Severe Disabilities- Concept

Children With Developmental Challenges 3(2+1)

Lesson 30 : Severe/Multiple Disabilities in Children

Severe Disabilities- Concept

In simple terms Severe disabilities are defined as

  • Significant disability in intellectual, physical, and/or social functioning
  • Usually requires ongoing supports.
  • Includes moderate, severe, and profound ranges or intellectual disabilities (IQ score below 40).
  • Can include individuals with Down Syndrome, ASD, Deaf-Blindness, Cerebral Palsy and more.

Persons with severe disabilities are: "individuals of all ages who require extensive ongoing support in more than one major life activity in order to participate in integrated community settings and to enjoy a quality of life that is available to citizens with fewer or no disabilities"

Severe profound disabilities

Students who have severe-profound disabilities are those who:

  • have primary disabilities that severely impair cognitive, adaptive skills and life functioning
  • may have associated severe behavior problems
  • may have a high probability of additional physical and/or sensory disabilities
  • require significantly more educational resources than are provided for children with mild or moderate disabilities
i

Characteristics of children with Severe Disabilities:

  • Some have diminished cognitive functioning affecting abstract thinking, learning, attention, and memory.
  • Many have significant physical, health, and communication needs.
  • Significant developmental delays (including speech, personal-social skills, behavior, motor, learning, attention, memory, mobility, etc.)
  • Difficulty learning self-care skills
  • Need for repetition to acquire skills
  • Difficulty in the transfer and generalization of skills
  • Slow acquisition rates for learning new skills
  • Poor generalization and maintenance of newly learned skills
  • Limited communication skills
  • Impaired physical and motor development
  • Deficits in self-help skills
  • Stereotypic and challenging behavior
Index
Previous
Home
Next
Last modified: Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 6:49 AM