ED 242 Week 11: Activity 1 — Case Studies

Multiple disabilities are any “concomitant impairments that cause such severe
educational problems that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for
one of the impairments.” In other words, multiple disabilities means that a student has a
combination of at least two disabilities, and the student cannot be fully serviced by just servicing
one of the disabilities. For example, Will in the first video, has ADHD and complete hearing loss
in one ear. His IEP must be updated to ensure that he has the proper equipment and
accommodations to achieve success in the classroom.
A student with multiple disabilities must have an intellectual disability along with a
disability in one of the following areas: Orthopedic impairment, visual impairment, hearing
impairment, speech or language impairment, serious emotional disability, autism spectrum
disorders, traumatic brain injury, or other health impairment. Another way to describe these
categories would be if a student has special needs in at least two of the following categories:
Intellectual functioning, adaptive skills, sensory functioning, motor development, or
communication skills.
Multiple disabilities are different than the other disabilities we have been studying
because these students need double the time, attention, and accommodations compared to
students with one disability. The important thing to remember is that these students work just as
hard and can be just as smart as students with one disability, but it takes a little more to service
the multiple disabilities that a child may have.
In schools, servicing children with multiple disabilities can be more challenging than
servicing those with one disability. Teachers must spend more time planning and coordinating
their lessons to ensure that the student can participate. For example, someone in a wheelchair
with ADHD may have trouble participating in the same activities that children not in a
wheelchair with ADHD can accomplish easily. Teachers may also have to coordinate with other
people during their planning process. For example, a teacher may have to coordinate with the
child’s family, physical therapists, assistive technology teachers, and other support staff before
planning a lesson for the classroom. The evaluation process is also more challenging because
teachers must evaluate and update the child’s IEP for all the disabilities. The evaluation process
is the same (observations, screenings, preferral, referral, and a nondiscriminatory evaluation) but
it will take more time to ensure that the student has all the resources he/she may need.
Another factor to pay attention to when teaching a child with multiple disabilities is their
availability for learning and making sure students are retaining the information. Teachers must
look for signs like habituation, association, anticipation, and surprise. It is important to pay
attention to the availability for learning for all your students, but especially those with multiple
disabilities.
Teachers must be prepared to support all students, despite the severity of their
disabilities. Students with multiple disabilities will need more accommodations and assistance in
schools, and teachers should be able to service those children properly. One example of a way
that a teacher may need to adjust his/her instructional methods would be to allow a
paraprofessional aid to always assist a student. For example, if the student has an intellectual
disability as well as issues with sight, the student might need a paraprofessional aid to assist
them in the classroom. The teacher could work side by side with that aid to ensure that all the
lessons and activities are accessible to that student. Another way that teachers might need to
adjust their instructional methods would be to collaborate with other teachers. For example, if a
student has issues with hearing and ADHD, the teacher might need to collaborate with the
assistive technology teacher to make sure that the student has the proper equipment to help with
the hearing issue. Above are just a few examples of ways that teachers may adjust to include
students with multiple disabilities in the classroom, but it is important to remember that all
students are different and have different needs. Teachers must make sure that they are observing
the students and changing plans/activities to accommodate to the students in their classroom.