TEACHING STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES - Research Paper Example

The learning or grasping capacities of different people are different. Some people may have good learning capacities whereas some people may have learning disabilities. For example, students with ADHD problems may not concentrate properly in a class. Students with immature brain development may also face learning difficulties under a normal teaching environment. “Learning disabilities can cause difficulty in organizing information received, remembering them, and expressing information and therefore affect a person's basic function such as reading, writing, comprehension, and reasoning”(Keller, 2005).

Students with learning difficulties need special teaching strategies for proper learning. This paper analyses the strategies needed to be considered while teaching students with learning disabilities. Vize (2010) has pointed out that the usage of multiple and complex instructions may not be useful while teaching students with learning disabilities (Vize, 2010). The teacher should use simple methods to make the student aware of the topic. The extent of learning occurs is associated with the effective communication occurs between the teacher and student.

Effective communication occurs only when the students understand the topics explained by the teacher. Bright students may grasp the topics quickly whereas students with learning difficulties may grasp the lessons slowly. . Genetically, people are very much interested in hearing stories. Mary Elizabeth Moore (n. d) has mentioned that “two eternal antagonists of soul and flesh are reconciled in a story”. In her opinion, “story, whether told in words or in dance, is embodied communication” (Moore, n. d). Verbal and nonverbal elements are involved in storytelling.

Carefully selected words, gestures, body language, facial expression etc can be used effectively to catch the attention of the people with learning disabilities. “Sharing learning through narrative communication is itself further learning from the original experience. Tutors might use the insights from narrative learning to raise students' awareness of their own learning, and thus to improve it” (Cortazzi et al, 2001). “Students with learning disabilities have normal or better intelligence, but they also have severe "information-processing deficits" that make them perform significantly worse in one or more academic areas” (Berkeley, 2009).

Many teachers have the misconception that the students with learning difficulties are idiots. In fact, these students may have even more intelligence than the normal students. Their learning problem is related to their inability in giving attention to a particular topic for longer periods. The teacher should therefore use strategies to catch their attention as much as possible. Difficult topics should be presented to them in small modules and that also in a simplified manner. David Johnson (2002) has mentioned that the teacher should be prepared to face distracting things while interacting with students with disabilities (Johnsons, 2002, p.3). For example, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) is one of the common problems found among students