Project-Based Learning for Students With Intellectual Disabilities

With the push to include all students, despite disability, in the general education classroom, general education teachers need to be trained in ways to adequately educate intellectually disabled students alongside their nondisabled peers. Many students with an intellectual disability are capable of learning in an inclusive environment if provided with proper support, such as through instructional methods like project-based learning. Project-based learning actively involves learners in investigating real-world issues and answering related questions. This chapter focuses on how to use the project-based learning method to teach children with intellectual disabilities within the framework of inclusive education, using biology as an example subject area.

Demystifying Deafness

Most deaf children in the United States are not educated in specialized schools for the deaf but in public schools. This has had a detrimental effect on these students because many public-school teachers misunderstand deafness and are unable to adjust their teaching strategies to address the needs of this population. The mission of this chapter is to educate teachers on deafness and how to better teach and relate to a child who is deaf or hard of hearing. Specifically, this chapter will provide pertinent information for helping teachers better understand deaf and hard-of-hearing students as well as provide evidence-based practices and teaching tips that can be utilized in the classroom with this group.

Teaching Students With Specific Learning Disabilities in the General Education Classroom

In many college teacher preparation programs across the United States, students who want to become a general education teacher are required to take a course focused on teaching students who have disabilities. Typically, that course provides an overview of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the characteristics of each of the 13 categories of disabilities. That course does not present various strategies a general education classroom teacher can use to educate these students, despite the fact that more and more disabled students are being educated in a general education classroom environment. Thus, this chapter provides resources and research-based reading, math, language arts, and social skills strategies general education teachers can utilize when educating a student with a specific learning disability in their classrooms. The resources presented in this chapter are not meant to take the place of special education teachers but to supplement practices for when they are not available.

IDEA and Inclusive Education

Federal mandates, most notably the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), guarantee education rights for children classified under one of the 13 categories of disabilities, ensuring that they are educated with their peers in the general education classroom as much as possible based on their ability and needs. State educational agencies and local educational agencies are responsible for ensuring that the pedagogical needs of all children with a disability are met in accordance with the law. This chapter discusses IDEA and the concept of inclusion and how special and general educators must increase their efforts to promote and support equitable opportunities for all students.

The Role of the School Library in Empowering Visually Impaired Children With Lifelong Information Literacy Skills

Libraries provide the platform on which successful education systems are built through the provision of access to information. The ability to provide equal and nondiscriminatory access to library resources and services is the hallmark of modern librarianship. School libraries must be prepared to serve children with specific disabilities, such as visually impaired students who will need special types of technology and other specialized services. This preparation is even more important with the push for inclusion and the corresponding increase in children with disabilities attending regular (vs. specialized) schools and utilizing the school library resources. Thus, this chapter examines the role of school libraries in empowering visually impaired children with lifelong information literacy skills as a part of inclusive education.

Thinking It Through

The concept of differentiating and adapting instruction for all students, including students with disabilities, is explored in this chapter. Preservice teachers, upon exiting their teacher preparation programs, are expected to be fully developed and know how to differentiate instruction for diverse learners and adapt instruction for exceptional students who require more. However, the plethora of information on differentiation of instruction and adapting instruction can be overwhelming, leaving the preservice teacher overloaded. Concrete approaches must be available. This chapter presents the ADAPT strategy, which models one approach of organizing information and thinking through a process. With the use of lesson planning, universal design guidelines, and evidence-based practices, the chapter presents a step-by-step teaching model. Examples, work samples, and data derived from teaching the strategy to preservice teachers are included. This strategy may help preservice teachers, as well as more experienced teachers, approach the task of varying instruction in a consistent, thoughtful, and manageable way.

Music Therapy

The use of music as a therapeutic discipline has become well established in schools over the course of many years. Music therapy has very positive, therapeutic results on children with any type of special educational need but in particular students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disabilities (IDs). This chapter looks at inclusive education and research-based instructional strategies within the realm of music as a pedagogical alternative when working with students with ASD and IDs in the general education classroom. The chapter presents two case studies—one involving a student with ASD and another involving a student with an ID. Solutions and recommendations on further implementation and research of music therapy in inclusive classroom settings are provided.

Assistive Technology for the General Education Classroom

It is the responsibility of schools and educators to utilize appropriate assistive technology to meet the educational needs of students with disabilities within the least restrictive environment. The use of assistive technology enables educators to adapt content and activities within the curriculum to meet the specific needs of students, and it promotes learning, self-confidence, independence, and a higher quality of life for students with special needs. This chapter explores how educators can utilize assistive technology in the general education classroom setting to support students with disabilities, specifically those with sensory, motor, and cognitive limitations. Diverse types of assistive technology devices that students with disabilities can use to overcome barriers to written language, reading, listening, memory, and mathematics are discussed.

Working With Attention-Deficit Disorder, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, and Twice-Exceptional Students

As part of inclusive education, teachers are likely to see two other categories of students with special needs that do not specifically fit into one of the 13 disability categories under IDEA: (a) students diagnosed with attention-deficit disorder (ADD)/attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and (b) twice-exceptional students. Both of these categories of students warrant individual attention in the discussion of inclusive education. Thus, this chapter provides an overview of ADD/ADHD and twice-exceptional students, discusses how these categories connect with IDEA, and presents important information for teachers working with ADD/ADHD and twice-exceptional students in inclusive classrooms. Specific research-based strategies that general education teachers can use to educate these students as well as resources for gaining further information are included.