Intellectual Disabilities

Intellectual Disabilities are defined by the American Association of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities as a disabilitiy characterized by significant limitations in both intellectual functioning and adaptive behaviors.  This disability originates before the age of 18. 

(http://aaidd.org/intellectual-disability/definition#.VjjaG7erTIU)

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(http://aaidd.org/intellectual-disability/definition#.VjjaG7erTIU)

Indicators

• Delayed development such as sitting, crawling, standing, walking, or talking
• Failure to appreciate and avoid dangerous situations such as playing in the street, or touching a hot stove
• Excessive behavioral problems such as impulsivity and poor frustration tolerance
• Difficulty learning new information despite significant effort and repetition
• Difficulty learning new skills despite significant practice

https://www.mentalhelp.net/articles/signs-and-symptoms-of-intellectual-disability/

• Lack of or slow development of motor skills, language skills, and self-help skills, especially when compared to peers
• Failure to grow intellectually or continued infant-like behavior
• Lack of curiosity
• Problems keeping up in school
• Failure to adapt (adjust to new situations)
• Difficulty understanding and following social rules

https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001523.htm

Accommodations

Presentation Accommodations 

• Listen to audio recordings instead of reading text
• Use visual presentations of verbal material, such as word webs and visual organizers
• Work with fewer items per page or line and/or materials in a larger print size

Setting Accommodations

• Sit where he learns best (for example, near the teacher)
• Use sensory tools such as an exercise band that can be looped around a chair’s legs (so fidgety kids can kick it and quietly get their energy out)
• Work or take a test in a different setting, such as a quiet room with few distractions

Timing Accommodations

• Take more time to complete a task or a test
• Have extra time to process oral information and directions

Scheduling Accommodations

• Take more time to complete a project
• Take a test in several timed sessions or over several days
• Take sections of a test in a different order

Organization Skills Accommodations

• Use an alarm to help with time management
• Mark texts with a highlighter
• Have help coordinating assignments in a book or planner
• Receive study skills instruction

https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/treatments-approaches/educational-strategies/common-modifications-and-accommodations

Modifications

Assignment Modifications

• Complete fewer or different homework problems than peers
• Write shorter papers
• Answer fewer or different test questions
• Create alternate projects or assignments

Curriculum Modifications

• Learn different material (such as continuing to work on multiplication while classmates move on to fractions)
• Get graded or assessed using a different standard than the one for classmates
• Be excused from particular projects

https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/treatments-approaches/educational-strategies/common-modifications-and-accommodations

• Give more concrete assignments on a related topic
• Give easier questions on same concept
• Change learning tasks with similar topic by simplifying or condensing, combining or grouping, or by using special coding.
• Use high interest/low vocabulary resources

https://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/specialed/sid/27.htm

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