Characteristics+Group+Grid

​ (completed by Jason Morton) **    || || Health Issues || *  Individuals with learning disabilities demonstrate a wide range of characteristics, which can be different for every person. Most professionals would agree that the most primary characteristics are deficits in academic performance. Learning disabilities do not exist without some type of impairment in academic achievement. (Gargiulo, Metcalf, 63) **Emotional /Behavioral (completed by Jason Morton) **    || The term includes schizophrenia. The term does not apply to children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they have an emotional disturbance. (34 C.F.R. § 300.7 [c][4])" (Gargiulo, Metcalf, 69)  || Health Issues || * When it comes to determining the physical characteristics displayed by individuals with emotional or behavioral disorders, these can be classified into two systems: (Gargiulo, Metcalf, 70) **Mental Retardation (mild/moderate) **  (Completed by Clifton Smith)    || Health Issues || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">* Some children with mental retardation have abnormalities apparent at birth or shortly thereafter. These abnormalities may be physical as well as neurologic and may include: || || **<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Blind/Vision ** <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;"> (Completed by Clifton Smith) <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> || Health Issues || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> * Indicators of Possible Visual Impairments in Children **<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Deaf/Hard of Hearing ** <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;"> (Completed by Clifton Smith) <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> || Health Issues || * Physical Characteristics may include: **<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">TBI (Submitted by Jonathan Gifford) ** <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Etiology__ __Incidence__ Health Issues || * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Physical and sensory charateristics are common
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Learning Disabilities
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Learning Disabilities
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Federal Definition of the Disability – Major Components, Including Incidence and etiology || <span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-collapse: separate; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;">* <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 13px;">__Federal Definition:__ "The term 'specific learning disability' means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which disorder may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations. Such term includes conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. Such term does not include a learning problem that is primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage." (United States Code 20 U.S.C. §1401 [30]) (GreatSchools.net)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 80%;">__Incidence:__ The notion of learning disabilities is fairly young, only about five decades old, but it represents the largest category of special education, in terms of population, accounting for 45% of individuals receiving services. (Gargiulo, Metcalf, 62)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 80%;">Current estimates of students with learning disabilities compared to school populations is 1-30%
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 80%;">U.S. Department of Education estimates about 4% of the student population ages 6-21 is learning disabled
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 80%;">2.71 million individuals ages 6-21 are identified as having a learning disability
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 80%;">Boys are 4 times more likely than girls to be identified as LD
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 80%;">__Etiology:__ Despite research over the past years, researchers still find it difficult to discover the cause/causes of learning disabilities. Very little concrete evidence has been offered on the cause of learning disabilities, and many of the proposed factors that have been offered remain speculative. One note to take into consideration when figuring out the cause of a learning disability is that an individual's learning disability has very little educational relevance, meaning that it usually does not help a teacher to establish effective teaching strategies. However, 4 categories have been proposed for explaining the etiology of LD: (Gargiulo, Metcalf, 63)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 80%;">Acquired Trauma (central nervous system dysfunction)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 80%;">Genetic/Hereditary Influences
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 80%;">Biochemical Abnormalities (current evidence does not support that dietary restrictions, vitamin deficiencies apply here)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 80%;">Environmental Possibilities (maternal alcohol/illicit drug use, teratogens)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Typical Physical Characteristics of the Disability
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Physical Characteristics can include:
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Hyperactivity
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Perceptual-motor Impairments
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Emotional Lability
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Coordination Problems
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Disorders of Attention
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Impulsivity
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Disorders of Memory and Thinking
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Language Deficits
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Difficulty reading social cues; may misinterpret social situations ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Typical Learning Characteristics and/or Effects Of The Disability On Development And Learning || * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">One of the main characteristics of a student with a learning disability is the major difference between the student's achievement in certain areas and the student's overall intelligence. (ChildDevelopmentInfo.com)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Learning Characteristics can include:
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Problems with spoken language and listening
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Poor performance on group tests
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Slowness in completing work
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Difficulties with reading, writing, and spelling
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Poor social judgment
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Poor organizational skills
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Difficulties in performing arithmetic or understanding basic concepts
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Failure to see consequences for their actions
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Problems in organizing and integrating thoughts
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Overly gullible, easily led by peers
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Problems remembering information and instructions
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Difficulty with abstract reasoning and/or problem solving ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Common Communication and/or Behavior Issues & Needs || * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Students with learning disabilities may have trouble communicating with others due to one or more of the following reasons: (www.ncl.ac.uk)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Comprehending and processing information due to intellectual problems
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Problems with hearing and vision
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Understanding social interaction
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Speech problems
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Others not listening or valuing what they are trying to communicate
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">It is recommended that health professionals do the following with students who have a learning disability:
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Take time and have patience
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Take interest and listen to what is being communicated
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Be cognizant of non-verbal cues
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">If verbal communication is difficult, find an alternative that works for the individual
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Explain things clearly and in an appropriate manner (verbally or visually)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Meet the person several times to build rapport and trust
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Utilize knowledge and support of the individuals carer ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">References || # <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Gargiulo, Richard M. and Debbie Metcalf. //Teaching in Today's Inclusive Classrooms: A Universal Design for Learning Approach//. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010.
 * 1) <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">http://www.greatschools.net/LD/school-learning/evaluation-and-eligibility-for-specific-learning-disabilities.gs?content=943
 * 2) <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">[]
 * 3) <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/learning/learning_disabilities.shtml#What%20are%20the%20%22early%20warning%20signs%22 ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Federal Definition of the Disability – Major Components, Including Incidence and etiology || * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Federal Definition:__ "The term means a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a child's educational performance:
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Incidence:__ Due to estimates varying widely for this population, the lack of consensus, and conflicting definitions, it is not easy to figure out how prevalent emotional or behavioral disorders are among children and youth. (Gargiulo, Metcalf, 71)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">U.S. Department of Education in 2008, reported that 459,000 students ages 6-21 were receiving services because of an emotional disturbance during the 2006-2007 school year (7.5% of the total number of students served in special education, making it the 5th largest disability category)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">U.S. Department of Education reports that 0.69% of all students in public schools were identified as having emotional or behavioral disorders in 2006-2007
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Less than 1% of the school-age population currently receives special education services for emotional or behavioral disorders, even though others believe that 3-6% are in need of service
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Boys are more likely than girls to be identified with an emotional or behavioral disorder
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Etiology:__ Most behavioral disorders do not have a known cause, but most can be typically grouped into two categories, which influence and interact with each other: (Gargiulo, Metcalf, 71)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Biological
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Particularly influential in the etiology of several disorders
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Include genetic, neurological, and biochemical contributions
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Emotional/Behavioral disorders that have a biological foundation include depression, schizophrenia, child temperament, and obsessive-compulsive disorders among others
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Environmental
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Includes dysfunctional child-hearing practices, domestic violence, parental mental illness, overcrowding, adverse school experiences, child abuse/neglect, and poverty
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Typical Physical Characteristics of the Disability
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Externalizing, or "under-controlled," Disorders
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Characteristics include aggressiveness, temper tantrums, acting out, hostile and defiant behaviors, and non-compliancy
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Behaviors are usually disturbing to others and cause disruption in the classroom
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Examples of Behavior: (Education.com)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Steals, or causes property loss or damage
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Violates basic rights of others
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Uses lewd or obscene gestures
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Ignores teachers' reprimands
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Causes or threatens physical harm to people or animals
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Internalizing, or "overcontrolled," Disorders
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Characteristics include social withdrawal, depression, phobias, excessive shyness, and anxiety
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">If left untreated, these disorders can lead to a variety of negative long-term outcomes
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Far less likely to be identified by their teachers and families, since they do not exhibit disturbing behaviors as described by students with externalizing disorders
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Examples of Behavior: (Education.com)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Is teased or neglected by peers
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Is depressed, anorexic, or bulimic
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Tends to be suicidal
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Tends to have low self-esteem
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Panics, has excessive worries, or unfounded fears ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Typical Learning Characteristics and/or Effects Of The Disability On Development And Learning || * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Students with emotional or behavioral disorders usually score in the low-average range on measures of intelligence, even for students who are classified with this disability and are considered gifted or mentally retarded.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Students with emotional or behavioral disorders typically perform two or more years below grade level expectations in subjects such as reading, math, and spelling.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Students with emotional or behavioral disorders have issues with poor grades, chronic absenteeism, and grade retention.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The highest dropout rate of all individuals with disabilities comes from students with emotional or behavioral disorders, since about 1/2 of students leave school before graduation. (all taken from, Gargiulo, Metcalf, 71) ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Common Communication and/or Behavior Issues & Needs || * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">As a result of the physical characteristics displayed by students with emotional or behavioral disorders, it is difficult for these students to build and maintain good relationships with peers and adults. Their inappropriate social skills will lead them to forming fewer friendships, which can often have a negative affect on the student's performance in the classroom. (Gargiulo, Metcalf, 72) ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">References || # <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Gargiulo, Richard M. and Debbie Metcalf. //Teaching in Today's Inclusive Classrooms: A Universal Design for Learning Approach//. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010.
 * 1) <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">http://www.education.com/reference/article/emotional-behavioral-disorders-defined/?page=3 ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Federal Definition of the Disability – Major Components, Including Incidence and etiology || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Federal Definition:__ According to AAMR (now called American Association on Intellectual and <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; msobidifontfamily: Calibri; msobidithemefont: minor-latin;">Developmental Disabilities), “mental retardation is a disability that occurs before age 18. It is characterized by significant limitations in intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social and practical adaptive skills. It is diagnosed through the use of standardized tests of intelligence and adaptive behavior”.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Incidence:__ According to data from the U.S. Department of Education (2008), approximately 523,000 children between the ages of 6 and 21 were identified as mentally retarded and receiving a special education during the 200.<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">According to data from the U.S. Department of Education (2008), approximately 523,000 children between the ages of 6 and 21 were identified as mentally retarded and receiving a special education during the 2006-2007 school year.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">These students represend approximately 9 percent of all pupils with disabilities and about 1 percent of the total school-age population
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Etiology:__ A number of environmental, genetic or multiple factors can cause mental retardation. Un fortunately, in approximately 30 to 50 percent of cases, the etiology is not identified even after thorough diagnostic evaluation. Some persons have a congenital malformation of the brain; others had damage to the brain at a critical period in pre-, peri-, or postnatal development. Acquired causes of retardation include near-drowning, traumatic brain injury and central nervous system malignancy.<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;"> ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Typical Physical Characteristics of the Disability
 * Unusual facial features
 * A head that is too large or too small
 * Deformities of the hands or feet
 * And various other abnormalities.
 * Sometimes children with mental retardation have an outwardly normal appearance but have other signs of serious illness, such as seizures, lethargy, vomiting, abnormal urine odor, and failure to feed and grow normally.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Typical Learning Characteristics and/or Effects Of The Disability On Development And Learning || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">* A person with mental retardation learns visual and auditory discriminations more slowly than do others.
 * The person with mental retardation often exhibits a short-term memory deficit; however, long-term memory seems unaffected.
 * Separation of a stimulus from a distracting background is difficult for a person with mental retardation, especially one who is brain damaged.
 * Students with mental retardation are more like their non-retarded classmates than they are different, sharing many of the same social, emotional, and physical needs.
 * Pupils who are mentally retarded, especially those considered mildly mentally retarded, learn in the same way as the average or typical student; albeit, at a slower rate.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Common Communication and/or Behavior Issues & Needs || * __Behavioral Characteristics:__
 * Some common behavioral traits associated with mental retardation, such as a low tolerance for frustration; do not appear with the criteria that must be present for diagnosis.
 * Easily frustrated individuals with mental retardation sometimes become aggressive and may engage in self-injurious behavior.
 * While some are impulsive, stubborn, and immature, others are passive and pleasent.
 * __Needs:__
 * All children with mental retardation/intellectual disabilities benefit from special education. The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires public schools to provide free and appropriate education to children and adolescents with Mental Retardation/Intellectual Disabilities or other development disorders. Education must be provided in the least restrictive, most inclusive setting possible-where the children have every opportunity to interact with non-disabled peers and have equal access to community resourses. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">References || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> # Daily, Donna, Holly Ardinger, and Grace Holmes. "Identification and Evaluation of Mental Retardation." //American Academy of Family Physicians//. AAFP, Web. 21 Sep 2009. [].
 * 1) Gardgiulo, Richard M. and Debbie Metcalf. //Teaching in Today's Inclusive Classroom: A Universal Design for Learning Approach//. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010.
 * 2) Reynolds, Tammi. "Mental Retardation/Intellectual Disabilities)." //Austin Travis Co MHMR//. CenterSite, LLC, Web. 21 Sep 2009. [].
 * 3) Sulkes, Stephen Brian. "Mental Retardation/Intellectual Disability." //The Merck Manuals//. Oct 2006. Merck Research Laboratories, Web. 21 Sep 2009. []. ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Federal Definition of the Disability – Major Components, Including Incidence and etiology || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> * The federal statute defines blindness as follows:
 * The term "blindness" means central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with the use of a correcting lens. An eye which is accompanied by a limitation in the fields of vision such that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees shall be considered for purposes in this paragragh as having a central visual acuity of 20/200 or less.
 * __Incidence:__ The U.S. Department of Education (2008) reports that approximately 26,000 children, ages 6-21, were receiving services in the 2006-2007 school year because of a visual impairment. These students represent 0.43 percent of all pupils with disabilities and 0.04 percent of the total school-age population.
 * __Etiology__: Damage to any part of the vision mechanism may result in impaired vision. Pre-, peri- and postnatal factors are often implicated as causing visual impairments. Some of the conditions affecting a student's ability to see and process information visually include:
 * Refractive errors
 * Defects of the ocular muscle
 * Disorders of the Cornea/Iris or Lens
 * And other conditions ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Typical Physical Characteristics of the Disability
 * Excessive rubbing of the eye
 * Water and/or itchy eyes
 * Extreme sensitivity to light
 * Squinting one or both eyes
 * Difficutly seeing material from a distance
 * Holds objects close to eyes
 * Complains of frequent headaches, dizziness
 * Excessive blinking
 * Tilts head while reading
 * Swollen or imflamed eyes
 * Poor penmanship; eye-hand coordination difficulties
 * Appears clumsy, exhibits awkward movements
 * Inward or outward rotation of eyes
 * Complains of blurred or double vision ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Typical Learning Characteristics and/or Effects Of The Disability On Development And Learning || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> * The intellectual abilities of children and adolescents with visual impairments are, in most instances, similar to those of their sighted peers. There is no reason to suspect that a vision loss results in lower intellectual ability. Despite this fact, learners with visual impairment often experience significant academic delays. One reason for this finding is their limited opportunity to acquire information visually. Conceptual development, therefore, primarily depends on tactile (touch) experiences rather than vision. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Common Communication and/or Behavior Issues & Needs || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> * Some students with visual impairments engage in a variety of repetitive behaviors such as rubbing their eyes, head weaving, hand flapping, and body rocking. These actions are known as sterotypic behaviors. These movements, although generally not harmful, do attract unwelcomed and negative attention.
 * __Needs:__
 * Braille or other tactile media are commonly the preferred literacy channel.
 * Orientation and mobility training is required for all students who are blind.
 * Individuals with visual impairments generally use three methods of orientation and mobility the long cane, human guides, and guide dogs.
 * Orientation and mobility services for children with visual impairments are currently included in the IDEA definition of related services. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">References || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> # Gardgiulo, Richard M. and Debbie Metcalf. //Teaching in Today's Inclusive Classroom: A Universal Design for Learning Approach//. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010.
 * 1) [] ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Federal Definition of the Disability – Major Components, Including Incidence and etiology || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> * The IDEA definition describes deafness as a "hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification that adversely affects a child's educational performance".
 * __Incidence__: According to the U.S. Department of Education (2008), approximately 72,6000 students between the ages of 6 and 21 were defined as having a hearing impairment and receiving special education services during the 2006-2007 school year. These students represented 1.2 percent of all pupils with disabilities and 0.11 percent of the total school-age population.
 * __Etiology__: Many different factors contribute to a hearing impairment. In over 55 percent of the instances of hearing loss in children, the cause is unknown. Some of the known reasons may be due to genetic or hereditary factors, representing one of the leading causes of deaness in children. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Typical Physical Characteristics of the Disability
 * Use of sign language
 * Reading lips
 * Use of hearing aid devices
 * Indicators of Possible Hearing Impairment in children:
 * Daydreaming or frequently inattentive
 * Impaired speech
 * Limited Vocabulary
 * Lethargic - complains of always being tired
 * Often turns head to favored side
 * Mouth breathing
 * Difficulty following verbal commands or directions
 * Nonresponsive to environmental sounds
 * Complains of earaches, ringing noises in the ear
 * Recurring ear infections
 * Inappropriate responses to verbal questions
 * Tugs or pulls ear(s)
 * Excessive volume when listening to audio devices (television, radio, porable music player)
 * Imitates or mimics the actions/movements of peers and classmates
 * Frequent requests to repeat verbal information
 * Difficulty hearing telephone conversation
 * May move around the classroom to get closer to the sound source
 * May appear physically uncoordinated in some activities ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Typical Learning Characteristics and/or Effects Of The Disability On Development And Learning || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> * Because deafness per se does not limit cognitive abilities, investigators have found that the distribution of intelligence for individuals with hearing impairments is similar to that of hearing children.
 * Unforunately, despite their intellectual abilities, pupils who are deaf or have a hearing loss experience considerable difficulty succeeding in an educational system that depends primarily on the spoken word and written language to transmit knowledge.
 * Low achievement is characteristic of students who are deaf; they average three to four years below their age-appropriate grade levels.
 * Reading is the academic area most negatively affected for students with a hearing impairment.
 * Any hearing loss, whether mild or profound, appears to have detrimental effects on reading performance. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Common Communication and/or Behavior Issues & Needs || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> * Children born with a mederate loss, effective communication skills are possible because the voiced sounds of conversational speech remain audible.
 * Thus in the vast majority of instances, learners who experience a hearing loss are able to use speech as the primary mode for language acquisition.
 * For students with profound deafness, most loud speech is inaudible, even with the use of the most sophisticated hearing aids.
 * These individuals are unable to receive information through speech unless they have learned to speech read (lip read).
 * Sounds produced by an individual who are deaf exhibit significant articulation, voice quality, and tone discrimination problems. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">References || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> # Gardgiulo, Richard M. and Debbie Metcalf. //Teaching in Today's Inclusive Classroom: A Universal Design for Learning Approach//. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010. ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Federal Definition of the Disability – Major Components, Including Incidence and etiology || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">An acquired brain injury caused by an external physical force, resulting in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impariment, or both, that adversly affects educational performance.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Applies to open head injuries resulting in pariments in one ore more areas such as cognition; judgement; problem solving; sensory, perceptual and motor abilities; psychosocial functions; information processing; and speech
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Does not apply to brain injuries that congential or degenerativ, or to brain injuries induced by birth trauma
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">TBI can occur as a result from accidental falls, gun shot wounds to the head or any other strike or hit to the head.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">90% of TBI cases or Mild ("Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center")
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">U.S. Department of Education reported in 2008 that 24,000 students out of 819,000 between the age of 6 and 21 have TBI.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This percentage ranked 0.4% out of the 819,000
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Typical Physical Characteristics of the Disability
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Typical Physical Characteristics of the Disability
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Most charateristics are discovered at a later time during certain activities
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Physical charateristics play a role in the time it takes for rehabilitation ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Typical Learning Characteristics and/or Effects Of The Disability On Development And Learning || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The injury is individualized depending on the age at which the injury is aquired, time elapsed in with the injury, and the severity of the location at which the injury occurs. The results of the injury can be, but not limited to the foloowing

__Learning Characteristics__ <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Social Characteristics__ || Autism (Submitted by Jonathan Gifford)** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Long and short term memory problems
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Attention disorders
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Organizational & planning difficulties
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Uneven academic abilities
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Impaired oral and written languages
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Problem solving and abnormal reasoning deficits
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Perservation
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Dealing with repitition
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Moodswings
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Depression
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Heightened irritability
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Diminished motivation
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Increased agressivness
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Difficulty responding appropriately to social cues
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Decreased impulse control
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Difficulty adapting to changes in routine or schedule ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Common Communication and/or Behavior Issues & Needs || * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Students with TBI vary in communication and behvioral needs.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Based on the injury and what charateristics that are possessed determine the issues
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Impaired oral skills will result in a need for speech pathology
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Depression could result in counciling ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">References || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"># <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">"Living With TBI." //Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center//. 2009 . Web. 22 Sep 2009. <http://www.dvbic.org/Service-Members---Veterans/Living-with-TBI.aspx>.
 * 1) Gargiulo, Richard M. and Debbie Metcalf. //Teaching in Today's Inclusive Classrooms: A Universal Design for Learning Approach//. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010.
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Federal Definition of the Disability – Major Components, Including Incidence and etiology || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Developmental disability significatnly affecting verbal and non-verbal communication and solcial interaction, usually evident before age 3, that adversly affects a child's educational performance. Autism is also a life long disorder significantly affecting communication, social interactions, and learning.

__Etiology__ * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Autism is a disorder linked to many biochemical causes __Incidence__* <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">American Psychaitric Association cities 1 in every 150 individuals has autism
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Autism is not linked to any significant effect after child birth
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">there is no connection between autism and bad parenting
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">U.S. Government indicates that 224,000 pupils between the ages of 6 and 21 were identified with autism

- Autism actually means "to escape from reality" - It was discovered nearly 60 years ago - Is classified as one of the five discrete childhood disorders falling under the umbrella term, Pervasize Developmental Disorders (PDD) || Health Issues || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Intellectual/Academic Functioning__ * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Impaired verbal and reasoning skills __Concentration and Attention__ <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Self-Injurious Behaviors__ __Eating Abnormalities__ __Sleep Disorders__ <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Abnormalities of Mood or Affect__ __Sensory Perception Deficits__ <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Other learning characteristics ("Love to Know) Some individuals with autism are able to demonstrate affection to significant people whom are close to them || ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Typical Physical Characteristics of the Disability
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Uneven academic achievement
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Poor reading comprehension
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Hyperactivity
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Short attention span
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Impulsivity
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Impaired concentration
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Head banging
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Finger, hand, wrist bitting
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Excessive rubbing or scratching
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Diet limited to a few select items
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Difficulty falling asleep
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Frequent awaking while asleep
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Early morning awakening
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Bed-wetting
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Giggling or weeping for no apparent reason
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Depsression
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Lack of emotional reaction
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">High threshold for pain
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Hypersensitive hearing
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Exaggerated responses to lights or colors
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Tactually defensive ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Typical Learning Characteristics and/or Effects Of The Disability On Development And Learning || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">There are uniques qualities that individuals with autism possess * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Excellent rote memory
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Delays in the acquisition of speech and language
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">An obsessive desire for the maintenance of sameness
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Bizarre and repetitive physical movement
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">resistance to being held
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Visual Learners-Many autistic children are visual learners. Use pictures, slides, posters, etc. that will remain in view for longer periods of time.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Haptic Modality- Also known as a "Hands-on" style of learning. Children with autism are often very sensitive to tactile experiences, and they often want to touch virtually everything in sight.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Categorizing-Learning to categorize is an important learning characteristic for children with autism. Older children can be given a planner to write down assignments and other appointments and events. Students that are kept organized will also stay on track ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Common Communication and/or Behavior Issues & Needs || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Types of Communication__
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Sign Language
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Picture Symbols
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Assistive Technology
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">References || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"># Gargiulo, Richard M. and Debbie Metcalf. //Teaching in Today's Inclusive Classrooms: A Universal Design for Learning Approach//. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010.
 * 1) "Learning Characteristics of Autism." //Love To Know//. 10 29/2008. LovetoKnow, Web. 22 Sep 2009. <http://autism.lovetoknow.com/Learning_Characteristics_of_Autism>.