Students with a Learning Disability

          Students that have a learning disability are yet another unfamiliar group that I have not encountered in my own teaching experiences. During Dr. Fecich’s online class, I learned that a learning disability hinders a child’s ability to think, learn, spell, do math, speak, write, and read (2015, August 4). Class Lecture. For whatever reason a child has a learning disability, this means that they will struggle to learn the most important aspects of school which could cause them to fall behind if not made aware of to their primary teachers. As educators, we need to be mindful of the fact that these students may not look like they have a certain type of disability, but might need more assistance and classroom preparation than others who you can tell have a disability.

            One group of students that fascinate me are those students with ADD and ADHD. I think that these students in particular are misconstrued for having bad behavior, whereas they really just need more organization and varying opportunities to learn. These students will have difficulty remembering things, focusing on certain tasks, remaining still for long periods of time, and tend to interrupt when others are speaking (2015, August 4). Class Lecture. Some examples of varying the content, process, and product are providing guided notes for class lectures, showing videos, broadcasting podcasts, enlarge print for certain worksheets, allow for students to present information, working in groups, and providing more time for assignments. The teacher must plan their lesson with multiple adaptations to keep the student engaged but also help the student to control their behaviors and to learn to act appropriately in class.    

            I found a great news clip on YouTube that shares a story about a school in New Hampshire that is dedicated to students with learning disabilities such as ADD and ADHD. One of the driving factors for this school is to get students off of the medication that they are taking for their disability and to help the students learn to self-regulate. Eventually, they want these students back into a general education classroom where they can work independently once they have mastered the skills taught in this special school. Some examples of the assistive technology that the students use at this school are lap tops, exercise balls to sit on, fresh air, and many manipulatives. They call their teaching style, “energy mindfulness”. The teachers want the students to be aware of their thoughts and try to focus them in on what the students like rather than what the state requires. Take a look!

WMUR-TV. (2014. July 4.). School takes unique approach to teaching kids with ADHD.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qBQKOos6SU.