers and other stakeholders who are involved in the whole endeavor of protecting and enhancing quality care. The teachers who handle the disabled students undergo more specialized education that ensures that they can handle any challenge that comes along with the teaching and provision. This paper will focus on the instructional issues which are applicable in teaching intellectual disability and autism which are among the disorders to be discussed in the essay (Fredericks, 2008). Intellectual disability According to (Westwood, 2011) Intellectual disability refers a situation whereby an individual has limitations in communication, social ability, and even taking care of himself or herself. These limitations leads to slower development of children compared to the normal children. Children with intellectual disabilities may also exhibit some cognitive disabilities or what was previously known as mental retardation. Such children may take a longer time to speak and even taking care of their personal needs such as dressing and even eating. Moreover, they experience challenges when they learn at school and that poses as a greater challenge for the teacher and the student. Finally, they may be able to learn but it takes then a very long time to learn and at times they may not learn some concepts (Rapley, 2004). The actual cause of intellectual disability remains a mystery to many people, though doctors have tried to explain some of the contributing factors that may lead to such circumstances. Genetic conditions contribute to the condition whereby parents’ children can inherit some funny genes from the parents. Some of the cases are Downy Syndrome and Phenylketonuria which are the most severe cases of mental disability. Complications during pregnancy also contribute to such conditions and more especially cases of rubella and alcoholism (Rapley, 2004). Health problems and birth complications also contribute to mental retardation whereby the child gets brain infection hence leading to mental disability (Race, 2007). Autism Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is usually a range of complex neurodevelopment disorders which are characterized with social impairments, difficulties in communication, and repetitive, restrictive and stereotyped patterns of behavior. The autistic disorders are at times known as the autism or the classical ASD (Browder et al, 2009). The Classical ASD is the most severe form of ASD while other conditions though a bit mild include Asperger syndrome and the childhood disintegrative disorder as well as the pervasive developmental disorder. At times ASD varies significantly in severity and character but it is known to occur in all socio-economic and ethnic groups. Experts assert that one out eighty-eight children suffer from ASD. Moreover research shows that names are likely to have more cases of Autism compared to females. The main feature of Autism is impaired social interaction even in cases of infancy. Even as early as infancy, a baby who has ASD may be unresponsive to the people or even exclusively focusing on one item for longer periods of time compared with the other children. A child who has ASD may appear to be growing at a normal rate but upon reaching certain age he withdraws and becomes indifferent to the social engagement. Children who have autism are likely to avoid eye contact with other people and even at times they may not respond to their names (Pierangelo & Giuliani, 2008). The causes of Autism are yet broadly known, but scientist has tried to speculate some of the causes. They posit that both environment and genetics play a huge role towards the disorder. Researchers have identified some genes that are known to cause the disorder. The study of various people who have the disorder postulates that they have some irregularities in some section of the brain, while others suggest that such people have low levels of serotonin among other neurotransmitters in the brain. The abnormalities affirm that ASD results from the disruption of the normal brain development (Louhiala, 2004). Instructional issues in teaching students with intellectual disability As posited above, students with intellectual disability will exhibit challenges in memory retention and understanding complex concepts. However, that does not  entirely suggests that they learn effectively. Therefore, it is paramount for teachers and instructors to adopt instructional issues that will ensure that such students are not abandoned, but they are able to catch up and learn just like their counterparts. In attempt to achieve such goals, systematic and simple instruction should be adopted and ultimately such practice will lead to enlightening of the disabled students and children. Systematic and simple instruction should be adopted in pursuit of efficient learning of intellectually disabled children (Louhiala, 2004).). Systematic instruction involves well laid out plans in teaching that involve evaluating and targeting the content that students are able to learn upon giving them meaningful opportunities. The instruction consists of specific laid out procedures which helps in identifying, reinforcing and promoting the targeted behaviors. The founding principal of systematic instruction asserts that educators should base the teaching on the diverse learning styles of the students. Therefore, such types of reinforcers and prompts that are applicable in the systematic instruction and the direct instruction are at times visual, tactile, and verbal and usually reflect the individual strengths, preferences and the needs of such students. Systematic instruction is a conglomeration of both summative and the formative modes of assessment and aims at assessing the progress of the student in natural environments and also at meaningful contexts. The teachers measure the progress of the student using the assessment data and the important information is used to teach both academic and nonacademic skills. For instance, communication, self-determination and self-care may occur in the typical classrooms in the community and schools (Louhiala, 2004). Moreover simplicity and systematic should go hand in hand where by simple concepts are taught in a systematic way. The learning tasks should always be broken down into small steps and each particular learning task in introduced in its own time. Simplicity and systematic approach helps to avoid overwhelming the students with loads of work that might discourage them from learning. Upon the student mastering a given step, the teacher introduces the next concept in a logical systematic way. This type of learning is progressive and step-wise and it is characteristic in various models of learning. The main difference between the normal learning and this simplified learning is the size of the sequential steps that are taught at a given time. Exemplifying the simple and systematic learning; the case of mathematics should start with the simple concepts at a reduced pace compared to that of the normal students. More realistic concepts should be brought forward through giving live examples such as people, houses among others. Upon the student grasping such a concept, the teacher should go ahead and introduce more complex concept upon noting that the student has understood the concept (Arieh & Miller, 2009). Instructional issues in teaching students with autism The most important and successful method of teaching students who are suffering from autism involves the use of visual aids. Students will often demonstrate some relative strength in areas of concrete thinking, rote learning and even understanding the basic visual-spatial relationships. However they may exhibit difficulties in cases of abstract thinking, social cognition, attention, communication among other aspects. The pictographic and some written cues may help the student to learn, develop self control; and even communicate effectively. The advantage of using the visual aids is that the students can use them for a longer time as they are processing the information .Contrarily, the oral information is transient and once it is said the messages are no longer available and such kind of learning and teaching might not help the learner as it ought to be (Carlson, 2010). Moreover, oral information may at times pose challenge to the students who have difficulties in processing language concepts. Additionally, it is at times difficult for students who suffer from autism to attend the relevant information and at the same time block out the background stimulation. The visual objects help the individual to focus on the message hence becoming important for teaching autistic children. Visual aids and the symbols usually range from the real objects which are simple to those that are complex. The continuum of the real objects moves from objects to situations such as the facsimile, colored photograph, color pictures, line drawings and finally the written language. Objects are usually the most simple and concrete form of aid that can be used in teaching these children. The graphic symbols though far and long in terms of complexity and abstraction, they are known to have been widely successful with the students who have autism. The software packages that are used in the provision of the quick access to the graphic symbols and creating the customized symbols are normally readily available (Carlson 2010). The visual supports are normally used in the variety of especially in a classroom set up. However, for them to be successful they must meet the threshold of success they must be understood by the student. The visual supports are always helpful in the learning process and they are applicable more especially organizing the activities of the students, be it mini schedules or the activity checklists. Moreover, the visual support can be used in the provision of instructions for the students in the process of training (Murray 2012). Systematic and simple instruction requirements and resources Using the systematic and simple instruction, method of teaching the intellectually disabled children requires potential resources, place, experienced persons and also training such teachers occasionally. For example, it is not possible to teach such students together with other children and therefore, if it is in a school setting, it means that the administration will require getting additional facilities to accommodate the students. The additional class must be conducive for learning just as other classes. Moreover, the class needs specialized attention to ensure some writings and graphics are done in an attempt to alleviate the level of learning amongst the students (Fredericks, 2008). The human resource is also another factor that has to be taken into account. Teachers who teach these individuals are just the regular teachers, but they spend most of their times with the students. Some do it out of passion while others do it for remuneration. However, above all, they should be remunerated accordingly and motivating them ultimately. Failure to motivate the teachers means reduced service, and the students will be disadvantaged in the long run. The teachers must get training in a more specialized way in pursuit of to sharpening their skills more especially when it comes to teaching the intellectually disabled students. The training requires finances and that adds to the resources needed to teach the students using the systematic and simple instruction. Moreover, the teachers to be trained are those that have a vocation in dealing with disabled people since it is not everybody who can handle such cases. Therefore, getting the right person also becomes a challenge in one way or the other. The curriculum for intellectually disabled people also requires special attention (Edwards, 2001). Visual aids teaching resources for students suffering from autism Autism students are best taught using visual and pictographic resources and they ensure that the students get relevant information. The images must be specifically autistic children and therefore simplicity and precision are part of the images. They should be easy to understand and at the same with fulfilled information that will help the children learn simple concepts. The diagrams and images should illustrate the basic things in life as house, cars mum and dad among other individuals. Moreover, the teachers who ought to teach such students must have specialized training in such way they will teach meaningful lessons to the students. Specialization and experience goes hand in hand and therefore, such teachers must be very experienced when handling such cases (Benaron, 2009). Space for teaching the students is paramount. The space or environment should be in such a way that they can relate what they have learnt with what is actually in the environment. For example, they should in a space where, all the images taught in class are readily available and through that they can manage to learn effectively. Resources for remunerating teachers and motivating them accordingly should be readily available in an attempt to ensure that learning is taking place as planned. Conclusion In summation, it is evident that teaching and educating students with the disability is crucial role that one have to play now and then. Just as any other person needs education, even these people need education as much. In pursuit of realizing the dream, efforts should be channeled in the education and training programs of the education of people with disabilities. Both the intellectually disabled and those who have autism have the right to receive education and live normal lives just like any other individual. In realization of the latter, resources, efforts and human resource is paramount. Upon getting all the resources, it is possible to provide quality education to brothers and sisters who have the challenges. References Arieh, J., & Miller, H. J. (2009). The educator's guide to teaching students with autism spectrum disorders. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Corwin Press. Benaron, L. D. (2009). Autism. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. Brill, M. T. (2008). Autism. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark. Carlson, L. (2010). The faces of intellectual disability philosophical reflections. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Edwards, M. E. (2001). Autism. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books. Fredericks, C. (2008). Autism. Detroit: Thomson Gale. Louhiala, P. (2004). Preventing intellectual disability ethical and clinical issues. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Murray, S. (2012). Autism. New York: Routledge. Pierangelo, R., & Giuliani, G. A. (2008). Teaching students with autism spectrum disorders. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Race, D. G. (2007). Intellectual disability social approaches. Maidenhead, England: McGraw-Hill/Open University Press. Rapley, M. (2004). The social construction of intellectual disability. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Westwood, P. S. (2011). Commonsense methods for children with special educational needs (6th ed.). London: Routledge. Read More