Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, students should be able to:

  1. Explain the key terms that were used to denote mental retardation and how that terminology has changed over the years.
  2. Describe the historical viewpoint of society toward persons with disabilities prior to the 18th century.
  3. Identify some of the ways the European medical community was beginning to distinguish between mental retardation and mental illness during the Renaissance.
  4. Create a timeline for the major philosophical changes that helped pave the way for political changes.
  5. Examine Brown v. Board of Education and identify how it was used in subsequent court cases as a basis for disabilities.
  6. Determine the ramifications of litigation that has affected education and treatment of individuals with disabilities.
  7. Prepare a chart that lists the major components of P.L. 94-142 through all of the reauthorizations.
  8. Identify and explain various terms and concepts related to inclusion.

Activities

  1. Visit the web destinations suggested for Chapter 1. Create an annotated bibliography outlining the contents of these web destinations.
  2. Create a PowerPoint presentation appropriate for a middle school or high school class outlining the treatment and history of persons with CIDs.
  3. Investigate and critique available programs in your local area that provide opportunities for individuals with CIDs to interact with their typical age-mate peers.

Chapter 2

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, students should be able to:

  1. Compare and contrast the various labels used over time with the various definitions that have been used to include or exclude individuals with CIDs.
  2. Identify several of the methods used to classify individuals with CIDs based on the criteria contained within the chapter.
  3. Conclude which of the definitions used currently fits the population of individuals that exist today.
  4. Identify the more common tests used to measure intelligence.
  5. Formulate a reason for why an accurate count of persons with CIDs is difficult.

Activities

  1. Conduct a search to determine what terms, definitions, and eligibility criteria are used by your local school district. Compare and contrast this to the terms, definitions, and eligibility criteria used by your state and others.
  2. Interview special education teachers, general education teachers, and individuals with CIDs regarding the use of the term mental retardation. Share your findings with your colleagues.
  3. Compare early definitions of CIDs to the current 2010 AAIDD definition.

Chapter 3

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, students should be able to:

  1. Identify the major reasons for using multiple assessment measures when identifying individuals with CIDs.
  2. Determine what constitutes a technically adequate assessment instrument.
  3. Discuss the ramifications that Larry P. v. Riles had on the California educational system.
  4. Explain the key terms used in assessment scoring.
  5. Create a user matrix from the norm-referenced intelligence tests.
  6. Identify the major researchers, along with their respective body of work, responsible for the conceptual models of intelligence in current use.
  7. Explain the concept of adaptive behavior and discuss some of the scales that were developed to measure this behavior.

Activities

  1. What procedures and assessments are used in your state and/or local school district for identifying students with CIDs? Compare and contrast this to another state and/or school district.
  2. You have been asked by a local support group (for parents of children with CIDs) to explain how assessment is used to identify children with CIDs. Prepare a PowerPoint presentation for this group. *If possible, contact a local support group and ask to present this information to parents.
  3. Create a timeline illustrating the chronology and identifying the key players in the development of intelligence tests.
  4. You have been asked by your local school district to explain "adaptive behavior" and how it is assessed. This presentation will be for general education teachers. Prepare a poster or PowerPoint presentation illustrating various adaptive behaviors and how they are assessed.

Chapter 4

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, students should be able to:

  1. Identify the role that genes and chromosomes play in the heredity of known mental disabilities.
  2. Explain the differences between dominant and recessive autosomal genetic disorders.
  3. Discuss the ramifications for male offspring with sex-linked genetic disorders.
  4. Determine why Down Syndrome is one of the few disorders related to the number of chromosomes that results in a live birth.
  5. Describe the disorders associated with the abnormal structure of chromosomes.
  6. Compare and contrast the possible benefits or negative situations that could arise from genetic testing and counseling.

Activities

  1. Develop a resource packet for a parent group. Include a list of local resources for genetic counseling services, local support groups, and Internet list serves that provide information and online support.
  2. Research the Internet and locate resources for each of the syndromes and disorders discussed in your text. Create an annotated bibliography of these resources for your class.
  3. Conduct an interview with a genetic counselor in your local area. Ask questions related to his or her role and interest in the field, and challenges the counselor faces.
  4. Select one of the syndromes discussed in this chapter. Prepare a presentation (PowerPoint or poster) that addresses causes and characteristics.

Chapter 5

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, students should be able to:

  1. Describe the factors that contribute to the known environmental and psychosocial causes of CIDs.
  2. Identify the variety of prenatal factors that occur during pregnancy.
  3. Explain the perinatal factors that occur during or shortly after the birthing process.
  4. Examine the postnatal factors that occur after birth that place the infant at serious risk for CIDS.
  5. Prepare a list of the social and psychosocial correlates that are known to increase the risk of CIDs in infants.
  6. Discuss the early interventions provided by law and the medical interventions that may be helpful in the prevention of CIDs.

Activities

  1. Prepare a 20-minute PowerPoint presentation on the environmental and psychosocial causes of mental retardation. Present this to your class and/or to general education teachers at your school.
  2. Prepare a 15- to 20-minute PowerPoint presentation for pregnant teenagers and teen mothers on the importance of preventative measures including good prenatal and neonatal care and child-rearing practices. Contact your local school district and arrange to present this to a class for teen mothers.
  3. Contact or visit a local early intervention services provider. Devise a list of questions in advance related to (a) what types of problems are present in families and children that need to be addressed and (b) what are some of the outcomes experienced at school-age if such problems go unnoticed or untreated. Do you see evidence of the "essential daily ingredients" for young children listed by Ramey and Ramey (1992)?

Chapter 6

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, students should be able to:

  1. Compare and contrast Piaget´s and Vygotsky´s developmental perspectives as they pertain to typical and atypical human growth and development.
  2. Identify common transfer/generalization skills and how the lack of those generalization skills could impact social and educational adjustment for persons with CIDs.
  3. Examine how a person´s attribution skills could affect the selection and usage of learning strategies or how metacognitive skills are utilized.
  4. Discuss why "distractible" and "no attention span" are not the same and how each might affect the learning behavior of an individual.
  5. Explain the key ideas that differentiate working, short-term, and long-term memory and how deficits in any one or combinations of the three may have an adverse effect on the storage and retrieval of information.
  6. Determine the need for augmentative or alternative communication systems in various environments in which a person with a CID might find him/herself.

Activities

  1. Research the various augmentative and alternative communication systems available today. Prepare a handout for your classmates/colleagues briefly describing several of the most common communication systems.
  2. Interview a speech/language pathologist currently working with individuals with CIDs. Prepare a list of questions related to:
    1. speech and language development of individuals;
    2. types of therapeutic interventions; and
    3. use of assistive technology.
  3. As noted in your text, critics of Piaget´s theory point out that the stages do not necessarily correspond to the emergence of skills in children. Research and identify some of the criticisms regarding Piaget´s theory and apply this to a discussion of the learning characteristics of individuals with CIDs.
  4. Your text lists factors related to memory. Develop a presentation describing each of these factors and give specific examples of how each relates to the learning characteristics of individuals with CIDs.

Chapter 7

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, students should be able to:

  1. Discuss how deficits in comprehension skills can affect the acquisition of educational skills.
  2. Explain what functional academics are and how this type of academic curriculum/instruction is crucial to the success of persons with CIDs.
  3. Describe how being included within the family and larger community might reduce stereotypical perceptions and lead to better adjustment of individuals with CIDs.
  4. Explain learned helplessness and how it occurs.
  5. Examine the differences in internal and external locus of control and how those differences can affect an individual’s motivation.
  6. Distinguish between behavioral and psychological disorders even when an individual might have a dual diagnosis.
  7. Determine the quality of one’s life within the framework of society’s interactive nature, and then discuss how that quality could suffer if necessary supports are withheld or withdrawn.
  8. Identify the specific rules within the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that are intended to reduce discrimination against people with disabilities within the workplace.

Activities

  1. Locate a group home or similar residential arrangement in your community. Interview those who live there and employees regarding opportunities for work, leisure and social activities. In addition to a list of general questions, specifically address opportunities to interact with same-age peers without disabilities.
  2. Arrange to visit a local habilitation center or school serving adults or students with CIDs. After reviewing Chapter 7 (and other related chapters) of your text, make a list of educational, psychological, and behavioral characteristics of individuals with CIDs. During your observation, make note of the behaviors you observed and share your findings with your colleagues.
  3. As noted in your text, researchers have been investigating self-injurious behavior (SIB) for many years. After reviewing the literature on various treatment options for SIB, create a timeline depicting various treatments over the last three decades and which appear to be more effective. Also, consider whether any of the treatments inflict pain or suffering on the recipient.
  4. Develop a brief list of questions to ask local business owners/managers regarding employment opportunities for individuals with CIDs. Specifically address what supports (e.g., regular visits from a job coach) businesses want or require before they hire individuals with CIDs. After conducting this informal survey, present your findings to your class.

Chapter 8

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, students should be able to:

  1. Identify the potential impact of differences in values, languages, and customs that can exist between the home, school, and society.
  2. Explain the effects an exceptional condition(s) can have on an individual´s life.
  3. Compare and contrast teacher attitudes and behaviors that influence behaviors of individuals with exceptional learning needs.
  4. Describe culturally responsive factors that promote effective communications and collaboration with individuals with exceptional learning needs, families, school personnel, and community members.
  5. Discuss basic individual rights guaranteed under local or federal law and how those rights might be altered or negated when applied to a person with CIDs (sex, marriage, and parenting).

Activities

  1. Westling and Fox (2009) reviewed research on families of children with severe disabilities and arrived at several tentative conclusions. Review this discussion in your text and, based on these findings, develop a model for involving parents and families in your school (or another school serving students with CIDs).
  2. As discussed in your text, training in exercising the right to vote should be a part of civics education for individuals with CIDs. Develop a series of lesson plans or a civics curriculum unit dealing with exercising the right to vote.
  3. Locate a guardianship agency in your local area. Arrange to interview someone who provides guardianship services for individuals with CIDs. Include questions related to:
    • training required for becoming a guardian
    • fees associated with guardianship
    • services provided by guardianship agencies
    • process for determining incapacity
    • family involvement with guardianship agencies

Chapter 9

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, students should be able to:

  1. Assess basic skills of a person with CIDs taking into consideration the age of the person and the severity of the disability.
  2. Predict or decide the techniques used for informal assessment based on criterion-referenced testing and criterion-referenced curriculum-based assessment.
  3. Recommend an informal functional assessment for monitoring progress.
  4. Select items to include in a portfolio that best display the abilities of a person with CIDs.
  5. Determine if and when an alternate assessment would give a more appropriate picture of the person´s abilities than would be depicted by statewide or district-mandated assessments.
  6. Measure functional skill areas for independent functioning.

Activities

  1. If you are currently working with students with CIDs, develop a portfolio for one of your students that either (a) includes the student´s best work, or (b) presents assessment and performance data on the student. Present this portfolio to your classmates and answer these items:
    1. What should it look like?
    2. What goes into it?
    3. How and when are the entries selected?
    4. How is the portfolio useful?
    5. How is the portfolio passed on?
  2. Following the steps described in your text, task analyze and develop a criterion-referenced test for the skill "calls 911 for emergency situations."
  3. Identifying the target behavior essentially means determining the skill or behavior for which a teaching program or intervention will be designed and implemented. It is very important that the target behavior be clearly defined so that it can be measured. The following behaviors are described in vague terms. Rewrite these target behaviors so that they are clearly observable and measurable.
    • Whines/complains
    • Leaves the room
    • Resists help from teacher
    • Screams/yells
    • Rocking
    • Hits others
    • Steals other´s belongings

Chapter 10

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, students should be able to:

  1. Interpret the national, state, and district standards that all students are required to learn and formulate a design that will include those standards in a functional curriculum.
  2. Determine and incorporate the specific skills needed for independent living that a person with CIDs might need to be successful outside of the classroom.
  3. Assess and plan lesson content to fit within the student´s own value system and independent functioning levels.
  4. Construct instructional content and implementation from the analysis of the IEP.
  5. Develop and incorporate appropriate instructional content within the least restrictive environment (LRE) based on the student´s current level of independent functioning.

Activities

  1. Arrange to observe one or more IEP meetings for students with cognitive or intellectual disabilities. Record the level of input students and parents had in the selection of goals, objectives, and transition planning.
  2. Develop a sample case study of a student with CID (include basic information such as general background information, present level of performance, student´s strengths and weaknesses, and student´s likes and dislikes). Create the instructional portion of the IEP for this student. In small groups, evaluate and discuss the goals and objectives developed for this student using the six guiding questions outlined in your text.
    • Will the skill help the student participate in the current or future environments?
    • Will the skill help the student gain access to a better quality of life?
    • Does the goal include skills, routines, and materials that are age-appropriate?
    • Does the goal include skills that are valued by society?
    • Will this skill assist the student to become a productive contributor to the community?
    • Does the goal reflect the student´s interests and enhance the student´s talents?
  3. As discussed in the text, the importance of considering age appropriateness as a criterion to tasks and skills we teach, materials we use, and behaviors we expect cannot be underestimated. Use the references cited in your text as a starting point to gather more information about age appropriateness for these instructional decisions. Develop a PowerPoint presentation that could be used during training for parents, teachers, and/or care providers at group homes.
  4. As discussed in your text, Brown et al. (1979) outlined a set of principles to help determine and select important goals for students with CIDs. These principles are exemplified by the six guiding questions listed in your text. Review two to three IEPs of students with CIDs at the elementary and secondary level. Evaluate the goals and objectives in these IEPs using these six questions to guide your evaluation.
  5. Interview two high school students with CIDs and their parents to find out the level of input they had in selecting goals or objectives for their instructional programs and transition plans.
  6. Arrange to visit a local group home, habilitation center, or vocational training center. Record examples of skills that are taught, materials used, or behaviors exhibited that violate the principle of chronological age appropriateness.

Chapter 11

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, students should be able to:

  1. Evaluate typical instructional methods to determine if they are appropriate for students with CIDs or if other methods would produce more substantial gains.
  2. Design an instruction program that will offer students the opportunity to focus on and learn functional skills in a variety of ways through different teaching methods.
  3. Create visual structure for a lesson that will guide students through a skill or task with little or no verbal input.
  4. Incorporate a variety of instructional procedures for lessons that are aimed toward acquisition, fluency, or generalization.
  5. Compose errorless learning procedures to reinforce any active student efforts to participate in learning activities.
  6. Produce a task analysis by dividing a complex skill into its smaller subskills.
  7. Develop a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) to obtain information on the purpose or function served by the student´s challenging behavior.
  8. Conclude from an analysis of an instructional assessment what teaching decisions need to be made about content and delivery of lessons.

Activities

  1. As described in your text, task analysis involves dividing a complex skill into smaller subskills. In most task analyses, each step becomes a discrete behavior that can be taught to a student. Choose one of the tasks listed below. Create a task analysis for it using one of the methods suggested by Cooper, Heron, and Heward (2007). Now teach the task analysis to a person who does not yet perform the skill.
    Tasks:
    1. brushing and flossing teeth
    2. making a tuna fish sandwich
    3. taking the bus to work
    4. using the computer to access email
  2. Delivering instruction involves the instructional interactions that teachers provide that produce student actions. As discussed in your text, there are three common assumptions that guide the delivery of instruction for students with CIDs:
    • Students with CIDs share similar patterns of schooling with most students who do not have disabilities.
    • Most students with CIDs require explicit instruction if they are to master the knowledge and skills needed for the future.
    • Students with CIDs will make remarkable learning gains when provided with powerful instruction.

In small groups, develop a PowerPoint or other multimedia presentation that will convey this message to general education teachers and/or school administrators during a professional development meeting. Address each point with specific examples.

  1. Contact your local school district and arrange to meet and interview a behavior specialist regarding the value of conducting a functional behavior assessment (FBA) for students with CIDs. Share your findings with your classmates.
  2. Scenario: Your local school district has hired you as a consultant to work with the special and general education teachers working in inclusive settings serving students with CIDs. These teachers are frustrated because their students are not generalizing concepts and skills from one setting to another. Develop a PowerPoint presentation to explain the concept of generalization, challenges for students with CIDs, and detail effective teaching strategies. Conduct a literature search on the topic and prepare an annotated bibliography for these teachers to use to locate more detailed information.

Chapter 12

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, students should be able to:

  1. Evaluate the instructional setting, based on IDEA specifications, for a student with CIDs.
  2. Critique inclusion and mainstream placements to determine if they fit the instructional needs of students with CIDs.
  3. Define the least restrictive environment (LRE) for a student based on sample IEP information.
  4. Examine different instructional settings and how they can affect both adults and children within those settings.
  5. Describe positive instructional settings for a sample student that provides for appropriate growth and development.
  6. Revise instructional materials and methods to provide accommodations that include rules and routines, changes to materials, and changes in the way a task is performed to allow students to more fully participate in a typical manner.

Activities

  1. Obtain a copy of Blatt, B., & Kaplan, F. (1967). Christmas in Purgatory: A photographic essay on mental retardation. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. For each photograph in the book, record a one-word response. Compare your responses with a colleague.
  2. Movie critique – Movies dealing with disability-related issues can influence the general population´s perceptions of persons with disabilities. Some movies depict persons with disabilities in very stereotypic roles and others offer a more realistic portrayal. Conduct a literature and/or an Internet search to locate films with characters with CIDs. Critique this film and discuss how the individual with CID was portrayed. Present your findings to your colleagues and include "clips" from the movie to support your points.
  3. Using Table 12.3, Common Instructional Accommodations, in your text as a guide, develop a multimedia presentation on common instructional accommodations for students with CIDs. This presentation should be developed as an in-service tool for general education teachers working in inclusive settings or general education teachers in training at your college/university.
  4. Contact your local school district (or the placement office at your college) and arrange to visit two or more instructional settings (e.g., self-contained class and general education class) that serve students with CIDs. Compare and contrast your site visits. Specifically address the pros and cons of each, opportunities for social interaction with typically developing peers, academic planning in each setting, and so on.
  5. Arrange to interview a parent of a child or young adult with intellectual disabilities. Develop questions pertaining to the parents´ perspectives of "ideal" settings and supports for their child over the years (from preschool through adulthood).

Chapter 13

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, students should be able to:

  1. Question the continued usage of CID as an appropriate term to identify this population.
  2. Predict what the future might hold as more and more persons with CIDs are integrated into their various communities.
  3. Design a strategy that helps children develop their own decision-making skills.
  4. Create a lesson plan that identifies the ADA rights that are due a person with CIDs.
  5. Develop an argument that supports the Atkins v. Virginia Supreme Court decision.
  6. Identify ethical dilemmas involving bioethics, medical advances, and other neuroscience issues, and whether people with CIDs receive these benefits.
  7. Identify international health care issues that continue to impact the prevalence and incidence of CIDs. 

Activities

  1. Visit one of the websites for the self-advocacy organizations listed in this text. Contact one of these organizations (or another of your choice) and arrange for an email interview. Share your interview with your colleagues.
  2. Prepare a list of the medical advances outlined in your text and the ethical considerations discussed. Present this outline and the ethical considerations to several people (if possible, include people both in and out of the field of education) and ask them to respond to each. Probe their opinions regarding whether people with CIDs should be research participants in the experiments leading to those medical advances. Record their responses and share with your colleagues.
  3. As discussed in your text, programs have been developed to assist individuals with CIDs with specific decision making (e.g., leisure skills, choice making). Research several of these programs and if possible, obtain one from your curriculum library. Critique one of these programs and present your findings to your colleagues.
  4. As noted in your text, the most significant court case related to the issue of capital punishment and intellectual disability was Atkins v. Virginia. Research this case and prepare a multimedia presentation with a chronology of events.
  5. Medical advances will have a tremendous impact on the potential early diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of CIDs. Prepare a multimedia presentation on the various medical advances and corresponding ethical considerations for your colleagues or for a teacher training workshop.
  6. What would an educational system look like if the definition of CIDs continues to evolve such that the condition is defined entirely by the need for support? How would the diagnostic and eligibility practices change? How would instructional design and delivery change?