Talk to them and ask them what has helped in the past. Also, talking to others that have had experience with it, such as other instructors that you work with.
One of my students couldn't see blue on the dry erase board so I just didn't use it. I also changed the font size on tests for her so she could read them easier. Once she told me these helped her it wasn't a problem to take care of them.
This is an area where I can learn from advice and experience of others. I have only taught students at higher levels where they had already proved themselves academically and were highly motivated. If there were students with disabilities amoung them, they had already learned methods to adapt and succeed academically long before I taught them.
It seems to me that understanding the challenges and nature of the disabilities would be important. Also, treating every student the same (in the group setting) whether disabled or not seems critical to me in order to not compromise the self esteem of those with challenges.
I believe methods that would be helpful to students with learning disabilities might include repetition of the more difficult concepts with a little variation on emphasis. Also allowing students, where possible, to experience or to have "hands on" exposure with the subject matter would help some. Varying the methods of presentation of the material to include as many of the senses as possible might be beneficial to some, depending on the nature of the disability.
Making tutoring or one-on-one contact readily available is also a good idea.
-listening to the students to find out what has been beneficial to them in the past.
-interaction with other instructors who have had success with similar students
-educating yourself through courses covering this subject - online, classroom setting, reading material
Understanding the clear ways that support that student best is a good start. Students with learning disabilities are usually aware of what works for them. In their past learning experiences there may have been study habits or teaching methods that they were better able to comprehend. As an instructor knowig this makes helps to modify their teaching so that he or she can make the student learning experience more successful.
They are a few ways instructors can learn to help a student with learning disabilities:
1. Students may tell you of their disability in the first class session. If they haven't disclosed it to you you will definitely identify their struggles in your class later.
2. Ask they students what type of disability they have and the kind of accomodations they received in the past.
3. Provide accomodations to students in your course based on the type of disability they have.
4. Provide extra time to students with disabilities when administering a test. If possible test them in smaller group or private setting.
Joan,
so true. Often with a little bit of accomodation & patience on our part, these students can do so well.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I have a student who has been the victim of a traumatic brain injury. She is allowed an extra half time to complete all exams, and the exams are proctored in a quiet 1-1 setting. She excels in the classroom with these accomodations. It is great to see success by easily tailoring how we can assist this student.
My college has policies in place to accomodate students with learning disabilities. Additionally, I have office hours and tutoring time that I would like to devote to helping students with learning disabilities. My class tests are not consciously timed, but students do finish ahead of the time allocated. The extra time could be used by learning disability students.
Renee,
I really like the idea of asking the student how you can best help & also of borrowing ideas from other instructors.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I prefer to ask students directly what support they need from me in order to get the most out of class and to learn most effectively. I may also discuss the student's situation with other staff members at my school who are familiar with the student's needs. Researching online what the student may need in order to benefit in class is another option I might try.
Jamie,
I would agree that when we can "borrow brains" from those who are more experienced it will only help us.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I previously had a student who told me he suffered from ADHD as well as bi-polar disorder and was currently unable to afford his medications. I worked with him on an approach we called "Bite Sizing" when it came to his electrical diagrams, a source of particular difficulity for him. This approach was to break-down or "Bite Size" portions of the diagram. I then I had him go to the lab board and install just that portion of the work. Soon he was able to complete the lab projects successfully. He reciently stopped by my class on break (he is now in another class in our course) to show me that he is still using the process and just made his first 100% on a quiz. It was very gratifying for both of us.
Seek advice from more experienced instructors and research, I think are the two biggest things.
Michael,
these are both great sources to learn more about helping students who struggle in this area.
Dr. Ryan Meers
First of all have the information about the student, provided by them that they struggle with, and then you can structure your class to allow them to be successful by employing the techniques that work best for them. Also have the time within your time frame that you can work with individual students at their pace.
Consulting the on-site professionals that are trained to directly support the learning disabled - they have been a great resource for me. Through social conversation I have also met individuals who have faced this challenge. We then have some interesting discussions about their own experience.
First we need to identify what the disability may be,then develop a plan with the student to enable them to learn. this course provided insights into learning disabilities, I was particularly impressed with the sentence example for a student with a reading disabiliby and a greater respect for how difficult it must to study. also the ideas to make learning easier for those students, taping lectures, boxing questions ect.
Nancy,
I think this is a great step toward helping these students.
Dr. Ryan Meers
By Eddy Mojena
In order to learn how to help students with learning disabilities you need to see which disability he has first then understand it and what solution available there is for him to help thru the library whether may need visual, aural aides or ask other instructors for help and advice.
