Transcript Presenting Disability Awareness to Secondary Students

Physical & Intellectual
Disabilities
Developed by Vivian Azar 2014
Purpose….
 To expand your knowledge, understanding,
and awareness of individuals with physical
and intellectual disabilities.
 Present effective strategies to assist you with
students with disabilities.
William Rose School
 Located in Seven Hills and caters for 64
students aged 4-18 years with sensory and
multiple and complex disabilities.
 Within the school there are a range of
syndromes that impact on their education
provision.
People with disabilities are like
everyone else, they:
 Share many of the same values, interests,
hopes and dreams.
 They desire to:




Be independent
Learn life skills
Enjoy recreation and leisure activities
Live their dreams
Visual Perception Activities
 These activities demonstrate that things are
not always what they seem to be.
 Our thoughts/opinions/feelings about things
are influenced by our perception.
Visual Perception Activity #1
Visual Perception Activity # 2
Question
It is time to elect a new world
leader, and only your vote counts.
Here are the facts about the three
leading candidates.
Candidate A: Associates with crooked politicians,
and consults with astrologists. He’s had two
Mistresses. He also chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10
martinis a day.
Candidate B: He was kicked out of office twice,
sleeps until noon, used opium in college and drinks
a quart of whiskey every evening.
Candidate C: He is a decorated war hero. He’s a
vegetarian, doesn’t smoke, drinks an occasional
beer and never cheated on his wife.
Candidate A is Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Candidate B is Winston Churchill
Candidate C is Adolph Hitler.
Disability Criteria and Description
NSW Department of Education and Communities
Physical disability
The student must have a current physical condition
involving the motor system that significantly limits the
student’s level of functioning and independence in
mobility, personal care, and / or ability to physically
undertake essential learning tasks.
Disability Criteria and Description
NSW Department of Education and Communities
Intellectual disability
To meet the criteria for mild intellectual disability,
students must have a full-scale IQ score of
approximately two to three standard deviations below
the mean on an approved individual test of intelligence.
To meet the criteria for moderate intellectual
disability, students must have a full scale IQ score of
approximately three to four standard deviations below
the mean on an approved individual test of intelligence.
Intellectual disability cont.
To meet the criteria for severe intellectual disability,
students must have a full-scale IQ score of
approximately four standard deviations or more below
the mean on an approved individual test of intelligence.
Interesting things to consider
•In an instant we could be a person with a
disability.
•If we had a son or daughter with a disability how
would we want them to be treated.
•Have you ever made an assumption about a
person with a disability that you realised was
incorrect?
•It’s partly about changing policies and structures
but it’s mostly about changing hearts.
People First Language……
Put the person before the disability
“People-First” Language
Say…
Instead of ……
 The disabled; handicapped;  Person with a disability.
crippled; suffers from a
disability.
 Retarded; mentally
defective.
 Person with an
intellectual disability.
 Cripple; lame; handicapped;  Person with a physical
deformed.
disability.
“People-First” Language
Instead of….
 Confined or restricted to a
wheelchair; wheelchair
bound.
Say……
 Person who uses a
wheelchair.
 The blind.
 Person who is blind; person
with a visual impairment.
 The deaf; deaf and dumb;
suffers a hearing loss.
 Crazy; psycho; lunatic.
 Person who is deaf; person
with a hearing impairment.
 Person with mental illness.
The next Activity…..
A Drawing Challenge
A Drawing Challenge
Educational Implications
 Developing, implementing and monitoring student’s
Individual Education Plan - consultation with
parents/therapists.
 Providing relevant professional learning.
 Identifying and accessing appropriate support
personnel.
 Considerations on students’ needs for medication,
special diets, or special equipment/adaptive aids.
Educational Implications
 Integration programs.
 Providing school-to-work transition planning.
 Community-based instruction.
 Providing a whole school approach to behaviour
management.
 Providing access to selected Key Learning Areas
that best suit the needs of students.
Follow the Leader Activity
An activity designed to show what the
school experience might be like for
some students with disabilities.
When assisting a person who
has an Intellectual Disability
 Interact with the person first, Not their assistant.
 Become familiar with the student and their





disability/terminology.
Focus on the ability NOT the disability.
Treat them their age.
Find out their preferred form of communication (verbal,
non verbal, signing, PCS, switch, electronic
communication device, real object).
Break down information into small easy to understand
instructions. All students learn and process differently.
Ask / tell them before you help.
When assisting a person who
has an Intellectual Disability
 Be considerate about the extra time it might take
for a student to say or do something.
 Become familiar if students have sensory issues
(noise, sight, touch). For example, currently
teaching a student who does not like to be
touched.
 If necessary involve an advocate, usually a staff
member.
Pictorial Communication Symbols
Scripture
Lunch
Singing
Colour in
Dancing
Story
Pictorial Communication Symbols
Music Instruments
Quiet
Finish
Music
Pack away
When assisting a person with a
Physical Disability
 Learn about the method of assistance
required. Each student is very different and
may use different aides to assist with
movement. For example, walker, wheelchair,
standing frame, bed.
 Do not push, lean or hold on to the wheelchair.
The wheelchair is part of their personal space.
Inform the student you are assisting them,
“Mary, Vivian’s going to take you back to class
now.”
When assisting a person with a
Physical Disability
 Put yourself at eye level when communicating with
students.
 Students may have limited forms of communication,
such as eye gaze, finger pointing.
 Be prepared to offer assistance with reaching for,
grasping, lifting, opening doors etc.
 Become familiar with different wheelchairs, some
manual pushing while others automatic.
Case Study
Student: Emma
Likes: Soft toys, Music, (dramatic) reading of books, arms being
touched.
Dislikes: being left alone, not being spoken to.
Communication method: Verbal, touch cues, PCS may be used (20cm
away from her face)
Behaviour issues/strategies: If crying, pat her arm and tell her
she is okay. Perhaps take her AFO's off, or she may need to be
taken out of her chair.
Impairment: Cerebral Palsy, Cortical Vision Impairments
Case Study
If Emma is in your Scripture class, what
things do you need to keep in mind?
Student information Sheet
Completed by class teacher
Student: Huu-Kha
 Likes: Music, singing, clapping, conversations.
 Dislikes: Bright lights / sunlight.
 Communication method: Reaches out for
objects, facial expressions, pointing, responds
well to verbal prompts, touch cues and physical
assistance.
 Behaviour issues: Needs to be supervised
when sitting on a chair - may need a strap.
 Impairment: Vision - right eye blind, Physical requires two hands held to walk.
Student information Sheet
Completed by class teacher
Student: Joshua
 Likes: songs / music
 Dislikes: overload of instructions
 Communication method: verbal /
Pictorial Communication Symbols
 Behaviour issues: short attention span
 Strategies: very structured activities and
firm consistent instructions.
Closing Discussion
 Remember they are people first who have a




disability.
Learn about your students, their disability,
communication method, positioning, behaviours,
sensory issues.
Communicate with students, tell them what you are
doing with and to them.
Become creative in presenting information.
If unsure and require assistance with students, ask
their teachers.
The 10 Commandments of
Inclusion
1.People with disabilities are people first. Thou shalt see the person and not the
disability .
2.Ask before helping - but do offer to help.
3.Offer emotional support to the families of people with intellectual disabilities – be
patient, understanding and welcoming even if not everyone who enters your class
understands social norms and rules.
4.Remember that many intellectual disabilities (such as autism) are invisible - always
give people the benefit of the doubt and remember, gossip hurts.
5.Talk directly to a person with a disability - even when someone has a special aide,
always speak directly to a person with a disability.
6.Ask respectful questions about a person's disability - if you don't understand a person
with a speech impediment for example, that person would probably prefer you asked
them to repeat themselves rather than pretend you understood.
The 10 Commandments of
Inclusion
7.Ask before making any form of physical contact with a person with a
disability - this should apply anyway to all people.
8.Speak in a normal tone to people who use hearing aids - they are
set so that standard voice levels can be heard.
9.Introduce yourself to a person with a visual disability - it is preferable
always to say who you are before talking to someone who is unable to
see.
10.Make your classroom physically accessible - so that everyone who
wants to can enter.
It’s About Being Human
It is in interacting with people who are
different from us that we grow as humans.
People who learn differently, people who
see things differently, people whose values
are different… help us to grow.
Finish