Jessica Rys - Class 524

  Transition planning is not required as an IEP component by federal law until age 16. In the state of Illinois, transition planning is required to begin at age 14 ½. However, transition planning should really begin at the elementary level. “ There is a widespread misconception that transition planning and programming begin in high school. However, there are many opportunities for teachers to infuse transition-focused education into teaching and learning activities for their elementary-grade students” (Papay, Unger, Williams, & Mitchell, 2015).             Although transition planning is required under IDEA there have been many studies done showing that special education students are still behind their neurotypical peers. “ In the most recent report of postschool outcomes from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2, youth with disabilities were found to be less likely than their peers in the general po...

Other Health Impairments is one of the disabilities listed under IDEA. IDEA lists some of the common health conditions that typically fall under this disability category. The ones listed are asthma, ADHD, ADD, diabetes, epilepsy, heart conditions, nephrites, hemophilia, lead poisoning, leukemia, rheumatic fever, sickle cell anemia, and Tourette syndrome ( National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities, 2012). The article provides a brief, helpful, description of each of these conditions. However, having one of these conditions it is not enough for a child to be diagnosed as OHI. In order to qualify for special education services, the child’s condition must also adversely affect his or her educational performance. “Health impairments can affect a student’s educational performance. In fact, for a child to qualify for special education services in the public schools under the category of OHI, the health impairment must affect the child’s educational performance” ( Nation...

                Autism Spectrum Disorder is becoming more and more prevalent. Trisha Sugita (2016) wrote, “Autism Spectrum Disorder is the fastest growing disability within the United States … The estimated growth of ASD has increased by 78% between 2002 and 2012.” With ASD growing, teachers need to find ways to help students with ASD academically and social emotionally. ASD teaching techniques are not a “one-size-fits-all” model. Students who have ASD are very different, and the significance of the disability changes from student to student.                 “With the rise of Autism rates, the field has also seen a significant need for an increase in ASD expertise and implementing evidence-based practices within schools” (Sugita, 2016). It is important the teachers become educated with a number of different methods so they can hel...

Emotional Disability and Behavioral Disorders do not only affect a student within the school setting, they can affect the student with having career success post-high school. Huber and Swank (2013) state, “The National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2) was designed to examine the post-high school experiences of individuals with disabilities. Wagner, Newman, Cameto, Levine, and Garza (2006) reported that students within the emotional disturbances category had the lowest (56%) school completion rate, except for individuals within the categories of intellectual disabilities and multiple disabilities. Additionally, approximately 60% of individuals within the emotional disturbances category were employed at some point; however, only about half (30%) were employed after two years.” By law, schools are required to provide transition services as part of a student’s IEP. However, students who receive vocational rehabilitation are typically students who have more “extreme” dis...

    The article I read this week was on a study conducted pertaining to disobedient behavior shown by students with intellectual disabilities. Many teachers tend to experience more behavioral issues with students with intellectual disabilities than their chorological aged peers. The study believes that this is due to teachers asking their students with intellectual disabilities to complete tasks that are too difficult for the student’s mental age. “We hypothesize that this contradiction arises from the frustration experienced by children with intellectual disability when faced with task inappropriate for their mental age” (Bierbaum, Henrich, Zigler, 2005). In order to prove this hypothesis, “a sample of 43 children comprised a total of three groups: an experimental group of children with intellectual disability of no known organic aetiology (intellectual disability group); a mental age comparison group (MA group); and a chronological age comparison group (CA group...

Strategies for Teaching Students With ADHD The article I read was written by Lisa Medoff, a learning specialist. Lisa discusses her challenges working with a specific student, Baxter, who has ADHD. Baxter is a fourth-grade boy who Lisa would work with afterschool, one-on-one, twice a week. The focus of their meetings was to teach Baxter strategies for managing his ADHD. These strategies pertained to organization, planning ahead, checking details, writing essays, handwriting, and reading (Medoff 2016). At first, Lisa dreaded working with Baxter. She had a hard time connecting with him, and he did not enjoy working with her. At often times, he was rude to her and would walk away when he was not interested in what she was having him do. This seems typical of any fourth-grade boy. Having to do work after already being in school all day can be difficult for any elementary-aged student, especially one with ADHD. Lisa had to work on finding methods that would make working with Baxt...