Academic Instruction for Students with Moderate and Severe Intellectual Disabilities in Inclusive Classrooms

"A useful resource for all educational teams who plan for students with moderate and severe intellectual disabilities. Downing summarizes current, key research and offers practical applications from her wealth of experience in schools. Readers who are new to planning for students with severe disabilities will find excellent coverage of the basics like systematic instruction, positive behavior support, and collaboration. Professionals with extensive experience will benefit from the new ideas for planning, including specific examples of adapting academic content, considering both family goals and state standards in planning, and using universal design for learning."
―Diane M. Browder, Snyder Distinguished Professor of Special Education
University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Help students with significant disabilities succeed in the general education classroom!

While most resources for inclusive education focus on teaching students with mild to moderate disabilities, teachers of students with more severe disabilities need specific methods to provide the individualized and systematic instruction necessary to support students in inclusive environments. This unique book meets that need with approaches, information, and ideas for teachers of students with moderate to severe disabilities in general education classrooms.

June E. Downing draws from a strong research base to provide practical instructional strategies, plus suggestions based on personal experience. Featuring tables and figures, chapter summaries, photographs, multiple examples, and strategies that address the how-to of instruction, this resource helps general and special education teachers:

• Adapt their curriculum to meet both individual student needs and state standards for core curriculum
• Work collaboratively with other teachers
• Develop assessments that accurately determine student needs
• Keep track of student progress through data collection

Essential for today′s inclusive classrooms, this guide covers everything teachers need to know to provide individualized instruction and assessment for their students with significant intellectual disabilities.

June E. Downing is Professor Emerita of Special Education at California State University, Northridge, and prior to that was at the University of Arizona in Tucson, where she did research and prepared teachers to work in the area of moderate, severe, and multiple disabilities. She is a national leader in the field of special education that targets the needs of students with severe disabilities, especially with regard to inclusive education. She has published numerous articles, chapters, monographs, and seven books on students having severe and multiple disabilities. She served for six years on the Executive Board of TASH, an international advocacy organization for individuals with severe disabilities, and was a past president of the California Chapter of this organization―CalTASH as well as AZTASH. She has served as an associate editor of Research and Practices for Persons With Severe Disabilities and currently serves on this board as well as several other professional editorial boards. She is presently serving as an educational consultant, traveling extensively in the United States and abroad to do presentations on various subjects.