If you are a teacher, what problems have you had assessing students with MR?

Question

as in mental retardation (intellectual disability).

what is your understanding of intelligence and adaptive behavior?

What are the characteristics of your students?

Answer 1

Problems assessing MR students can be plentiful simply because of their disabilities.

Many times memory issues come into it and when giving a very structured intelligence test it often will make you ask so many questions in a specific time, which gives an MR student or any special ed student no time to process information and then answer questions.  Curriculum Based measures are often easier to give these students.

Intelligence: intelligence is defined as 'a readiness of comprehension; as in the intelligence of a dog'. Among its definitions the OED lists 'quickness of understanding, sagacity (of a person or animal)'.

adaptive behavior:Adaptive behavior also refers to the typical performance of individuals without disabilities in meeting environmental expectations. Adaptive behavior changes according to a person’s age, cultural expectations, and environmental demands!The adaptive skills exhibited by a person with mental retardation are critical factors in determining the supports he/she requires for success in school, work, community, and home environments. Children with mental retardation tend to have substantial deficits in adaptive behavior. These limitations can take many forms and tend to occur across domains of functioning. Limitations in self-care skills and social relationships, as well as behavioral excesses are common characteristics of individuals with mental retardation. Individuals with mental retardation who require extensive supports are often taught basic self care skills such as dressing, eating, and hygiene (Heward). Direct instruction and environmental supports, such as added prompts and simplified routines are necessary to ensure that deficits in these adaptive areas do not come to seriously limit one’s quality of life (Heward).

My students are MR, autistic, asperger syndrome, and LD - all fully included in the regular ed classroom - I teach k-1 special education.

Answer 2

It is very difficult to assess MR students on regular instruments that assess intelligence because frequently they have receptive and expressive language issues which cause a lower score on tests like the WISC IV. Using a test that does not require language does a better job. The RIAS and the C-Toni are two tests like this.

Typically children with MR do not pick up social skills from the environment, like regular kids. They cannot adapt to new situations very well because they do not generalize from one situation to another. A regular student will apply previously learned "manners" to similar situations, but an MR child will not.

Because of this, it is necessary to teach adaptive and social skills directly. First they need to be taught in the classroom. It is very important to provide visual prompts because of these students having language difficulties, so they tend to use their visual channel more. After the skills are taught in the classroom, they need to be taught in the areas in which they will be used. It is an ongoing thing.

As I said before, MR children tend to have fairly severe language deficits. They are often socially inappropriate and do not generalize instruction to new situations. Behavior can be a problem if they cannot communicate their needs.

They also have the same feelings that regular children have. They feel joy when they are successful and angry and frustrated when they fail. They also have a need for positive reinforcement and attention. Too often people forget the emotional needs of these kids. They are no different from ours and need to be respected.