Most of what I'm seeing is they can't read or write very well. I believe because they don't want to, but some do have disabilities which are mostly dyslexia.
Dyslexia is the most common learning disability I encounter in the classroom. Characteristics are reversal of letters, especially p,q, m,w, d,p. Another common characteristic is for sentences or words to run together.
To help these students, it is important to find out what has worked for them in the past. Most commonly, they just need more time to complete assigned tasks.
Katherine,
I'm sorry to hear about this situation & I wish I had some words of wisdom to help but to me you've done what you should be doing. I would say this, at the risk of sounding harsh & unfeeling toward your student: if she has not claimed her disability you are not under any obligation to provide accommodations. A student simply claiming to have a disability does not guarantee these, rather they must present the correct documentation. I realize this doesn't help relieve the frustrations, but she cannot push this too far without the proper support.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I'm currently struggling trying to be patient with a student with ADHD. She is on medication but I wonder most days if she remembered to take her medication. She create 4x6 cards to help her but she does it in class. It's disruptive to the class because she is so busy creating her cards that she is not paying any attention to what is being discussed. She will ask questions but it is either on material I haven't cover yet or material I covered 15-30 minutes prior. She appears to love arguing me and other students because she gives the impression that she wants to be and be seen as the only intelligent person in the room.
She constantly over-analyzes simple material but because she's not paying attention to me during class, she doesn't understand the materials being presented and she is completely unable to apply topics covered in class to her clinical rotations.
I have had to counsel her multiple times about being extremely disruptive in class and trying to monopolize my time at the clinical site. The worse part is my director, just keeps telling me that I'm not managing her. This student is 25 years old, I shouldn't have to manage this student. I'm also extremely tired of this student "blaming" her behavior on her ADHD. I have also checked with administration. She has not claimed her disability.
My 10 year old son also has ADHD. He always takes his medication because I make sure that he does. He also knows that he has the "option" at school if he needs more time. He is very aware of his ADHD and is NOT allowed to use his challenges as an excuse with his teachers and at home. We talk all the time about how he has to learn to control his impulsivity; must take responsibility for his behavior; and that ADHD cannot be used as an excuse. It took a long time and coordination with his teachers the last 5 years.
I do think students with learning disabilities should be allow accommodations but it is a "two way street". The adult students with learning disabilities should also be at least attempting to show he/she is trying instead of using their disabilities as an excuse to be disruptive and uncontrolled in the classroom.
During all of the time, I have worked with my son's physician and teachers, I'm realizing that I have ADD tendencies but again, I'm almost done with my PhD and have been very successful as a nurse for over 20 years, but have had to learn the hard way to be responsible for my lack of organization and how easy I can be distracted. I also have an inoperable brain tumor and vision deficits but I don't use any of this as an excuse.
I'm more than happy to work with someone who is working to achieve regardless of what the problems are if I can tell the student is trying to do their best and accept what their responsibilities are.
The most common form of learning disability I see in my classes are English as a second language, and mild learning issues such as ADHD, Dyslexia, and people not understanding the terminology. The latter may not be a learning disability, but inability to learn new terminology. Most students who understand and are present and reading, do well with learning it by the end. It's those few, who eventually need the extra help and efforts to learn the material. Students want to learn, they just need to be motivated to do it!
I agree some students tell me there LD like there proud of it. Sure seems to be a lot of them
Dyslexia is the most common form of learning disability that I ecnounter in my class. A student having this form of learning disability have a hard time comprehending and reading.
The most common learning disability that I have encountered is the need for additional time. We are not told what the disability is, only that we must allow additional time. This is not always successful because in the classroom environment others are being affected in order to give the accommodation for the single student with disability and testing separately can often lead to being more set apart from the class. I believe that adequate testing with an appropriate tool before entering the classroom will help determine whether the student will be successful. Multiple attempts should not meet this criteria as many with significant problems can overcome the testing by taking it time after time. Then they go into the classroom setting and they cannot take the tests and quizzes over and over, so there is not the same successful outcome.
Kathy,
dyslexia is definitely a very common struggle that we see.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I'm not sure what the most common disability is, but I have a daughter with dyslexia. She still is unable to read text and only has a high school education. Most of the students I work with do not come to my class with any disabilities because of pretesting. Since I teach respiratory they must have the ability to read and comprehend. They have to have the ability to understand a doctor's order ad have critical thinking skills. I do have students were English is not their first language but they have to still pass the pretest in English.
Maria,
yes, the design classes may not present as many challenges & it is great to help them see that success in this area & encourage them in the classes where they may not be as successful.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I am a teacher for all the basic classes for Fashion Design. I teach Fashion Sketching and Clothing Construction for the Industry of Fashion. I think students with Dyslexia can perform very well in my classes.
Obviously in a perfect world a student would not have a learning disability, but this is not the case. In an almost perfect world the new to your class student would come to you before class started and explain what their particular concern/issue was and what the best procedure would be to address it would be. Unfortunately I have been three weeks into a six week course before I noticed that a student had a reading and comprehension problem that he had disguised very well (didn’t want to feel stupid in front of fellow students). Sure would be a help to the instructor and student alike if we knew ASAP what the concern might be.
Dyslexia by far in my experience- students can explain a topic by speech but comprehension of a written example of that same topic slows them down to the point of frustration.
I have truly learned from this section about learning disabilities. I have been exposed to students who have been diagnosed/labeled as dyslexia, but I can see now some of those may have had one of the other disabilities (dyscalculia, dysgraphia, dysonomia,or dyspraxia).
Chuck,
yes the visuals provide a great way to connect new terms/thoughts to pictures & ideas--& this can work for ELL students as well as other struggling learners.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I think the most common learning disability that I experience is a language barrier. When I am lecturing or trying to explaining something I find it easier to have a training aid on hand so the student can see what I am talking about.
I have encountered several instances of English language deprivation. Subsequently students are not able to read and comprehend the material at the same speed and level as their English speaking counterparts. The challenges contained in this issue are fully surmountable by dedication of the student, and by the patience and understanding of the instructor.
Randall,
I would totally agree that we have many students who are too ashamed to talk about their struggles.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Martha,
And this really is the only way we can help ese students until they disclose a diagnosed disability
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
