Learning and Innovation Skills and Student Assessment 2pages

Introduction

Cognitive impairments are categorized into various classes comprising of mild, moderate, severe, and profound intellectual disability. The first two classes affect learning to a slight extent where the parties involved in managing them can control easily. Study shows that around 85% of people facing intellectual disabilities fall into the category of mild intellectual one and this class does not have much impact on the academic success. For instance, someone who can read and but find it challenging to comprehend what they read fall into this category. On the other hand, students with moderate intellectual disability communicate fairly even though their communication is only applicable on simple contexts. Hence, people under this category usually have difficulty in social situations and face challenges in with social judgments. This study seeks to evaluate the impact of mild to moderate intellectual disability based on Henry’s case.

The definition and characteristics of mild to moderate disability as outline by individuals with disabilities act

According to Basha (2014), mild to moderate disability refers to disability which affects students having difficulty in some precise disabilities such as struggling to read or having problems in comprehending math skills. Also, this category of disability affects speech and students falling under this category requires speech therapy as a remedy. Students in this category normally work well within a general classroom setting where there is an accommodation or when a teacher is present. However, some students falling under this level have disability even though the Individuals with Disability Act defines that the affected student’s disabilities ought to be mild.

For instance, a student having hearing problem can be assisted with the aid of hearing devices and can be taught with others without any hearing problems, even though accommodation ought to be included for them to affectively learn with others (Basha, 2014). Henry does not have any physical disability even though he is classed under mild to moderate category due to his mild disability to read and comprehend vocabularies. Hence, like students with disabilities, various approaches can be used to assist him and enable him cope with his colleagues in class.

How Henry’s specific disability was chosen

Assessing a child’s level of functioning in various contexts is a critical step to measure their capability to cope with those contexts and whether there is a need to assist them to avoid being isolated and experiencing difficulty in learning (Basha, 2014). Henry’s case was chosen based on various reasons which justified the assessor’s decision to categorize him under mild to moderate intellectual disability. One reason that was used in this case was Henry’s referral to a different school considering that he could hardly read aloud when asked to and he would take much time to decode every word that he read silently.

Also, Henry’s verbal expression is reticent even though he would struggle when reading silently with the answering grade-level comprehension which are considered to require high-level thinking. The sources also proved that Henry would avoid peer engagement by voluntarily seeking to become a secretary. Henry dislikes reading citing that ‘he is not good at it’ and his mother takes him to the library weekly even though he cannot find his preferable book. Hence, he prefer watching movie to reading implying that he has a mild intellectual disability. However, one aspect justifying Henry’s effort to improve his reading and comprehension capability is justified by his willingness to try every portion of the assessment and persisting with his effort. For instance, Henry recognizes his weakness and usually ask the assessor whether he has done well after every assessment. Hence, based on the characteristics, Henry qualifies to be categorized under mild-moderate disability.

The potential causes for disability

The three possible causes for Henry’s disability include the environmental ones, instructional, and psychological ones (Whitaker, 2013). One reason why Henry did not keep on studying is because the library where his mother would take him weekly had no access to his favorable books. Hence, Henry prefers watching movies to reading implying that he is ready to continue reading had those books been accessible. Before Henry’s referral, he would sit at the back of the class to avoid peer engagement and the social pressure from either the teacher or his colleagues. Hence, his challenge could be attributed to environmental cause. Also, Henry believes that he is not good at reading and he could not like it as he tells the assessor. However, he tries as much as possible to improve his weaknesses in both reading and comprehension as justified by his continuous inquiry of his performance after every assessment. Therefore, psychological aspects can be linked to his one mild disability of reading even though comprehension of one’s reading is also directly dependent of the reading capability (Whitaker, 2013). The previous school did not involve Henry in many class activities which would have aided his learning and improvement of his disabilities. For instance, Henry chose to sit at the back yet there was no instruction asking him to move him in front where he could easily get the instructions and an appropriate assistance based on his weaknesses. Thus, instructional aspects can be linked to Henry’s disability.

Establishment of the overall potential impact on Henry’s success

Failure to address mild to moderate disabilities can lead to severity in a child’s success. For instance, a child who does not read at the early stages in their education will find it difficult to read at higher-level studies implying that their performance will be lower (Gargiulo & Bouck, 2017). Also, if the concerned parties fail to address the situation early enough, then Henry is likely to develop more crucial psychological problems including feeling isolated being not similar to his colleagues and living in denial. Therefore, his future performance will continue deteriorating gradually to an extent when it will be difficult to address. Therefore, the concerned parties ought to devise possible strategies to help him overcome the mild to moderate disabilities as early as possible when Henry is still committed to improve his performance as proven by his follow-up on the results every time the assessor evaluates them.

Conclusion

Mild to moderate intellectual disability is the earliest stage which pose less challenges to the involved parties to remedy them. This evaluation notes that Henry’s challenges in reading and comprehension can be easily addressed and make him in the category of his colleagues who have no disability. However, failing to address this situation earlier can lead to more adverse effects in his future’s performances.

References

Basha, S. (2014). Special and inclusive education specialization in mild and moderate disabilities. EDUCatt - Ente per il diritto allo studio universitario dell'Università Cattolica.

Gargiulo, R. M., & Bouck, E. C. (2017). Instructional Strategies for Students With Mild, Moderate, and Severe Intellectual Disability. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

Whitaker, S. (2013). Causes of Intellectual Disability. Intellectual Disability, 107-121.