Children Learning in the Classroom

Children Learning in the Classroom That Have Memory Loss and How They Deal With It

Learning Strategies for Children with Memory Loss

Memory loss is not normally a symptom which is associated with school age children. However, unfortunately many children are faced with enormous difficulties in their educational environments due to problems with memory and recall ability. This leaves many researchers and educators to find new strategies to help these unique students to cope with their disability and learn how to better retain important information while at school. In his 2003 work, Commonsense Methods for Children with Special Needs: Strategies for the Regular Classroom, Peter Westwood explores some of the most efficient strategies and methodologies for improving learning in children with symptoms of memory loss.

There are many different causes which may lead children to suffer from memory loss. In his work, Westwood focuses on one in particular. Traumatic Brain Injury, or TBI, is one of the leading causes of memory problems in children all over the country. It is a result of damage to various parts of the brain caused by serious physical traumas. Such traumas include car accidents, sports injuries, and "shaken infant syndrome," (Westwood, 40). TBI is also a major culprit in other symptoms which can also hinder ability to retain necessary information, such as attention difficulties and speech impairments.

There are several key methodologies which Westwood focuses on in order to help both teachers and students cope and move past the daunting affects of memory loss. First, teachers must minimize all possible distractions in order to ensure the student" attention is wholly devoted to the task at hand. With less distractions, the student has more attention driven to digesting the information, and therefore a better chance at retaining that information. Such distractions hinder all students' ability to retain necessary information, but with students with memory problems, they can prove disastrous. Next, Westwood explains how educators must compartmentalize lesson plans as to minimize the amount of information the student must cognitively digest. The smaller the lesson plans, the greater chance that child has at retaining that information. It is large lesson plans filled with complex amounts of information which provides an environment which the memory challenged child will undoubtedly fail.

Another key method for improving learning abilities in children with memory issues is the use of visual material to help aid recall. Visual cues are one of the most efficient ways to improve recall in children with memory loss. By relating necessary information to a picture or object which is less likely to be forgotten, the child will be able to associate the two and therefore remember one with the other. Teachers must also encourage their students to associate information with visual cues which are most familiar with each individual student, for that also greatly improves memory recall.