Learning Disabilities and Students

Teaching Historical Events to Student With Disabilities

Our perspective of the concept of the passing of time and our place in the history of the world is important to us towards our growth and evolution. Lacking a sense of time and space, one is prone to be disconnected with the universe. While it can be frightening to be trapped in a moment in time and not be cognizant of the position in space you occupy, it is the experience people classified to have Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties (PMLD) go through (Tony Jones, 2013). Adolescents who have learning disabilities (LD) face a number of challenges with the strict application of Common Core State Standards for literacy when considering subjects such as social studies and history. Besides the challenges they have with reading, students with LD are required to take part in reasoning and thinking at a high level. For teachers to provide an environment that enables these students to learn well, they must have an understanding of the specific needs of the students while also attending to the expected standards. They can use proven instructional methods to work and collaborate with other people who are willing to help and provide support. Content enhancement is one of the evidence-based practices that works well with adolescent students with LD (Janis A. Bulgren, Patricia Sampson Graner, & Donald D. Deshler, 2013).

It can be very difficult teaching high school students with LD history (Carole Boudreau, Anne Rodrigue, Veronique Parent, Julie Myre-Bisaillon, & Annnick Tremblay-Bouchard, 2014). One needs several skills to comprehend content. They include:

• capacity to memorize and recall information, • using extensive and specific vocabulary, • using and understanding concepts, • having the capacity to read several texts to acquire and connect new ideas and knowledge, • being able to comprehend content in a fast paced teaching format like lectures, and • using specific and complex comprehension methods and strategies.

It is also important that children with talents are given the opportunity to socialize and work with similarly gifted peers. A number of schools reserve teaching slots particularly for instructors who have specialized in the area of helping talented young students (Candy Bear & Cheryl Mason Bolick, 2013).

Multi-Sensory Referencing

Multi-Sensory Reference is a system used to aid deduction and thereby development of self-awareness at a given moment in space and time so one develops the capacity to attune to their present. several approaches be taken in using this system, and many techniques are utilized to form a holistic approach. The system utilizes techniques like sensory cueing, spatial and temporal sensory referencing, creation of a responsive environment, development of tangible symbols, and objects of reference and environmental engineering.

Memory Books

A memory book can use an already existing diary or making one by combining blank sheets in a ring binder. A memory books tends to thicken with every attachment so it not advisable to use a fixed book. Loose leaf books like ring binders make excellent memory books and can be used by both the young and the old. Any person who suffers from any cognitive impairment can accrue much by using memory books.

Repeated story lines can also help enhance learning experiences for people with Learning Disabilities. The story lines may be stored in a device like a Big Mac so that the person with a learning disability may verbalize (aloud) a given line at a given point in a sensory story. This exercise may need sustentative support from staff at the beginning. Over time, as the students learn to use the devices and become familiar with them, they will need less help and will be able learn independently. It is a good idea to have the story line flow in a pattern with another repeated analogy in order to help anticipate text. Memory books can be very useful in helping students with LD cognitively cope in their learning of history as their references are not abstract and are made by the learners themselves with the help of another person (Tony Jones, 2013).

Adverse Reactions

The 'startle' reflex of people with PMLD is often relatively strong. As an illustration, imagine Tim hitting a switch and his toy rocket launcher making a huge starting sound. He becomes startled and signs of upset show on his face. The staff, on noticing that he is offended by the situation, removes the toy that is offending him from his presence arguing that he had an adverse reaction and so they will get him a replacement that will not scare or upset him. While the staff may be acting in Tim's best interests, they miss a very good opportunity to encourage Tim to continue with the annoying toy and so monitor how he reacts over time (Tony Jones, 2013).

Let's assume Tim has a switch connected to a POLE (Person-Object-Location-Event) event that leads to him being startled as above. He gets startled the first time he hits the switch. He gets startled the second time too. We can expect a reduction in how much he gets startled the third time he hits the switch and the reaction reduces with every subsequent encounter. In observing Tim's response over time, the observer notes that Tim has been accustomed to the POLE Event (Tony Jones, 2013). It is not actually coincidental or an aberration that Tim becomes accustomed to the event. What is happening is that he is now anticipating it and so is not scared when it actually happens. The switch is now linked to the event in Tim's mind and he has connected the cause-effect relationship between the two. Connecting the dots on the relationship that exist between the switch and sound now makes Tim understand that hitting the switch creates a huge sound. His anticipation of the sound makes him compliant and the reaction subsides. Teachers should understand the concepts of anticipation and order thoroughly, as it relates to students with learning disabilities as they are instrumental in developing effective learning strategies for these students. Further, they should be cognizant of events that offer them the chance to observe students' reactions to different situations.

For People with Inability to Feel the Sense of Touch

A technique commonly used in this situation is preparing at least five cards. Random shapes of no specific meanings are then depicted on the cards with each card depicting only one shape. One of the cards is chosen to be the best, and the individual is taught this through associations and combinations until the leaner can pick the specific card on their own using a specific yes/no response in a blind presentation. The blind presentation involves shuffling the cards and presenting them to the learner face forward in such a way that only the learner can see on the figure on the card. the aim is to prevent the staff member from cueing the learner intentionally or inadvertently. The cards are presented one by one until the learner selects a correct card, while the rejected cards go back to the pack. This is the only time the staff is allowed to look at the card. If the learner selects correctly, they are rewarded. If the wrong one was chosen, the exercise is suspended for a few minutes to divert attention from the exercise (Tony Jones, 2013).

Historical Awareness

Microsoft Powerpoint is a great learning tool and can be very useful in teaching students with learning disabilities. Powerpoint's main advantages include:

• It is easily available. Most learning institutions already have or use Powerpoint.

• It is easily accessible. Through a touch screen or a flip of a switch, one can easily access Powerpoint if it is already set up.

• Powerpoint can be used by people of any age.

• Powerpoint is consistent and has a good 'Help' feature that students can use to understand concepts.

• The software is consistent and delivers every time.

• Versatility allows it to incorporate music, videos, photos, animations, and sound effects.

• The learner can learn at his own speed as Powerpoint is driven by the leaner and his or her pace.

Create Consistency and Regulate Routine

Variety can be an advantage, but it may not the right strategy to deploy when dealing with students that lack firm association with time and space. For a person to comprehend the order in other people's worlds, they must first have order in their own world. Where things change regularly and structures do not hold, someone with PMLD will not find it easy to make sense of their world. Consistency is required and there should be a routine in following or completing a curriculum and scheduling a learning day. While a routinous approach might appear boring, it can help learners anticipate events and this is very helpful when dealing with students with PMLD. This approach does not mean that impromptu events like birthdays are not planned, but that most of the things done are consistent and can be anticipated by the learners (Tony Jones, 2013).

Approaches to Teaching History Concepts

To help a student understand concepts better, the instructor can integrate identification of specific and clear learning objectives, having systematic content reviews, asking questions through the entire learning process, and guiding note-taking (Carole Boudreau, Anne Rodrigue, Veronique Parent, Julie Myre-Basaillon, & Annick Tremblay-Bouchard, 2014).

Conceptual coherence can also be increased by organizing information thematically, emphasizing the interactions and interlinking assertions between the themes presented. Students' comprehension tends to be better when the teacher emphasizes more on the meaning of the major concepts and on the inter-relationships, clarity on cause-effect relationships, and when the teacher addresses the limitations that arise due to leaner's prior knowledge. When communicating with students with any kind of disability, an instructor must obey the following commandment (excerpt from ( Candy Bear & Cheryl Mason Bolick, 2013):

"Listen attentively when talking with people who have difficulty speaking and always wait for them to finish. Never pretend to understand; instead repeat what you have understood and allow the person to respond."

The structure of texts can take the following forms:

• Having information organized around themes offering conceptual models transcending general topics and subjects, • A cause-and-effect model that shows the links between concepts

• Insertion of activities and review questions in texts to help guide discussions the teacher holds on different topics. Focus should always be directed at principles and concepts, while ideas and information should be integrated from section to section.

Project-based Learning

Academicians recommend that a narrative framework should be used to present different themes. For instance, on the American migration theme, reasons for migration can be explained using the motivations and cultures of the migrating populace. The students can look for evidence in pairs where the pairs comprise of strong readers and those with learning disabilities. The heterogeneous groups can help in enhancing learning and students can use them for reading, reviewing and interpreting evidence. As the students improve their comprehension capacities, they can be taught to compare differences and similarities of the migration of the various groups studied. The collected information can also be debated as the students make their presentations in class (Carole Boudreau, Ann Rodrigue, Veronique Parent, Julie Myre-Baisaillon & Annick Tremblay-Bouchard, 2014).

In the case of American migration, the students can form groups representing the migrant groups they'll be researching. Their research can involve reading articles from various sources, and comparing and contrasting the groups. The collected information can help them compare the groups' lifestyles so they have a more comprehensive understanding of the motivations, reasons, and nature of the migrations. The students can also learn cognitive strategies to help with their investigations. Units discussed will inform the nature of the discussion and the deliberation required to arrive at the results and their interpretation. A concept like 'lifestyles', for instance, can be used to explain the reasons why the groups migrate and the conflicts arising from interaction between different groups (Carole Boudreau, Anne Rodrigue, Veronique Parent, Julie Myre-Baisaillon, & Annick Tremblay-Bouchard, 2014).