Working Draft Summer 2018

Foundations of Special Education Response Journal

ED 242 Common Assessment

The following course objectives will be met in this assignment:

(a) List the disability categories under Federal Law (InTASC 2, 9)
(b) Describe the common characteristics of each disability with emphasis on high incidence (InTASC 2)
(c) Describe the process by which a person is identified under IDEA (InTASC 2, 9)
(d) Identify the components in an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) (InTASC 2)
(e) Identify how someone else’s story impacts my understanding of that person’s rights and my responsibilities to
them (InTASC 1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
(f) Identify the legal, moral and ethical obligation we have to one another in the context of diversity and inclusivity
(InTASC 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9)

The course essential questions this assignment focuses on are:

● What’s the process for identifying people with a disability?
● What do I believe about people with disability, about inclusion?
● What assumptions do I have about disability?
● What is my role in supporting people with disabilities?
● What impact does disability have on various environments? (family, friend group, work environment, public
places, social interactions, etc)

The College of Education Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) this assignment meets are:
Challenge of Integrated Practice and Collaboration
● COE SLO: Butler Students will articulate and apply required content knowledge within their area(s) of
study.
Excitement of Teaching, Learning, and Mentoring
● COE SLO: Butler Students will use critical reflection as a basis for improving their own professional
practices and creating positive, inclusive, and developmentally appropriate instructional environments
that inspire learners.
Strength of Integrity and Responsibility
● COE SLO: Butler Students will display an ethical commitment and take responsibility for their
interpersonal and professional interactions.
Appreciation of Diversity and Similarities
● COE SLO: Butler Students will have a defined set of values and principles and demonstrate behaviors,
attitudes and skills that enable them to work effectively in a culturally responsive manner.

The ISTE Technology Proficiencies this assignment meets are:

● Candidates use technology to improve their efficiency.
● Candidates use technology to support their ongoing professional development.
 Working Draft Summer 2018

In order to stay committed to our practice of critical reflection and culturally responsive work, this electronic
response journal will be a place for you to track your learning and a resource for you to reference in the future.
The following prompts were written to guide your thinking and learning throughout this course. You will use the
resources on Moodle, class discussions, and your own research to inform your responses.

This is a self-directed assignment designed to be worked on throughout the course, but it will be assessed at the
end of the course as a summation of your learning. The documentation of your thinking serves as a means to
monitor your progress in the course. As your understanding deepens, you should revise your responses.

Your response to each prompt should be 100-200 words.

IDEA Disability Categories (Objective (a) and (b))

Note: Please add your reflection notes after each lesson.

Traumatic Brain Injury

Autism
Decrease noise and light distractions
Emotional and Behavior Disorders

Specific Learning Disabilities

● Looks like an average IQ, but their achievement test is 72. So the IQ shows they should be able to do it,
but the achievement says they can’t (at least 15 point difference)
● Response intervention covers both academic and behavioral aspects
● Activity with reading under a different code: allow time for children to get ahead in reading and work
together to help eachother out. Some children may not know that they have a SLD, so the teacher should
not push them to read more fluently and allow them time to work on it like the other students.
Intellectual Impairments
 Working Draft Summer 2018

Speech and Language Impairments

ADHD
● Students work better in green/natural environments, or a least restrictive environment. The biggest things
that students with ADHD struggle with are relationships with family, peers, and teachers so it is important
that they are getting help to work on those relationships. Behavior in the classroom can also be sporadic
and most outbreaks of behavior have to do with the
Visual Impairments

Hearing Impairments

Orthopedic Impairments

Understanding Exceptionality and Special Education and its Process (Objective (c))
What are the main principles of IDEA? How does each principle protect students with special needs and their
families?

What is your definition of exceptional learners?

How do you define special education?

What is your perspective on the progress of special education?

The Special Education Process (Objective (c) and (d))

Describe the special education process in your own words beginning with the identification of a possible
disability through the implementation of the IEP, if the student is eligible to receive services.
 Working Draft Summer 2018

IRIS Module - The Pre-Referral Process: Procedures for Supporting Students with Academic and Behavioral
Concerns OPTIONAL: http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/preref/
Describe three benefits of the pre-referral process.

List the six stages of the pre-referral process and briefly explain each of them.

Why is it important to begin the initial team meeting with a discussion of the student’s strengths?

Social Imagination Questions (Social Imagination Books Study Assignment Link) (Objective (e) and
(f))
IRIS Module - What Do You See? Perceptions of Disability AND Social Imagination Book Analysis
Optional: http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/da-5/

Initial Questions 1st time:

1. I saw different pictures of people with disabilities living their lives. Despite their disability they were doing
everything that people without disabilities were doing, such as playing sports, instruments, and being with
family and friends.
2. I loved seeing these individuals! All of the pictures were so energizing and full of life, which really warmed
my heart.
3. Perceptions do matter, because one never knows what someone is going through and that can lead to
assumptions and judgement.

Notes:
- Benjamin: Has ASD, but would not know looking at his picture. Loves to scoop dried beans in and out of
tub
- John Cronin: John and his dad founded John’s Crazy Sock, which is successful and offers jobs to others with
disabilities
- Michael Hingson: Blind 9/11 survivor and rescued others because of his service dog Roselle. He wrote a
book about his partnership with his dog that is a best-selling book. He now tours the US as a motivational
 Working Draft Summer 2018

speaker.
- Dylan & Mia: Siblings that have ASD. Dylan enjoys playing computer games and Mia created detailed
artwork. Mia has difficulty understanding the intent of others in social situations.
- Tony Melendez: Awarded musician that plays guitar with his feet, because he has no arms.
- Russ and Melody Stein: Deaf couple that owns a 4 star restaurant and pizza truck. They employ deaf staff
in order to decrease unemployment in the deaf community.
- Kathy D. Woods: Former pre-school teacher who now operates the KDW collection that is the first ready-to-
wear clothing line for little people.
- Jay: A part of the Music City Thunder wheelchair basketball team.
● When interacting with people with disabilities, they are people first. They are unique in how they view
their disability.
● Depending on an individuals cultural background, one may perceive a disability different
○ A blessing
○ Needs to be address through medical or educational interventions
○ A curse
● ACTIVITY: Jody Barne’s perception of disability is from the eyes of a mother who sees what the world sees,
but knows her son and what he is capable of. Personally, it would scare me to have a child with a disability
because I have not been around someone with a disability, but they would be my child so of course I would
learn everything there is to know and love them endlessly. Barnes’s message is that everyone is going to
have a different opinion on people with disabilities, but the truth is no one can determine what someone
with disabilities is capable of.
● ACTIVITY: Forrest Gump has an intellectual disability in the movie, but it was portrayed in a positive light.
I personally saw this film as an uplifting film that depicted a disability for the right reasons. Forrest Gump
was able to love, think, and show real determination in everything he did. I am impartial to the idea of the
audience coming away with an accurate understanding of the disability because the movie did not go into
so much the actual disability, but how he lived with it. I think from the view of personality wise, the
audience saw an accurate understanding because people with disabilities are still people who have all of
the same emotions and difficulties in everyday life.
● Activity:
○ Employment: throughout the years the ability to ensure work for individuals with disabilities is
improving all the time due to the fact of stereotypes being demolished and technology in the
 Working Draft Summer 2018

workplace. This technology allows accessible and assistive needs to those with a disability to
increase functional capabilities.
○ Education: Just like everyone else, the level of education someone with a disability receives, can
affect their ability to get certain jobs. Nowadays, higher education is encouraged and supported for
those with disabilities due to the realization that they can do everything someone with ability can do.
○ Social and Community Engagement: In recent years, young adults with disabilities have been very
active members of the community with their lowest number being in participating in classes or
groups outside of school. They are still engaged with their friends and have driving privileges which
is a big accomplishment with those with disabilities.
● Using people language first breaks down barricades that ones disability describes who they are as an
individual
● ACTIVITY: in both situations, I would make it clear that I do not want to be around language like that no
matter the context of conversation. I have always found the word repulsive and offensive to those with or
without disabilities. I have been in a situation were my friends would use the term as a way to describe
person who made a “stupid” mistake and I let them know right away how I felt and the reasoing behind my
feelings and because they were my friends they respected it and don’t use that termonolgy anymore.

Initial Questions 2nd time:

1. I saw individuals living their life in the happiest way possible for them. I also saw many accomplished
individuals in their hobbies/careers, such as public speaking, sports, music, art, and business.
2. Every photo brought me joy and a sense of encouragement because I could see how they were all doing
something they truly enjoyed and had a passion for. It was really inspiring for me to witness and learn
about.
3. The individuals in this challenge are amazing people who have broken the glass ceiling in regards to
people with disabilities. They have overcome what people think they can do and are great individuals.
Perceptions most certainly matter because I would not have known from the pictures I saw, that Michale
Higston was a blind 9/11 survivor, or that John Cronin was an accomplished entrepreneur.

What fiction book did you read? What non-fiction chapter did you read? What did the books teach you about
students with exceptionalities?
I read Freak the Mighty and it taught me that students with exceptionalities know that they are perceived as
 Working Draft Summer 2018

“different” in society, but that doesn’t shatter their spirit or confidence in any way.
What did the books teach you about the role(s)/perspectives of peers, families, and educators?
The role of family, peers, and educators are so important. For example, the book was based around the friendship
of Max and Kevin, and the reader could tell that they both influenced each other's life to great extents. Max knew
that there was something different about Kevin, but that did not stop him from getting to know him and
becoming his friend. The same situation goes for Kevin’s mother. She obviously knew that her son had a medical
condition, but she treated him like you would treat any other gifted child. She was protective like every mother,
but knew how important it was to treat him like a person first.
What terminology was used for exceptionality (if any)?
There was not any that really stood out to me, but the terms “stupid” “poor boy” and “retareded” did show up a
few times and it threw me off when reading it, but then I thought about the context it was in which made it
acceptable. The context was when Max didn’t understand that Kevin was just like every other kid.
In what ways did the stories emphasize similarities rather than differences among characters with and without
exceptionalities?
The biggest way the book emphasized similarities rather than differences was when comparing kevin and Max.
The boys were definitely not built the same, but they both had a type of disability that they were commonly
teased for. Kevin was beyond intelligent, but didn’t have a big body while Max had a big body, but had to work
harder to learn.
How are aspects of culture portrayed? Consider how financial conditions, social settings, race, religion, sexual
orientation, or gender identity may have impacted the character.
The book made it seem like they were in a good part of the town, but the town also had its bad spots. Everything
that was “sketchy” happened at the apartments with the less fortunate people in the book. Financial conditions in
regardence to Kevin and Max were never the dominant topic and from what I read, I felt like they had a
comfortable lifestyle.
If you were put in charge of a movie production about a person who has an exceptionality such as the child
portrayed in the book you read, what type of perceptions would you want to make sure are portrayed in your
movie? What myths could you debunk? What clichés and stereotypes would you want to make sure to avoid?
I think the biggest perception I would want to make is the true friendship between the characters. They weren’t
just friends because they both felt like they had a disability. They were best friends because they enjoyed
spending time together and they helped each other out. I would want to stay away from the idea that the big kid
felt pity for the kid with a disability and that is why he befriended him.
 Working Draft Summer 2018

Do you think people’s perceptions of others play a role in the success of children with disabilities? Why or why
not?
I do think that perceptions of others play a role in the success of a child with disabilities because they only see
what is going on physically with the child. In the beginning of the book, Max was confused by why Kevin was so
small and talked the way he did, but when he got to know him and spend time with him he realized he was the
smartest person he had met and that he had a big imagination. There were even references to Max’s guardians
saying “oh the poor Kevin” and Max would interrupt them and change their thinking from “poor Kevin” to “no
poor Kevin because he is the smartest person” or “he isn’t poor because he sees that like this.”

Universal Design for Learning (Objective (f))

What is your understanding of UDL and differentiation? In what ways are these approaches similar? How are
they different?

Explain how UDL and differentiation apply to the Response to Intervention framework?

How is utilizing UDL in instruction an ethical obligation of teachers?

Inclusive Practices and the Continuum of Services (Objective (d) and (f))
What needs to be considered in LRE placement decisions? Who decides placement and where is this
documented?

IRIS Module - Accommodations: Instructional and Testing Supports for Students with Disabilities
OPTIONAL: http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/acc/#content

What are accommodations? How do they differ from modifications?

A student’s accommodations might differ from one setting to another. Explain why this might be the case and
offer an example.
 Working Draft Summer 2018

Name at least three accommodations categories. For each, give an example of an accommodation and describe
how it could support a student with a disability.

Closing Thoughts on What it Means to be a Professional Educator (Objective (e) and (f))
What role do practitioners’ dispositions toward students with identifiable differences (e.g. students with IEPs,
English language learners, students identified as gifted, people with physical impairments, and/or social
differences) play in their potential to thrive? How can an educator’s disposition support or threaten their best
learning?

What knowledge, skills, and dispositions do you need to work on in order to be ready to move into the next level
of learning?

Emerging Basic Competent Proficient Total

ISTE Technology Proficiencies and Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)
Communication is ineffective, Communicates own Communicates clearly and Communicates and
Professional and there is no attempt to ideas effectively but effectively and attempts to connects complex ideas
connect ideas to other connect ideas to other connect ideas using some clearly and effectively by
Communication resources. resources in limited embedded links to digital creating or using a variety
SLO Strength of Integrity ways. resources such as pictures, of embedded links to other
and Responsibility video, voice over, music, etc. digital resources such as
within the electronic journal pictures, video, voice over,
to support responses. music, etc. within the
electronic journal to

Organizational Student does not create a
collection of artifacts, and
Framework submitted product
SLO Excitement of
demonstrates minimal new
Teaching, Learning and
knowledge towards improving
Mentoring
professional practice.
Disability
Categories and
Some categories are addressed
Characteristics with incomplete list of
Objectives (a) (b)
characteristics.
SLO Challenge of
Integrated Practice and
Collaboration
The process and principles of
Understanding of
IDEA are partially discussed
IDEA and an incomplete definition of
Objective (c) exceptional learners and special
education may be included.
Understanding of
Few components of an IEP and
IEP an a limited explanation of the
Objective (d) process are included.
It is not present in the reflection
Understanding of that the student is learning to
and Responsibility
value the impact of learning
to Students with about learners with disabilities,
and does not appear to be
Disabilities drawing connections to their
Objective (e)
responsibility to those students.
Legal, Moral and Legal, moral or ethical
obligations are superficially
Ethical Obligation explored and no personal
Objective (f)
connections are made to how
SLO Appreciation of
this knowledge will impact
Diversity and Similarity
student ability to thrive.
Working Draft Summer 2018
support response.
Student curates Student curates
Student curates information
information to create a information to create a
to create a collection of
minimal collection of collection of artifacts that
artifacts that
artifacts that demonstrate
demonstrate meaningful
some connections or build
demonstrate connections and build
knowledge in order to
knowledge in order to knowledge in order to
improve professional
improve professional improve professional
practice.
practice. practice.
Content Objectives
All (10) categories are All (10) high incidents
All (14) categories are
addressed with a categories are addressed
addressed with a complete
somewhat complete with a mostly complete list
list of characteristics.
list of characteristics. of characteristics.
The process and
The process and principles
principles of IDEA are The process and principles
of IDEA are well-defined
discussed and a partial of IDEA are defined and
and accompanied by
definition of accompanied by definition of
thorough definition of
exceptional learners exceptional learners and
exceptional learners and
and special education special education.
special education.
is included.
Most components of an All of the components of
The components of an IEP
IEP and an explanation an IEP and a thorough
of the process are
and an explanation of the
explanation of the process
process are included.
included. are included.
It is present in the
It is clear through various
reflection that the
It is clear through reflection pieces of reflection that
student is learning to
that the student values the the student values the
value the impact of
impact of learning about impact of learning about
learning about
learners with
learners with disabilities, learners with disabilities,
and can draw a connection and can draw a connection
disabilities, and can
to their responsibility to to their responsibility to
draw some connection
those students. ensure that those
to their responsibility
students’ rights are met.
to those students.
Legal, moral or ethical
Legal, moral and ethical
obligations are Legal, moral and ethical
obligations are thoroughly
explored and few obligations are explored and
personal connections some personal connections
explored and deep
personal connections are
are made to how this are made to how this
made to how this
knowledge will impact knowledge will impact
knowledge will impact
student ability to student ability to thrive.
student ability to thrive.
thrive.
Total Points:
Working Draft Summer 2018