Hi David! This is a crucial point! I too think that an instructor who, from the start, perceives that a student is too difficult to teach has immediately undermined the entire learning process.
Jay Hollowell
ED106 Facilitator
Often it is getting them to admit to having the problem, I alays bring it up before i give the first writing assignment.
Instructor not starting, or, developing a negative view of the student, and simply feeling that he impossible, not worth the effort needed, and or, just too difficult to teach.
The greatest challenge I've had is the student actually being open regarding their disability.
The best method I have due to the time limit and amount of information I have to present is giving the student extra time with me. Being available.
The biggest difficulty when working with individuals with learning disabilities is to get them to self-advocate. Once they are willing to talk about their special needs, we are usually able to accomodate modifications which contribute to their success. I have two sons with ADD and One has multiple learning difficulties. In addition to other things he has NVLD or non-verbal learning learning disorder. He has difficulty connecting one item to the next. Yet, in many ways, he is a superior thinker, since he connects things that most people do not see.
Successful techniques vary widely, but always involve a partnership where the student has responsibilities and the delivery or demonstration of learning is modified, while the objectives remain the same. One of the most successful strategies is for the student with learning disabilities is given the job of teaching an idea to another. Working in Very small teams (2-3 students) enables all students to participate, yet each student is then responsible for all of the learning.
One of my suggestions for students with math difficulty is to use flash cards. BUT i require two things. First the flash card MUST NOT have a different problem on the back, but the same problem repeated with the answer showing. A different problem onthe back confuses the individual, and is very counter productive. Then I instruct the student to NOT memorize the math facts. This removes the pressure that they have faced, and makes them much more open to learning. The students are asked to read through the deck aloud, problem and answer 3 times a day. This has been very successful.
The greatest challenge to me is defining the learning disability. Most students won’t tell you they have a disability. Once it is recognized then the processes to help are fairly clear. I usually try to give as much feed back that is positive as possible. The student then fills more comfortable expressing the learning disability with me and in turn learns more effectively.
The greatest challenge for me has been time. Our courses are so fast paced it is really difficult to come up witha sloution for a student witha disability. We make it work though by giving more time for test, making them take test orally and allowing them to do take home assignments where they can do the work at their own pace.
I have a tremendous amount of experience with this, my son has a learning disability. I have simplified things for my students, gave them more time for test and quizzes, and extended additional help for after hours. I would say the greatest challenge would be if the student does not come forward and appears to other students that they are being lazy. I cannot ask them if this is the case so I must build an open door policy and let them know that I can help if informed.
One of the greatest challenges that I have faced when dealing with students that have learning disabilities is linked to the time of the course instructed and the need of the students to have additional time for assignments. The challenge in this is that the courses are usually 5 1/2 week courses and run at a very strong and quick pace. I find it absolutely understandable why students need additional time, however, I wonder if the students can also become frustrated in this type of environment. If they need additional time for one assignment, they may in fact be in a constant state of catchup. Has anyone else experienced this or have feedback and how to make it a more manageable and enjoyable experience for the student? I was amazed at the five different types of learning disabilities. I was only familiar with dyslexia. I have read on the discussion board that other instructors find extending the time for assignments very helpful. What are some other practices that have worked for other instructors?
Thank you so much for taking the time to tell us this method. I can not wait to share it with our Educational Director.
The greatest challenge to working with students with learning disabiliteis is a student who feels that he or she does not have to meet the requirements of the class due to his or her disability.
Some the best instructional methods that I used are as follows: Provide large print for testing when need, giving additional time, reading aloud to student, provide handouts when appropriate, allow student to redo assignment if appropriate, etc.
I have two stepchildren that have a documented learning disability and IEP's. They are both in high school, 12th and 11th grade, and they both have the reading comprehension level equal to that of a 6th or 7th grader. The biggest challenge I have had with them in the past was their frustration levels within themselves. They would struggle to do the work, refuse to use their resource time, and would feel as if they were being singled out when they would go to their special reading classes. The 11th grader no longer cares what other people think and she has maintained a 3.0 GPA the last two years, while using her resource time for her final exam only. Some instructionalmethods I have used with them were picture drawings, or clues they could use, rereading the informaton to them a few times a week, allowing them to read to me what they wanted to write, and then showing them how the words looked. Unfortunately, I do not have any students with a documented learning disability, so I can only comment on how I have been personally affected at home.
The greatest challenge is getting them to admit to their problem. It can be embarrassing but I tell everyone that I am here to help you all no matter what the problem is. I may help them by high lighting certain areas in their book that they need to focus on, give them extra time on a test or have someone translate the test if it is a language issue. I do not want anyone to fail and hopefully I will give them the motivation to get going and continue to learn.
One of the frustrations we face frequently in our school is the student with a learning disability who does not share their need for accomadations until after they have failed the class. I understand the desire to succeed "on their own" - an important part of counseling such students is to phrase the accomadations as simply leveling the playing field - not as giving a special advantage.
Finding out what disabilities they have specifically is a challenge. Letting students work with examples helps supplement the material.
I do tutoring sessions after class for anyone that needs it.
I have found that the greatest challenge to working with students with learning disabilities is to keep them motivated and minimize their stress/frustration level by keeping consistent communication with them. Students, whether they have learning disabilities or not, tend to stray if you don't keep after them, although in my experience, students with disabilities are more likely to discuss issues with you in person rather than via email.
I have found, as the module discussed, that asking the student about what assistance has helped them the most throughout their education is the best route to accommodating their individual needs. I had 1 student who had significant reading comprehension & writing issues, but was seriously committed to passing my class. This student also had some test anxiety, so what we did was this: we sat down together outside of class for her test. I would read the questions to her and then ask her to verbally explain what the question was asking. After her explanation, we would go over the answer choices (if it was multiple choice) so that I was sure she was understanding both the question and the possible answers she had to choose from. While test taking in this manner did require more time to complete, the results were astounding! The student not only passed my class, but was empowered by how much she had learned over the course of the quarter. The look of sheer triumph on her face was worth all of the extra time I put in...it reminded me of what I love best about teaching -- seeing my students succeed!
I let students draw examples if they prefer this to given literal examples, such as the difference between art nouveau and art deco lines.
I sometimes let students do assignments at home, or have it done by next class.
Finding our exactly what disability they have.
Picture diagrams often supplement the reading.\, as well as examples.
