Successful Ministry to the Retarded[ETowns] - Elmer Towns

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BUILDINGS AND EQUIPMENTThe well-planned environment contributes immeasurably to the overall welfareof this student, who is capable of being as well adjusted as the normal child.However, churches must make greater and more thoughtful room provision for himthan for nonhandicapped children. Some of the previously implied specificationsfor a desirable special education room are these:1. Minimal standards set by the city and insurance companies of health, heat andfire prevention, plus consideration of the needs of physically handicapped pupils 13such as location and accessibility. 142. Location in a desirable part of the building where any other teacher would beglad to bold class, perhaps in a quiet spot and away from other classes. 153. The room needs a ventilating system which supplies clean air (without drafts)in adequate quantity to eliminate odors. 16 (This point cannot be given enough stress.One of the most severe problems faced by the authors in their classroom concernedodors. Some mentally retarded are not conscious of body needs and are prone toneglect certain necessary body functions, causing strong odors, especially infemales. With this in mind, it is imperative that the classroom be adequatelyventilated.)4. An environment which stimulates the healthy student is inappropriate for theretarded, especially those who suffer hyperactivity, for they cannot refrain fromreacting to unessential stimuli in the classrooms. 17Most of the complexities of the retarded child's learning disabilities cannot bealtered, 18 so there remains only the solution of creating an educational environmentwhich will face him with a minimum of distractions. This environment is just theopposite of that which we conceive for the normal student--bright, stimulating colorswith many centers of interest to capture and ignite his imagination. Comfort mightbe the only similarity between the ideal learning situation for the retarded andnormal student, and even that aspect must be worked out in differing physicalarrangements.Those charged with planning facilities to house a class for trainable mentallyretarded students might follow some of these guidelines set down by Cruickshankfor distractible pupils: match the colors of floor, furniture, woodwork and walls;provide one bulletin board and post only pictures there; shut off communicationsystems (which may have been installed in more modern churches); remove allfurniture which is not absolutely essential to teaching activity. This advice mayseem stark, at the very least. But this kind of environment is actually designed toshield the student from all possible stimuli outside of the learning opportunity being
given him by the teacher. 19 He must be careful to dress in muted colors, for brightcolors only excite the student and draw his attention away from almost everythingwhich the teacher is trying to do with him or with a group.5. Tables and chairs should be adjusted to the proper height of the individual sothat sitting posture is healthful and comfortable. Classrooms, if they are organizedaccording to developmental levels rather than the chronological age level, shouldhave chairs of different sizes. These persons grow at a slower rate and appear to theobserver to be an assorted arrangement of sizes and shapes. Individual needs mustbe catered to in the classroom to produce the desired learning.It is important, therefore, that the Christian teacher understand the individualneeds and differences of his mentally handicapped group. Formica table-tops willhelp in clean-up operations.A piano is helpful, especially in the classes for retarded youth and adults. Thefollowing should be accessible in the church school: records, rhythm instruments,toys, books, and other supplies as necessary to reach the goals for the trainableretarded in the Sunday school.SUMMARYThe church which elects to minister to the mentally retarded has as its first dutythe proper placement of the students. Educators differentiate between the educableand the trainable retarded. The educable mentally retarded, whose IQ rises highenough for a limited education, should go along with his own age in the regularclasses of the Sunday school. Trainable retarded pupils should never be placed inregular classes because their total needs are far too demanding for successfulintegration with normal students.Neither will teachers be successful in handling these children in the classroomwhich has been outfitted for the normal, healthy child. The Christian educationboard and trustees should work together in planning an environmentally congenialclassroom for trainable pupils who display highly intensified emotional, social andphysical reactions to the people and things surrounding them. Since these reactionscontinually interfere with their attempts to learn, much of the success of the teachingattempts depends upon the extent to which the room has been planned exclusivelyfor their comfort. A new room in a new building presents possibilities of creatingthe ideal atmosphere, but churches also can adapt space in older buildings for thespecial class.
Page 2 and 3: CONTENTSCHAPTERIntroductionPart I F
Page 4 and 5: since three hundred mentally retard
Page 6 and 7: probably learn those things which p
Page 8 and 9: age forty, her chances of producing
Page 10 and 11: Professionals are fond of telling t
Page 12 and 13: An accurate definition of the "trai
Page 14 and 15: Teachers can use visual materials t
Page 16 and 17: 6. Positive reinforcement should be
Page 18 and 19: ealize just how desperately these c
Page 20 and 21: However, Ms teacher must deal with
Page 22 and 23: he can perform well. A single perfo
Page 24 and 25: pupils. Teachers must be careful to
Page 26 and 27: in teaching trainable mentally reta
Page 28 and 29: 9. The picture-and-question combina
Page 30 and 31: are able to conceptualize. The auth
Page 32 and 33: PART IISuccessful MinistryChapter 5
Page 34 and 35: their children's handicap." He ment
Page 36 and 37: has never been disciplined not to b
Page 40 and 41: 6Who Shall Teach theMentally Retard
Page 42 and 43: Those in special education become a
Page 44 and 45: the media or method through which h
Page 46 and 47: The teacher divests his pupil of ye
Page 48 and 49: Can I set limits, then relax and al
Page 50 and 51: etter lead the person in learning e
Page 52 and 53: a way that His redeeming love is ev
Page 54 and 55: The retarded have a low level of co
Page 56 and 57: Most mentally retarded persons enjo
Page 58 and 59: 8How Shall the Family Be CounseledR
Page 60 and 61: place, attempting abortion, permiss
Page 62 and 63: school with a neighboring family, b
Page 64 and 65: Some will make an adequate adjustme
Page 66 and 67: church family "has been no problem
Page 68 and 69: criticize his every deed. Randy is
Page 70 and 71: If there is any starting point with
Page 72 and 73: Appendix OneHistorical Survey of Me
Page 74 and 75: 8. Children love repetition.9. Chil
Page 76 and 77: general intellectual functioning, (
Page 78 and 79: SOURCE: J. V. Hottel, The Tennessee
Page 80 and 81: 8. Ibid., p. 56.9. Ibid., p. 57.10.
Page 82 and 83: 17. Ibid., pp. 18-22.18. Louis Rose
Page 84 and 85: 24. Ovid. Decroly, La Classificatio
Page 86 and 87: Cruiksbank, William M. et al. A Tea
Page 88 and 89:
Koenig, Frances. "Implications in t
Page 90:
UNESCO. Organization of Special Edu
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