EPSE 317Development and Exceptionality

in the Regular Classroom

WEEK I

The Shape of the Day

• Administrivia. • What is inclusion and what will you

need to know as an elementary teacher?

• Who are students with exceptionalities?

• Working with families and agencies.

Administrivia

• .PPTs—copies available (for a price) or e-mailable on request.

• Blog.http://epsethree-seventeen.blogspot.com

• Breaks—15 minutes, approx 90 mins into class.

• Text. Readings are important. Please try to keep up with them. I don’t teach the text, so you need to read stuff. (I do read the text…)

An Apology

• I have a simply terrible memory for names.

• It is not indifference, I have really poor recall for names, dates and other discrete items.

• Please don’t take offense if I don’t remember your name.

• I’ll try, honest. But this is a problem for me.

The Manual of Policy, Procedures, and Guidelines for

Special Education Services

• AKA the MOPPandG• http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/specialed/ppa

ndg.htm

• First published in 1995• Updated frequently• Intended for District Level, but familiarity

can be useful for classroom teachers.

Course outline

• No final exam. No exams, period.• Course is pass/fail• Text availability. E-book, library

reserve. • Review of assignments–Workbook– Group assignments

• Questions so far…?

Who Is This Class About?Students with learning and developmental exceptionalities, as

identified by the BC Ministry of Education:

• Physically Dependent • Deaf-Blind, • Intellectual Disabilities, • Hearing Impairments, • Visual Impairments, • Chronic Health Conditions and Physical Disabilities, • Behavioural and Mental Health Disorders, • Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs), • Learning Disabilities, and • Gifted

Note that with the exception of ASDs, these are general categories rather than diagnoses

It does not include:

• First Nations Students, Métis, Inuit • ESL (ELL)/FSL (FLL) • (Unless they are otherwise

exceptional)

Importantly, It also includes

• Everyone in the education system including other students

• Families• Other service providers

“Inclusive Education”

• What does this mean to you?• What are your experiences?

A Little Background…Responses to Children with Learning

Exceptionalities

• Institutionalisation• “Special Education”• Medicalisation• US PL 94-142• “Mainstreaming”• “Integration”

Inclusion Is NOT

• A mandate that all children be in integrated classrooms at all times

• Other options:– Part-time resource room support– Specialised classroom– Specialised schools

• “Mainstreaming” • Discussion question: When might a

student benefit from placement other than a regular classroom?

Teachers’ Role in Inclusive Education:

• Under Provincial Law:– Teachers have primary responsibility for

instruction for all students in their classes.

–When students’ needs require specialised programming, the teacher is expected to collaborate with specialists.

– If a student has the support of a teacher’s assistant, the teacher remains responsible for the instructional planning and supervision of the TA.

Parents

From the MOPPandG:

Parents of students with special needs know a great deal about their children that can be helpful to school personnel in planning educational programs for them.

Districts are therefore advised to involve parents in the planning, development and implementation of educational programs for their children. This consultation should be sought in a timely and supportive way, and the input of parents respected and acknowledged.

Children in Care

• When children are in custody of the Province, school boards are required to provide the guardian with relevant information.

• This includes placement, IEP planning, and any disciplinary measures that may occur.

• Foster parents do not have legal guardianship, but can be valuable collaborators with the consent of the legal guardian.

Identification of Special Needs

• Children with special needs are, by law, entitled to timely identification and assessment.

• …More of the teacher’s role in this process next week.

Things Teachers Need to Know

• If a child has a designated exceptionality, a teacher should be advised in advance of his/her arrival in the class.

• Teachers should be informed if there are special health, emotional or behavioural needs for a particular student in their class.

• Information about specific conditions should be available to teachers.

• Teachers should be informed about available supports at district and provincial level for both student and teacher.

Sources of Information

• About a specific condition:– Resource teachers– District helping teachers, psychologists,

SLPs etc. – Sometimes medical professionals– Parents

• About a child:– Parents/caregivers– The child him/herself– Other school staff…with caution

Provincial Outreach Programs

• Specialised services, administered by School Services– Some interministerial

• Hospital-based schooling• Treatment or “containment” centres

• Specific services for students with special needs– Provincial centres (e.g. RE Mountain program

for Deaf students)• Outreach programs• (Complete list is available on course Blog, or

in the MOPPandG)

Provincial Outreach Programs

• Consultation, training, ongoing support

• Not all programs provide support for individual students

• Referrals generally through districts, some programs have regional resource persons.

– POPARD: Provincial Outreach Program for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders• www.autismoutreach.ca

– Provincial Outreach for Deaf-Blindness– Provincial Outreach Program for Deaf and

Hard-of-Hearing– Provincial Outreach Program for Cochlear

Implants– POPFASD: Provincial Outreach Program for

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders• www.fasdoutreach.ca

– PISP: Provincial Integration Support Program• www.pisp.ca

– Provincial Early Intervention for Learning Disabilities

SET-BC

• Special Education Technology-BC• Assistive Technology, computer

assistance primarily for students with physical disabilities and visual impairments

• Assess students for appropriate technology, train staff in use

• Provide technology at no additional cost to district or student

• www.SETBC.org

PRCVI

• Provincial Resource Centre for the Visually Impaired www.prcvi.org

– Alternate format instructional materials– Long-term loan of specialized equipment (e.g., Braille

writers; talking– calculators; recorders)– Short-term loans of professional literature and videos on

Visual impairment and deaf-blindness to teachers– Outreach services– Consultation services on the use and choice of materials

and equipment– In-service training– On a partial cost-recovery basis, audio tape and electronic

text versions of provincially recommended learning resources are available for students designated as print disabled

• Bear in mind that the phrase, “I know all about …(x, y condition) and these kids,” is a formula for catastrophe.

• Kids with special needs are individuals and vary as much among themselves as any of us.

• Never set your expectations solely on the basis of a label.

Which brings us to “Labelling”

• Sometimes parents will be reluctant to have a child identified as special needs because they are cautious about labelling.

• What are you going to say to them?

Why Identify?

• Can make realistic supports available• Can clarify causes of apparent

“behaviour”• Sometimes it can (used sensibly)

clarify a student’s difficulties to the student: “I’m not dumb, I’ve got a learning disability.”

• Throughout this course, we’ll cover who can identify what conditions

Functional Analysis

• An alternative to categorisation?• Describe students by their functional

abilities and impairments• Shape programming accordingly• Eliminates “labelling,” “Stigma.”• In use in Yukon and NWT, under

consideration in Alberta

Families

• Family involvement will vary.• Discuss…

• Cultural understandings of disability• Parents’ own experiences of schooling• Parents’ expectations of children• Employment and fatigue• Parents really can be experts– On their kids– On their kids’ conditions

• Why are parents sometimes defensive or adversarial?

Agencies

• Children with medical or mental health conditions may benefit from a collaborative approach between medical professionals and school.

• There may well be confidentiality issues that need to be clarified with parent’s or guardian’s consent. It’s important to check. District policy about this can vary as well.

Children in Care

• Guardianship Social Workers must be informed about the programming of children in their care.

• Again, district policies can vary about this; check who should be communicating.

• Be alert for protection issues and custodial issues between parents.

Integrated Services and Case Management

• Teams of professionals and caregivers involved with a student

• Case manager or key worker coordinates integrated case management and transfer when needed.

Mantra

• Be sure to build on students’ strengths, whatever their disabilities may be.

• Be alert to strengths and interests of individuals.