I am Senior attending Salisbury University currently, and I am taking Inclusion in the Classroom. I was hoping someone could help me with a question I had. My question is: What should you do if you are a first year teacher and you walk in your class and you have a child with a learning disability, and you want to explain to the other children about their disability. You want to do this so the other children are aware of the situation, what would you do? Thank ahead of time to those who respond :-)
Re: New Teacher
I know that you are wanting the other students to understand, but it is none of their business who has a learning disability. It could actually backfire and the other students could make fun of the student with the LD problem. Teach your students that everyone has their strengths and their weaknesses, but everyone is special. As for your student with the learning disability help him/her in as many ways as possible without being to obvious to the other kids.
Erin
Re: New Teacher
The first thing I’d do is clear it with the LD child and their parents. Otherwise, I’d make my speech very general and about learning differences in general. Cause in teaching you’ll find many kids have them - diagnosed or not.
In that presentation, I’d go over several possible learning difference that commonly present. Reading issues, writing issues, spelling isses, auditory processing, add, …
That would help to set the tone you’re looking for but not single any one child out.
Re: New Teacher
My daughter is ADHD with “learning differences.” She knows she is different than the other kids, that her brain is wired a bit differently. She knows she is smart, but has major difficulties at school learning and keeping up with the class. Given all the time she has spent at tutors, in resource room and math/reading pull-outs, she still has maintained a pretty good attitude at school - I credit the teachers she has had for this (she’s in 3rd grade now).
She does not want her ADHD discussed nor does she want to be singled out in class in any way more than her school performance already does for her. I respect her wishes and so have her teachers. Thankfully, she is in this nurturing environment.
What I can tell you is PRAISE works wonders for her. Please make sure you praise this child for any/all gains and EFFORTS he/she makes. That child’s self esteem is largely in your hands for 9 months.
I think your heart is in the right place on this one, but I cannot imagine any particular reason why I would want to explain to a class about one child’s disability. It is none of their business first of all (privacy issue) and has the potential to be extrordinarily embarrassing to the child.
That being said, I can imagine lots of situations where I would work to build an atmosphere where children learn to recognize the things we have in common as human beings and the places where we are different, and to learn to accept an celebrate thoise differences as the normal human condition. I would suggest that you add Mel Levine’s book “Educational Care” to your library, as well as a copy of “The Responsive CLassroom”.
Robin