Diverse Learning
Recognizing a student with a learning disability should be handled right away or they may start to feel overwhelmed and frustrated which could lead to them dropping out of class. Let the student know that you are avaiable for tutoring before or after class. Developing a plan for them is helpful. This same point also applies to those who have difficulity with the english language.
Martin,
yes, showing as much interest in the student & their success as possible is vital to them seeking our help.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
My experience as an adjunct instructor is that even showing enough interested in a disabled student, by referring them to counseling or any appropriate support person, is appreciated.
While attending professional school, I got to see first hand how learning disabled students are handled. With a little knowledge, the instructors can be very instrumental in the success of these student.
Being available before or after class for tutoring may work for full time instructors but adjunct is a different world. Most are already putting in full-time work somewhere and then coming to teach. I realize that someone with a teacher mentality will want to help but this is where we need to also rely on the school to have full-time instructors or other resources to be able to help. While I do see some with true disabilities or weak skills most of what we term as "learning disabled" when they say they don't understand are simply lazy and want a grade handed to them like in high school.
