Having them share & discuss their disabiality and making the instructor knowledgeable upfront and when the class starts, not mid way thru.
I agree. I get frustrated because I'll have problems with a student and I can almost identify what's wrong but because of our school's compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act I'm left powerless. The student has to approach us first. We are not allowed to broach the subject. The most I can say is: "Is there something you'd like to tell me...? Is there something I should know...?"
I find alot of students are embarast of their IEP and often will not share the fact that they have one until they are struggling with the course and it may be too late
The greatest challenge is to have that student make the instructor aware of the disablilty prior to poor class assignments. Getting the student the help and support that they need.
It involves more time and tutoring. There are times wherein it is very difficult to tutor them especially when the course is on medical terminology which involves spelling the terms correctly.
Keeping them motivated to continue. At times they consistently want to give up
I would say the biggest problem is simply discovering that they have a disability. Sometimes the students don't want to discuss it and so it takes time for a teacher to recognize it. Once it is recognized, then it can be dealt with in many ways.
My greatest difficulty, because of the nature of our subject matter, is trying to deal with the problem head-on. Although we do use alternative methods for testing, learning and comprehension, most students will need to continue their education in my field, on their own, after the course is done. This means I need to help them find ways to deal with, or overcome, reading comprehension. Just this short course gave me several ways to reorganize my assignments and materials, to help improve retention. I realize that this will also help students without learning disabilities!
I teach remedial classes, so I tend to work with many students with disabilities. What I find is that they feel like they have been labeled throughout high school so they refuse to take advantage of any accomodations in college. they would rather struggle than be labeled as "different."
I think the greatest challenge to working with students with learning disabilities is to get them to trust you enough to open up and tell you. Then after you know trying to figure out what the best way/ways is/are to help them. You also have to be extremely patient with them and spend a lot more time with them going over things and implementing the new ways with them. You have to do a lot of one on one with them to get things started and then once they use these new ways more in there day to day activities, you can also implement it in with the rest of the class in some way also. This seems to work for me.
Being patient with the student when they are not trying as hard as they could.
I think this is the best way to accommodate theb student.
I think the biggest issue is communication. If there is a breakdown in communication, this leads to trouble. Many times, in the admissions interview, the topic of learning disabilities will come up and this will not be transferred to the education department. By the time the student starts school, time has been lost that could have been used to work on accomidations and assistance.
I believe one of the greatest challenges working with students with learning disabilities is (in my opinion) knowing that they have a disability. Many do not come to me to let me know that they may need a little extra help and continue to struggle. I will usually see them struggling in their studies and approach, but some still do not open up. This module was very helpful in some extra insight.
The designated school officer who works with students with learning disabilities must absolutely work in concert with faculty and conduct follow-up meetings with the students to increase the likelihood of student success. In some cases, I've learned that some instructors did not receive information of an IEP or accommodations for a particular student.
Have the student ask for help or not feel embarrassed by requesting assistance.
I think the greatest challenge to working with a student with a learning disability is the communication between the instructor and the student. There are many students who will not approach the instructor and communicate about the learning disability.
Besides that, I also think the instructor needs to aware that there is a possibility that a particular student has a learning disability. Approaching the student and initiating a discussion about study habits, comprehension of course content, etc. can uncover a need for extra attention and various study aids for the student.
Diagnosing and to identify the exact cause of learning disability
To remember that they do have a learning disability.
I would say that the greatest challenge to working with students with learning disabilities is to ensure good communication so that I can effectively monitor these students' progress in the class. I have enjoyed working with learning-disabled students in the past because I find them to be hard-working students who are quite motivated to overcome their disabilities. They will usually volunteer information about their disabilities, though I am notifed by student services. I make a point to check in on learning-disabled students more frequently than normal to see if I can offer additional help in any way.
