Research the trends and prevalence of disability categories being served in your state and describe them to the class. Explain where you located this information and discuss what you can conclude about the needs of students in your state based upon this information. Explain how knowing this type of information can help you plan instruction to maximize the learning of all students. In replies to peers, discuss trends, or lack of trends, in the types of disability prevalence and explain why you think these similarities/differences occur from state to state. Include references citation format is APA, 400-500 words.
The Disability Statistics Compendium (DSC), published by the Institute on Community Integration, provides detailed information about disability categories served in each state. According to the DSC, a total of 804,802 students receiving special education services in Utah during the 2017-2018 school year were classified with disabilities. Of those students, 35 percent had specific learning disabilities; 15 percent had autism; 12 percent had speech or language impairments; 11 percent had emotional disturbance; 10 percent had intellectual disabilities; 8 percent had other health impairments and 9 percent had multiple disabilities (Institute on Community Integration [ICI], 2019).
By comparing the prevalence of various disability types across states it is possible to identify trends in special education needs. For example, according to ICI (2019), Utah’s prevalence rates for intellectual and specific learning disabilities are both higher than national averages when compared with data from other states. In addition, Utah has noticeably fewer cases of autism than most other states. This suggests that there may be certain areas in which students in this state require more support than average when it comes to meeting their educational goals.
Knowing this type of information can be helpful for educators as they plan instruction to maximize student learning outcomes. For instance, if teachers know that a particular group of students experiences greater challenges related to specific learning disabilities or intellectual deficits then they can create lesson plans that focus heavily on building foundational skills within these areas while also incorporating instructional strategies designed to meet individual needs such as accommodations or modifications (Ackerman & Brownell 2009). In doing so teachers can ensure that all students are getting the support they need and have an equal opportunity for success both inside and outside the classroom.
In replies to peers: One peer mentioned New Mexico’s statistics stating much lower prevalence levels for Autism compared to most other states unlike Utah’s numbers stated above which have notably fewer cases than most other states too suggesting some similarities between these two locations regarding Autism rates amongst special education populations overall possibly due to how similar population sizes tend towards similar demographics across different areas resulting often times similarly regardless location changes like between New Mexico and Utah here noted generally speaking .References: Ackerman P., & Brownell M.,(2009) Universal Design for Learning: A Guide for Instructional Designers Curriculum Developers ,Retrieved from https://files2retrieveedu/files/06/eedd39eb36e6f0abc90d8c43b1a48f//UDL20Guide20Final_Secure20101020pdf
Institute on Community Integration.(2019) Disability statistics compendium Retrieved from http://disabilitystatisticsinstitutumnuscedu/compendium