Some people assume that educational psychology only applies to K-12 learning, but in fact, educational psychology involves the study of how people of all ages learn. This field focuses on teaching methods, instructional processes, and individual differences in learning. The field of educational psychology also incorporates a number of other disciplines, including developmental psychology, behavioral psychology, and cognitive psychology.
While some people assume that we stop “learning” once school is completed, that is rarely the case. My background in educational psychology informs almost every part of what I do when working with adults with DD (Developmental Disabilities.) Previous learning may not have occurred methodically or consistently for the DD adults that come to CIS. As each new client arrives, we uncover new challenges. The CIS team must determine what these clients have learned, identify details of their previous care, and assess both their educational and emotional situations. To make matters more complicated, many clients come to us with incomplete or even non-existent records of care.
What Happens After the K-12 Experience
Many DD adults do not thrive after leaving the structure and oversight of a K-12 experience. While graduating from high school and moving into adulthood is a challenge for anyone, this transition can be particularly difficult for those with developmental disabilities. Individuals that have been served in a special education program may have participated in years of structured, individually paced learning following consistent federal guidelines. The graduation age can go up to age 22 for an individual receiving special education services.
After leaving K-12 school, without careful oversight, many DD adults fall prey to the effects of poverty, neglect, or even abuse. While K-12 educators are taught to expect a wide range of abilities for special education students, adult caregivers must be even more comprehensive in our client analyses.
That’s why having a solid understanding of behavioral and cognitive psychology is so important. Disabilities and abilities are dramatically affected by the environment. Negative histories result in present-day issues. Accepting this and planning for it is key to success. For example, one recent arrival had been living with her elderly parents for the last 30 years. Records were understandably incomplete. A doctorate in educational psychology gave me the tools I needed to put together an interim plan. At the same time, the CIS team began gathering data on the client’s current activity to help us identify needs, track success, and modify the plan based on how this individual adapts.
The Focus Shifts to Teaching Life Skills
When DD adults arrive at the CIS adult care community, we rarely spend a lot of time teaching reading or math. Instead, we focus on life skills like cooking, cleaning, and doing one’s own laundry. We often spend time teaching them concepts like food safety and home budgeting. At the same time, the CIS team creates plans that account for the client’s understandable frustration along the way, as well as accommodating more serious behavioral issues that may have resulted from past trauma.
An educational psychology approach helps. Understanding developmental psychology, behavioral psychology, and cognitive psychology inform the development of different approaches for each client based on ability, interests, and behavioral issues.
Regardless of developmental progress, each person’s personality and disposition are a product of nature AND nurture. Everyone inherits “good” and “bad” genes, and the environment and way we are raised can accentuate the positive or the negative. So, instead of developing a “one-size-fits-all” program, we spend time analyzing each client in order to determine what approach has the best chance of success.
Whether you’re working to help adults or children learn new behaviors, patience, listening, observing, and dedication are critical. The CIS team rarely meets all objectives on the first try. Instead, we continually work to adjust, refine, adapt, and improve our approaches using a combination of developmental psychology, behavioral psychology, and cognitive psychology.
Changing Government Regulations Add Complexity
As anyone in education or adult care knows, state and federal laws and regulations change all the time. Staying on top of compliance is both important and time-consuming, so we keep dedicated experts on staff. As regulations change, we internalize shifts and look for a straightforward way to bridge previous policies or procedures with new expectations.
Keeping up with policies and streamlining paperwork is critical to the success of any agency. Over the years, CIS has taken many clients from other struggling agencies. It’s common to see that other agencies create multiple systems to meet similar needs. Instead of streamlining paperwork, they simply added paperwork with each policy change. During a takeover of an agency several years ago, I was training a staff member on CIS’ behavioral data collection system, and the staff said, “Is this all there is? What am I going to do each day to keep myself busy?” I asked what she meant, and she said that in her previous position, there was so much duplication of documentation and data collection that it took the entire shift just to keep up with the paperwork. That system failed because they lost track of the intent of the paperwork and became buried in duplication.
Optimism Rules the Day
Any person in human service occasionally feels overwhelmed. The problems are big. There are no easy answers. Even as we help individuals one at a time, it’s hard to forget all the people we can’t personally help.
But in my work with special education and adults with developmental disabilities, I see progress. Over time, we’re getting much better at identifying issues, assessing the complexity of each individual, and understanding the value of documentation and analysis. That means that we now know how to successfully help more types of people with broader ranges of backgrounds and a wider range of behavioral issues.
Educational psychology has supplied me with so many vital skill sets. And the research and techniques in the field are improving every day. This area of study has helped me do so much in my life and my career, and I know it will continue to help me work on a range of challenges in the future.