Source: afcent.af.mil
“Dreaming of a Bigger Tomorrow was the theme at the 2019 Special Needs Conference attended by children with autism and other disabilities, parents, policymakers, sponsors, and other participants that had the same goal. They all were interested to improve the lives of children with special needs and their families. Among those who attended were teachers from different states, who listened to discussions about teaching children with special needs. It was a transformative event that communities from different states truly recognized and appreciated.
Teaching Children With Special Needs
As a teacher, disabled children and teens may present with several distinctive challenges. They will require more patience and time from you, so you also need to have special instructional techniques in an organized environment that improves their learning capacity. It is vital to keep in mind that students with special needs are not incapacitated. They are capable of learning – only that they require a more custom-tailored type of guidelines that are suitable to meet their corresponding learning disabilities. Here are some common strategies that you can use or be guided with.
- Give verbal instructions to children with reading disabilities. Reading materials and examinations should also be in an oral format so that the student’s evaluation will not be influenced by his reading disability.
- Provide quick feedback to the disabled students as they need to immediately see the connection between what you taught them as a teacher and what they have learned as a student.
- Progress checks should be made available to them regularly. Provide them with a simple checklist of how they are doing so far in individual and class environments.
Source: army. mil
- Structure your activities in a way that they are understandable – short and to the point. Long projects will most probably frustrate these students and might decrease their motivation.
- Children with learning disabilities have trouble comprehending abstract concepts and words. As much as possible, provide these students with tangible objects, things that they can smell, touch, hear, etc.
- If necessary, repeat your instructions or provide both written and oral formats. It is important that children with disabilities benefit from sensory modalities.