Special Education Case Study During

Special Education Case Study

During my time as a special education teacher there were many students who posed challenges when it came to school, but there was one boy who was by far the worst and most challenging case I had ever experienced. The boy was diagnosed with ADHD at a young age. By the time I encountered him in high school, he had used his diagnosis as an excuse to avoid any substantial work. The problem was that at his high school his English teacher saw through his laziness and with the approval of his guardian decided to press the child for better work. I was left with the task of working with him and keeping him on task.

The central problem with this student was memory and cognition. Ever since his diagnosis, teachers did not assign the student any literature that was substantially long and so what was once a minor problem became very serious by the time he was in high school. When I tested his reading level, it was at a 4th grade level, which suggested to me that his previous teachers had simply decided to avoid challenging the student or pressing him to improve. What made this problem even more difficult for the student is that in his mind he had already given up and written himself off as being unable to read literature. This was not an acceptable way of thinking for his English teacher.

The purpose of this case was to exercise the student's mind and teach him how to focus enough to comprehend literature. This is a daunting enough task with a regular teenage student, but a student with ADHD and such a low reading level made it even more difficult. The course was 11th grade English, so I would have to find a way of making the books seem more doable to the student in an attempt to increase his confidence and empower him on to the next book.

I started by information gathering with his teacher. I got a list of the books that he had to read for the class and explained to the teacher what was going on in the student's mind. The teacher was understanding of the student's disability, but knew he could overcome it and was simply being lazy. I gave the teacher a copy of the student's reading level test results and this sparked an idea and a solution that proved most effective. The teacher mentioned that there were abridged and simplified versions of the books, most of which were at a 4th grade or slightly above reading level. The plan was to use an abridged book for the first novel in order to help the student gain confidence and then allow him to tackle the regular novel for the second book of the year. Additionally, the student would not be made aware of the switch in texts to prevent any additional laziness or excuses from being utilized.

Over the next few weeks I worked with the student using the book. It was a battle getting him to focus and typically required that he be alone in a small, non-distractive room while reading. Additionally, I used a timer and trained him to read and focus for 15 minute durations at a time. This allowed the student to get through substantial amounts of text with a reward for his hard work at the end of the time. Sure enough, by the second novel the student was focusing and comprehending the work. While he did still take longer than most students to complete the book, the fact remains that he did complete it.