Hello Jay,
Honestly it takes the entire school to be on board. Instructors as well as administration MUST make this a priority. When the culture has changed that it is everyone’s responsibility for the student with disabilities to succeed, it will happen.
What kind of instructional support is helpful to students with learning disabilities?
I find that there are so many things that help a student with a learning disability and very few of them should be reserved for only those with an LD.
Providing handouts in class, putting key information/reminders on the board, previewing the day's topics at the beginning of class, repeating a big concept or an important term, rephrasing questions, and summarizing at the end of a lecture help every student, especially those with learning disabilities. However, there are a few accommodations that may be specific to the student with a learning disability, such as offering extra time on a test, offering a quiet testing area, reading a test to a student, using a scribe to write down the student's responses, and adaptive testing (where a test is altered to remove distracters).
Although we're not "required" to make accomodations for students with learning disabilities at a post secondary level, we as instructors, would be doing all of our students a disservice by not offering these helpful academic tools.
Giving the student more time to complete a test or task. Giving that student seating preferance. Undrelining key phrases or words.
Hi Jay
Definitely you need to give to the student more time that include quizzes home work and project but also you have to go through the material many time and review many time Teacher has to be very patient because learning disability is slow processes of learning.
giving the student more time is helpful and i try to spend more time with that student as well
1 out of 7 Americans have some kind of learning disability!! WOW! I wonder where this study was done and at what age.
It is extremely important to embrace students with different learning disabilities. You need to give them special time. I thought that the percentage of students with LD would have been much higher than 10%!! 15% of americans have a LD. I've worked w/ a couple students w/ Dyslexia.
I would give the student more time. I would also give one on one time so the student could give me feedback on my methods of instructing.
There were many methods listed in this module to help students with learning disabilities. The ones that I have used in the past included allowing student to record lectures, provided oral exams, allowing frequent breaks, and using computer assisted training.
it is tough, because, for most of us, we are chefs and pastry chefs, we may be good at what we do, but a lot of times we are not equipped to handle learning disabilities, and what we use for support for our learning "disabled" students is really pure good intention and instinct and a real deaire to help students succeed.
We usually get support from student services in the form of an evaluation on what might help, but those are only from students who "declare" their "disability".
What I find helps is a continous refocusing and review. An example. We usually ask students to produce a portfolio of the course at the end of the term. I actually break this portfolio into "chapters". I ask thet they submit a chapter evry week. This way, they review what they have done, look at their weaknesses and strengths, and focus on how they can perform better. They also sense that you continously monitor their performance and provide reinforcement.
So far, it is working....
Personal interaction is alway best in showing the student you care. This lets them trust you therefore they work better.
Personal interaction in a one to one setting is always a great way to support someone with learning disabilities. It gives the student much less apprehension and usually allows for a good exchange of information and an understanding of what worked in the past to help with the learning challenges
Take more time to the side when class is over.Give them the oporatunity to answer dont be inpatient with them. Try to find out a little about them, sometimes its good to make it personal, in understanding the bigest challengages.
I like to see what they like and what they are getting in class, then go from there to help them.
I would tend to agree that instructors need to become aware of their students.
Giving the student more time on an item or examination is usually important. Additionally, supporting the reading material with oral support or instructions. One very important part of the equation is not to get impatient with the learner; an instructor's patience can make quit a bit of difference.
Giving the student more time to complete an assignment is very helpful as well as spending more time explaining the text. We want to make sure the student having trouble get the help they need. I find the student with learning disabilities let me know what will help the do well and as the text said it has helped the entire class.
The best thing I do for learning challenged students is to give them my reading assignments for the first week on the weekend before the course and review before class one what they have comprehended from the reading. When I meet with them, and our student services department lets us know before we have a class which students need accomodations, often times their comprehension is fine and they will just need added time to finish assignments and quizzes. However when I find that the student did not attempt the reading or does not comprehend it properly then I will start to ask about previous educational success and start to see what works with these individuals on a day by day basis throughout the first week. But I admit this is the most challenging part of my job as educator.
I think knowing upfront that the student has a learning disability is key to everyone's success. However, I find many adult students do not want to tell you this information out of fear or embarassment. Therefore, it is important for students to feel comfortable and know that they can come to you to talk about these issues.
I find it helpful to bold important information and add space between questions on exams so that they can focus on 1 question at a time.
I agree with many of the comments - give extra time if needed, provide a quieter environment if possible,listen to the student himself to find out what he knows about his needs. And, as with anyone who has low skills in English Composition, tutoring can be a much more effective way to deliver course content to someone with a learning disability.
