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Special Education

Notes These children may enter school at the usual age, but formal reading and writing instruction may be
delayed until about age eight or nine. During school years, they may be given instruction in simple
arithmetical concepts, understanding of the home and community, and development of good work
habits. Curricula are designed to provide basic skills for coping with the environment. Educable
children usually develop language skills.
The moderate level of retardation (IQ range about 35 to 60) includes essentially the same group as
those called trainable mentally retarded (TMR) in schools. Until the 1950s, this group was usually
not admitted to public schools. Gradually separate classes were started for them under the public
school system. The curricula for TMR students differ from that of EMR curricula. TMR students are
unlikely to develop independence as adults. They are unlikely to learn to handle finances beyond
simple purchases and usually need some supervisory help.

14.1 Identification of MR Children

For the mentally retarded, assessment includes basically intelligence and adaptive behaviour along
with developmental material supplied by parents, teachers, social workers and professionals. The
two most widely used intelligence tests are the Stanford Binet, and the Weschler Intelligence Scale
for Children. These individual tests along with functional assessment tests developed by the national
Institute for mentally handicapped can be used.
Adaptive behaviour is assessed using adaptive behaviour scales. In these scales, assessment is made
on the basis of maturational and developmental skills in the areas of communication, motor ability
and self-help in early childhood. In adolescence, social and vocational adjustments are emphasised.
Educational assessment of the mentally retarded needs to be more functional than verbal. School
readiness measures developed by Muralidharan, the Harison reading readiness profile, and Furrel
analysis of reading difficulty can be given to M.R. children as high as up to the sixth grade. The
Illinois test of Psycholinguistic abilities form of adoption available in our country can be used for
diagnosis and related language processes. There are tests which can be profitable used; the Peabody
Picture Vocabulory Test (PPVT), Auditory discrimination test, verbal language development scale.
The crux of the issue lies in developing systematic testing methods, devising certain norms, modifying
them in terms of progress achieved, adapting them to the regional languages and variations.
The Psychometric Approach
The approach so far has been the use of psychometric tests even though adaptive behaviour assessment
has formed a basic component in testing for screening, placing and making any intervention. American
Association on Mental Deficiency (AAMD) adaptive behaviour scale, Vineland Social Maturity Scale
and a few others have been adapted in our country, there have been wide shortcomings in their use.
There are culturally a typical children, hyperactive children to whom such tests can be administered
with lots of difficulties. Their motivation and attitude are different. The apprehension of parents
about testing because of bias of apprehension of stigma, use of tests for identification by Psuedo
professionals, Para-professionals as a measure of social welfare activities attached to such identification
have further posed problems.
Self Assessment
1. Fill in the blanks:
(i) The two most widely used intelligence tests are .................... and ................. for children.
(ii) .......................... is assessed using adaptive behaviour
(iii) .......................... of the mentally retarded needs to be more functional than varbal.
(iv) ........................ test is a profitable used test.

14.2 Causes of Mental Retardation
It has been mentioned that mental retardation is due to both type of factors- 1. Heredity-Endo-genous
factors and 2. Environment exogenous factors.

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