Special Education

At Iroquois, we house two Intensive Support Programs (ISP classes): Learning Disability and Gifted. ISP classes provide students with greater support and experiences to meet the child's needs and develop their interests.

Examples of accommodations offered to students:

  • extended time limits
  • scribing
  • graphic organizers to plan a task
  • assistive technology

See the link below for more information:

Special Education in the TDSB

IPRC:

IPRC stands for Identification, Placement and Review Committee. This meeting must occur every year for students in a Special Education ISP class. The parent can choose to waive the meeting every other year if it is not a transition year (moving from grade 6 to 7). This means all Grade 6 students at Iroquois must have an IPRC meeting to prepare for Grade 7. At the meeting the child's strengths and areas for growth are discussed. Parent will confirm if they wish for their child to continue in the ISP class.

IPRC Guides for Parents

Special Education Resource Space at Iroquois:

IMG_7740

Giftedness:


Giftedness is not a diagnosis. It is an educational exceptionality. There are certain characteristics or signs that may suggest giftedness in children and adolescents.  Examples below, adapted from Clark, (2008), are based on four different areas. Please note, not all gifted learners will display all traits.   


Intellectual Abilities

  • Intellectual curiosity and eagerness to explore new concepts
  • Large vocabulary
  • Voracious and early reader
  • Persistent, goal-directed behaviour
  • Independence in work and study
  • Interest in problem-solving and applying concepts
  • Quick learning and ability to grasp complex ideas

Creativity and Imagination                                                                        

  • Keen sense of humour
  • Intuitiveness or ability to generate novel ideas 
  • Flexibility
  • Creativeness and inventiveness
  • Openness to stimuli, broad interests
  • Comfortable with unconventional approaches to challenges

Motivation and task commitment

  • Constantly asks questions, insatiable curiosity
  • Mood changes, especially related to perceptions of failure
  • Can be impulsive, eager, and spirited
  • High expectations of self and others often lead to feelings of frustration
  • Need for consistency between abstract values and personal actions

Social and emotional aspects

  • Experience emotions deeply and intensely
  • Idealism and sense of justice
  • Advanced levels of moral judgment
  • Heightened self-awareness, accompanied by feelings of being different
  • Highly energetic – needs little downtime
  • High levels of frustration – particularly when having difficulty meeting standards of performance (either imposed by self or others)

Myths about Gifted learners:

  • Gifted learners always progress effectively without planned scaffolding.
  • Gifted learners are naturally motivated in all subjects.
  • Gifted Learners consistently thrive in all independent, open-ended learning environments.
  • Gifted learners are good at everything.

Facts about Gifted learners:

  • Gifted learners are not always at the top of their classes.
  • Gifted learners may not be fine on their own.
  • Gifted learners may not thrive academically and may even experience frustration or disinterest in their studies.
  • An individual who is gifted can also have a learning disability.
  • Gifted children do not all exhibit the same characteristics.
  • Gifted learners may or may not prefer to socialize with their same-age peers

TDSB Guide for Parents of Gifted Learners