EDEX 796
Natalie Knott
APS 1: Long Range Planning
A. Description of Students:
My placement class consists of five students with severe and multiple disabilities.
This class is a self-contained PMD class. There are four boys and one girl. Four of the
students use wheelchairs for mobility. One child is able to walk. Four of the students
require feeding tubes. Two students can eat pureed foods. Two students are in eighth
grade, two are in seventh grade and one is in sixth grade. The four older students have
similar interests and IEP goals. Their curriculum incorporates functional academics and
skills. The sixth grade student’s IEP contains pre-academic and pre-vocational skills.
Student information for this paper was obtained from classroom IEP documents. I will
refer to the students by a designated letter to protect their privacy.
The first student, B is fourteen years old and is in eighth grade. He lives with his
parents and older brother. He is non-vocal and uses a wheelchair for mobility. B’s
interests include listening to music, going fishing, and watching movies. His strengths
include his desire for social interaction. Although this student cannot speak, he
communicates. He makes eye contact and smiles when people talk to him. He loves to
observe people and to be around them. He also uses eye gaze for choice making. He uses
the side of his head to activate a switch on a voice output and leisure activity device. He
is very cognizant of his surroundings. His challenges include limited mobility and
speech. He has limited use of his arms. He also needs a feeding tube.
The other eighth grader is PL. He will be fourteen at the end of this month. He
lives at home with his parents, twin sister, and younger sister. His strengths include
desire for social interaction. He is beginning to demonstrate choice making. He has
purposeful movement in his arms. The right arm is stronger than the left arm. His
interests include listening to music and sensory activities. He can use his right arm to
grab objects. He enjoys simple cause and effect toys. He can activate a switch to access
adapted toys. His challenges include limited movement. He needs a wheelchair for
mobility. He also uses a feeding tube. In addition, P is legally blind. He was diagnosed
with optic nerve atrophy. He had surgery in August for curvature of the spine. He is now
able to sit up better and gained three inches in height.
The only girl in the class is P. She has severe and multiple disabilities. P is
thirteen years old. She lives at home with her parents. She is the oldest child. She has a
younger sister and twin brothers who are one year old. She was born with Lebers
Congenital Amaurosis, a disability that affects sight. She has limited ability to open her
eyes. AC enjoys social interactions, being read to, and going for walks in her
wheelchair. She is able to move her hands. She is learning to sort items by feeling the
shape and texture of them and by opening her eyes to look at the items. P works with
cause and effect activities. She uses vocalizations to express pleasure and displeasure.
She will also laugh and smile on occasion. She is able to eat pureed foods. Her
challenges include very limited vision and lack of interest in her surroundings.
S is the other seventh grader. He lives with his parents. S is considered medically
fragile. He has multiple disabilities. His strengths include the ability to activate a switch
device to access activities. He also enjoys social interaction. He will smile when people
talk to him. His challenges include medical issues that make him more prone to
pneumonia. He currently has pneumonia and is on intermittent homebound.
The last student is Z. This is his first year in middle school. He is diagnosed with
Down’s syndrome. He divides his time between his dad and his mother’s home. He has a
younger sister. He is able to walk and feed himself. He has severe developmental delays.
He enjoys listening and dancing to music. He shows interest in social interactions. He also
enjoys working on DT Trainer. He is able to use a touch screen to answer the questions on
that program. He is able to follow one step directions. His challenges include
communication skills. He also exhibits undesirable behaviors. He thrives on structure and
will become upset if any changes are made to his schedule. He has made considerable
progress since the beginning of the year. The frequency and duration of his behaviors are
decreasing. He is becoming more vocal, as well.
B. Goals and Objectives
The students’ goals and objectives are grouped by domains. The areas include
daily living, socialization/daily living, functional academics, and prevocational. B,P,PL,
and S’s goals are very similar. This is Z’s first year in middle school and his goals are
different. I will list each student’s goal by each domain.
Daily Living Skills
B’s Daily Living Skill Goals:
B will increase his daily living and transition skills.

Will partially participate in hand washing.

Will partially participate in preparing for position transfer.
P’s Daily Living Skill Goals
P will increase daily living skills.

Will partially participate in hand washing.

Will partially participate in feeding herself.
S’s Daily Living Skill Goals
S will increase his daily living skills.

Will partially participate in hand washing.

Will access voice output device to deliver a message or request materials.
PL’s Daily Living Skill Goals
PL will increase his daily living skills.

Will partially participate to access his water bottle.

Will partially participate in hand washing.
Pre-vocation Skills
B’s Pre-vocation skills
B will independently respond to a variety of stimuli by either making a choice through visual
gaze or turning his head toward the stimuli.

Will sort various greenhouse materials by using eye gaze to show which basket the
materials go.
P’s Pre-vocation Goals

When given work materials and partial prompting, P will sort various personal
service materials by physical characteristics.

Will identify a photo/tactile symbol of herself from a field of two.
S’s Pre-vocation Goals

When given needed work materials S will use eye gaze to or voice output device
to sort various hospitality materials

Will identify a photo/tactile symbol of himself from a field of two.
PL’s Pre-vocational Goals
PL will increase his pre-vocation skills.

Will sort items into containers by physical characteristics

Will pick up an item when requested by someone.
Functional Academics
B’s Functional Academics
B will increase his functional science and social studies skills by using eye gaze and a visual
choice board to communicate within 30 seconds when performing classroom activities.
 When oriented to a variety of items will use eye gaze to sort items by
characteristics of solid and liquid.
PL’s Functional Academics
PL will answer science and social studies questions by using a voice output device to
communicate when performing classroom activities.
 When oriented to a variety of items will sort items by using a voice output device
by characteristics of solid and liquid.
P Functional Academics
When given physical manipulatives or pictures, P will answer questions by using eye gaze or
auditory scanning method.
 Will use eye gaze and auditory scanning to answer questions relating to historical
figures and events.
 Will use eye gaze and auditory scanning to answer questions relating to sorting
solids and liquids.
S’s Functional Academics
When given physical manipulatives or pictures, S will answer questions by using eye gaze
 Will use eye gaze to answer questions relating to historical figures and events.
 Will use eye gaze to answer questions relating to sorting solids and liquids.
Socialization and Leisure Skills
B’s Socialization/ Leisure Skills
B will increase his socialization and leisure skills as evidenced by using adapted switches.
 Will use adaptive switches to access various toys and devices for at least fifteen
minutes.
 Will use adaptive switches to access various computer programs for at least 15
minutes.
P’s Socialization/ Leisure Skills
P will increase his socialization and leisure skills as evidenced by using adapted switches.
 Will use adaptive switches to access various toys and devices for at least fifteen
minutes.
 Will use adaptive switches to access various computer programs for at least 15
minutes.
S’s Socialization/Leisure Skills
S will increase his socialization and leisure skills as evidenced by using adapted switches.
 Will use adaptive switches to access various toys and devices for at least fifteen
minutes.
 Will use adaptive switches to access various computer programs for at least 15
minutes.
PL’s Socialization/Leisure Skills
Will increase socialization and leisure skills by using assistive technology.
Z’s Goals and Objectives
Z’s goals and objectives vary from the other students. This is his first year in middle
school. The goals and objectives are organized by elementary school categories. Z’s goals and
objectives are organized into pre-academic, self-help, social/play, fine motor skills, and
language and communication categories.
Pre-academic skills
By June, 2013, Z will increase his cognitive skills in the following areas:

Where to obtain good and services from five different locations; grocery store, doctor,
restaurant, park, school.

Identification of colors; red, blue, yellow, green, purple, orange

Matching shapes; circle, square, triangle, heart, star,

Identification of animals from a field of two pictures; dog, cat, bird, fish, horse, pig
Z will touch a picture from a field of three to demonstrate an understanding of the following:
 Five foods, toys, clothing, activities
Self-Help
Z will increase his self-help skills by:

Eating chopped foods with minimal spillage.

Pouring milk in a cup.

Carrying his tray.

Cleaning up his area

Standing ten minutes to complete a task.
Social/Play
By June, 2013, Z will increase his social/play skills

Will indicate a preferred leisure activity.

Will greet peers verbally.
Fine Motor
By June, 2013, Z will demonstrate functional fine motor skills.

Will open a plastic silverware packet with two or less prompts.

Zip up his outer garments once initiated

Access a wall soap dispenser given two or less physical prompts.
Language/Communication
By June, 2013, Z will increase his language/communication.

Will identify six different actions by pointing to a picture from a field of two with fading
prompts.

Will follow a daily visual schedule with fading prompts.
The goals and objectives for most of the students are functional and relevant to their lives.
Communication is an important skill in order to have a higher quality of life. All of the students’
goals involve some form of communication. For example, Z has the goal of greeting other
students. Z,PL,P, and S have goals to access voice-activated switches. B can hit a switch
attached to his stander. He uses the voice output device attached to his switch to greet other
people or to start a conversation. The students also have relevant daily living goals. B,PL,P, and
S have goals to learn how to partially participate in hand washing. This is an important hygiene
skill. P has the goal to feed herself. Again, feeding herself even with partial participation leads
to greater independence and quality of life.
The only goals that I disagreed with are Z’s. This is his first year in middle school and his
goals are more appropriate for an elementary school student. One of the goals that I would
change is the animal receptive identification goal. Instead of identifying animals, I would teach
identification of preferred foods and activities. I would conduct a preference assessment to
identify his favorite activities, toys, and foods and teach those as a receptive identification goal.
The goals are challenging for the students, however, the criteria for student mastery needs
to be increased. The current criteria for mastery is 80% or four out of five trials. This percentage
should be increased to 100%.
C. Instructional Units for the Year
The instructional units support the IEP goals and objectives. Many of the student goals
involve communication skills. PL,P, S, and B have goals to activate a switch device to learn to
communicate and make choices. They can answer a question using their device. For example, in
the first unit, “About Me,” the students answered questions about their hair and eye color using a
switch. B and S can access a switch that activates a Big Mac that says “Yes, that me.” P, PL, and
Z can hit touch the Big Mac with their hands. B can also use eye gaze to make choices.
Communication is a skill is taught in every domain. Switch use and eye gaze are part of all of the
student’s IEPs except Z’s. Z is learning to communicate by speaking and using sign language.
Functional academics require student IEP goals in Science and Social Studies. The curriculum
follows the state standards. The instructional units correspond with the Science and Social
Studies standards and the students’ IEP goals. For example, Z has a goal to learn community
places. This is also a state standard. The units are logically sequenced. The year starts out with
learning about organisms; living and non-living organisms. The next unit involves plants. The
year progresses to learning about the human body. Students learn about the body systems. The
following is the units/programs for science taught during the first half of the year:
Unit
Month
Science Standard
Indicators
Organisms, Habitats,
September
6-2.1 Recognize that
living things need food
Life Cycles
and water to grow.
6-2.2 Identify
organisms as either
plants or animals.
Plants
September
6-2.4 Recognize the
structures of a plant and
their functions
6-2.8 Recognize that
plants grow toward
light
7-2.4 Recognize that
green plants produce
their own food
(photosynthesis)
Human Body
September
7-3.1 Identify several
major organ systems,
the major organs, and
IEP Goals
their functions.
Weather
October
6-4.2 Identify an
example of precipitation
(e.g., rain, snow).
6-4.3 Identify clouds
that will most likely
produce rain (e.g., dark
as opposed to white
and fluffy).
6-4.4 Identify an
example of
precipitation.
6-4.6 Identify weather
conditions
Earth and Space
October
8-4.1 Identify objects in
the solar system
Systems
8-4.3 Recognize that
light and heat come
from the sun.
8-4.4 Identify Day and
night.
Recognize Earth’s
seasons and temperature
changes.
Earth, materials, and
Change
November
7-4.6 Identify renewable
resources
8-3 The student will
demonstrate an
understanding that Earth
has many features and is
composed of different
materials that are
constantly changing.
Properties of Matter
November
and Energy
7-5.2 Exemplify
Sort items by Solid and
mixtures; solids and
liquid. B,P,PL,S
solid, liquid and liquid
Exploring Force and
Motion
December
8.5 The student will
demonstrate an
understanding that an
object in motion has a
position, direction, and
speed at any point in
time and can be affected
by various forces.
8-5.3 Recognize that
gravity makes objects
fall downward when
they are released.
8-5.4 Recognize that a
heavy object will be
harder to move than a
lighter object.
I will teach Social Studies for the second half of the year. I could also alternate weeks
that I teach Science and Social Studies. P and S have goals related to identifying historical
figures. They are both in seventh grade, so I will incorporate seventh grade SC-Alt standards..
The following is an outline of how I would organize the units. The units progress sequentially
and build on the previous units. I will begin with a unit on family and community. Next, I will
progress to information and history about South Carolina. I will teach five major cities, regions
of the state, and state symbols. I will also teach about famous South Carolinians. I will include
lessons on the civil rights movement and its leaders. The last unit that I teach will involve world
historical figures and events. I will include in culturally diverse pictures of families in my
lessons. I will include important historical figures of diverse backgrounds. I will respect the
various cultures of my students and involve these cultures in my units.
Month
Unit
Social Studies Standard
Indicators
January
Family and
6.1 Identify self that lead to
Community
personal identity including
physical growth, Identify
surroundings(e.g. Classroom,
school, home, community)
February
South Carolina
8.7 Identify the symbols of
IEP Goals
South Carolina such as the
state bird, state flag, and the
state dog.
8-7.2 Identify the role of
tourism in South Carolina,
tourist ;locations (e.g.
Charleston,beaches,mountains)
8.5 Respond to biographies of
famous South Carolinians,
such as Strom Thurmond
,Dizzy Gillespie, and Mary
McCloud.
March
American Values;
Key Figures
6-2.2 Identify examples of the
qualities of honesty, courage,
determination, individual
responsibility, selfdetermination, and patriotism
(examples include Patrick
Henry, John Hancock, George
Washington, Sojourner Truth,
Martin Luther King, Jr)
8-2 Identify symbols of the
US(e.g. the flag, national bird)
April
Historical Events and
8-5 The student will
S and P will answer
Key figures
demonstrate an understanding
questions regarding
of major social and political
historical figures and
and economic developments
events
that took place in the United
States during the second half
of the nineteenth century.
Respond to information about
the accomplishments of John F
Kennedy, Martin Luther King,
and Rosa Parks.
Identify examples of civil
rights.
May
World historical;
6-2 6-2.2 Summarize the
S and P will answer
Key
significant political and
questions regarding
cultural features of the
historical figures and
Figures
classical Greek civilization,
events
including the role of
Alexander the, literature, the
arts, science, and mathematics.
I would incorporate ELA standards and simple math skills; such as counting into each unit,
even though functional academics does not require having IEP goals and teaching the standards..
I will introduce the students to the Children’s Book Award Nominees. I will read age appropriate
yet engaging books to them. An example is Martin’s Big Words; the Life of Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. written by Doreen Rappaport and illustrated by Brian Collier.
Furthermore, the lessons in the unit are intellectually diverse. Some students will use eye
gaze to show knowledge while others will access a voice output device. I will continue to work
on pre-academic skills with Z and incorporate these skills into the units.
D. Assessment and Evaluation of Progress
The teacher uses curriculum based measurements, teacher observation and data collection to
access progress made toward IEP goals. Each student has a binder with their IEP goals and data
sheets. The teacher provides instruction during the week then takes data to assess what the
student has learned. This enables the teacher to make further instructional decisions. The teacher
uses a task analysis to teach hand washing and self-feeding. The teacher calculates the
percentage of steps completed with partial physical prompts. Teacher observation is used to
determine the number of correct responses by student eye gaze. A percentage of correct
responses in calculated out of 5 trials. Does the teacher give grades? How does she report
progress to parents? Describe in detail.
E. Classroom Management Rules and Procedures
The classroom rules and procedures are age appropriate. The rules include:

Follow directions

Keep Hands off what?

Be quiet

Listen

Pay attention
The only rule that I would change is “Keep Hands Off.” I would change it to “Keep Hands
down.” The classroom rules are mostly observable and consistent with school regulations. The
rule that may be hard to observe is “Listen” with some students. However, it can be observed
with most of the students in the class. Procedures are very important in this classroom. Following
procedures are academically and medically important. Position changes are part of B’s IEP. He
needs to relax in order for the staff to move him. He also needs to learn to exert some control
over his body in order for him to breathe easier. The teacher schedules position changes,
bathroom, feedings, and times for medication for each student. She posts the times on a large
poster hung on the wall.