Learning Disabilities
In my experience, the majority of students with learning disabilities do not take the responsibility of communicating their needs. It has been a very small minority that have been willing to reach out.
When the students don't reach out, what are some best practices for gleaning this information from them?
April Ragland
Agree Ryan! Always trying to pay precise attention to the student with slight disorientation and sliding focus gives immediate result and ability to re-focus, digest and absorb material!
Etibar,
it is amazing how just that little bit of extra attention can help so much.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
In my teaching experience I prepared to spend more time with few of them and keep they attention lecturing subject in direct, precise, digestible manner! Result is always positive with students consolidative self-esteem!
Having had children with these problems I can tell you the main reason they don't reach out is they don't want the rest of the students to see them as different or "slow".
The problem is, a few small accommodations can really help them, but in order to make those accommodations those students are singled out and treated differently, so they are afraid to ask for them.
My oldest was a good student, but severely dyslexic. When assigning homework, things that should take 10-15 minutes would take him hours. For example, a 4-5 page reading assignment was a 4-5 hour project for him. It takes him forever, but when he is done he knows the material like he had memorized it.
For him much of what was expected of him was unrealistic, so he would coast along and get C's in school. The thing is, he could have had someone read things to him, but in class the other students then see you as the "slow" or the "stupid" student. He would not participate in class to avoid this and he would then bring everything home so he could get the help he needed. If there were quizzes or test he would fail them, as he would run out of time trying to figure out what the questions said. The way his high school graded, however, if he did his homework and showed up every day he would still pass, so he graduated.
He never would get the help he needed, and if they dared offer it to him he would get angry, as he didn't want to be singled out. I am not sure what could have been done differently, we tried everything we could think of. He was on an IEP but he would refuse the accommodations.
