Working with Students with Learning Disabilities
What would you say is the greatest challenge to working with students with learning disabilities?
Making sure that they retain and understand the material without you making them feel embarresed.
Finding a way to help them learn the material without drawing unneccessary attention to them or making them feel less than
benny,
this really is key & can sometimes be a balancing act as we want to help them, but not single them out or make them feel awkward.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
benny,
this really is key & can sometimes be a balancing act as we want to help them, but not single them out or make them feel awkward.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
getting them to open up about what they understand and what they dont understand
Mike,
yes, we need to work closely with these students to encourage them to really open up & be honest about what would help them.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
for me, the greatest challenge is lack of real exposure to it. I haven't really had any experience of having to deal with it. i could imagine that I would have would be fully understanging it and being able to apply meaningful techniques to help with it. The part of the class that was most helpful to me on this was the section stating that these folks have been dealing with it their whole lives and know how to work with it. Their advice would be my biggest help at that point. One would also have to ensure that the class progression doesn't slow down to the point of losing other students interest or focus while giving extra time to the one(s) with LD. Again this is kind of speculative for me since I don't really have much experience with it.
Time is our greatest problem. Our instruction is broken down into phases which change on a regular schedule. Students who learn at a slower pace sometimes are not ready to move on with their class and have to re-phase. This can frustrate them, and requires the instructors to encourage the student to keep them from dropping out.
One of the greatest challenges i have found with learning disabilities is keeping the rest of the class focused as the slower student tires to understand the material.
gary,
this is definitely a challenge & in these situations we really must do all we can to encourage them & help them be successful.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
By understanding the different types of learning disorders and their signs, you can pinpoint the specific challenges your child faces and find a treatment program that works. Same rules will apply to adults with same diagnosis
I think one of the biggest challenges to working with students with learning disabilities is getting to to believe they can be successful if they want to be. It may take them longer to grasp the concepts than other students and they may not get through as much of the course material as students without learning disabilities, but they are still successful.
Ghaleb,
it is definitely true that the more informed we are, the better chance we have of helping our students. Also, knowing general guidelines to help our students can assist in their learning as well.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
The greatest challenge is to balance what the student with disabilities needs with what the remainder of the class needs ... and not making a "production" out of it. For example ... I have always made a study guide for class lecture (basic outline) however, now I make the outline a bit more specific for learning outcomes and bullets points in order to "help" the student who needs it without drawing attention to the disability.
The greatest challenge is the amount of time they require. I know some of the time I spent with my students was done on "my time" because I was on salary. But, the reward for the time invested far outweighs any paycheck! Christina
Specific learning Outcomes with bullets sounds like a good idea. Would you recommend a lot of repetition as well?
This is something close to me. When I was in school as a child I suffered with dyslexia, my wife works with special needs children and my son has a GIEP. So I can answer this with some level of confidence that the greatest challenge for a teacher when dealing with a learning disability is getting over the thought that it’s a hindrance. I came up in a school system that failed to address my difficulties when learning to read/write. It became a huge challenge for me to sit in class and complete assignments when in fact my issues were small. The problems I had have not slowed me down since. I will still turn a “d†backwards from time to time and will cross myself up if I lose focus reading but it is a simple problem to solve. This eluded many of my grade school teachers though. I was chastised incessantly, and disliked school as a result. Hearing some of the comments and questions that teachers have for my wife opened my eyes to how misunderstood disabilities can by. I will not go into detail here but believe me when I say it’s insulting how little people do to try and accommodate.
finding ways to help them succeed. I have found they may be reluctant to tell you, or ask for extra help
my greatest challenge is understand their work ability and taking a step back to move when they move.. I am fast worker and have to push work forward until its done. but with student that have learning disabilites I personally have to move when they move and teach what i know will retain and go day by day.
