"Being deaf, blind, physically impaired or suffering from a learning impairment is a tough task for anyone to deal with. For children and young adults, the challenges can be even tougher. " -Medicare Solutions
I chose to pursue learners with disabilities because, frankly, I didn't know enough about it. I had originally decided to do classroom diversity, but as someone who came from a pretty diverse area, I felt I needed to expand my horizons. After all, I need to be prepared to cater to any of my student's needs, especially those who need it the most. After my research I still find that the only way I'm going to ever understand the theory of helping these students is to put it into practice, but at least this assignment opened the door to me understanding these student's situations a little more.
The Top 5 Things I Learned:
1. There are multiple types of learning disabilities, and are each classified by how they interfere with higher level skills such as organization, time planning, and abstract reasoning.
INPUT- an individual has difficulty taking in information visually or auditory.
INTEGRATION- an individual has difficulty comprehending or organizing the information relayed to them.
MEMORY- an individual has trouble recalling the information that they have learned.
OUTPUT- an individual cannot communicate effectively because of a language disability or a motor disability.
2. Having even one student with a learning disability means that the teacher must make many accommodations inside and outside the classroom such as:
The teacher may need to learn a communication device or system like Makaton or COMPIC.
The teacher will need to work closely with the student's parents/guardians.
The teacher will need to work together with other teachers and therapists
The teacher may need to modify activites eg. Math, sports or excursions
The teacher may need to physically rearrange the classroom to best suit the student.
3. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) estimates that students with disabilities cost about twice as much as other students, and because more students are being diagnosed with learning disabilities, states are having trouble allocating the funds properly. IDEA is still not a fully funded program and therefore cannot reach its maximum potential due to under funding.
4. ADHD is often connected to learning disabilities, but is actually not classified as a learning disability in itself. Studies show that while students with ADHD may struggle in school, they can adequately learn once their symptoms are treated.
5. Though the causes of learning disabilities are not completely understood, there are a few factors to take into account as to why some students have LD's and others do not:
Heredity – Learning disabilities often run in the family.
Problems during pregnancy and birth – Learning disabilities can result from anomalies in the developing brain, illness or injury, fetal exposure to alcohol or drugs, low birth weight, oxygen deprivation, or by premature or prolonged labor.
Accidents after birth – Learning disabilities can also be caused by head injuries, malnutrition, or by toxic exposure (such as heavy metals or pesticides).
Resources: 1. If you only have time to view one resource I would strongly recommend this bad lip-reading dub montage of some speeches done by Herman Cain. Not only is it hilarious, but it illustrates how difficult it can be for a person with an auditory learning disability to understand someone who is incapable of effectively communicating with them.
2. A lengthy video, at 16 minutes this entry catalogs the perspectives of students with disabilities, teachers who educate students with LDs, and other students sharing the classroom. It shows that building a strong classroom team benefits everyone in the learning environment.
3. This site does an excellent job at answering the most frequent, fundamental and important questions a teacher or parent interested in learning disabilities might have. It is a bit dry, but very informative. It also includes tutorials and resources for teachers who are signed up on the site. 4.This .pdf is an instructional guide on how to prepare a classroom for a student with a learning disability. It also gives excellent suggestions and strategies for creating, assigning and grading work done by a student with an LD. 5. Another useful video (no embed available) speaks with teachers about the preparation that comes before even having a student with an LDs enter the classroom or grade.They discuss how they meet the student and parents before hand to understand the specific needs of the student and to come up with a lesson plan accordingly. Very informative for a teacher, but it is very brief. 6.This entire site is a treasure chest of useful tidbits for highschool teachers who want to help their students with learning disabilities effectively transition into college. It also includes a page that focuses on specific content and classes and strategies on how to help students retain the lessons. 7. A short, somewhat awkward video that reenacts some suggestions for accommodations that teachers may need to make to help their students with LDs. The information is good, but the formatting is...you'll see.
8. Of course, I have to include Wikipedia. It knows everything. As usual, Wikipedia covers almost everything about LDs, but it's so dry, long and hard to swallow (kinda graphic, my bad), that it makes reading everything an absolute chore.
"Being deaf, blind, physically impaired or suffering from a learning impairment is a tough task for anyone to deal with. For children and young adults, the challenges can be even tougher. "
-Medicare Solutions
I chose to pursue learners with disabilities because, frankly, I didn't know enough about it. I had originally decided to do classroom diversity, but as someone who came from a pretty diverse area, I felt I needed to expand my horizons. After all, I need to be prepared to cater to any of my student's needs, especially those who need it the most. After my research I still find that the only way I'm going to ever understand the theory of helping these students is to put it into practice, but at least this assignment opened the door to me understanding these student's situations a little more.
The Top 5 Things I Learned:
1. There are multiple types of learning disabilities, and are each classified by how they interfere with higher level skills such as organization, time planning, and abstract reasoning.
- INPUT- an individual has difficulty taking in information visually or auditory.
- INTEGRATION- an individual has difficulty comprehending or organizing the information relayed to them.
- MEMORY- an individual has trouble recalling the information that they have learned.
- OUTPUT- an individual cannot communicate effectively because of a language disability or a motor disability.
2. Having even one student with a learning disability means that the teacher must make many accommodations inside and outside the classroom such as:- The teacher may need to learn a communication device or system like Makaton or COMPIC.
- The teacher will need to work closely with the student's parents/guardians.
- The teacher will need to work together with other teachers and therapists
- The teacher may need to modify activites eg. Math, sports or excursions
- The teacher may need to physically rearrange the classroom to best suit the student.
3. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) estimates that students with disabilities cost about twice as much as other students, and because more students are being diagnosed with learning disabilities, states are having trouble allocating the funds properly. IDEA is still not a fully funded program and therefore cannot reach its maximum potential due to under funding.4. ADHD is often connected to learning disabilities, but is actually not classified as a learning disability in itself. Studies show that while students with ADHD may struggle in school, they can adequately learn once their symptoms are treated.
5. Though the causes of learning disabilities are not completely understood, there are a few factors to take into account as to why some students have LD's and others do not:
Resources:
1. If you only have time to view one resource I would strongly recommend this bad lip-reading dub montage of some speeches done by Herman Cain. Not only is it hilarious, but it illustrates how difficult it can be for a person with an auditory learning disability to understand someone who is incapable of effectively communicating with them.
2. A lengthy video, at 16 minutes this entry catalogs the perspectives of students with disabilities, teachers who educate students with LDs, and other students sharing the classroom. It shows that building a strong classroom team benefits everyone in the learning environment.
3.
This site does an excellent job at answering the most frequent, fundamental and important questions a teacher or parent interested in learning disabilities might have. It is a bit dry, but very informative. It also includes tutorials and resources for teachers who are signed up on the site.
4. This .pdf is an instructional guide on how to prepare a classroom for a student with a learning disability. It also gives excellent suggestions and strategies for creating, assigning and grading work done by a student with an LD.
5. Another useful video (no embed available) speaks with teachers about the preparation that comes before even having a student with an LDs enter the classroom or grade.They discuss how they meet the student and parents before hand to understand the specific needs of the student and to come up with a lesson plan accordingly. Very informative for a teacher, but it is very brief.
6. This entire site is a treasure chest of useful tidbits for highschool teachers who want to help their students with learning disabilities effectively transition into college. It also includes a page that focuses on specific content and classes and strategies on how to help students retain the lessons.
7. A short, somewhat awkward video that reenacts some suggestions for accommodations that teachers may need to make to help their students with LDs. The information is good, but the formatting is...you'll see.
8. Of course, I have to include Wikipedia. It knows everything. As usual, Wikipedia covers almost everything about LDs, but it's so dry, long and hard to swallow (kinda graphic, my bad), that it makes reading everything an absolute chore.