Characteristics+Group+Grid

**Mental Retardation** **(mild/moderate)** || Federal Definition of the Disability – Major Components, Including Incidence and etiology || Mental retardation appears in children under the age of 18 and it is a developmental disability that is a level of intellectual functioning that is well below the average. (As measured by standard intelligence testing) Children with mental retardation reach developmental milestones much later than other children in the population, however, the symptoms may appear at birth or later in childhood. In mild retardation, diagnosis may not be made until a child enters pre-school or kindergarten. Mentally retarded children typically have difficulties with communication and functional academic skills. In mild mental retardation, the average IQ is about 50-70. In mild cases, they can reach academic levels up to about 6th grade. In some cases, people with mild mental retardation can live independently when they have community and social support. In moderate mental retardation, the average IQ is about 35-55 and they can carry out tasks with moderate supervision. People with moderate mental retardation can acquire communication skills in childhood and function successfully within in the community in environments such as group homes. The cause of mental retardation is very hard to pinpoint, and is often impossible to pinpoint, however, some cases can be due to health issues. In 40% of mental retardation cases, the cause is not found. || Typical Physical Characteristics of the Disability / Health Issues || Genetically there are diseases that cause mental retardation, including Fragile X, PKU, trisomy 18 Down syndrome, Fetal alcohol syndrome and maternal infections. Also, some childhood illnesses that are not treated correctly can cause mental retardation. || Typical Learning Characteristics and/or Effects Of The Disability On Development And Learning || Mentally retarded children have impaired cognitive functioning. The learners IQ has the biggest impact on their ability to learn, acquire concepts, process information, and apply knowledge in settings such as school, home, and community. Mentally retarded children have trouble in the following areas: attention, memory, motivation, generalization, language development, academic development, and social development. Some key characteristics are that the children have learned helplessness and they expect to fail, they also experience external locus of control and outer-directedness. || Common Communication and/or Behavior Issues & Needs || Mentally retarded often lack social competence, have rejection by their peers and classmates because of their poor social skills, exhibit socially inappropriate or immature behavior, and diminished self esteem. || References || []; Teaching in Today’s Inclusive Classrooms ||||  **Deaf/ Hard of Hearing** ||

Federal Definition of the Disability – Major Components, Including Incidence and etiology || Deafness is defined by IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) as “a hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification.” IDEA has a separate definition for hearing impairment. It is defined as “an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.” Approximately 72,600 students were classified as having a hearing impairment during the 2006-2007 school year. There are a wide variety of causes that are said to contribute to this condition. They range from genetic or hereditary conditions to infection to physical causes such as noise pollution. Low birth weight, prematurity, anoxia, meningitis, head injuries, and the side effects of some antibiotics as well as the aging process are also said to be causes. In over 55 percent of cases, the cause is never determined. || Typical Physical Characteristics of the Disability / Health Issues || Hearing impairments can occur in either or both intensity and frequency, and may exist in only one ear or in both ears. Hearing loss can be described by a variation of degrees, such as slight, mild, moderate, severe, or profound. In most cases, only children whose hearing loss is greater than 90 decibels are considered deaf for the purposes of educational classification. There are two types of hearing loss used for classification. Conductive hearing losses are caused by diseases or obstructions in the outer or middle ear. Conductive hearing losses usually result in partial but not total hearing loss. A person with a conductive hearing loss usually is able to use a hearing aid well or can be helped medically or surgically. Sensorineural hearing losses affect the inner ear. These hearing losses can range from mild to profound. They often affect the person’s ability to hear certain frequencies more than others. Therefore amplification of sound is not an acceptable treatment as it will not help the ability to hear frequencies.. || Typical Learning Characteristics and/or Effects Of The Disability On Development And Learning || Hearing impairments are not necessarily a barrier to academic achievement because it does not limit one's ability to reason and think. However, hearing impaired students sometimes have difficulty thriving in an environment that depends heavily on the spoken word for information transferral. Hearing impaired students are typically averaging three to four grade levels behind other students their age. || Common Communication and/or Behavior Issues & Needs || Hearing impaired students have some obvious communication issues that must be overcome to insure their educational success. In addition to problems recieving audio information, hearing impaired students often also have problems with speech as a result of their impairments. Sound produced by an individual who is deaf is sometimes difficult to understand, causing a communication gap and leading to not only communication issues, but emotional issues as well as the student has frequent feelings of isolation, loneliness and depression. || References || []; Teaching in Today’s Inclusive Classrooms || ||  ||   ||
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