Definitions and laws
This is the term Massachusetts DESE uses for the educational disability category that IDEA calls "Intellectual Disability."
What is intellectual impairment?
This is the age range served by Early Intervention (EI) services for infants and toddlers with intellectual impairments or developmental delays.
What is birth to age 3?
This is the age range served under IDEA for school-aged special education services, typically through an IEP.
What is ages 6 to 22?
This type of instruction — intense, explicit, systematic, and evidence-based — is a key accommodation for students with intellectual disability who struggle with working memory in literacy.
What is comprehensive/systematic explicit instruction?
What is the name of the reality TV show highlighted in the presentation
This federal law uses the term "Intellectual Disability" to determine special education eligibility nationwide.
What is IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act)?
Early Intervention services are provided during this critical period of development, making foundational skill-building especially impactful.
What is early brain development?
This related service supports mobility, gross motor skills, balance, and safe movement within the school environment.
What is Physical Therapy (PT)?
This instructional sequence moves students from hands-on manipulatives, to pictures, to numbers alone, supporting students who struggle with abstract reasoning in math.
What is the Concrete-Representational-Abstract (CRA) sequence?
What is a positive aspect of Lennie’s portrayal in Of Mice and Men
DAILY DOUBLE: This is one of the two areas of significant limitation required for an Intellectual Impairment/Disability classification, alongside cognitive functioning — it includes communication, self-care, and independent functioning.
What is adaptive behavior?
This age range is served by early childhood special education services, which build on EI and prepare children for the transition into kindergarten.
What is ages 3 to 5?
This related service supports independence with daily activities, fine motor skills, sensory needs, and classroom participation.
What is Occupational Therapy (OT)?
This term describes assessments used to identify the root cause of a challenging behavior before creating a behavior intervention plan.
What is a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA)?
What is the name of the advocate mentioned in the presentation?
Who is John Franklin Stephens?
What is memory and information processing?
EI services partner with these individuals to encourage learning and independence in young children with developmental delays.
What are families?
DAILY DOUBLE: This type of related service provides tools and supports that help students communicate, access learning materials, or complete tasks more independently.
What are Assistive Technology (AT) services?
For students who are both English language learners and have an intellectual disability, this is one major risk when evaluators over-rely on English-only, norm-referenced assessment tools.
What is misidentification (over- or under-identification of disability)?
Name three negative aspects of Lennie’s portrayal in Of Mice and Men
Clue: A student may learn a skill in one classroom but struggle to use it in a different setting without explicit instruction — this challenge is known by this term.
What is difficulty generalizing skills?
This area of support in early childhood special education focuses on building relationships, participating with peers, and developing self-regulation.
What is social-emotional development (skills)?
This category of services helps students prepare for life after high school, including employment, independent living, and community participation.
What are Vocational Education and Transition Services?
This social skills teaching approach pairs students together to practice turn-taking, joining groups, or other social behaviors, with supports gradually faded as skills generalize.
What is peer-mediated intervention?
What type of event did John Franklin Stephens win a gold medal in at the 1990 Special Olympics?
What is Equestrian?