Handicapped Persons in the Community 673 AIOU Past Papers

Handicapped Persons in the Community 673 AIOU Past Papers

ALLAMA IQBAL OPEN UNIVERSITY

Semester Terminal Exam Autumn 2020

Handicapped Persons in the Community 673 AIOU Past Papers

Level/Program: Post Graduation (Master/Diploma) Maximum Marks 100
Title /Course Code Handicapped Persons in the Community (673) Pass marks 40

Instructions for Exams:

  1. Attempt All Questions.
  2. Write answers in your own words and avoid copying from an internet source or any
  3. Be precise, avoid unnecessary details, answer to each question must be between 600-800 words.
  4. Students are advised to upload their answer sheets/solutions on the LMS portal as soon as they complete their answers and not to wait for 8:30
  5. Submissions after the due date & time will not be entertained. Attach undertaking with each course code which was allowed to attempt in
  6. If plagiarism found, the Student may be declared
Q.

No.

Questions Marks
 

1

The greater the deviance from normal, the greater the disability”. Explain this statement with relation to all known disabilities and discuss how early intervention can be useful in this regard.  

33

 

2

What are the steps involved in vocational rehabilitation? Prepare your answer with the help of four years “school to work Transition Plan” for a 16 years old hearing impaired child.  

33

 

 

3

Earnest Siegel comments, “Many handicapped children often enter school late,  spend time at home or in an inadequate setting awaiting proper class placement, and due to frustration, misunderstanding, and shortage of individualized supportive facilities, drop out of school early”. Critically examine the statement with reference to prevailing conditions in Pakistan.  

 

34

 

Handicapped Persons in the Community 673 AIOU Past Papers Handicapped person in the community (673)

Handicapped Persons in the Community 673 AIOU Past Papers

Answer No. 1

In order to create an inclusive classroom where all students are respected, it is important to use language that prioritizes the student over his or her disability. Disability labels can be stigmatizing and perpetuate false stereotypes where students who are disabled are not as capable as their peers.  In general, it is appropriate to reference the disability only when it is pertinent to the situation. For instance, it is better to say “The student, who has a disability” rather than “The disabled student” because it places the importance on the student, rather than on the fact that the student has a disability.

First, consider disabilities from a broader perspective:

Disability is about how bodies interact with existing environments. So, rather than waiting for a student to request an accommodation, considering ahead of time how your teaching practices might impact students with different sorts of bodies and abilities can. Deepen your view of how you teach, opening up additional questions and practices to consider. Save you (and the student) time in making the course accessible when you do receive a request for accommodations

Provide a more inclusive classroom because students can see that they’ve been considered in your approach to teaching, not as an afterthought, or exception

Because having a disability can have social, political, and historical features for individuals and groups, it can be a part of someone’s social identity, similar to gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, etc. Thus, considering your own attitudes about people with disabilities and how people with disabilities are represented in your course content can help to make your course more inclusive for students. The social model of disability, for example, doesn’t view disability as simply a medical trait or something that needs “fixing” and considers negative social attitudes and discrimination as the major barriers for people with disabilities.

Disabilities take many forms, some of which are visible or occasionally visible, where others are not. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are about 56.7 million people living with disabilities in the U.S., nearly everyone has some “connection” to disability. It’s a minority group that anyone might join at any time. The National Centre for Education Statistics notes that nearly 11% of college undergraduates in 2007-2008 and 2011-2012 reported having a disability. Many of those students have “invisible” disabilities, such as learning disabilities.

Secondly, proactively adapt pedagogical practices that support students with disabilities as a part of your approach to teaching. Build accessibility into your course design from the start

Draw from Universal Design for Learning (UDL) for all aspects of course design so your course can be accessed by all students. UDL principles support effective teaching and can save you and your students time when accommodation is needed.

Reconsider your course content to:

Highlight a diversity of views and voices on issues related to the disability; Include Disability Studies in your curriculum where relevant;

Remove negative portrayals. Review the accessibility of your course technologies and products. Learn how to make all documents, videos, and websites accessible through UW Accessible Technology. Post course materials, assignments, and deadlines with advance notice. This allows students time to plan for accommodations and workload. Where possible, offer flexibility on assignments and deadlines. Promote a productive learning environment

Set the tone on the first day and in your syllabus by communicating that all students are welcome and taken seriously as learners, including those with disabilities. Clarify your policies on attendance and late assignments with explicit and accessible instructions for how students may follow these policies. Remind students often during the quarter of the procedures for applying for extensions and extenuating circumstances. Communicate your availability for student concerns. Let students know when and how they can contact your and/or your teaching staff to discuss any problems or concerns. Share campus resources available to students. Establish ground rules for honest and respectful dialogue: Include students in establishing the ground rules. Have a plan for intervening when microaggressions related to disabilities occur

Follow up with students who are not attending class and/or struggling with their performance in class. Contact them individually, be direct, express concern, and offer to meet to discuss. Don’t ask what’s going on or what issues they have.

Plan learning activities, assignments, and exams

Plan assignments so that students can work toward the same goal in different ways. All students don’t need to do the same activity in order to reach a particular learning goal. Having students approach the material or assignment in different ways can lead to productive class discussions where students learn from each other.

Draw from UW’s DO-IT resources on learning activities in specific contexts (such as in computer labs, art studios, or writing assignments). Review assignments and materials for universal design. Use multiple formats for instruction. Students learn in different ways. Use oral, verbal, textual, and kinaesthetic means to engage all students. Try to overlap approaches: Make outlines and/or recordings available for lectures Orally explain all printed assignments Be open to (and prepared for) alternative assignments. For example, some students may have difficulties with presentation and public speaking.  Where possible and feasible, offer alternatives or facilitate less intimidating circumstances. Other students may have last-minute health issues that cause them to miss an exam or presentation. Plan ahead for the type of alternative formats of exams or assignments you will accept.

Handicapped Persons in the Community 673 AIOU Past Papers

Answer No. 2

Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) helps people with physical, psychiatric, and learning disabilities find and keep a job. VR helps you identify job goals based on your interests and skills, and explore college and vocational training. It also reduces or removes barriers to employment. Priority is given to people who have the most severe disabilities in areas such as communication, mobility, work tolerance, and work skills. The VR Program is funded by the federal government and administered through the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC).

Vocational Rehabilitation services

Since every person has different goals and needs, you may need only some of the VR services MRC provides. Many services are subject to financial eligibility. VR services include:

  • Counseling and guidance
  • Interest and aptitude testing
  • Job placement assistance
  • Diagnostic evaluations
  • College or vocational training
  • Assistive and/or rehabilitation technology
  • School to work
  • Employer consultation

Communication access services (ASL interpreters, oral transliterates, Communication Access Real-time Translation

Any high school student with a disability who may need vocational guidance and assistance in preparing for, obtaining, or maintaining competitive employment should be considered for referral to the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR). Students who have an Individualised Educational Program (IEP), a 504 Plan, or who are involved with a school’s Student Assistance Program may be appropriate referrals to OVR. Ideally, students should be referred two years prior to graduation, although referrals can be made earlier when appropriate. Students with a significant visual impairment can be referred to the Bureau of Blindness and Visual Services at any time. Technical assistance may be provided on behalf of students with disabilities with regard to Transition at any age without a formal referral.

A referral to OVR can be made by anyone, including the student, a family member, or school/agency personnel. Students under the age of 18 must-have parent/guardian permission to become involved with OVR services.  At the time of the initial referral, OVR will need the following information about the student to facilitate the application process:

  • Student’s name
  • Address
  • Telephone number
  • Email address
  • Date of birth
  • Social Security Number
  • Gender
  • Statement of disability

Transition planning is a process mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 2004) for all students who have an Individualized Education Program (IEP) in K-12 education. The purpose is to facilitate the student’s move from school to post-school activities.

The transition planning must start before the student turns 16; be individualized; be based on the student’s strengths, preferences, and interests; and include opportunities to develop functional skills for work and community life.

Who develops the transition plan?

The IEP team

The student

Parents

Optional–employers, college representatives, student advocates

Handicapped Persons in the Community 673 AIOU Past Papers

Answer No. 3

Transition planning is required in the IEP for students by age 16. Many students will begin this planning at age 14 or earlier so that they have the time to build skills they will need as adults. Parents should feel comfortable asking for transition planning to start earlier than age 16 if they believe it is needed.

There are a number of barriers to the inclusion of SWSN in ordinary schools such as Negatives attitudes of society towards the education of SWSN; physical barriers creating inaccessibility to students with physical disabilities; rigid, inflexible and centrally designed curriculum; abilities and attitudes of teachers;

Five Current Trending Issues in Special Education

  • Technology
  • Trauma-Informed Teaching
  • Homelessness
  • Twice-Exceptional Students
  • Parental Support
  • Next Steps for Educators

Improving special education is challenging. All school districts want to close the achievement gap and improve outcomes for students with special needs and for students who struggle, but school and district practices are not always aligned to meet this objective most effectively. But there is reason to be hopeful. Best practices exist that, when implemented well with a systems-thinking approach, can help school districts of all sizes and types achieve dramatic gains in achievement and inclusion and expand services for students with disabilities. DM Group has developed our top 10 best practices for improving special education based on extensive research by the What Works Clearinghouse, the National Reading Panel, John Hattie’s Visible Learning, numerous major research studies, and our own hands-on work with hundreds of school districts. Surprisingly, the cost of this approach is no more, and in some cases less, than current efforts. One note: these best practices are appropriate for most students with mild to moderate disabilities or no disability at all. Other students need a different approach.

Focus on student outcomes, not inputs

In too many districts, if last year’s efforts didn’t work as well as desired, the response is to add more staff, more paraprofessionals, more co-teaching, and more hours of service. These changes seldom help students and always cost more. Over the past decade, districts constantly increased the number of special educators and paraprofessionals, and yet achievement levels have barely budged.

If the current approach isn’t achieving great outcomes, current practices must be reviewed and modified. The districts that have successfully raised achievement for students with special needs and other students who struggle are the districts that keep the focus on results.

Effective general education instruction is Key

Effective general education instruction is key: higher performance of general education students correlates to higher performance of students with disabilities, as shown by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Students with special needs and students who struggle spend most of their day in the general education classroom; therefore, core instruction provided by the classroom teacher must meet most of their needs. In some districts, a culture has emerged where special education staff takes the lead in serving students with disabilities. In many schools, elementary school children who struggle to read are pulled out of the core reading block to be taught by a special education teacher or paraprofessional. While well-intentioned, these common practices are not what is best for students with special needs and students who struggle—students are best served academically when their general education teacher takes primary responsibility for their learning. Beyond core instruction, even interventions are often best provided by general education staff, which is the hallmark of RTI. Fundamentally, RTI and efforts like it embrace general education as the foundation for all students’ success.

Ensure all students can read

In many districts, up to half of the referrals to special education are, at their root, due to reading difficulties. Referral rates jump in third through sixth grades when reading problems make it difficult to learn math, science, and social studies. An overwhelming majority of students who have not mastered reading by the end of third grade will continue to struggle throughout high school and beyond. These students tend to have increased rates of behavioral problems in later grades and are less likely to graduate from high school or to enroll in college.

In order to raise achievement for all students who struggle, districts need to faithfully implement best practices for teaching reading and ensure that students with mild to moderate disabilities are benefiting from these best practices. Provide extra instructional time every day for students who struggle. Students who have difficulty achieving grade-level standards often need more time for instruction in order to catch up and keep up with their peers. At both the elementary and secondary levels, this additional time can be used to pre-teach materials, research the day’s lesson, address missing foundational skills, and correct misunderstandings.

In many schools, struggling students are provided extra adults, but not extra time. Struggling learners may receive additional support from a teaching assistant, paraprofessional, special education teacher, co-teacher, etc. while staying in the same classroom as their peers for the same duration. Some schools have specialized instruction in place, but it is typically not in addition to the regular period. Struggling students, for example, may be assigned to a “replacement” class, a lower-level general education class that covers less content with fewer rigors. Extra “help time” should not be confused with extra instructional time. It is common for students with special needs to have a resource room period or a support period where a special education teacher provides ad hoc help or test prep across multiple subjects, grades, and courses. This is not the same as a daily dedicated extra period focused explicitly on math skills, for example.

Districts that have successfully closed the achievement gap and significantly raised the achievement of students with and without special needs provide extra instructional time each day in addition to core content instruction time. Ensure that content-strong staff provides interventions and support

As standards have risen and the complexity of the content has increased, the staff’s having a deep understanding and mastery of what they teach becomes even more important. A teacher who has engaged in extensive study and training in a particular subject is more likely to have a wider repertoire of ways to teach the material. However, in most districts, extra instruction is provided either by paraprofessionals, or by special education teachers, who have expertise in pedagogy but often are generalists without specialized expertise in teaching subjects such as math, English, and reading. Districts that have made the most significant gains among struggling students have done so by providing these students, whether or not they have IEPs, with teachers skilled in content instruction during extra instructional time.

Allow special educators to play to their strengths

Districts that have made strides in improving services for struggling students have focused on ensuring that teachers are able to play to their strengths. For example, some special education teachers may have expertise in specific content areas, while others may be very efficient and skilled in assessing and managing the IEP process. It is highly beneficial to leverage these areas of expertise.