Essay No.

5 Score:_________

Name: Kristine Jane T. Zipagan_Course and Section: _BEEd-2A Date: ____________

Question: How you can accommodate students with mental retardation when teaching
subject area content?

Individuals with intellectual disabilities (mental retardation) benefit from the same teaching
strategies used to teach people with other learning challenges. This includes learning disabilities,
attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and autism . Students labelled as mildly intellectually
disabled demonstrate delays in cognitive, social, and adaptive behavior skills within typical
classroom settings. Often when they are in different settings, these same individuals function
quite capably both socially and vocationally. In their adult lives, these individuals can be
independent and well-adjusted in the world outside of school settings.

With the appropriate supports in place, students with intellectual disabilities can
achieve a high quality of life in many different aspects. Curriculum and instruction must be
carefully modified to help these students reach their potential in both academics and other
functional areas such as independent living. While these students will have limitations in
many adaptive behaviors, these limitations will co-exist alongside strengths in other areas
within the individual. Independence and self-reliance should always be primary goals of all
instructional strategies employed with students with intellectual disabilities.

To fully address the limitations in intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior often
experienced by individuals with intellectual disabilities, teachers need to provide direct
instruction in a number of skill areas outside of the general curriculum. These skills are more
functional in nature but are absolutely essential for the future independence of the individual.
Additional skill areas include money concepts, time concepts, independent living skills, self-
care and hygiene, community access, leisure activities, and vocational training. Students with
intellectual disabilities learn these skills most effectively in the settings or activities in which
they will be asked to apply these skills. Once the skills are mastered, then additional
environments can be added to work towards generalization.

One such strategy is to break down learning tasks into small steps. Each learning task
is introduced, one step at a time. This avoids overwhelming the student. Once the student has
mastered one step, the next step is introduced. This is a progressive, step-wise, learning
approach. It is characteristic of many learning models. The only difference is the number and
size of the sequential steps.

A second strategy is to modify the teaching approach. Lengthy verbal directions and
abstract lectures are ineffective teaching methods for most audiences. Most people are
kinaesthetic learners. This means they learn best by performing a task "hands-on." This is in
contrast to thinking about performing it in the abstract. A hands-on approach is particularly
helpful for students with ID. They learn best when information is concrete and observed. For
example, there are several ways to teach the concept of gravity. Teachers can talks about
gravity in the abstract. They can describe the force of gravitational pull. Second, teachers
could demonstrate how gravity works by dropping something. Third, teachers can ask
students directly experience gravity by performing an exercise. The students might be asked
to jump up (and subsequently down), or to drop a pen. Most students retain more information
from experiencing gravity first-hand. This concrete experience of gravity is easier to
understand than abstract explanations.

Third, people with ID do best in learning environments where visual aids are used.
This might include charts, pictures, and graphs. These visual tools are also useful for helping
students to understand what behaviors are expected of them. For instance, using charts to map
students' progress is very effective. Charts can also be used as a means of providing positive
reinforcement for appropriate, on-task behavior.

A fourth teaching strategy is to provide direct and immediate feedback. Individuals

with ID require immediate feedback. This enables them to make a connection between their
behavior and the teacher's response. A delay in providing feedback makes it difficult to form
connection between cause and effect. As a result, the learning point may be missed.

With an intellectual disability such a common difficulty for many students, it’s vital to
ensure that they receive the same level of care and attention when it comes to their education
as any other student. At the same time, it’s vital that teachers, educators, and parents work
together to ensure they are providing the best environment for every student.