Modifications and Adaptations

From Chapter 8 of Abuse and Neglect: The Educator's Guide to the Identification and Prevention of Child Maltreatment, by Barbara Lowenthal, Ed.D.

Copyright © 2001 by Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Students who are maltreated may need special modifications and/or adaptations to assist their learning and increase their mastery of schoolwork. These modifications and adaptations may include adapting the environment and modifying the objectives of the curriculum, the responses required, the presentation, the workload, and the materials. An alternate type of modification is the use of task analysis.

Adapting the School Environment

The school environment influences the teaching and learning processes. Teachers can use the following adaptations to make the school environment more positive for students who are maltreated (Nevin, 1998; Yehle & Rambold, 1998):

• The teacher should reduce unnecessary clutter to make the classroom more attractive.
  
  
• The students should sit in close proximity to the teacher. The proximity often has the effect of lengthening the students’ attention span.
  
  
• The students’ seats should be away from high traffic areas, which can distract them.
  
  
• The teacher should have all necessary equipment in order and materials prepared ahead of time to reduce possible distractibility from waiting time.
  
  
• The teacher should examine the schedule to reduce waiting times.
  
  
• The teacher should divide the classroom into small groups to increase the students’ attention while teaching lessons. If possible, the teacher should reduce class size through the use of aides and volunteers.
  
  
• The teacher should define each student’s workspace during large-group floor activities (e.g., providing each child with a carpet square on which to sit).
  
  
• If the teacher has a student who is hyperactive in his or her class, then the student should be allowed to stand while doing seatwork, especially at the end of the task.
  
  
• The students should be given two seats in which to move around when necessary.
  
  
• The teacher should cover the students’ desks with colored contact paper to attract their attention to the schoolwork.

Modifying the Objective, Response, Workload, and Materials

To meet the needs of students who are maltreated who have learning difficulties, modifications may be necessary in the objective of the lesson, presentation of it, response, workload, and material. The following modifications are summarized from the recommendations of Lerner (2000), Snell and Janney (2000), and Yehle and Rambold (1998):

1. Same objective with an alternate response (e.g., all of the students work on the same objective, but instead of writing the answers down on an assignment, a student is allowed to give the answers orally)
   
   
2. Same objective but with an alternate presentation (e.g., when a student has difficulties in reading, a peer can read him or her the assigned chapters)
   
   
3. Same objective but less of a workload (e.g., instead of assigning 10 math problems, 5 are given to the student)
   
   
4. Same objective with different materials and expectations (e.g., instead of learning seventh-grade spelling words, the student learns second-grade level words so that the objective is similar but fulfilled at a lower level of development)
   
   
5. Individualized objective (e.g., instead of doing story problems in mathematics, the student works on coin and dollar recognition and the counting of change as a way to make the objective more functional and relate to life skills)

When planning modifications, teachers need to keep in mind the significant components of the curriculum so that all of these components will be included in the changes. Modifications should be meaningful, useful, and meet the individual needs of children who are maltreated so that they are actively involved, work with their peers, participate fully in class activities, and achieve success. It also is important for teachers to be culturally sensitive to diversity in students who are abused and neglected so that their expectations do not conflict with their students’ cultural backgrounds. For example, teachers should not expect eye contact from all of their students when they answer questions if this would be a sign of disrespect to adults in some children’s cultures.

Using Task Analysis as an Alternate Modification

Another type of modification involves the use of task analysis, which can facilitate learning in some students who are abused and neglected. The purpose of task analysis is to break down a task into small, manageable, and sequential units (Lerner, 2000). Instead of being overwhelmed by a task, the student can feel more confident of its mastery. In planning the task analysis, the teacher should decide on the important information that must be learned, the sequence of steps in teaching it, and the necessary prerequisite skills. This information can be obtained by answering the following questions:

1. Is the task verbal or nonverbal? Is it auditory or visual?
   
   
2. What problem-solving strategies are necessary for the mastery of each step?
   
   
3. How will the student demonstrate mastery of the whole assignment?

Task analysis can assist students who are maltreated by reducing the complexity of an assignment so that they feel successful and gain a sense of mastery.