A Teacher's Guide to Adapted Physical Education

Martin E. Block

• Publisher: Brookes Publishing
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781598577730
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Physical Education

A healthy, active lifestyle for all students: That's the promise of physical education, and the goal of this comprehensive textbook. Now in a thoroughly updated fourth edition, this text prepares current and future PE teachers to lead welcoming, inclusive classes where every student participates, makes friends, and learns new skills and values. K–12 physical educators will get cutting-edge research and guidance on inclusive education, concrete strategies for planning and implementing an adapted PE program, and valuable disability-specific information. An essential resource for preparing both general PE teachers and adapted PE teachers, this text will provide a solid foundation for physical education classes that meet every student's needs. WHAT'S NEW:

• 9 new chapters on teaching students with specific disabilities. These significant new additions make this book an ideal primary text for Adapted Physical Education (APE) courses
• Aligns with key elements from the NASPE standards for general physical education and the Adapted Physical Education National Standards for APE
• More student-friendly features: updated tips and reproducible forms for planning and teaching, chapter objectives, additional resources, and more case studies
• More photos and illustrations throughout the book to emphasize key points

SELECTED TOPICS COVERED: Program planning and assessment * instructional modifications * curricular modifications * game modifications * autism * intellectual disabilities * learning disabilities * ADHD * behavior disorders * hearing loss * visual impairments * physical disabilities * social acceptance * safety issues * positive behavior support * community-based recreation * diversity issues FOR INSTRUCTORS: Includes PowerPoint slides and sample syllabi for using the text in Inclusion in PE or APE classes. Click here to access instructor materials.

SECTION III

Understanding Specific Needs

CHAPTER 8

Intellectual Disabilities

Katie Stanton-Nichols and Martin E. Block

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OBJECTIVES

1. Define intellectual disability, including defining and contrasting intelligence quotient versus adaptive behavior

2. Describe causes of intellectual disability

3. Define Down syndrome and common characteristics associated with it

4. Define fragile X and common characteristics associate with it

5. Define “levels of intensity of support”

6. Describe teaching models for children with intellectual disability including levels; simplify, refine, extend, apply (SREA); and teaching style, rules/regulations, environment, and equipment (TREE)

7. Describe strategies to deal with issues related to communication, attention, and practice

8. Describe the Special Olympics and the following key aspects of the program: divisioning, Unified Sports, Motor Activities Training Program, and Young Athletes

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Kasey is someone everyone just loves the minute they see her. No one is sure if it’s her smile, how hard she tries, or the fact that she stands just under 5 feet tall. Kasey has Down syndrome, which among the many attributes includes an intellectual disability. Kasey cannot read above a kindergarten level, and she gets confused and a little anxious when there are lots of people around and lots of people talking. However, she is in middle school, and she is on the lowest level volleyball team (there are so many girls who want to play volleyball that they have five teams divided by skill level). Kasey loves going to practice, and you can see she really tries her best. She is really well liked by her peers and coaches (her head coach also is one of the school’s physical education teachers), which is kind of amazing given that she cannot serve a ball over the net or do any of the passes unless the ball is gently tossed to her from a few feet away. But Kasey and her teammates don’t seem to mind. Kasey’s teammates are great with her. Kasey often doesn’t fully understand what the coach is saying or what she wants the players to do, so Kasey’s peers repeat directions and sometimes add extra demonstrations or assistance. Kasey also loses focus easily and sometimes just sits down to rest, but her peers are great at coaxing her back to practice. Kasey also loves to talk to her teammates, even though they have a difficult time understanding her.

Alejandro also is a middle school student with intellectual disabilities, but no one is quite sure what caused his intellectual disability. Unlike Kasey, Alejandro is very athletic and physically fit, and he can do many of the skills his peers can do in physical education. His biggest problem is his behaviors—he gets distracted and off task really easily, and unlike Kasey, gentle reminders from his peers often do not work. Sometimes, he gets really silly and just starts singing, talking loudly to peers, or even gets up and starts running, all while his physical education teacher is trying to give directions. His physical education teacher knows he is not doing these things to be disrespectful to her; he just seems to get full of himself and cannot control his impulses to do something. Alejandro’s peers are pretty good about not getting too distracted by him, and they try to get him to sit down and listen. Still, when Alejandro gets going, it is difficult not to lose focus and look at him.

As a physical educator, you may have encountered students with intellectual disabilities in your classroom. There are approximately 447,000 students with intellectual disabilities receiving special education services in the United States (U.S. Department of Education, 2013). Students with intellectual disabilities are often fully included in the classroom setting, and research has demonstrated high success rates engaging students with intellectual disabilities in physical education classes. The purpose of this chapter is to present information about intellectual disabilities. The chapter begins with a definition of intellectual disabilities and common characteristics of individuals with intellectual disabilities. This will be followed by a review of teaching strategies to help students with intellectual disabilities be successful in general physical education. The chapter concludes with information about Special Olympics, a sports program designed specifically for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.

WHAT ARE INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES?

Determining who has an intellectual disability requires diagnostic cognitive testing by qualified personnel, such as the school psychologist. Most students are diagnosed with an intellectual disability after the age of 5 but will be considered developmentally delayed or “at risk” prior to an official diagnosis. Public schools use the definition provided by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) of 2004 (PL 108-446). According to IDEA 2004, intellectually disability is defined as “significantly sub-average general intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance” (34 CFR § 300.8[c][6]). Intellectual disability is also defined slightly differently according to the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD; 2010). While the IDEA definition focuses on educational performance, the AAIDD definition tends to put more focus on adaptive behavior (e.g., social skills, communication skills, life skills): “Intellectual Disabilities is a disability characterized by significant limitations in both intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills. This disability originates before the age of 18” (AAIDD, 2010, p. 1).

The following details the two key concepts within the definition of intellectual disabilities: intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior. Recall that to qualify as a child with an intellectual disability, the child must have significant impairments in both intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior.

Intellectual functioning (intelligence) refers to general mental capability. It involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experiences (AAIDD, 2010). An individual will have a range of intelligence depending on his or her experience, general aptitude, and desire to learn certain subjects. However, to qualify for services, students with disabilities must display “subaverage” intellectual functioning, as measured by IQ scores.

IQ scores obtained from standardized tests are used to quantify intelligence. Average IQ is 100 with a standard deviation of 15. Standard deviation (SD) is a statistic used to describe the degree to which an individual’s score varies from the average or mean score. Two SDs above or below 100 (+/−30 IQ points, or 70–130) marks the range of typical intelligence. An IQ of 130 or higher (+2 SD above the average of 100) represents a child who would be classified as a “genius.” An IQ of 70 or lower (−2 SD below the average of 100) would represent a child who would be classified as having an intellectual disability (Beirne-Smith, Patton, & Hill, 2015). Note that due to measurement error, a child might still be considered as having an intellectual disability with an IQ as high as 75 (AAIDD, 2010).

To understand the typical bell curve, consider how “most” individuals reason and solve problems. Most (approximately 95%) individuals function quite well through the day and are able to handle a range of complex issues encountered. However, a smaller percentage (approximately 2.5%) will fall below the mean IQ such that when attempting certain tasks, their ability to reason or conceptualize is significantly impaired. Historically, IQ was the mechanism used to classify various levels of severity in children with intellectual disabilities (using the outdated term mental retardation). The following shows how IQ and SD were used, as illustrated in Figure 8.1:

Figure 8.1. Typical bell curve. (From Dunn, W. [n.d.]. The bell curve: The normal distribution. Retrieved from http://classes.kumc.edu/sah/resources/sensory_processing/learning_opportunities/sensory_profile/bell_curve.htm; adapted by permission.)

The number (e.g., 75) is not as indicative of ability as are behavior attributes. Adaptive behavior refers to conceptual, social, and practical skills that people have learned so they can function in their everyday lives. Significant limitations in adaptive behavior affect a person’s daily life and the ability to respond to a particular situation or to the environment. Similar to IQ, limitations in adaptive behavior are determined by using standardized tests that are normed on the general population, such as the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale. Significant limitations in adaptive behavior are defined as performance that is two SDs below the mean on either one of the three types of adaptive behavior (conceptual, social, or practical) or on a composite score of adaptive behavior score (AAIDD, 2010). Table 8.1 gives specific examples of adaptive behaviors.

Tabl...