Having the time and extra resources to help them. You have to he really good time management skills your self to be able to take the time and figure out what that particular student needs.
Learning which problem(s) this individual student may have. Determine if previous experience worked for him/her and then developing, with his/her input a strategy for the class at hand (upcoming).
Gary L. Schlomer
Working with adult learners with learning disabilities is new for me. I have a great deal of experience working with middle schoolers with learning disabilities and I have developed a number of strategies that worked well for individual students and helped make certain I was making the accommodations and modifications necessary to help them succeed (and that were required by their IEPs). With adult learners, however, especially those who tell me they have a learning disability but have not provided documentation to my school's administrators, it is a different entity and a different struggle.
Terri,
you hit on an important note & that is helping them with the comprehension. This is where they will find the success they need.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
One of our biggest challenges working with students who have learning disabilities is getting them to feel comfortable with how we are going at getting them through our course. Also we make it a priority that we assign a fellow student how can assist us with them when it comes to getting through his or her disabilities.
Ron
I would say the greatest challenge working with students with learning disabilities is making sure they have enough resources or support available without neglecting the other students or having them perceive others as receiving "special treatment".
Some difficulties I have experienced in the past is first, determining if there is indeed a learning disability if the student does not offer up any information. Second, determining which type of learning best suits the student and being sure to implement it as much as possible into an already developed curriculum.
I think that finding an accommodation that will improve their comprehension of the material of skill to assure their success.
being able to help them without interfereing with the rest of class. Being able to still provide challenging work to the other students without compromising the integrity of the class.
The first challenge in working with a student with a learning disability is to get them to come forth and inform you of their problem. I have had one student with dyslexia, I found presenting the information at a slower pace helped as well as repetition and associating the information to other things worked well too.
David,
this is definitely very challenging to keep the class moving & help those students who need a little extra help.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
The balancing of time inside the classroom between the amount of time that I can give to the student and moving the class forward as a whole plus offering some additional time for the disabled student after class. Supporting the student with some outside assistance from an aid if needed / wanted.
This is important to find time in our busy schedule for, but I also agree at time it can become challenging to find enough time to give to the needed time for the students.
I face the same struggle that Kristina does with having to cover complex material in a short 5 week MOD and the class sessions are so long that retention is a problem even for some gifted students. It is hard to make sure the diverse learners are all being addressed. One way is with summative and cummulative assessments but a five week MOD does not leave much time for students to prepare for assessment and then to review based upon the results. Any advice?
keeping them motivated and not giving up when they feel overwhelmed.
Given curriculum deadlines it can be challenging to have them be sucessful. I have had some success in pairing them up with a stronger student whos has been granted my ok to record the troubled students question and present it to the class in our review discussion. It gives a sense of anononimity and spares self esteem issues for my challanged learners.
James,
and I think a great way to do this is by showing them our willingness to help & showing that we care.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Clear communication and time. The student must feel that they can confide in the instructor.
The greatest challenge is keeping the lecture pace fast enough where it keeps the higher skill level student's engaged and the learning disabled student's on pace.
Students with disabilities at times are often reluctant to come forward because they have a sense of embarrassment.
Getting students to realize that they can be taught and overcome the disability and not feel alienated is generally the biggest initial challenge.
