Tips on working with students with intellectual disabilities transcript

Narrator: Meet Mary. Mary is a pretty typical 14-year-old. She loves to dance, listen to music, and she also runs on her school’s cross country team. You may not be able to tell at first glance, but Mary has had multiple shunt surgeries on her brain, which has affected her ability to comprehend multiple directions at a time. Mary’s PE teacher has just given the class a large set of directions, which Mary has not fully comprehended and she is unsure of what to do. At this point Mary’s teacher could quickly yell another string of instructions which will probably compound Mary’s frustration, or she could ignore Mary and let her do the activity incorrectly. Let’s see how Mary’s teacher handles it. 

Teacher: Mary? You look a little lost, do you want to go over a couple of things? 

Mary: Yeah.

Teacher: Okay you have… you're gonna be on team blue with your blue stick… 

Narrator: Bravo Mary’s teacher! Way to take control of the situation! Just like with Mary, an intellectual disability may not be apparent. 
Here are some other helpful tips when working with individuals with an intellectual disability. Consider how your information is presented on a daily basis. If it is only spoken once to a crowd of students, it may be challenging for some students to comprehend. 
Be sure to provide directions in alternate formats. For example, written words or pictures with step-by-step directions may be more helpful. 
Similarly, make sure that the student understands the task you have asked them to complete. He or she may have a desire to please you and therefore say yes or not acknowledge that they don’t understand the activity. 
When learning a new task, be sure to provide all of your students sufficient time to learn that new task. Some students may be significantly slower learners than others. Multiple repetitions may be required. 
Some students may demonstrate a poor kinesthetic sense. This could create problems with the person’s balance and gait, particularly when performing more detailed tasks. For even more information on disability awareness, check out our website at nchpad.org or you can email us with any specific questions you have at email@nchpad.org. Thanks for watching!