Mental+Retardation

Mental Retardation **Characteristics:** Diagnosed before age 18 Sub-average general intellectual function (IQ<70) Lack of the skills necessary for daily living (limitations in 2 or more): o Communication o Self-care o Home living o Social skills o Community use o Self direction o Health & safety o Functional academics **Accommodations to:** **Environment-** o Mental retardation implies that students will not be able to achieve at the same levels as age peers, so expectations in academic subjects should be based on individual goals established through observation and evaluation. o Making content more meaningful and relevant by focusing on individual strengths o Develop functional skills in areas of strength o Due to perceptual difficulties, the student may need preferential seating. o There should be realistic goals, time for completing work, and acceptance of the fact that it may take many days or weeks to reach mastery of skills. o Using an external motivation system (Token Society) o Reduce distractions o Treat student the same as other students (assign desk, locker, etc.) o Use age appropriate language

o MR students continually have problems with abstraction and complexity, so it is important to provide concrete ideas and skills with manipulatives o While praise is important, students should be given honest feedback on errors o Students require more examples and demonstrations o Provide students with extra time to learn and more rehearsals o Simplify instructions (use visual reminders as cues to help a student remember) o Allow the student with writing difficulties to use a word processor for writing assignments o The student may need a note-taker. o The student with mathematical difficulties may need to use a calculator for math classes. o If necessary, the student should have access to books on tape (podcasts, etc.)
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**Assessment-** o Authentic assessments can be adapted to link to individual goals and objectives o Adapt assessments to accommodate student’s learning style (oral report or collage instead of written paper) o The student may need longer or unlimited time for an examination. o Examinations can be modified to have less multiple choice or true-or-false questions. o Use rewards and tokens to celebrate accomplishments