Low-Incidence Disabilities

          I’ve been teaching for five years and have never had my own classroom with students of any formally identified low-incidence disabilities such as: Autism Spectrum Disorders, Multiple Disabilities, Orthopedic or Other Health Impairments, Severe or Profound Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Hearing Impairment and Deafness, Visual Impairment and Blindness, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Deaf-Blindness.  I’ll have to really rack my brain on this one to remember my best and not-so-best practices.  When I was doing a long-term sub five years ago, I had a student who was mildly autistic.  I only worked with him for about three months, but did see characteristics such as mild limitations in social interaction and problems with verbal and nonverbal communication.  Most of his language disorders were demonstrated by part of his echolalia with stuttering.  I’d have patience with him and let him know that we all were listening to him and wanted to hear what he had to say.  I would model to the class how he should be treated and respected.  They were very receptive and practiced what was modeled without having to be told.  Another aspect of his language disorder was his difficulty to control the volume of his voice.  I would give him signals as to when to lower the volume, because sometimes he wouldn’t realize how loud he had become.  Every now and then, he’d have a hard time getting his emotions and wants/needs made known without getting frustrated.  Socially, there were frequent misunderstandings with others and it was challenging at times for him to get these misunderstandings sorted out without the help of an adult.  Since he was recently identified as being slightly autistic, he was still having to learn how to handle these situations and had to be closely guided as to what he should do before getting frustrated and losing his temper.  It took several pep talks, modeling, and role playing, but he started to make great gains when it was about time for the school year to end. 

          A couple of strategies that I could’ve implemented was to stay in closer contact with his mom and what they were doing outside of school.  I never found out if he was going to a specialist or counseling.  I also wasn’t as knowledgeable about the disability as I could’ve been and didn’t go out of my way to do any research

          What I could have implemented was to get the guidance counselor involved with working with him one on one.  I should’ve set up a time for them to meet bi-weekly and even set up meetings with any psychologists/mental health workers.  I was new to the school and hadn’t gone through any orientation, so it was a little hard to get plugged in and learn about who and what was around to help.