Unit 6: Learners with Intellectual Disabilities

Flashcards covering definitions, characteristics, genetic/environmental causes, and teaching strategies for learners with intellectual disabilities.

Intellectual Disability

A significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period, that adversely affects a child's educational performance.

Intellectual functioning

Refers to the processes of learning, reasoning, and problem-solving.

Adaptive Behavior

The range of cognitive, social, and functional abilities that individuals acquire and demonstrate in their daily activities.

Functional Curriculum

A curriculum that prioritizes the acquisition of abilities applied in everyday tasks across various domains including domestic, community, recreation, vocational, and core areas.

Independent life skills

Also known as life skills required to survive in today's society, including tasks such as using a telephone, engaging in social activities, purchasing groceries, and preparing meals.

Self-Regulation

A set of capabilities and skills that enable an individual to adapt their emotions, actions, and thoughts in order to meet different needs.

Delayed Intellectual Development

Slower acquisition of new knowledge and problem solving, often accompanied by a lower $IQ$ score, typically $70\text{-}75$ or below.

Memory Deficits

Challenges in recalling information, especially working memory, making it hard to follow complex or multi-step instructions.

Reduced Attention Span

Difficulty maintaining focus on tasks, often requiring shorter, structured, and engaging learning sessions.

Abstract Thinking limitations

Challenges understanding complex, abstract, or academic concepts, with a preference for concrete, hands-on learning.

Conceptual Domain

Refers to the individual's cognitive skills and aptitude for knowledge acquisition.

Social Domain

Refers to interpersonal skills, including the ability to maintain meaningful relationships.

Practical Domain

Refers to the capacity to complete everyday living activities independently.

Down Syndrome

A genetic condition caused by the presence of an extra copy of chromosome $21$, characterized by low muscle tone (hypotonia), flattened facial profile, upward slanting eyes, and a single crease in the palm.

Fragile X Syndrome (FxS)

A condition caused by mutation of the $FMR1$ gene on the $X$ chromosome; symptoms include delays in sitting, walking, and talking, and specific problems with math and sequential memory.

Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS)

A condition characterized by severe neonatal hypotonia and feeding difficulties in infancy, followed by insatiable hunger (hyperphagia) and rapid weight gain after age $1\text{-}6$.

Williams Syndrome

A condition with distinct facial features (broad forehead, full cheeks) and a highly social 'cocktail party' personality, often accompanied by cardiovascular disease and extreme sensitivity to noise.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)

Lifelong physical, behavioral, and cognitive issues resulting from alcohol exposure in utero, characterized by small eyes, a thin upper lip, a smooth philtrum, and small head size.

Mild Intellectual Disability Range

A level of intellectual disability indicated by an $IQ$ score of $50\text{-}69$.

Moderate Intellectual Disability Range

A level of intellectual disability indicated by an $IQ$ score of $35\text{-}49$.

Severe Intellectual Disability Range

A level of intellectual disability indicated by an $IQ$ score of $20\text{-}34$.

Profound Intellectual Disability Range

A level of intellectual disability indicated by an $IQ$ score below $20$.

Conceptual Skills

Part of adaptive behavior assessment focusing on language, reading, writing, money, time, and number concepts.

Social Skills

Part of adaptive behavior assessment focusing on interpersonal skills, social responsibility, and self-esteem.

Practical Skills

Part of adaptive behavior assessment focusing on activities of daily living such as personal care, occupational skills, and safety.

Task Analysis

A teaching strategy involving breaking down complex goals into small and manageable steps.

Fluency Building

Integrating activities that help the student perform skills quickly and accurately, rather than just correctly.

Community Based Instruction (CBI)

A strategy involving moving lessons out of classrooms and into the community.

Self-Determination and Self-Advocacy

Empowering students to understand their own desires and goals and to assert their opinions.

Model (Systematic Instruction)

Demonstrating the correct action for the student to emulate, such as writing a letter on a board.

Physical Prompting

Physically guiding the student through a motion, such as hand-over-hand guidance for lacing shoes.