A kindergarten teacher notes that a student has a broad nasal bridge, low muscle tone, and a single crease across each palm. The student's medical file lists a congenital heart repair. Which additional health concern should the team plan to monitor most closely before the student joins adaptive physical education?

Atlantoaxial instability in the cervical spine

Bone fragility that raises fracture risk on impact

Exercise-induced seizures from overheating

Progressive muscle weakness from a dystrophy

A teacher is planning the physical layout of a self-contained classroom for students with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities. Which arrangement best supports independence and reduces problem behavior?

Defined, labeled activity areas with materials stored nearby

One large open area so students can move between activities

Furniture rearranged often to keep students engaged

Rows of desks facing the board for most activities

When teaching a social skill such as greeting peers, which plan best supports verbal and nonverbal communication for a student with limited speech?

Teach a wave, a symbol or device message, and an approximation of 'hi'

Teach the spoken word 'hello' through daily verbal imitation drills

Wait to teach greetings until the student can speak in full sentences

Have peers initiate greetings so the student only needs to respond

A teacher plans a lesson using video modeling to teach a student to order food at a fast-food restaurant. What is the most important feature of an effective video model?

It shows each step done correctly in a realistic setting

It models several related skills in one continuous video

It runs long enough to show many examples of the skill

It uses animated characters to hold the student's attention

A student received a standard score of 70 on a standardized adaptive behavior scale. If the mean is 100 and the standard deviation is 15, the student's score is:

About 2 standard deviations below the mean

About 1 standard deviation below the mean

About 3 standard deviations below the mean

About 1.5 standard deviations below the mean

A student with intellectual disability engages in self-injurious head hitting several times a day. The FBA shows the behavior occurs mostly when the student is alone with nothing to do and is maintained by automatic reinforcement. Which part of a BIP is most important?

Enrichment with preferred sensory items and a medical check

Brief time-out from activities after each incident

Planned ignoring of each head-hitting episode

Verbal redirection and a reminder after each incident

A middle school student with intellectual disability often wanders out of the classroom during transitions. Which preventive plan is most appropriate?

A transition job, a visual cue, and nearby adult support

A locked classroom door during all daily transitions

Loss of recess time after each wandering incident

Keeping the student in the room until halls are clear

A student completes 80% of a cleaning task independently but consistently misses the last step, putting the supplies away. Which strategy best targets this error?

Add a visual cue at the missed step and reinforce the full chain

Reteach the entire task using total task presentation

Remove the final step and have staff put supplies away

Switch to backward chaining starting with the last step

After an FBA, the team writes a hypothesis: "When given independent math work, Lea leaves her seat to avoid the task." Which BIP strategy follows directly from this hypothesis?

Teach Lea to request a break, adjust task length, reinforce work

Use planned ignoring each time Lea leaves her seat

Send Lea to a quiet area to finish the work later

Give Lea teacher attention and praise when she is seated

Praxis Special Education: Teaching Students with Intellectual Disabilities (5322)

Free Praxis Special Education Practice Questions

10 sample questions for the Praxis Special Education: Teaching Students with Intellectual Disabilities (5322), with the correct answer and an explanation for each. No account needed. Try each one before you open the answer.

Sections covered on the exam: Development and Characteristics of Students with Intellectual Disabilities, Learning Environment and Classroom Management, Instructional Planning and Strategies, Assessment and Evaluation, Professional Responsibilities and Ethical Practices.

Question 1 · Development and Characteristics of Students with Intellectual Disabilities
A kindergarten teacher notes that a student has a broad nasal bridge, low muscle tone, and a single crease across each palm. The student's medical file lists a congenital heart repair. Which additional health concern should the team plan to monitor most closely before the student joins adaptive physical education?
- A.Atlantoaxial instability in the cervical spine
- B.Bone fragility that raises fracture risk on impact
- C.Exercise-induced seizures from overheating
- D.Progressive muscle weakness from a dystrophy
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. Atlantoaxial instability in the cervical spine
The features describe Down syndrome, which carries a risk of atlantoaxial instability, so activities that stress the neck (tumbling, diving) may need medical clearance. Low muscle tone in Down syndrome is not a progressive dystrophy, and bone fragility is linked to other conditions such as osteogenesis imperfecta.
Question 2 · Learning Environment and Classroom Management
A teacher is planning the physical layout of a self-contained classroom for students with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities. Which arrangement best supports independence and reduces problem behavior?
- A.One large open area so students can move between activities
- B.Furniture rearranged often to keep students engaged
- C.Rows of desks facing the board for most activities
- D.Defined, labeled activity areas with materials stored nearby
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. Defined, labeled activity areas with materials stored nearby
Defined, labeled areas tell students what happens where, and materials stored at the point of use support independence and reduce wandering. A single open area lacks the visual boundaries these learners need, and frequent rearrangement removes predictability.
Question 3 · Learning Environment and Classroom Management
When teaching a social skill such as greeting peers, which plan best supports verbal and nonverbal communication for a student with limited speech?
- A.Teach the spoken word 'hello' through daily verbal imitation drills
- B.Wait to teach greetings until the student can speak in full sentences
- C.Teach a wave, a symbol or device message, and an approximation of 'hi'
- D.Have peers initiate greetings so the student only needs to respond
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. Teach a wave, a symbol or device message, and an approximation of 'hi'
Multimodal communication gives the student several effective ways to greet, and accepting all of them builds success while speech develops. Drilling only the spoken word limits a student with little speech to the hardest mode and delays functional greeting.
Question 4 · Instructional Planning and Strategies
A teacher plans a lesson using video modeling to teach a student to order food at a fast-food restaurant. What is the most important feature of an effective video model?
- A.It shows each step done correctly in a realistic setting
- B.It models several related skills in one continuous video
- C.It runs long enough to show many examples of the skill
- D.It uses animated characters to hold the student's attention
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. It shows each step done correctly in a realistic setting
Effective video models are short, focus on one skill, show each step performed correctly, and resemble the setting where the skill will be used. Combining several skills in one video increases the load on attention and memory and blurs the target skill.
Question 5 · Assessment and Evaluation
A student received a standard score of 70 on a standardized adaptive behavior scale. If the mean is 100 and the standard deviation is 15, the student's score is:
- A.About 1 standard deviation below the mean
- B.About 2 standard deviations below the mean
- C.About 3 standard deviations below the mean
- D.About 1.5 standard deviations below the mean
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. About 2 standard deviations below the mean
With a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15, a score of 70 is 30 points, or 2 standard deviations, below the mean. A drop of 1.5 standard deviations would correspond to a score of about 78, so it understates the gap.
Question 6 · Development and Characteristics of Students with Intellectual Disabilities
A 7-year-old girl with severe intellectual disability has frequent seizures, an unsteady gait, minimal speech, and frequent laughter and smiling that are not always linked to events. Which syndrome is most consistent with this profile?
- A.Prader-Willi syndrome
- B.Williams syndrome
- C.Angelman syndrome
- D.Rett syndrome
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. Angelman syndrome
Angelman syndrome is marked by severe intellectual disability, minimal speech, seizures, an ataxic gait, and frequent laughter and smiling. Rett syndrome also affects girls and involves seizures and gait problems, but it follows a period of typical early development and features regression and hand-wringing rather than a happy demeanor. Williams syndrome involves fluent, social language, and Prader-Willi syndrome involves hyperphagia.
Question 7 · Learning Environment and Classroom Management
A student with intellectual disability engages in self-injurious head hitting several times a day. The FBA shows the behavior occurs mostly when the student is alone with nothing to do and is maintained by automatic reinforcement. Which part of a BIP is most important?
- A.Brief time-out from activities after each incident
- B.Enrichment with preferred sensory items and a medical check
- C.Planned ignoring of each head-hitting episode
- D.Verbal redirection and a reminder after each incident
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. Enrichment with preferred sensory items and a medical check
Self-injury maintained by automatic reinforcement is best addressed by enriching the environment with competing sensory stimulation and scheduled activities, along with medical evaluation to rule out pain. Time-out would leave the student alone with nothing to do, the condition that already produces the behavior, and planned ignoring cannot remove automatic reinforcement.
Question 8 · Learning Environment and Classroom Management
A middle school student with intellectual disability often wanders out of the classroom during transitions. Which preventive plan is most appropriate?
- A.A locked classroom door during all daily transitions
- B.Loss of recess time after each wandering incident
- C.Keeping the student in the room until halls are clear
- D.A transition job, a visual cue, and nearby adult support
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. A transition job, a visual cue, and nearby adult support
A meaningful transition role, a clear visual cue, and adult proximity prevent wandering while keeping the student included. Keeping the student back until halls clear removes the student from the routine instead of teaching successful transitions, and locking doors raises safety and legal concerns.
Question 9 · Instructional Planning and Strategies
A student completes 80% of a cleaning task independently but consistently misses the last step, putting the supplies away. Which strategy best targets this error?
- A.Reteach the entire task using total task presentation
- B.Add a visual cue at the missed step and reinforce the full chain
- C.Remove the final step and have staff put supplies away
- D.Switch to backward chaining starting with the last step
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. Add a visual cue at the missed step and reinforce the full chain
When one step is consistently missed, a targeted prompt at that step, such as a picture card on the cabinet, plus reinforcement for completing the whole chain addresses the specific error. Switching to backward chaining would reteach a chain the student already performs mostly on their own, which is less efficient.
Question 10 · Assessment and Evaluation
After an FBA, the team writes a hypothesis: "When given independent math work, Lea leaves her seat to avoid the task." Which BIP strategy follows directly from this hypothesis?
- A.Use planned ignoring each time Lea leaves her seat
- B.Send Lea to a quiet area to finish the work later
- C.Teach Lea to request a break, adjust task length, reinforce work
- D.Give Lea teacher attention and praise when she is seated
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. Teach Lea to request a break, adjust task length, reinforce work
Because the behavior serves an escape function, the BIP teaches an appropriate way to request a break or help, reduces task aversiveness, and reinforces work completion. Planned ignoring targets attention-maintained behavior and would still let Lea escape the task, and sending her away also reinforces escape.

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