Development and
Characteristics of
Learners
Overview of
Disabilities
Standard # 2
Paraeducator Training
1
Local Policy
Your local district’s policies regarding
paraeducator job descriptions, duties,
and responsibilities provide the final
word!
2
Agenda
 Characteristics of student development
 Identify thirteen (13) disability categories
as listed in IDEA
 Characteristics of the disability
 Issues related to the disability
 Discuss paraeducator’s role in
supporting students with disabilities
3
Learner Outcomes
Participants will be able to:
 Recognize importance of student development
 Identify thirteen disability categories
 List characteristics of the disability
 Discuss issues related to the disability
 Describe the paraeducator’s role in supporting
students with disabilities
4
Student Support Activity

Look at handout #1

Describe the student
 Physical development
 Social/emotional skills
including behavior
 Cognitive and communication
abilities
 Daily living skills
5
Developmental Expectations:

Children learn naturally

All students grow at their own
developmental pace.

Some students experience
delays in their development.
6
To Teach Effectively…
…educators must always keep in mind the
dynamics and needs of the group as well
as the individual characteristics and needs
of each student in the group…

This is where your assistance is needed.
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How Children Develop
and Learn
Adults must know how students are
working developmentally, as well as
what makes each student unique.
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How Children Develop
and Learn
Child development is the accepted
body of knowledge about how
students grow and learn.
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How Children Develop
and Learn
Five areas of development that make up the whole child:
1.Physical
2.Cognitive
3.Speech and Language
4.Self help
5.Social/emotional
10
The Five Primary
Developmental Areas
Physical development –
the ability to move, see, and hear
Cognitive development the ability to think and learn
Speech and Language development the ability to talk, express needs
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The Five Primary
Developmental Areas
Self help (or adaptive development)
the ability to eat, dress, and take care
of themselves
Social and emotional development –
the ability to relate to others
12
How Children Develop
and Learn
These developmental
areas are interrelated –
development in one area
affects other areas.
13
How Children Develop
and Learn
All students bring to school a set of
unique characteristics and experiences
that affect how they respond to school
experiences, relate to others, and learn.
14
How Children Develop
and Learn
Effective teachers and other
adults learn about each student
in order to individualize teaching
and learning.
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Child Development and Disabilities
Child development
impacts the disability
The disability
impacts child
development
17
Student Support Activity
Handout #1
Review the skills and
abilities of a student
you know.
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Introduction to Disability
Categories
Need to identify the disability:
 For eligibility
 To better match related services to student
needs
 Match individual development levels with
appropriate support
19
Thirteen disability categories
as listed in IDEA
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Autism
Deaf-blindness
Deafness
Hearing impairment
Emotional disturbance
Mental retardation
Multiple disabilities
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Thirteen disability categories
as listed in IDEA
•
•
•
•
•
•
Orthopedic impairment
Other health impairment
Specific learning disability
Speech/language impairment
Traumatic brain injury
Visual impairment
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Disability Categories:
Autism
 Autism
is a developmental disorder
significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal
communication. Students with this
disability have difficulties with
communication, behavior, and social skills.
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Characteristics of Autism

Difficulties understanding spoken
language
 Difficulties expressing needs verbally
 Poor pronunciation and voice control
 Misunderstanding social situations
 Problems in understanding gestures
 Unusual responses to touch, taste, smell,
and/or sounds
23
Characteristics of Autism

Clumsiness in skilled movements
 Aloofness and social withdrawal
 Resistance to change
 Socially embarrassing behavior
 May appear fearful
 May play differently, line up or spin objects
 Often better with visual skills
24
Characteristics of Autism
What might you do?
 provide structure in routine and classroom
environment
 prepare students for changes in routine
 use very concrete language
 make language visual
 observe activities to identify support needs
 provide choices
25
Disability Categories:
Deaf-Blindness
Deaf-blindness is the combination of a visual
impairment and a hearing loss.
 Educational approaches to address only one
of these problems is not be the best way to
help a student learn.

26
Characteristics of DeafBlindness
What might you do?
• Teach through touch to help with
extensive sensory loss
• Hand-under-hand is an essential
instructional strategy
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Characteristics of DeafBlindness
What might you do?
 Maximize the use of vision and hearing
 Learn successful procedures for
“greeting” each student
 Help students orient themselves to
classroom, bathroom, cafeteria, etc.
28
Disability Categories:
Deafness
Deafness is a hearing loss so severe that the
student cannot get information through the
sense of hearing, even with the use of
amplification.
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Characteristics of Deafness
•
•
•
•
•
May exhibit unintelligible or no speech
Possible speech and/or language delays
Usually use hearing aids
May use assistive listening devices
May use sign language
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Characteristics of Deafness
What might you do?
 Help the student learn to operate their
listening device
 Meet with interpreter to share
homework, vocabulary
31
Characteristics of Deafness
What might you do?
 Look at environment for best
seating
 Work with others to follow good
communication behavior
 Facilitate student learning
32
Disability Categories:
Hearing Impairment
Hearing impairment means an impairment in
hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating,
that adversely affects a child’s educational
performance. It is not as severe as deafness.
33
Characteristics of Hearing
Impairment
• May exhibit unintelligible or no speech
• Possible speech and/or language delays
• Usually use hearing aids
• May use assistive listening devices
• May use sign language
34
Characteristics of Hearing
Impairment
What might you do?
 Optimize learning environment
 Organize their instructional materials
 Communicate clearly
 Promote self-advocacy
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Activity

Look at Handout #3
Consider the disabilities that we have just
discussed: autism, deaf-blind, deafness, and
hearing impairment.
 Answer the three questions on the handout
relating to these disability categories.

36
Disability Categories:
Emotional Disturbance
A condition exhibiting one or more of the
following characteristics which occur over a
period of time, and to a marked degree, which
affect a child’s ability to learn:
 difficulty building or maintaining interpersonal
relationships
 inappropriate behavior or feelings
The inability to learn cannot be explained by
intellectual, sensory or health factors
37
Characteristics of Emotional
Disturbance
Immaturity (inappropriate crying, temper
tantrums, poor coping skills)
 Possible learning difficulties (academically
performing below grade level)

38
Characteristics of Emotional
Disturbance

Students with the most serious emotional
disturbances may exhibit:
 distorted thinking
 excessive anxiety,
 bizarre motor acts
 abnormal mood swings
39
Characteristics of Emotional
Disturbance
What might you do?
 Keep rules short
 Check for understanding
 Provide verbal cues to students to
remind them to prepare for changing
classes or going home
 Give written cues such as
schedules or To Do Lists
 Remain patient!
40
Disability Categories:
Mental Retardation
Students
with this disability have impaired
mental development which adversely affects
their educational performance, and who exhibit
impaired adaptive behavior in learning,
maturation, or social development.
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Characteristics of Mental
Retardation
Intelligence testing score of 70 or below
 Difficulties with learning, communication,
social, academic, vocational, and
independent living skills
 Varies: mild, moderate, severe, profound

42
Characteristics of Mental
Retardation
What might you do?
 Make instruction and practice more concrete
and personally relevant by relating them to
tasks and experiences the student
understands
 Provide additional practice on skills
 Provide skill practice and lots of repetition
 Break down tasks in to small units-prompts
43
Characteristics of Mental
Retardation
What might you do?
 Provide social skill instruction
 Repeat instructions or activity
descriptions;
 Keep directions simple
44
Disability Categories:
Multiple Disabilities

Students with multiple disabilities have
more than one disabling condition.
45
Characteristics of
Multiple Disabilities

Students with severe or multiple disabilities
may exhibit a wide range of characteristics,
depending on the combination and severity of
disabilities, and the person’s age. There are,
however, some traits they may share,
including:
46
Characteristics of Multiple
Disabilities
Limited speech or communication
Difficulty in basic physical mobility
Trouble generalizing skills from one situation
to another; and/or
A need for support in major life activities
(e.g., self-care, leisure, community use,
vocational).
47
Disability Categories:
Multiple Disabilities
What might you do?
 Provide physical support in daily
activities: dressing, feeding, toileting
 Learn positioning techniques
 Use safe lifting techniques
 Ask for training in specialized areas
(tube feeding, seizures)!
48
Disability Categories:
Orthopedic Impairment

Student with this disability have skeletal
or physical problems which may be first
seen at birth (e.g., cerebral palsy, spina
bifida), may be the result of disease
(e.g., meningitis), or may be the result of
an accident (e.g., amputation).
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Disability Categories:
Orthopedic Impairment
What might you do?
 Learn to accommodate the
classroom environment
 Use assistive devices for writing skills
and communication
 Consider logistics and plan for
inclusion
50
Disability Categories:
Other Health Impairment
Students with this disability have
limited or heightened sensitivities to
their environment, or limited strength or
endurance caused by health problems
like asthma, diabetes, or epilepsy.

51
Disability Categories:
Other Health Impairment
What might you do?
 Be sure you are aware of serious
health problems
 Get clear direction on what you need
to do in an emergency
 Monitor safety and health
52
Activity
Look at Handout #3 continued
Consider the disabilities that we have just
discussed: emotional disturbance, mental
retardation, multiple disabilities, orthopedic
impairment, and other health impairment.
Answer the three questions on the handout
relating to these disability categories.
53
Disability Categories:
Specific Learning Disability
Learning disability is a general term that
describes specific kinds of learning problems. A
learning disability can cause a person to have
trouble learning and using certain skills. The
skills most often affected are: reading, writing,
listening, speaking, reasoning, and math.

54
Characteristics of Specific
Learning Disability
Students may have difficulty:
 Taking in, remembering, and producing
information
 Understanding, connecting and relating new
information
 Planning, organizational, study and problemsolving skills
 Social skills and self-esteem
55
Characteristics of Specific
Learning Disability
What might you do?
 Adapt the physical
environment
 Provide organizational
changes in areas such as
time, instructional methods,
or materials
56
Disability Categories:
Specific Learning Disability
What might you do?
 Use advance organizers (outlines, study
guides, focus questions) to structure
classroom
 Allow more time for assignments,
projects
57
Disability Categories:
Speech/Language Impairment
Difficulty with one of the following:
Producing speech sounds or whole words
Receptive and expressive language skills
Conversational skills
May be related to other disabilities such as
mental retardation, autism or cerebral palsy
58
Characteristics of
Speech/Language Impairment
Speech Disorders:
 interruption in flow or rhythm of speech
 problems with the way sounds are
formed
 difficulties with the pitch, volume, or
quality of the voice
59
Characteristics of
Speech/Language Impairment
Language Disorders:
 inability to express ideas
 inappropriate grammatical patterns
 reduced vocabulary
 inability to follow directions
60
Characteristics of
Speech/Language Impairment
What might you do?
 Adapt the physical environment
 Provide many opportunities for student
to interact verbally or through alternate
means (pictures, symbols, etc.)
 With student who stutters, use nonverbal
listening skills
61
Disability Categories:
Traumatic Brain Injury

A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an injury to
the brain caused from a blow to the head.
This injury can change how a person acts,
moves, and thinks. A traumatic brain injury
can also change how a student learns and
acts in school.
62
Characteristics of Traumatic
Brain Injury
Students with TBI may have one or more
difficulties, including:
Sensory issues
Physical disabilities
Headaches
Fatigue
Seizures
Paralysis…
63
Characteristics of Traumatic
Brain Injury
Difficulties with thinking
Short and long term memory
Concentration
Social, behavioral, or emotional problems
Mood, emotional changes
Relating to others
64
Characteristics of Traumatic
Brain Injury
What might you do?
 Provide a structured environment
 Shorten homework assignments
 Use lots of drill and practice
 Break instruction into smaller amounts
of time
65
Characteristics of Traumatic
Brain Injury
What might you do?
 Allow student to keep extra set of books
at home
 Be clear on classroom rules &
expectations …repeat them often…
check for understanding
66
Disability Categories:
Visual Impairment
Students with this disability are blind or have
low vision.
The terms partially sighted, low
vision, legally blind, and totally blind
are used in the educational context to
describe students with visual
impairments.
67
Characteristics of Visual
Impairment
Students with Visual Impairment:
have little reason to explore environment
missing opportunities to learn
Are unable to imitate social behavior
Do not understand nonverbal cues
May have obstacles to independence

68
Characteristics of Visual
Impairment
What might you do?
 Use concrete materials and tactile aids
like relief maps, math manipulatives,
and raised-line paper for writing
 Encourage hands-on learning
 Help students “see”, e.g. incidental
learning
69
Characteristics of Visual Impairment
What might you do?
 Produce modified materials on a
 Expect and support active
participation and engagement in
learning
70
Activity
Look at Handout #3 one more time
Consider the disabilities that we have just
discussed: specific learning disability,
speech/language impairment, traumatic brain
injury, and visual impairment.
Answer the three questions on the handout
relating to these disability categories.
71
Student Support Activity
Look at your Student Support
Activity Handout #1

Using your notes from Handout #3
complete the section on ideas for
supporting your student.
72
What have we talked about?
 The importance of student development
 Thirteen disability categories
 Characteristics of the disability
 Issues related to the disability
 The Paraeducator’s role in supporting students
with disabilities
73
Afterschool Videoconferences:

Check www.pattan.net
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