TEACHING STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES
Preface
Learning disabilities are a heterogeneous group of disorders manifested by
significant difficulties in the acquisition and use of listening, speaking,
reading, writing, reasoning or mathematical abilities. No two students will
have exactly the same pattern or type of learning disabilities.
A student may have documented intelligence test scores in the average to
superior range and adequate sensory and motor systems, and still have a
learning disability.
The extraordinary achievements of numerous people with learning disabilities
are evidence of the co-existence of learning disabilities and average to
superior intelligence.
However, because of their subtlety, learning disabilities often go
undiagnosed. That is why people with learning disabilities, as well as
others, often mistakenly believe their academic difficulties are the result
of intellectual deficiency. which they emphatically are not.
In fact, the marked discrepancy between intellectual capacity and a
cognitive processing deficit clearly related to a deficit in academic
achievement, is what characterizes a learning disability.
Documentation of the disability is required not only to establish the need
for special services but to determine the individual nature of necessary
services. Students who are believed to have a learning disability that has
not been previously, or reliably, identified should be referred to the
Office of Disability Services for consultation.
While learning disabilities cannot be "cured", their impact can be
ameliorated by remediation of academic deficits, by appropriate
instructional interventions and by learning compensatory strategies. In
general, faculty members who use a variety of instructional modes will
enhance learning for students with learning disabilities.
FACULTY NOTIFICATION
It is the student's responsibility to disclose and document the disability
and to request academic accommodations.
Once they have so informed the Office of Disability Services Office, they
are given two documents: one contains information about their disability and
what accommodations they are entitled to for that quarter. The other is a
signature form which each of the student's professors sign indicating they
understand the accommodations which they are legally required to provide.
The students then return the completed signature form to their Disability
Counselor. The ADA Officer follows up with correspondence to each faculty
member offering assistance with implementation of the accommodations. A copy
of the accommodation form is also sent to faculty members for their files.
INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES
Once the faculty member knows the nature of an individual student's
disability, the faculty member may find the following suggestions helpful.
Auditory Difficulties
Some students may experience difficulty integrating information presented
orally, so they may not be able to follow the logic and organization of a
lecture.
Provide students with a course syllabus at the start of the quarter or
before if available.
Permit a student to tape a class if the student needs to listen to the class
discussion more than once.
Outline class presentations and legibly write new terms and key points on
the chalkboard or on an overhead transparency.
Encourage the student to use a note taker.
Repeat and summarize segments of each presentation.
Provide students with a written copy of major points, models, outlines, etc.
In dealing with abstract concepts, paraphrase them in specific terms,
illustrate them with concrete examples, personal experiences, hands-on
models or visual tools as charts and graphs.
Visual Difficulties
Reading may be slow and deliberate, and comprehension may be impaired for a
student with learning disabilities, particularly when dealing with large
quantities of material. For such a student, comprehension and speed are
expedited dramatically with the addition of auditory input.
Make lists of required readings available well before the first day of class
to allow students to begin their reading early or to arrange to obtain texts
on tape from Recording for the Blind or the GSU Reading/Taping Service.
Provide students with chapter outlines or study guides that cue them to key
points in their readings.
Read aloud material that is written on the chalkboard or overhead
transparencies .
Arrange for handouts to be tape-recorded before the course begins.
Memory Processing
Memory or sequencing difficulties may impede the student's execution of
complicated directions.
Keep oral instructions logical and concise. Reinforce them with a brief cue
word.
Repeat or re-word complicated directions.
Note-taking Alternatives
Some students with learning disabilities need alternative ways to take
notes, because they cannot write effectively or assimilate, remember and
organize the material while listening to a lecture.
Encourage note-takers to accompany the student to class.
Permit tape recordings of lectures or make your notes available for material
not found in texts or other accessible sources.
Assist the student, if necessary, to borrow classmates' notes.
Provide clear xerox copies of your notes and overhead transparencies. (The
ADA Office will provide these copies at no cost to the instructor.)
Participation
It is helpful to assess the student's ability to participate in classroom
activities. While many students with learning disabilities are highly
articulate, some have severe difficulty in talking, responding or reading in
front of groups.
Specialized Limitations
Some students with learning disabilities may have poor coordination or
trouble judging distance or differentiating between left and right. Such
devices as demonstrations from the student's right-left frame of reference
and the use of color codes or supplementary symbols may overcome the
perceptual problem.
The Science or Research Laboratory
The laboratory can be especially overwhelming for students with learning
disabilities. Unfamiliar equipment, exact measurement and multi-step
procedures may demand precisely those. skills that are hardest for them to
acquire.
Provide an individual orientation to the laboratory and equipment and extra
practice with tasks and equipment to minimize student anxiety.
Clearly and legibly label equipment, tools, and materials. Color code for
enhanced visual recognition.
Make available to a student cue cards or labels designating the steps of a
procedure to expedite the mastering of a sequence.
Use specialized adaptive equipment to help with exact measurements.
Writing Processing
Some students with a learning disability may have difficulty organizing
written material or may misspell words. Allowing a student to have access to
appropriate tools may better enable the student to express his or her
comprehension of the course material.
Permit a student to use a dictionary and/or thesaurus during a test.
Allow a student to use a computer and a spell checking program.
Behavior
Because of perceptual deficiencies, some students with learning disabilities
inefficiently process social cues and may respond inappropriately. They may
lack social skills, or have difficulty sustaining focused attention. If such
a problem results in classroom interruptions or other disruptions, it is
advisable to discuss the matter privately with the student or a counselor in
the Office of Disability Services.
Evaluation
A learning disability may affect the way a student should be evaluated. If
so, special arrangements may be necessary.
Allow students to take examinations in a separate quiet room with a proctor.
Students with disabilities are especially sensitive to distractions.
Alternative testing sites are available in the Office of Disability Services
and or ADA Office.
Grant time extensions on exams and written assignments when there are
significant demands on reading and writing skills.
Avoid overly complicated language in exam questions, and clearly separate
items when spacing them on the exam sheet. For a student with perceptual
deficits, for whom transferring answers is especially difficult, avoid using
answer sheets, especially computer forms. Allow them to write answers on the
test or even dictate their responses.
Try not to test on material just presented since additional time is
generally required to assimilate new knowledge.
Permit use of a dictionary, a word processing program, a proofreader or, in
mathematics and science, a calculator. In mathematics, the student may
understand the concept, but may make errors by incorrectly aligning numbers
or confusing even simple mathematical facts. A student may need to use a
grid paper or other special materials.
When necessary, allow students to use a reader, scribe, word processor, tape
recorder or typewriter.
Consider alternative test designs. For example, some students with learning
disabilities may find essay formats difficult. A student with a visual
perceptual impairment may have trouble with tests requiring them to visually
search and match different items.
Consider alternative or supplementary assignments to evaluate a student's
mastery of the course material. Taped interviews, slide presentations,
photographic essays or hand-made models may lead to more accurate
evaluations. *
* See Pg 34 for Board of Regents statement on "Diagnosis and Accommodation
of Learning Disabled Students. Some tasks which are deemed to be essential
functions of a course may not be readily modified If the faculty member
believes that to be true, he/she should consult with the Coordinator of
Disability Services and the ADA Officer.
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