I am a special educator who has been requested by a parent and a principal to inservice several 5th grade classes on LD. The parent’s child has been diagnosed with an LD but the child is concerned about being stigmatized if she were to receive services.
As parents of children with learning disorders, is there any advice/guidance/direction you can offer me? I have discussed learning disorders with students who have been diagnosed, but I’m unsure of how much to say to students who aren’t diagnosed. I don’t want to inadvertently contribute to the stigma problem.
Thank you.
Re: LD awareness in General Ed.
Also some short stories about famous people with ld. Children know of some of these very successful, talented, smart people and may be surprised to learn that they had learning difficulties.
Re: LD awareness in General Ed.
I have done a few things.
F.A.T. City video is a great way to visually show what it feels like to have different types of learning disabilities.
One activity I have always done with my kids classes. I spoke every year on discrimination,and disaility awareness,not necessarily splitting it up into categories.I work with physically impaired kids and developmentally delayed kids,and my own kids happened to have Ld’s,so I spoke in a general sense.
I brought M&M’s and little dixie cups. I gave each kid a dixie cup and filled them with the M&M’s. I allow them to start eating them,and then I start around the room. “Oh,you got a blue M&M in your cup?,sorry,they are different, you can’t have them,give them to me”.Keep going,picking up cups until they start complaining that you are taking the candy away. Then you say,oh? You like the blue ones? Even though they are different? But the Blue ones are not like the red ones or the green ones?. In most cases I always had one kid thinking I was crazy and would say,”oh but they all taste the same” Then I would say OHHHH,you mean they ALL are the same on the inside? So even though they are all different,even though they might do different things they ALL taste the same on the inside? Then you obviously go into well,you have just experienced what it feels like to be told you can’t do something or made to feel different ,just because you are different. And the truth is we are ALL different.We ALL do things differently. This opens discussions up to a whole bunch of different things. One could be,just because we look different doesn’t mean we don’t all feel the same just like those different color M&M’s in the cup. And hey those M&M’s don’t mind hanging together in the cup! Just because we learn differently,doesn’t mean we won’t all successfully complete the assignment or get the job done,just because we use a wheelchair to get around,doesn’t mean we all don’t have the same feelings on the inside. Get the idea?
I always have gotten the impression that kids are far smarter then we give them credit. Come from the heart,and they’ll understand.
Re: LD awareness in General Ed.
SOCKS, I’ve said it before: stop making me cry at work — no, as usual, DON’T STOP. This is exactly the tack I take with my cubs — we are ALL different, we ALL have problems and we ALL have talents. We need to accept and glory in our uniqueness, strive to improve ourweak areas, and accentuate our talents. Great post!
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Linda,
You might take a look at some of Mel Levine’s books. I’m thinking specifically of ones targeted to children, such as “All Kinds of Minds.” He has another book that is meant for slightly older students, but the name escapes me at the moment. I think it is great that everyone is working together to for this child, but in the end, the most important thing will be for the child herself to understand, accept, and even embrace the things about her that are different. She fears stigma not only because she knows how kids at that age respond to anything that is outside the norm, but also because she thinks that having an LD means she is “weird” or “dumb” or somehow unacceptable. She is new to all of this, but if there can be a continued partnership between the school and the parents (and perhaps with the assistance of a counselor) to help this child understand her strengths and her weaknesses and explain to her why she struggles and what may help, I think she will become less concerned about stigma. Mel Levine calls this “demystifying” and I know from my experience with my child that it really helps.
Andrea