Introduction to Intellectual Disability

Introduction to Intellectual Disability 1

Stacey Brockhaus

Grand Canyon University: SPE-351 Char. of Intellectual Disability & Strategies to Teach Individuals with ID

May 28, 2017

Jeri McElwee

When teaching students who have moderate to severe intellectual disability issues may come up regarding if the student should be in a special education setting or should they be in a regular education class with the support of a special education teacher and her assistant. There has been a lot of progress that has been made in including our students in regular education class but we still have a long way to go.

The special education teacher that was interviewed for this assignment is Marilee Houser. Ms. Houser has taught students with special needs since 1993. Ms. Houser stated that the issue that is related to the terminology, law and identification would be the tests that are given to these students to see if they qualify to classified as special needs. In order for this student to qualify for special education services the student must have a score that is 22 points lower than their other peers based on their IQ tests. The students in Ms. Houser’s class on go into inclusion for social interaction.

The regular education teacher that was also interviewed was a third-grade teacher by the name of Joanie DuCarpe. Ms. DuCarpe explained that some of the issues that she faced while teaching her regular education students and having inclusion with intellectually disabled students is that she felt that there was not enough time in the day to make sure that these students have the resources that they need. She also stated that the law and the terminology that is used is hard to understand because there is so many stipulations. One issue that she did mention is that it is hard at times to get everyone to work together for the benefit of the student.