Cognitive Developmental Disability

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• Cognitive Developmental Disability
• (Previously referred to as Mental Retardation)
• Dickey LaMoure Special Education Unit

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What is Cognitive Developmental Disability (CDD)?

• CDD is a disability that
• affects 1 - 3 of the population
• is not unique to specific racial, ethnic,
  educational, or economic backgrounds
• is more common in males than in females.

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How is CDD Defined?

• According to the American Association of Mental
  Retardation (AAMR) it includes
• Sub-average intellectual functioning (IQ
  lt 70)
• Deficits in at least 2 of 10 areas of adaptive
  behavior (communication, self-care, home
  living, social skills, community use, self-
  direction, health, safety)
• Onset before 18 years of age

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How Common is CDD?

• 3 out of every 100 people in the United States
  have CDD.
• Over 614,000 children ages 6-21 have some level
  of CDD and need special education in school.
• 1 out of every 10 children who need special
  education has some sort of CDD.

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The Normal (Bell) Curve
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Degrees of Severity

• There are four degrees of severity based on IQ
  scores.
• Mild (IQ 55 - 70)
• Moderate (IQ 40 - 55)
• Severe (IQ 25 40)
• Profound (IQ lt 25)
• People of average intelligence score from
  about 85 - 115 on IQ tests.

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Mild

• Mild CDD affects 85 of people with the
  disability.
• People with mild CDD can develop academic skills
  around the sixth-grade level.
• They can work and live in the community with
  assistance.
• Some marry and have children.

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Moderate

• About 10 of people with CDD are at the moderate
  level.
• They can achieve academic skills up to the
  second-grade level.
• As adults, most can work at unskilled or
  semiskilled jobs with supervision.
• They are unlikely to live independently.

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Severe

• 3 to 4 of people with CDD are in the severe
  range.
• Some may learn to talk during childhood and
  develop basic self-care skills.
• They can perform simple tasks with close
  supervision.
• They often live in group homes or with their
  families.

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Profound

• 1 to 2 of individuals with CDD have IQs in the
  profound range
• They understand some language but have great
  difficulty talking
• They require constant supervision and assistance
  with most life tasks.

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Causes of CDD

• Genetic abnormalities (Down Syndrome, Fragile X
  Syndrome, PKU)
• Prenatal conditions (malnutrition, use of alcohol
  or drugs, environmental toxins, infections,
  diseases)
• Problems at birth (premature birth, low birth
  weight, oxygen deprivation)
• Infectious diseases (measles, chicken pox,
  whooping cough, encephalitis, meningitis)

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Identification of CDD

• Observation
• Ability and Achievement Testing
• Adaptive Skills Assessment

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Implications for the Classroom

• Students learn at a slower rate than peers
• They require more repetition
• They need additional time
• They think in concrete terms
• They require hands-on learning
• They have impaired social interaction skills

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Classroom Implications, Contd

• Students have impaired language skills (receptive
  and expressive)
• They require assignments or projects to be task
  analyzed or broken into small steps.
• Students need almost everything taught to them
  directly they dont pick things up through
  observation as peers do.

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What Can Teachers Do?

• Remember that you have a tremendous impact on
  students
• Accept them as individuals and work to make them
  a part of your class
• Provide awareness opportunities for other
  students

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What Can Teachers Do?

• Provide additional time
• Provide hands-on activities
• Break tasks into smaller components
• Use alternate means of assessing other than a
  test
• Provide word-banks, multiple-choice questions,
  etc.

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What Can Teachers Do?

• Provide study guides that allow the student to
  concentrate on important details
• Highlight key words and phrases
• Help the student generalize skills, by allow-ing
  him/her to practice skills in other environments
• Think survival skillsWhat will the child need
  most in the world outside of school?

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What Can Teachers Do?

• Provide multisensory learning opportunities.
• Provide for work experience or on-the-job
  training where skills that are learned can be
  practiced.
• Much of what teachers are asked to do depends
  on the level of the disability.

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Thanks to Monique Moser who helped put this show
together.
The End