Strategies for Educating Learners with Neurological Impairments

This report delves into the educational needs of learners with neurological physical impairments, encompassing conditions such as Spina Bifida, traumatic paraplegia, traumatic brain injury, post-poliomyelitis, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, and Friedreich’s ataxia. It outlines the specific characteristics of each condition and their impact on learning. The report emphasizes the importance of individualized education plans, supportive tools, and positive communication strategies to create an inclusive learning environment. Educators and parents are encouraged to collaborate and provide a happy and supportive atmosphere for these students. The report also highlights the need for educators to develop strategies that focus on individualized education plan and provide audio-visual tool based learning. The report underscores the importance of providing support and understanding to students with disabilities, eliminating any form of discrimination.

Running head: DIFFICULTY DISABILITY EDUCATION
DIFFICULTY DISABILITY EDUCATION
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Step 1:
Neurological disorders are related to the diseases and the negative responses of brain.
This factor can be visible in the physical aspect as well. It has been seen that the neurological
disorders can affect the brain in different aspects and the impacts can be visible in the physical
context. These physical factors can be marked as the neurological related physical impairment.
There are many diseases related to the neurological disorders and these diseases show different
symptoms as well. The physical symptoms which are visible to naked eyes can be different for
different neurological distress. However, the common neurological related physical impairments
are partial or complete paralysis, muscle weakness, partial or complete loss of sensation,
seizures, difficulty reading and writing, poor cognitive abilities, unexplained pain and decreased
alertness (Hutchinson, Roberts and Daly 2018). All these earlier mentioned factors are common
in case of the neurological distresses of body. Hence, the conditions should be considered with
higher priority and proper treatment with education to these people should be provided for the
improvement of the situation of these people as they are partially disabled. In the following steps
the characteristics of these conditions and the education process will be described.
Step 2:
Neurological related physical impairment Different characteristics
Spina Bifida It is a birth defect where the spinal cord of the
developing baby could not develop properly.
There are no symptoms found generally if the
tested for other neurological distress then can
be identified with this condition as well.
There are four distinct types of Spina Bifida
present these are occulta, closed neural tube
defect, meningocele and myelomeningocele.
These are developed based on the severity and
chances of symptom presence respectively
(Dik, de Kort and Veenboer 2018).
Traumatic paraplegia and quadriplegia Paraplegia is caharacterised by the loss of

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feelings or sensation in the legs and also the
trunk and this condition develop due to the
injury of the nerves below the neck. Thus, the
trauma of the injury leads to the sensation
loss. On the other hand, the quadriplegia is
the paralysis of the four distinct limbs of the
person and this also caused due to the injury
of spinal cord and nervous system (Hwang et
al. 2018).
Traumatic brain injury External blow can develop the dysfunction in
the brain and develop different distresses. The
distresses can be characterised by the
development of different symptoms such as
seizures and convulsions, slurred speech,
persistent loss of consciousness, numbness in
the fingers or toes, poor coordination, strange
behavior, dilated pupils and others as well.
Traumatic blow to the brain can develop
different internal injuries which lead to these
conditions (Carney et al. 2017).
Post-Poliomyelitis This is a distress which affects the polio
survivors years after the attack of
Poliomyelitis virus and develops different
distresses in the body including progressive
muscle or joint weakness and pain, fatigue,
muscle wasting, breathing or swallowing
problems, sleep-related breathing disorders,
such as sleep apnea, decreased tolerance of
cold temperatures and other symptoms as well
(Chu and Lam 2019).
Muscular dystrophy This is a genetic disease that is mutation in
the genes lead to development of muscle mass
loss and also weakening the muscles as well.
Hence, it leads to frequent falls, difficulty
rising from a lying or sitting position, trouble
running and jumping, walking on the toes,
large calf muscles, muscle pain and stiffness,
learning disabilities (Long et al. 2016).
Multiple sclerosis In this case the immune system cannot
differentiate the threat of the body and the
protective layer of the nerves and degenerates
the protective layer. This factor leads to
muscle stiffness or spasms. paralysis,
typically in the legs, problems with bladder,
bowel or sexual function. mental changes,

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such as forgetfulness or mood swings,
depression, epilepsy and other symptoms as
well (Thompson et al. 2017).
Friedreich’s ataxia This is a hereditary disease which
progressively damage the nervous system of
the affected person. This factor leads to vision
changes, loss of hearing, weak muscles, lack
of reflexes in your legs, poor coordination or
lack of coordination, speech problems,
involuntary eye movements, foot deformities,
such as clubfoot and others as well (Zhang,
Napierala and Napierala 2019).
Step 3:
Neurological related physical impairment Needs of learners
Spina Bifida The learners with this issue can be normal as
there is symptoms found generally. However,
some of the learners can have extra fluid in
brain and that can affect learning (Dik, de
Kort and Veenboer 2018). These children can
also use splints, leg braces, crutches, casts,
canes, walkers, or wheelchairs and also
special seats. These learners are generally
normal although they should be treated with
extra care and the communication should be
empathetic for these children.
Traumatic paraplegia and quadriplegia The learners with these issues should be
provided with support thus, specialised seats,
walker, leg braces, crutches and other
supportive instruments should be provided
(Hwang et al. 2018). Moreover, the education
should be provided normally and should be
positive as well. Any kind of discriminative
behaviour towards these children should not
be implemented and mostly avoided.
Traumatic brain injury These students can have several issues such as
concentration loss, short term memory loss
and long term memory loss as well and also
they need extra time to understand (Carney et
al. 2017). Thus, these students should be
provided with seating accommodation that is
supportive seating and also should be taught

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with attention. Moreover, these students
should be provided with mental support and
also effective communication should be
implemented.
Post-Poliomyelitis Generally, these people are discriminated and
that is a negative practice. Thus, this should
be eliminated. The people with this issue
should be provided with proper nutritional
knowledge and also provided with
physiotherapy to reduce the muscle issues and
also helped as well (Chu and Lam 2019).
Muscular dystrophy These learners also need supportive
instruments in the classroom such as
wheelchair or crutch and others. These
children also needed to be taught with the
help of visual technologies thus, the
classroom should be developed with this kind
of technological tools (Long et al. 2016). On
the other hand, the education plan should be
individualised as the children with this issue
cannot learn fast and should be provided with
special support.
Multiple sclerosis These learners will also need specific and
effective individualised education plan. The
students with this issue show manageable
symptoms though they should be considered
with priority (Thompson et al. 2017).
Friedreich’s ataxia These learners need supportive tools such as
wheelchair (Zhang, Napierala and Napierala
2019). On the other hand, these learners
should be provided with individualised
education plan as the issues of this condition
affect different people differently.
Step 4:
The learners with neurological physical impairments should be provided with extra
support. Thus, the strategies of the educators for these people should focus on the individualised
education plan development. All the learners with neurological physical impairments showed
different kinds of symptoms and issues. Hence, the individualised education plan based on the

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assessment of the students should be considered. The students with neurological physical
impairments should be provided with audio visual tool based learning as this would be effective
for these students to understand easily. Moreover, most of the neurological physical impairment
students are found with different physical disabilities (Marston et al. 2017). Hence, based on the
disability the student should be provided with supportive tools to cope with these disabilities. On
the other hand, the factor of the education program should be provided without any
discriminative behaviour or negative tone of communication.
Step 5:
The neurological physical impairment learners should be provided with extra support.
Hence, the educators and the parents of these students should play distinct role in the education
of these students. These students should be provided with happy environment and also positive
support (Stafford et al. 2017). Thus, role players in the learning of these students should be
provided with effective and positive attitude to impact these students in a positive manner.

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References
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Chesnut, R., Harris, O.A., Kissoon, N. and Rubiano, A.M., 2017. Guidelines for the management
of severe traumatic brain injury. Neurosurgery, 80(1), pp.6-15.
Chu, E.C.P. and Lam, K.K.W., 2019. Post-poliomyelitis syndrome. International medical case
reports journal, 12, p.261.
Dik, P., de Kort, L.M. and Veenboer, P.W., 2018. Neurogenic Bladder: Myelomeningocele,
Occult Spina Bifida, and Tethered Cord. In Clinical Urodynamics in Childhood and Adolescence
(pp. 127-141). Springer, Cham.
Hutchinson, K., Roberts, C. and Daly, M., 2018. Identity, impairment and disablement: exploring
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impairments. Disability & society, 33(2), pp.175-196.
Hwang, J., Shin, Y., Park, J.H., Cha, Y.J. and You, J.S.H., 2018. Effects of Walkbot gait training
on kinematics, kinetics, and clinical gait function in paraplegia and quadriplegia.
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Disability employment policy and program influences on education-to-employment transition for
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Stafford, L., Marston, G., Chamorro-Koc, M., Beatson, A. and Drennan, J., 2017. Why one size
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Thompson, A.J., Banwell, B.L., Barkhof, F., Carroll, W.M., Coetzee, T., Comi, G., Correale, J.,
Fazekas, F., Filippi, M., Freedman, M.S. and Fujihara, K., 2018. Diagnosis of multiple sclerosis:
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Zhang, S., Napierala, M. and Napierala, J.S., 2019. Therapeutic Prospects for Friedreich’s
Ataxia. Trends in pharmacological sciences, 40(4), pp.229-233.