High Expectations for Students with Multiple Impairments
March 26, 2018
By: Katie Bradd
Source: Edutopia
I’m a special educator, serving some of the most severely cognitively and physically impaired students on the special education continuum. Most students in our severe multiple impairment (SXI) classrooms do not have the use of their hands or arms, and 95 percent are completely nonverbal. Many have impaired vision or hearing, are tube-fed, have tracheotomy tubes, or have seizures or complicated behaviors that interfere with learning. These disabilities affect less than 1 percent of the population.
We service our students in a center-based special education building. Six years ago, our work focused on tending to their complex medical needs, addressing behaviors, prioritizing life skills, and working toward independence. This was a lot to do, and we did it well. Our students had academic work, but it wasn’t our primary focus.
But what if we didn’t assume that meeting the standards was impossible? What if our students with the most severe impairments were presented material similar to their grade-level peers?