Disability Characteristics

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Disability Characteristics

• Understanding Differences

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Assignment

• Get into groups of 3
• Group 1 Learning Disabilities / Mental
  Retardation
• Group 2 Cerebral Palsy / Spinal Cord Injury
• Group 3 Autism / Sensory Impairments (VI/HI)
• Each group has the responsibility of putting
  together a review of disability characteristics
  for each disability in their group to discuss
  with class
• Take 20 minutes for this assignment

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Learning Disabilities

• Definition, Causes, and
• Characteristics

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Learning Disabilities

• Learning disabilities include (P.L. 101-476)
• perceptual disabilities
• brain injury
• minimal brain dysfunction
• dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia
• aphasia, amnesia

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Learning Disabilities

• Learning Disabilities do not include
• learning problems resulting from visual, hearing,
  or motor disabilities, mental retardation,
  emotional disturbance, or cultural or economic
  disadvantage
• Causes
• Specific causes are difficult to pinpoint
• Commonly accepted as neurologically derived

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Learning Disabilities Causes

• Breakdown somewhere within the CNS processing
  mechanism
• Sensory processing issue
• When functioning effectively, Sensory Information
  Processing leads to normal learning
• Example

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Sensory Information Processing
Input
Sensory Input
Decision Making
Sensory Input into Perceptual Patterns
Integration Assimilation
Message to Muscles Response
Decision Making
Output
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Learning Disability Characteristics

• Top ten frequently cited characteristics
• 1. Hyperactivity
• 2. Perceptual-motor impairments
• 3. Emotional instability
• 4. Coordination deficits
• 5. Attention disorders
• 6. Impulsivity

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Learning Disability Characteristics

• 7. Disorders of memory and thinking
• 8. Specific academic learning disabilities
• 9. Disorders of language
• 10. Neurological signs (soft/hard)

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Prevalence

• Approximately 2million students in U.S. w/ LD
  (47 spec ed.)
• Growing 1 to 2 per/year
• 3x as many boys than girls
• Other disabilities (CP / SHI) typically have LD
• Educational Placement - 60 resource rooms / 20
  regular ed / 20 self-contained

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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

• ADHD characteristics
• Inattention
• Impulsive
• Hyperactive
• Perseveration
• transition difficulties
• ball bouncing
• laughing
• repeating phrase or topic of conversation

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Mental Retardation

• Definition, Causes, and
• Characteristics

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Mental Retardation

• AAMR definition Four criteria
• 1) Substantial limitations in personal
  capabilities
• 2) Subaverage intellectual functioning (I.Q.)
• 3) Disability in 2 or more adaptive skill areas
• Communication, home living, community use, work,
  health/safety, social skills, self-care,
  self-direction, functional academics, leisure
• 4) Begins before age 18

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MR Definition

• School personnel Definition within the Rules
  for implementing IDEA
• IDEA Definition (Three Parts)
• Significantly subaverage general intellectual
  functioning
• Existing together with deficits in adaptive
  behavior
• Originating during the developmental period
• Levels of MR associated with IQ

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Levels of Severity of MR IQ Based

• Depends on scale that your using
• M100 SD15, then
• 70-55 Mild
• 54-40 Moderate
• 39-25 Severe
• 25 and below Profound
• New definition 2 levels

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New Classification MR

• Mild and Severe
• Not based on IQ, rather level of functioning
• IQ is one of 3 or 4 dimensions used to determine
  level of severity of disability
• Issue Severe / Profound

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Etiology (Causes)

• 30 to 40 percent No know cause
• Other causes include two factors Biological and
  Environmental
• Most common cause of MR in the United States
  Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)
• Oldest known cause of developmental disabilities
• How Old?

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Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

• Bible (Judges 133-4) Behold now, thou art
  barren and barest not but thou shalt conceive
  and bear son. Now therefore beware, I pray thee,
  and drink not wine nor strong drink

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Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

• Characteristics
• born to term, but small, childhood thin and
  short, adolescent may be normal ht and wt
• microcephalic (small head)
• strabismus (cross or wall eyed)
• increased incidence of heart defects
• I.Q. b/w 60-70
• ADHD, autistic tendencies
• Causes of MR linked to time periods

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MR Causes Time Related

• Prenatal
• Chromosomal Anomaly
• Hydrocephalus, Microcephalus
• Metabolic Disorders
• Maternal Disease
• Parental Blood Incompatibility
• Maternal Self Abuse

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MR Causes Time Related

• Perinatal
• Premature birth, post mature birth
• Low birth weight
• Difficult labor delivery
• Elevated Billy Ruben (Treatment?)

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MR Causes Time Related

• Postnatal
• Head trauma
• Disease
• Environmental Deprivation
• Poisoning
• Late Onset Metabolic Disorders
• Malnutrition
• Seizure Disorders

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MR Causes Time Related

• Combined Occurrence (before, during, or after
  birth
• Accident
• Cerebral Anoxia
• Tumors
• Syphilis
• Idiopathic Conditions

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Scope

• By definition (using IQ only), 3 of population
  is Mentally Retarded (i.e. 7.5 million people)
• About every five or six minutes, a child is born
  with MR (9,000 a month)
• 90 mild
• 6 moderate
• 5 severe/profound
• SES major factor in MR prevalence

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Physical Disabilities

• Cerebral Palsy
• Paralysis and Spinal Cord Injury
• Amputations
• Other Physical Conditions

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Cerebral Palsy

• Definition, Causes, and
• Characteristics

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Cerebral Palsy

• Medical term that refers to one of a series of
  motor disorders that stem from brain malfunction
• Damage to the immature brain
• Damage to motor centers (motor cortex, basal
  ganglia, brain stem, or cerebellum)
• Damage is commonly associated with retention of
  primitive reflexes
• 4 Diagnostic Criteria for Reflex Problems

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Cerebral Palsy Causes and Characteristics

• Non-hereditary, non-contagious, and
  non-progressive
• Disease, injury, and malformation of brain cells
  can all produce effects identical to those of
  cerebral palsy
• Exact cause is not known
• Typically, causes are associated by time of
  onset. For example

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Cerebral Palsy Causes and Characteristics

• Prenatal
• Functional disturbances of the mother (may
  produce hemorrhages in fetal brain)
• Rh incompatibility
• Infection
• Diseases

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Cerebral Palsy Causes and Characteristics

• Natal
• Prolonged or difficult labor
• Anoxic conditions
• Premature birth
• Postnatal
• Brain infections
• Poisoning
• Head trauma

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Cerebral Palsy Causes and Characteristics

• Specific common prenatal (90) causes include
• AIDS, rubella, herpes, cytomegalovirus
• Alcohol, tobacco, street drugs
• Trauma to mother that effects fetal brain
  development
• Maternal age (under 20 over 34)
• Oxygen deprivation deliveries (anoxia, hypoxia,
  asphyxia)

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Cerebral Palsy Causes and Characteristics

• Specific common acquired (10) causes include
• Must be damage to immature brain
• Encephalitis, meningitis, pertusis
• Accidents
• Child abuse
• Cerebral stroke
• Gunshot wounds
• Gas, lead, radon poisoning

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Types of Cerebral Palsy

• Mild to severe
• Based on muscle tone and limbs involved
• 7 distinct types of CP
• 5 anatomical classifications of limbs involved
• Three Main Types
• Spastic
• Athetoid
• Ataxic

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Spastic Cerebral Palsy

• Occurs in over 1/2 of all cases (i.e. most common
• Damage to cortical tracts
• Characterized by high muscle tone (hypertonus)
• Hyperactive reflexes and contracted flexor
  muscles
• Contractures
• Often associated with mental retardation

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Athetoid Cerebral Palsy

• Occurs in about 1/4 of all cases
• Damage to basal ganglia
• Characterized by puposeless, involuntary movement
• Varying degrees of muscle tone (hyper to
  hypotonic)
• Constant squirming and wriggling

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Ataxic Cerebral Palsy

• Less common type of cerebral palsy (10)
• Usually acquired postnatally
• Characterized by deficient sense of balance,
  coordination, and kinesthesis
• Voluntary movements are usually uncoordinated and
  clumsy
• Swagger Gait similar to an intoxicated person
• Typically poor muscle tone

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Anatomical Classification for Limbs Involved

• Monoplegia -
• Diplegia -
• Hemiplegia -
• Triplegia -
• Quadriplegia -
• Other associated characteristics include speech
  disorders, seizures, visual/hearing deficits, and
  perceptual motor difficulties

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Paralysis and Spinal Cord Injury

• Definition, Causes, and
• Characteristics

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Spinal Cord

• Spinal cord 31 pairs of spinal nerves
• Protected by vertebral column
• 24 movable
• 7 cervical
• 12 thoracic
• 5 lumbar
• Spinal cord injuries result form some type of
  trauma
• Most common ? Most common sport? Gender?

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Spinal Cord Injury Classification

• Five-point grading system for extent of injury
  (lesion to spinal cord)
• 1. Complete
• 2. Incomplete with sensation only
• 3. Incomplete with nonfunctional motor ability
• 4. Incomplete with motor function
• 5. Complete recovery

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Paralysis and Spinal Cord Injury

• Two categories of paralysis
• paraplegia
• quadriplegia
• Higher lesions less function
• C1 or C2 most devastating (Iron Lungs)
• Other associated complications

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Amputations

• Causes, Incidence, and Characteristics

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Amputations Classifications

• 4 classifications of causes
• Limb Deficiencies
• 1. Congenital
• Acquired Amputations
• 2. Tumor
• 3. Trauma
• 4. Disease

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Amputations

• Incidence
• Approximately 400,000 people in U.S.
• 2 other categories of differences in amputations
• dysmelia
• phocmelia
• Prosthetics

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Other Physical Conditions

• Muscular Dystrophy
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Spina Bifida

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Muscular Dystrophy

• Degenerative muscular condition
• Weakening of respiratory muscles and
  immunosuppressed
• Three main types
• Duchenne
• Facio-scapular-humeral
• Limb girdle

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Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

• Most severe and most common
• Fatal, inherited form of MD
• Sex linked disorder (mostly males affected)
• Muscle fibers degenerate in gluteals, abs,
  erector spinae, and anterior tibialis
• Frequent falls, contractures, body imbalance
• Gradual reduction in motor ability, wheelchair
  use, and then ultimately death

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Facio-Scapular-Humeral MD

• Most common in adults
• Equal gender affliction
• Progressive weakness of face, shoulder, and arm
  muscles (hence the name)
• Usually, non-fatal

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Limb Girdle MD

• Slow muscle degeneration of shoulder girdle and
  hip and thigh muscles
• Equal gender affliction usually after 10 years
  old
• Least common form of MD

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Multiple Sclerosis

• Inflammatory disease of the CNS
• Demyelination bouts that last 1 to 3 months
• Leaves some degree of disability
• Followed by periods of remission
• More common in women
• Age of onset 20 to 40

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Spina Bifida

• Second in prevalence to cerebral palsy for
  orthopedic defects in school-aged children
• Congenital anomaly resulting in,
• Failure of of one or more vertebral arches to
  properly develop and close
• Usually occurs in the lumbar region
• Three types (levels of severity) of Spina Bifida

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Spina Bifida

• Spina Bifida Occulta
• Least severe
• Defect in the fusion of the posterior neural arch
• Usually asymptomatic, does not cause paralysis or
  muscle weakness

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Spina Bifida

• Meningocele
• More severe, requires surgery
• Characterized by a sac containing (meninges or
  spinal cord covering) protruding out of the open
  neural arch
• Spinal fluid leaks into sac. Rupture can lead to
  meningitis
• Otherwise, usually no neurological defects

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Spina Bifida

• Myelomeningocele
• Most severe and most common
• Always associated with some degree of
  neurological deficit
• Both the meninges and part of the spinal cord
  itself protrude into a sac
• Location of spinal cord lesion determines
  involvement and associated disabilities
• 90 of cases have hydrocephalus

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Deafness and Hearing Impairment

• Definition, Causes, and Characteristics

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Deafness and Hearing Impairment

• P.L. 101-476 defines Hearing Impairment
• an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or
  fluctuating, that adversely affects a childs
  educational performance but that is not included
  under deafness in this section
• P.L. 101-476 defines Deafness

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Deafness and Hearing Impairment

• Deafness is defined as
• hearing impairment that is so severe that the
  child is impaired in processing linguistic
  information through hearing, ...that adversely
  affects a childs educational performance
• Very few students are deaf most are hearing
  impaired

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Sound Characteristics

• Two primary characteristics of sound
• loudness / intensity
• frequency / pitch
• Loudness is measured by decibels (dB)
• Ex. Normal speech at 10ft away is 45 to 65 dB
  loud. A freight train 10ft away is 90 to 120 dB
  loud
• 5 classifications for hearing loss in (dB)

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Classifications for Hearing Loss

• Slight 25-40 dB loss
• Mild 41-55 dB loss
• Marked 56-70 dB loss
• Severe 71-90 dB loss
• Profound 91 dB or greater loss
• A 70 dB loss is the cut-off between hard of
  hearing and deaf
• Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz) or cycles per
  second

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Frequency (Hz)

• Frequency is basically high and low pitch
• Piano example lowest key is 30 Hz and highest
  key is 4,000 Hz
• Normal range 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz
• Daily communication is between 100 and 10,000 Hz
• Two main types of hearing loss
• conductive
• sensorineural

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Types of Hearing Loss

• Conductive hearing loss - originates in outer or
  middle ear
• Sound traveling through air passages is
  obstructed
• ex. Put finger in ear canal (25 dB loss)
• Conductive loss results in hard of hearing
  condition, NOT deafness

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Types of Hearing Loss

• Sensorineural hearing losses are more serious,
  occurring in the inner ear
• Damage to auditory nerve, nerve fibers, or one of
  the structures of the inner ear
• Causes disruption in conversion of sound waves
  into neural impulses for translation
• Balance problems typically associated
• Generally irreversible loss
• Incidence over 16 million (2 million deaf)

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Visual Impairments

• Definition, Causes, and Characteristics

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Visual Impairments

• Legal Blindness Definition
• Less than 20/200 vision with best correction, or
• Less than 20 degree visual field with best
  correction
• Incidence - 1 in 3,000
• 25 total blindness
• 25 partial blindness
• 50 can read enlarged type

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Structure of the Eye

• LIGHT CORNEA and LENS
• Retina
• Optic Nerve
• Brain

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Blindness

• Causes
• anoxia
• intrauterine infections
• head trauma
• retinoblastoma
• nutrition disorders (vitamin A deficiency)
• Two types
• cortical - problem along visual pathway
• retinal - eye structure itself