The greatest challenge of working with a student that has learning disabilities is finding out the nature of the disability and what can best be done to help them to accomplish the necessary requirements of the class.
you have to slow down and work throught it and give them more time
I arrange my assignments to have the independent writing assignments at the end of class, so the time frame is open ended, and I may spend extra one-on-one time with students who need more guidance.
The biggest challenge is that my adult students have not been diagnosed with specific disabilities, though they exhibit problems with traditional learning environments. Some students say they have a specific disability, but they have never gone through testing to ensure accurate diagnosis.
The hardest thing is to get them to be able to talk about their disability. Once you can get them to, you can make adjustments to you teaching to be able to make their experience as good as others.
I teach about 90 percent of the time to foreign military officers. I must admit that I have focused almost solely on the language difficulties and not considered the possibility of a learning disability on top of 2d language issues. I will certainly pay more attention to it in future classes.
Yes, too often these students have slipped through the cracks & have never really had anyone help them. Therefore, when they get to us, they don't know what helps them & so we'll need to help them figure that out.
Ryan
I feel the greatest challenge in working with students with disabilities is developing a strategy in which to help the student learn. That is, if the student hasn't already determined what normally helps them. It takes time to get to know someone and the time allotted to teach and that given to know a student on that level will be very time consuming. If the time is taken however, the outcomes could be very well worth it and help the student to be successful in their future courses.
It seems that when I encounter a student in my class who has difficulties with learning, they don't want to be singled out and are reluctant to ask for or accept extra help. I will make myself available to them before and after class and try to provide the assistance that they need...but as previously stated, time is a constraint. The other students seem to become frustrated with the slow pace and complain about not moving fast enough. I do try to keep everyone "on the same page" as I don't want some to outpace the rest but it is very difficult to keep everyone satisfied.
I too find this to be a significant challenge. Sometimes this can be a good opportunity for small group work & then you can turn more personal attention to those who are struggling.
Ryan
THe time frame in which you have to work with the students in class. Other students are itching to move on while you are still helping other students.
How to establish a good relationship with them. A climate where these students are willing to share the way they process information and what kind of approaches have worked better for them.
