Instructing learners with disabilities
One must have patience. I find that many
of the disabled learners are capable of learning
if they are given the chance to comprehend the
subject matter. Making sure to slow things
down and not have it overwhelming is a must.
Ceola,
This is definately the key to working with students with disabilities. Also you must be steadfast with communicating your expectations for the student. Many students with learning disabilities have been "pushed through" the educational system and they may be frustrated or apathetic about the process.
Deborah Balentine
Hello! Ceola,
I agree patience is a virtue. I try to help everyone, by watching the class carefully for anyone falling behind and address the problem. I can not say I have lots experience in helping students with learning disabilities, but I know as long as I can reason with them we can make progress.
My only experience with learning disabilities so far has been with 7-18 year old Cub and Boy Scouts ~ yes, patience is truly a virtue. The material and suggestions covered in this particular module has given me some good ideas for my classes, as well as better ways to reach my scouts.
I agree. I have only had one student in the three years that I have been an instructor who actually came to me and told me she had a learning diablity and what had worked for her in the past. We made a few minor adjustments which seemed to help her.
I realized afterwards that the biggest challenge for me is slowing things down to give them the time they need to absorb the information so that it can be processed. I speak fairly quickly and needed to learn how to slow things down.
Once I did that it seemed as if my students in general retained more than they did in the past.
Sometimes things can get frustrating when you have a few students that have learning dissabilties. But I always take time to step back and reflect back to when I was in school and some of the troubles I had and the Teachers that helped me.
