working with student with learning disabilities
Learning disabilities can be taxing on the student and the instructor. However it can also be very rewarding when a student who struggles becomes successful. It can be accomplished with patients and flexibility on the instructors part.
It seems that patience is the key to helping these students learn. Imagine what a frustration world this would be if we were all expected to learn the same material at the same rate like cookie cutter education.
Awesome advice, testing in the early stages of a class, and keeping your door open seem like great ways in finding out who may need some help.
Absolutely - I give a written exam and an oral exam the first week of class! I also have "office hours" every day after class, and encourage my students to just take a moment and let me know how they feel about pace of class, etc. Sometimes the students with learning disabilities are embarassed to say so in public; telling me after class is much easier for them.
Holly Pugliese
Pastry Chef/Instructor
California Culinary Academy
Patience and flexibility are so important. I also find in the way we have our courses set up here the grading scale and requirements of the course allow students who may have a learning disability to do other things to help their learning process. Example: I may give the student and opportunity to either show a skill or discuss a skill rather then writing a paper. This would be for the courses that I teach which is medical. It is important to remember that a learning disability is not always attached to intelligence.
Students that have learning disabilities do not know that they do sometimes and it would be helpful to the instructor and the student if they find out what specifically is their disability. I always try to give my students some kind of written exam the first couple of days so that I can examine all of their tests the first week.
Thanks and Aloha,
Geraldine
GREAT job and dedication to your profession Elizabeth!
Keep up the good work!
Jane Davis
ED106 Facilitator
You're exactly right, Gena! I gave a verbal A&P test and Medical Terminology test our last quarter to a student with dyslexia, and she made a 100% on both...these 2 classes were this student's 2nd attempt, because her other instructors didn't recognize her needs on her first attempt. Medical Terminology was especially difficult for her, but we got her through it, and she will be graduating in December!
