This document replaces Children With Moderate and Severe Intellectual
Handicaps (1981) and has been designed to:
- help classroom and special education teachers, paraprofessionals, support
staff, and school board personnel develop individual programs for students with
moderate and severe intellectual disabilities;
- assist teachers in adapting curriculum and teaching strategies to meet the
needs of students with moderate and severe intellectual disabilities;
- assist teachers in evaluating the progress of students and the
effectiveness of their programs;
- provide information and direction for curriculum development in subject
areas;
- facilitate the process of integrating students with intellectual
disabilities into school and community.
Steady progress has been made in the education of exceptional students since
the passage of Bill 82, which requires that school boards provide programs for
all students, exceptionality notwithstanding. Providing equal educational
opportunities through individualized programs and integrating students with
learning problems are accepted practices today. Across a range of placement
options, a variety of learning environments are provided in which students can
develop feelings of acceptance, belonging, and self-worth.
There are problems inherent in attempts to define or describe accurately any
group of students. Descriptions can lead to labelling, which in turn obscures
individual differences and can lead to misperceptions about students' learning
potential. Furthermore, labels can erect barriers between students and their
home and school communities. Because, in the past, labelling served to
stigmatize intellectually disabled students, it is important to proceed
cautiously and with sensitivity when describing these individuals and their
needs. Accordingly, in this document, pupils with moderate and severe
intellectual disabilities shall be referred to simply as students.
Each student is a unique individual who has the potential to learn and
develop with the help of a carefully planned and judiciously executed program.
Each faces intellectual challenges that result in slower learning of academic,
communicative, and social skills.
These students are a highly heterogeneous group with a wide range of
learning strengths, needs, and abilities. Some students face, in addition to
intellectual handicaps, physical and sensory disabilities that further
challenge their ability to learn and to gain control over their environment.
Society must accommodate persons who differ from the norm. Schools have a
responsibility to provide students with learning experiences that will prepare
them for effective participation in the community, because everyone has the
right to a full and rewarding life. For these students, such a life includes
opportunities to:
- live as independently as possible, in a home rather than an institution;
- be productive through independent or supported employment, volunteer work,
and participation in home life;
- use all community facilities and services;
- interact with others and make friends;
- enrol in continuing education programs, including literacy programs and a
wide range of interest courses;
- enjoy leisure activities.
To ensure the eventual full participation of students in the life of the
community, schools should endeavour to provide comprehensive programs aimed at
long-term goals. Such programs:
- are personalized to suit individual abilities and needs;
- use an experiential, multisensory, concrete approach;
- help each student become as independent as possible;
- provide students with whatever supports they require to learn a skill or to
participate in an activity, but recognize the value of phasing out such
supports when they are no longer needed;
- develop fully students' communicative, cognitive, personal-life-management,
and academic abilities;
- provide regular opportunities for students to interact with their
non-disabled peers;
- provide regular opportunities for students to move around in the community;
- allow students to learn and practise skills in the appropriate contexts and
environments;
- encourage students to develop leisure skills through personalized
assessment and instruction;
- prepare students for transition to other learning, community, and work
settings;
- provide students with career-education programs with their peers;
- assist students and their families in the transition to adult community
programs following completion of the secondary school program.
Legislative Background
The legislative background relevant to this document includes both the
educational guidelines that have been established for exceptional students and
the educational goals that have been specified for all students.
According to the Education Act, 1986, school boards must provide education
programs for all students residing in their jurisdictions.
The act specifies that each Ontario school-age student is entitled to access
to publicly supported education in his or her preferred language (English or
French), regardless of the student's special needs; students who are
exceptional are entitled to appropriate special education programs and
services. The act also states that the parents and guardians of exceptional
students must have the opportunity to be involved in the identification and
placement of these students.
The goals of education apply equally to all students in Ontario schools and
consist of helping each student to:
- develop a responsiveness to the dynamic processes oflearning;
- develop resourcefulness, adaptability, and creativity in learning and
living;
- acquire the basic knowledge and skills needed to comprehend and express
ideas through words, numbers, and other symbols;
- develop physical fitness and good health;
- gain satisfaction from participating and from sharing the participation of
others in various forms of artistic expression;
- develop a feeling of self-worth;
- develop an understanding of the role of the individual within the family
and the role of the family within society;
- acquire skills that contribute to self-reliance in solving practical
problems in everyday life;
- develop a sense of personal responsibility in society at the local,
national, and international levels;
- develop esteem for the customs, cultures, and beliefs of a wide variety of
societal groups;
- acquire skills and attitudes that will lead to satisfaction and
productivity in the world of work;
- develop respect for the environment and a commitment to the wise use of
resources;
- develop values related to personal, ethical, or religious beliefs and to
the common welfare of society.*
The Organization of This Document
In Part 1, "The Planning Cycle", a model of program planning is
introduced, and the four phases of planning represented in the model are
described in detail. The school board's role is discussed in "Support From
the School Board". Then suggestions are provided for assessing students'
learning needs by determining their levels of development in various areas. A
subsequent section, "Changing Inappropriate Behaviour", shows how to
use the planning cycle to change inappropriate behaviour that has been
uncovered by the assessment process. Sections on selecting and making the most
of a learning environment are followed by a section entitled
"Accommodating Students in a Regular School", which presents
strategies and practices for integrating students in a regular school. Finally,
a variety of approaches to program design are discussed.
In Part 2, "Suggestions for Specific Program Areas", the model of
program planning is applied to thirteen program areas. For each area, a general
overview, a list of elements in the planning cycle, and two case studies (one
at the elementary and one at the secondary level) are provided.
* Ministry of Education, Ontario, Ontario
Schools, Intermediate and Senior Divisions (Grades 7-12/OACs): Program and
Diploma Requirements, rev, ed. (Toronto: Ministry of Education, Ontario,
1989), pp. 3-4.
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