Not letting it affect the pace of the class as a whole. I have had some with disabilities that are not able to keep up with the pace of the rest of the class and are at the same time unwilling to come for tutor or additional help outside of the class.
Sometimes it is difficult to point out to the student that they have a learning disability and they need help. They are in denial of their disabilities
Depending on the severity of the disability, integrating them into the rest of the class is the biggest challenge. Care is needed to place them in a position where they feel needed, a contributer to the class as well as in an environmemt that they are accepted into by the class as a whole.
The biggest challenge is not knowing the extent of the student's disability. Taking more time, breaking the material down into smaller parts has been helpful. If that does not work I have to get other resources to help the student.
The greatest challenge lies in your ability to exercise monumental amount of patience to accommodate the student's ability. It comes from understanding the student and applying what works best.
I think the biggest challenge working with students with disabilities is helping them find the confidence to be a strong person while in the learning process. It is hard to stay positive while feeling down on yourself.
I find that it is sometimes difficult to find out the needs of the students, they are embarrassed that they need help and try to hide it.
Jeff ,
I agree that this is so important & we must work to help these students feel comfortable.
Dr. Ryan Meers
The greatest challenge I face when working with students with disabilties is making them feel comfortable when they cant seem to get it.
Shannon,
I agree that one of the keys is building trust with each of the students so they feel free to ask for help regardless of the situation.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Heather,
that is a great strategy as it helps anyone from being singled out.
Dr. Ryan Meers
patience of other students and balancing the time for all of them
I think the greatest challenge is the student's comfort level. Some students may feel ashamed and not tell their instructor right away. Those students will continue to struggle through their classes. Making a good first impression with students from the first day of class may help those students with disabilities feel comfortable enough to approach the instructor. Some students may not tell the instructor because they are afraid their classmates will look down on them.
I have found that my greatest challenge is often in re-assuring the student that they will be treated fairly and positively and not made an example of. Sometimes students with learning disabilities are hesitant to share effective approaches from their past, simply because they would prefer to not be embarrassed by having others know of their disability. That's when I feel it's so important to have a heart-to-heart conversation and offer encouragement and understanding.
When students are finished with their test, I give out the study guide for the next topic and sometimes the homework assignment. They are to work on this quietly until all tests are turned in. I found that it works out nicely because everyone is actively working on something.
My biggest challenge in working with students with learning disabilities is in creating learning plans and in assessment strategies. While Federal law requires accommodations for students with learning disabilities, many universities and post-secondary career schools do not have specific Individual Learning Plans (IEPs) in the same detailed manner that public K-12 schools do. The resources then for instructors and the scoop of aide for students can be vastly limited or confusingly flexible.
While administration in Disability Offices can offer accommodations and recommendations with documentation, many times the direct application of these ideas are left to the instructor and the student in a one-on-one negotiation. Unlike the public schools, post-secondary instructors often don’t know the full scope of the student’s disability and the previous learning plans that have been used. Because students are now adults, the information is much more private (as it should be), but this does create complications.
This kind of complication becomes realized particularly in assessment. Lehr and Thurlow (2003) explore, “There is no set of universally approved assessment accommodations […] Some accommodations are believed to change what is being tested, yielding scores that are considered invalid. These kinds of accommodations may be referred to as ‘nonstandard’ or ‘invalid.’ “ Here is a recent example from my career. A student needs more assessment time because of a reading disability. However, does this reading disability affect the student’s writing ability? The objective of the summative assessment is to measure whether the student can produce quality writing within a given time frame, but with this additional time for reading, does the writing exam then become invalid?
I have found that the key is communication: communication with the school and the student. Allow the student to give as much information as he or she is comfortable, and get as much information from the school as is legal these are the keys to creating plans of action, making accommodations, or making alterative assessments.
Dr. Rockford Sansom
References
Lehr, C., & Thurlow, M. (2003). Putting it all together: Including students with disabilities in assessment and accountability systems (Policy Directions No. 16). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, National Center on Educational Outcomes. Retrieved [December 12, 2011], from the World Wide Web: http://education.umn.edu/NCEO/OnlinePubs/Policy16.htm
Mark,
I had that same problem; what was more painful was the student did not want to ask for help. One thing I did do to try and accomodate the student was to give the entire class all the time they needed to test.
In addition, I use to allow the student to leave the room quietly when they were done, this only made matters worst, no one wanted to be the last student in class, so they would rush through the rest of the test.
Like I told the students, just because you are the last one left do not mean your scores will be lower; usually the last one to finish gets the best scores because they give themselves more time on each question.
some students are reluctant to let the instructor know they have a disability. I try to overcome this initial possible fear by letting students know of my physical disabilities at the outset of class. I also let them know from my presentations using computers and power point presentations that i am not skilled with computers. Some of this is an intentional act to get them involved in the class. Ex. where is the volume button, or the pause button. As I usually have multiple screens visible, this gets them to provide input, and, actually, there are times I really don't see it (I were bifocals.
some students are reluctant to let the instructor know they have a disability. I try to overcome this initial possible fear by letting students know of my physical disabilities at the outset of class. I also let them know from my presentations using computers and power point presentations that i am not skilled with computers. Some of this is an intentional act to get them involved in the class. Ex. where is the volume button, or the pause button. As I usually have multiple screens visible, this gets them to provide input, and, actually, there are times I really don't see it (I were bifocals.
Taking the extra time and care to work with the students. However if you are professional, the extra time and care is nothing if you are truly interested in seeing these students succeed. Furthermore, it is important teachers keep open minds and realize, when they have a student with a LD in their class, they need to work with the student and find what works for the student to learn the material.
