Free Webinar: Adaptive Behavior and the School Environment

[Guest guest]

Adaptive Behavior and the School Environment

Date: April 13, 2010, 2:00-3:00 pm Eastern

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/380765947

Next in the AAIDD Teleconference Series, this talk will explore those environmental influences known to impact the health, behavior and academic achievement of the child. To achieve full societal inclusion and participation for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, reasonable accommodations to the school environment must be considered as part of any placement decision.

In The School and Society Dewey writes that, “From the standpoint of the child, the great waste in the school comes from his inability to utilize the experiences he gets outside the school in any complete and free way within the school itself; while on the other hand, he is unable to apply in daily life what he is learning at school. That is the isolation of the school – its isolation from life.” This isolation is even more profound for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

In Schools of Tomorrow Dewey expands this with, “[t]he child is best prepared for life as an adult by experiencing in childhood what has meaning to him as a child.” The present method of identifying an appropriate placement for child with a disability within a school frequently ignores the influence that the environment has on the child and instead focuses almost exclusively on the child’s disabilities independent of the environmental confounders.

Dr. Ibata’s talk will explore those environmental influences known to impact the health, behavior and academic achievement of the child. To achieve full societal inclusion and participation for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities reasonable accommodations to the school environment must be considered as part of any placement decision. Only with safe and healthy school environment will a disabled child be able to achieve full adaptive behavior potential as an adult. Hotmail has tools for the New Busy. Search, chat and e-mail from your inbox. Learn More.