Oklahoma State Department of Education Special Education Services • 405-521-3351 • www.ok.gov/sde/special-education FACT MULTIPLE DISABILITES SHEET

■ Definition of Multiple IMPLICATIONS Disabilities under IDEA A variety of medical problems may accompany severe Multiple disabilities means concomitant impairments disabilities. Examples include seizures, sensory loss, hy- (such as mental retardation-blindness or mental re- drocephalus, and scoliosis. These conditions should be tardation-orthopedic impairment), the combination considered when establishing school services. A multi- of which causes such severe educational needs that disciplinary team consisting of the student’s parents, they cannot be accommodated in special education educational specialists, and medical specialists in the programs solely for one of the impairments. Multiple areas in which the individual demonstrates problems disabilities does not include deaf-blindness. 34 CFR should work together to plan and coordinate necessary 300.8(c)(7) services.

People with severe disabilities are those who tradition- ally have been labeled as having severe to profound IMPACT ON LEARNING cognitive impairments or intellectual disabilities. Now, • Ability levels vary widely, from functional academics there’s a growing understanding that disabilities can to basic life skills affect individuals along a scale of minimal or mild to • Learning does occur when appropriate supports and severe. It is possible to have a mild learning disability materials are provided or a severe one, just as it’s possible to have mild or se- • Appropriate educational programming should in- vere autism, without a clear-cut diagnosis of intellectual clude self-care and self-advocacy components disability. Multiple disabilities, by its very name, means • Deficits in motor development can impact indepen- that an individual usually has more than one significant dence and access to the environment disability, such as movement difficulties, sensory loss, • Physical therapy and orthopedic supports may be and/or a behavior or emotional disorder. necessary to ensure independence • Knowledge of hearing / visual impairment is essential to appropriate program development INCIDENCE • Deficits in the area of communication should be ad- In the 2002-2003 school year, the U.S. Department of dressed through the use of assistive technology and Education reported 140,209 students with multiple dis- augmentative communication systems abilities.

TEACHING TIPS/INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES POSSIBLE SIGNS AND CHARACTERISTICS Determining an appropriate educational program for People with severe or multiple disabilities may exhibit a student with multiple disabilities can be a daunting a wide range of characteristics, depending on the com- task due to the variety of pervasive supports needed bination and severity of disabilities, and the person’s by these students. The planning process should be a age. There are, however, some traits they may share, multidisciplinary process, including parents, teachers, including: physical therapists, assistive technology teachers, and • Limited speech or communication any number of additional support staff. Of course, at • Difficulty in basic physical mobility the center of the planning process should be the stu- • Tendency to forget skills through disuse dent, and the strengths and desires of the student • Trouble generalizing skills from one situation to an- should guide the entire process. Specific steps to suc- other cess need to be identified, and timelines set for each • A need for support in major life activities (e.g., do- educational objective. In addition, resources and sup- mestic, leisure, community use, vocational) ports needed for the student to achieve his goals should be defined and addressed. One area of support that can be particularly effective Assistive Technology for all involved is peer tutoring. Peer tutoring has been • Motor skills proven to have positive results for students with mul- • Positioning tiple disabilities in a number of separate research stud- • Sensory issues ies. However, care must be taken that the tutoring is • Communication not a one-way relationship, but is reciprocal. The stu- dent with multiple disabilities should also be able to Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) provide something to the tutoring process, even if it is • Sign language a simple social behavior. Some training on both sides • Augmentative communication systems will be necessary to make this a fruitful support system. • Tangible and tactile symbol systems • Choice boards • Object prompts and symbols • Physical modeling and prompting • Microswitch technology

Augmentative communication devices all share four key features: symbols, displays, selection, and output.

THIS INFORMATION DEVELOPED FROM THE FOLLOWING RESOURCES: • Perkins Scout www.perkins.org/resources/scout/students-with-multiple-disabilities/ • TASH www.tash.org/ • Education.com www.education.com/definition/multiple-disabilities/ • Project Ideal: Informing & Designing Education for All Learners www.projectidealonline.org/multipleDisabilities.php