Since I am not an expert on learning disabilities, I'm making an education statement from my personal observation. The two most common I have noticed is being an active listener, and student's attention span.
Understanding english and comperhending the lecture. You can tell by giving the students a brief quiz on the topic you just went over. Or looking at the students facial impression to determine if they understand
I have the same problem. Most of the time i have no knowledge of their disability. I inform the entire class that I am available for additional help before and after class.Usualy they will come to me and tell me their difficulties without others present and then I can try to do things that has worked for them in the past.It may be just using the whiteboard more or I may have to tutor them on a one on one basis.
I normally have to discover a disability, due to most of the student I have ran into with disabilities, don't know it.
In my professional practice, lack of reading skills is the number #1 learning disability. My field requires knowledge of many new vocabulary words and technical concepts for my students to master. There is no easy solution to helping the student solve their problem other than patience while working one on one with them until they "get it". Over time, the more exposure the student has to technical material, the easier it becomes for them to grasp the words and concepts. It also helps if the student is determined to master these skills.
Jeanette,
this is a great point & the more open we are to our students, the more likely they are to come to us when they are struggling.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I have encountered any learning disabilities in my teaching so far.
But I do believe that everybody can learn and everybody should be given the opportunity to learn. So it is our duty as teachers/instructors to know our students and provide them the resources to be successful.
Kimberly,
and these are the students to notice & to reach out to in order to see how we can really help them.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Dyslexia. They are usually silent and kind of back away from participating in class.
George ,
these are great examples of helping the students & meeting their needs.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Dyslexia and the ability to read and comprehend what is in the text book is the biggest learning disability I encounter. At one time I tried to have the text read aloud in class, but was stopped because it took up too much time. I now have students take as much time as they want to search for answers to questions in the text. Our online text will actually read the text to the student.
Andre,
great strategy to help those learners who have not been identified or have not sought accomodation. This allows them to seek the help they need without embarrassment.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I am not sure of a prescribed disability but many of my students have a difficult time reading material.I am not aware of it until I ask them to read out loud in class. If I see it is difficult I will not embarrass them and will try to help them one on one
I am not informed of the nature of a student's disability but often they have openly and willingly expressed their needs. We can usually get around a comprehension concern by explaining the material "3 ways from Sunday", often utilizing prior experiences or analogies. Whereas a student's disability is NEVER acknowledged to the class, the use of prior experiences and analogies throughout lectures/discussions tends to benefit the class as a whole. Characteristiclly, if a student has a disability and has NOT sought accomodation, they appear "lost" during lecture as well as doing poorly on tests. When this situation presents itself, I privately ask the student about the material and if they're "getting it" (...and this is when they usually open up about their difficulties).
i find the most common disability in my class is dyslexia. As long as the students lets me know i am more than willing to help them in any way i can. Most of these students have ways that help them learn the material, and we do what we can to accomadate them.
Lynn,
yes it really can affect the learning of the students & is also a more difficulty disability to accomodate.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
The most common disability I am faced with, as reported by the students to me, is ADD. While this is not one of the listed learning disabilities, it can lead to learning difficulties due to a lack of ability to focus for extended periods of time. This interferes with their reading comprehension and testing skills.
Current regulations do not allow me to inquire to a students learning disability, only to adhere to the reasonable accomodations plan set forth from the school. Most notably though, are the students that do posess an accomodation plan quite frequently are far more inteligent and in some cases do not need the accomodations set forth. The most observed issue though is the ability to read and comprehend. This is most noted from students who have NOT sought reasonable accomodations. Yet in my observations I have noticed that the difficulty is in the desire to understand and not necessarily a true disability. This generalized observation comes from watching student interaction in other areas of mass communication; web,email,txt.
james,
I think this demonstrates a great way to work with these learners: asking them what has worked in the past. If they are willing to share it generally is a win-win.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Mark,
and I think this is a great reminder to all of us to be patient & willing to give that time when needed & when we are able.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
