Have you ever found yourself feeling frustrated about exclusionary factors? Don’t worry, you are not alone! Let’s discuss some tips about exclusionary factors related to specific learning disabilities and ease some of your frustrations! If you want to watch a replay of the live recording where I discuss this topic, please click here.
Vision and Hearing are Straightforward, Right?
I like to group our exclusionary factors into three categories. The first are the ones that are a bit more straightforward, including hearing and vision. As we know, this information is typically gathered through screenings by your school nurse. Ideally, we receive this information before we begin the evaluation process, but even something as straightforward as passing a vision test isn’t always so. I find myself asking questions of my school nurse when she tells me on day 58 of my 60-day timeline that the student did not pass the vision screen. “Do you mean he cannot see the board or my flipbooks or iPad during testing?
Attendance: When Is It An Issue?
For some exclusionary factors, it would be helpful if we got some guidance. For example, is there a specific cut-off percentage that would tell me attendance is a primary or just a contributory factor to this student’s learning profile? Here are some questions I like to ask myself when examining attendance.
- Are the student’s attendance issues long-standing?
- When did the student’s attendance issues begin?
- Why has the student been absent so much? Could the underlying reason be a mental health concern?
Let’s Compare Data!
The last category for our exclusionary factors is when we might rely on comparison data. For example, school psychs need to consider whether a student’s cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic status are exclusionary factors. Two great ways to think about this are (1) how are you asking questions about a family’s cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic status? and (2) do you have data at your site that you could use for comparison? Do you have other students of similar cultural backgrounds as the student you are evaluating? If so, what do you notice about their universal screening and progress monitoring data?
