ABSTRACT

Individuals who have severe and multiple disabilities are an extremely heterogeneous group by ability, personality, experiences, and preferences (Giangreco, 2006). This group includes children who have moderate intellectual disability (in tandem with at least one additional disability), severe or profound intellectual disability, some children with traumatic brain injury, children who are deafblind, and some children with autism spectrum disorders. Health disorders, physical disabilities, sensory loss, and behavioral, and communication challenges pose additional barriers to development. The impact of multiple disabilities on learning cannot be understood by simply adding the effects of each disability; rather, the effect is complex, interactional, and multiplicative in nature (Gargiulo, 2009).