October is Learning Disabilities Awareness Month, and we want to help you to spread the word!
We’ve created posters that can be hung in your library, classroom, or office year-round to raise awareness about specific learning disabilities. Download them for free below!
This award honors and recognizes an adult with learning disabilities who has shown a strong dedication and commitment to advancing the issues of adults with learning disabilities. It is the wish of LDA to thank, in Harry Sylvester’s name, an adult with learning disabilities for his/her commitment to those living with learning disabilities.
The Harrison Sylvester Award was created in 2010 to honor Harry Sylvester, a gentle but strong voice in the field of learning disabilities. Harry discovered in his mid 50’s, after struggling for most of life, that he was an adult with learning disabilities. With the knowledge of his learning disabilities came an empowerment to help others, and he dedicated his life to this work. Harry was a President of the Learning Disabilities Association of America and carried LDA’s message of acceptance, understanding and support throughout the country.
The recipient of the Harrison Sylvester Award must be a person with learning disabilities who has shown a significant commitment and dedication to adults with learning disabilities and their issues.
Nominations must include a completed nomination form (below), including a brief description of how the learning disabilities have affected his/her life and a one-page description of the work the individual has done.
The award will be presented at LDA’s national conference, being held in 2023 in Las Vegas, NV. Complimentary conference registration will be provided.
Nominations can be submitted online using the form below or sent to the LDA office at 4068 Mount Royal Boulevard, Suite 224B, Allison Park, PA 15101. All nominations must be received by November 21, 2022.
Questions can be sent to the Learning Disabilities Association of America National Office (info@ldaamerica.org).
LDA is excited to announce a new and improved member platform, which allows LDA Members to access all of their benefits in one place, and includes a brand new members-only social platform!
In the new member portal members can access the LDA webinar archives, which include over 37 hours of content. All previously purchased webinars and presentation handouts replays will also be available in our new learning center. After completing a webinar or session, the learner will now automatically earn a certificate of attendance.
LDA Today, LDA’s monthly e-newsletter, has always been a member benefit. The new member platform makes these newsletter articles easier than ever to find. All past LDA Today articles are located in the LDA Today Library, which members can access just by logging into their profile.
Lastly, LDA has introduced an entirely new member benefit: a social platform where members can connect. Networking with others has been one of the most requested features for members over the years, and LDA is proud to now offer this benefit.
The platform shares similarities to Facebook, where members can post, like, and comment. Members can also join groups on topics that they’re interested in, like the Healthy Children Project, advocacy, higher education, adults with LD, a parent group, and more!
With this new member platform, LDA aims to add value to membership, and to continue to support the learning disability community, families, educators, advocates, and other LD professionals.
Recently, you have likely noticed your Facebook or Instagram flooded with pictures of your friends’ children returning to school for the fall. Whether their child was going to preschool or college, photos of their child’s accomplishments and outfits for the first day back to school were posted everywhere. Parents shared how proud they are that their child is going to their alma mater or taking a leap to go to school out of state to pursue their dreams. And then there were all of the pictures showing off decorated dorm rooms or first college apartments. We all love seeing the pride these parents feel, but what about the kids who have decided that college is not for them, or they are just not ready to go away for school?
While many of our high school graduates with learning disabilities may be going to college, others are tired of school—after all, it was difficult for them, and they are tired of facing another day of challenges. They want a new start, they want to find their strengths, or they want the burden of school lifted from their shoulders. With today’s pressures, how do parents cope with the frequent questions they might get from well-meaning friends and relatives? How do parents and students talk about the paths they are taking to find their success?
A new high school graduate may be excited about college, but is not ready to start. The old adage “If you don’t go to college right after high school, you never will go” is a false assumption for many. More and more students are choosing to postpone traditional academic plans and take a gap year or more. Some colleges and universities offer a gap year deferment. According to the Gap Year Association, 90% of students who take time off after high school enroll in college within a year. Studies have shown a correlation between taking a gap year to higher college GPAs and improved job satisfaction.
Students with learning disabilities are often not developmentally ready for college and lack the necessary executive functioning skills to tackle the academic demands of higher education. A gap year can provide an opportunity to improve those executive functioning skills, mature and gain independence, gain work and life experiences, have time to explore interests and develop a purpose for the future, as well as boost self-confidence.
Students with learning disabilities are often intimidated by the classroom environment, and though success is attainable with the right amount of support and accommodations, college is NOT for everyone. Individuals without college degrees are just as valuable to our society and economy as those with degrees. Career and technical programs, trade schools, or entering the workforce might be a better fit for your student. Remember, education does not always result in better earning potential.
Theodore Roosevelt once said: “Comparison is the thief of joy.” You and your student are not inadequate! Providing support and understanding for your new graduate’s needs and decisions regarding attending college can contribute to their life success. Remember, children develop at different rates. Children even in the same family are very different. One may be an introvert, while another is an extrovert. One may like sports, and the other does not. Capitalize on those differences and show your child that you appreciate their differences.
‘Where are you going to college? What will you study? Are you excited about this next chapter in your life?’ Those are all questions asked of students graduating high school and taking the next steps in their lives. The social and emotional toll it takes on a teen that isn’t going to college and to see their peers moving away and living on their own for the first time can be heartbreaking. Their journey looks different and needs to be accepted in today’s society. They should be celebrated too. It’s hard for some people to fathom that someone would not want to go to college, but in reality, not everyone chooses that path. In today’s world, there are many options for newly graduated seniors to choose from for their future that do not include going to college.
It’s essential to have a plan when visiting family or friends to prepare for the inevitable deluge of questions about college. Help guide your graduate by playing out different scenarios for when the questioning begins. If they aren’t planning on furthering their education, they can talk about a job they are applying for. Having a plan in place for any situation will help to keep your teen prepared so it does not become an anxiety-inducing event, and it can put everyone at ease.
Talk with your teen about how to handle unsolicited advice. Everyone has that one (or more) friend or family member who shares suggestions on what they think your new graduate should do with the rest of their life. “You’re good at math, you should be an accountant.” or “You’re so good at doing make-up. Have you considered cosmetology school?” It might be difficult for you or your teen, but be empowered to let the good-intentioned questioners and would-be advisors know that this is the new graduate’s journey and they will find their path.
A child with a learning disability has been reminded daily of their school career and weaknesses. Those weaknesses may have been remediated, and they may have learned to compensate for them, but it was a struggle. Some days were so exhausting that they just wanted to come home and sleep. Imagine what a breath of fresh air it might be to have the time to explore your strengths. Talents may have gotten buried with all the weaknesses. The student may have always wanted to learn a new skill, so they may choose to go to a trade school, or they have always wanted to draw, and now they have some time to do that.
For some individuals, the pandemic was a chance for a creative rebirth; there were opportunities to discover what they liked to do when suddenly they were confined at home and had more time. When students graduate from school, they can find their creativity. Some students may decide they want to help others, so they may want to be an assistant in a skilled care, daycare, or school. Parents should help their children find their path to shine rather than pressuring them to do what their parent has chosen. Guidance, not pressure, is needed!
There may be several reasons a student might be living at home rather than moving away. The child may be easily led by peers and needs more structure and supervision. It could also have to do with the financial impact on the student and the family. Parents may want to assist the teen financially to live away from home, but they cannot afford it. One of the parents or a sibling may have serious medical needs that have caused a strain on their budget. They don’t want to go into debt for additional expenses.
In some households, the child may need to assist with the caregiving of a grandparent living in the home, or a parent requiring extra help. Maybe the child needs to drive other family members where they need to be. They may gain a sense of purpose or contribute to the betterment of their family. Such traits should be recognized as positive.
A discussion with Dr. Vincent Alfonso, psychologist and professor in the school psychology program at Gonzaga University.
ADHD stands for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. By and large, it’s the developmentally inappropriate frequency or severity of inattention, hyperactivity, and/or impulsivity. The hallmark criteria are inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.
There’s no single cause of ADHD, but there is a fair amount of research supporting a genetic basis to ADHD. It tends to run in families. Children with ADHD demonstrate different brain structure than those without ADHD, which we know from neurological and neuropsychological studies that have been coming out in the last 10 to 20 years. And also prenatal exposure to toxic substances, nicotine, alcohol, and other drugs are associated with an increased risk of ADHD.
ADHD is largely a lifelong challenge, but it manifests itself differently over time.
ADHD has been around for a very long time as a diagnostic category, though the criteria for diagnosis have changed overtime in the DSM, which is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
In addition to experiencing inattention, hyperactivity, and/or impulsivity, one criterion is that the difficulties need to take place across two or more settings. Usually these settings include the home and the school, or the home and the workplace. Otherwise, this could be a situation or setting-specific difficulty, and not necessarily ADHD.
Typically, the onset of ADHD is before age 12, so symptoms should be present by this time.
However, there is what we call Adult Onset ADHD, which manifests differently than childhood ADHD. But there’s also folks who were not classified, diagnosed, misclassified or diagnosed earlier on and may have had ADHD, which makes it a little bit difficult to tease out the research.
Another criteria is that the impairment needs to have lasted at least six months in order to make a diagnosis classification.
Everyone can be inattentive, impulsive, hyperactive, or distracted at times, but this could be because of other factors or disorders, like anxiety or outside stressors.
The subtyping of ADHD has changed over time, but if you read the literature, the research will often see three different major types of ADHD.
This is the most common type and it typically involves impulsivity, hyperactivity, as well as inattention and distractibility. So it’s really, when people think of ADHD, I would think they think of this one, this overall kind of holistic disorder or difficulty.
This is more of the movement type, or the behavior that teachers and parents talk about because the kids are not sitting in their seats, they’re dropping things from their desks, they’re completely disorganized, or blurt out answers.
This type is typically associated with inattention and distractibility. So you don’t see hyperactivity or impulsivity as much, but you will see drifting off into space, not having the ability to sustain attention, or being distracted by outside noises or other students in the room.
I think everybody agrees that it is common for school age students to have ADHD and some type of learning disability. And the reasons for this high comorbidity (co-occurrence), is that there’s probably a shared genetic predisposition and underlying neurophysiology for ADHD and LD.
Also students in K-12 may acquire academic skill deficits because of the ADHD behavior, like they’re not paying attention or they’re hyperactive, and those behaviors interfere with learning. Also, students with a learning disability may exhibit ADHD behaviors because they cannot understand the subject matter, or they’re not motivated to learn because they have a learning problem, challenge, or disability. So they wander off, they drift, they’re not paying attention, so then they may exhibit ADHD symptoms.
Pure ADHD is rare. ADHD typically has comorbidity with other disorders. Of course, we’re talking about learning disorders or learning disabilities, but it can also occur with other behavior disorders. It can also co-occur with anxiety and depression.
The combination of stimulant medication, sometimes called pharmacotherapy, and a kind of behavior management technique is the leading treatment, especially for school age individuals.
When there’s a comorbidity with a learning disability, or disabilities, it can be best to target both the academic skill deficits and the challenging behaviors at the same time, because that provides the highest probability for improvement in the academic and behavior domains.
The disadvantage of this combined approach is that it requires a lot of resources and intensive intervention. The more intricate the intervention, the greater the possibility is that the regimen won’t be followed correctly.
It’s possible to target only the behavioral side or only the academic side, and there will be some generalized effect in the other domain, but I think that if we can provide interventions on the behavioral and academic side at the same time, with fidelity and with cooperation with families, then I think the prognosis is pretty good.
I’m not sure you want to give a lot of sugar to a student who is hyperactive or impulsive, but it doesn’t cause the disorder. There’s no single cause of ADHD, but research supports that it tends to run in families, or can be caused by prenatal exposure to toxic substances.
ADHD is very clearly a self-regulatory disorder, and that has its roots in the individual’s neurobiology, and probably has genetic predisposition. So it’s not like they’re just choosing to not control it, misbehave, or are engaging in bad behavior. Individuals with ADHD need interventions to help control their behavior and alleviate their symptoms.
Like a learning disability, ADHD doesn’t really go away. It’s a lifelong disorder that presents lifelong challenges, and those challenges change over time.
It certainly doesn’t. I think it’s fair to say that when it comes to psychopharmacology for children or students K-12 that we have the largest research basis on stimulant medication, as opposed to medication for anxiety or depression. Stimulants don’t necessarily teach students with learning problems or anything, but what they do is help them to be more ready to learn.
I am not a big fan of pharmacotherapy for K-12, but when it’s needed it’s necessary, and it’s helpful. And there are positive side effects, like they’re able to pay more attention, and they have fewer behavior problems. I also think that you have to have a physician or a pediatric neurologist or neuropsychologist who understands the impact or influence of medication on our younger folks.
Listen to the full discussion with Dr. Alfonso on The LDA Podcast. Search “The LDA Podcast” on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. or listen here.
Depending on where you live and the availability of resources in your area, you may be able to find a program that teaches reading, writing, math, or job skills. It can be difficult to determine where to begin your search for adult learning programs, so we’ve compiled a guide to help you find the resources you need.
LINCS is a national leadership initiative of the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) to expand evidence-based practice in the field of adult education. LINCS connects adult learners to free, high-quality resources related to education, job and life skills. Resources accessed through the site can help adult learners improve their reading, writing, math, science, and English skills; build job skills; acquire an understanding of American government and history to obtain citizenship; and find a nearby adult education, computer training, or postsecondary education or training program.
Visit: https://lincs.ed.gov/
The National Literacy Directory has helped connect more than 50,000 potential students and volunteers to literacy services, community education programs, and testing centers since 2010.
The National Literacy Directory provides listings for Early Childhood, Family Literacy, High School Equivalency/Adult Basic Education, English Language Learning, and Citizenship Classes. To find a National Literacy program near you, you can search for listings in your community and narrow your search for more specific results.
Visit: https://www.nld.org/
The Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) provides leadership and resources to assist states and other agencies in providing vocational rehabilitation and other services to individuals with disabilities to maximize their employment, independence, and integration into the community and the competitive labor market.
RSA is a component of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) within the U.S. Department of Education. The mission of OSERS is to improve early childhood, educational, and employment outcomes and raise expectations for all people with disabilities, their families, their communities, and the nation.
Visit: https://rsa.ed.gov/about/states
COABE is organized to advance national and international adult education and literacy opportunities for all persons. One of the main purposes of COABE is to promote adult education and literacy programs, including Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, English for Speakers of Other Languages, Family Literacy, Skills Development, Workforce Development, and other state, federal, and private programs. Their site allows you to search for COABE programs near you, and also includes a webinar resource library.
Visit: https://coabe.org/
The Job Accommodation Network (JAN) is the leading source of free, expert, and confidential guidance on job accommodations and disability employment issues. Serving customers across the United States and around the world for more than 35 years, JAN provides free one-on-one practical guidance and technical assistance on job accommodation solutions, Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and related legislation, and self-employment and entrepreneurship options for people with disabilities.
Visit: https://askjan.org/index.cfm
LDA’s state affiliates offer various services for individuals with learning disabilities and their families. State and local activities may include support groups, meetings, resource libraries, advocacy assistance, newsletters, webinars, and networking opportunities. You can also reach out to your state affiliate if you’re having difficulty finding an adult learning program in your area. Please note that all of our state affiliates are made up of volunteers, so please allow time for a response. Find your state affiliate here.
Although memory issues are not a specific learning disability, struggling to remember things can be common for individuals with learning disabilities or ADHD.
In adults, memory issues can contribute to forgetting work deadlines, losing things, or not remembering names or birthdays.
There are several strategies and assistive technology tools that you can use to help you remember things.
Use your strengths when you need to remember something. If you struggle with reading or writing, use a recording device to collect the information you need, and listen to it later. If you’re a visual person, use a map, chart, checklist, or graphic organizer to remember tasks.
“Learn how you organize information in your head and how you organize it on paper. I bullet point everything. I use a lot of different colors when I’m highlighting, and it all means different things, but when I look at a page I see immediately what I’m supposed to know. There are certain things that I’ve been able to use over the years that have been incredibly helpful. Learn whatever techniques are good for you. You may need to go through a handful of different ones to figure that out but I do think they can be incredibly helpful.”
-Dr. Collin Diedrich, scientist and President of LDA Pennsylvania, “The Strengths of Individuals with Learning Disabilities,” The LDA Podcast
Writing, rather than typing, can actually help you to better retain the information you’re recording. Studies have shown that students handwriting notes remember knowledge better than students who typed their notes. This could be because writing involves the orthographic loop.
The orthographic loop can be thought of as the mind’s eye, where the mind’s working memory stores letters and graphemes, and connects to the sequential hand movements needed to form the letters.
“The orthographic loop involves the sequential finger and hand movements for writing. Keyboarding does not…I can type every word I hear, but I don’t have to be paying attention to do it. I might have to go back and then rethink the whole thing. If I’m writing, I know I don’t have time to write every word. I actually have to think about what I’m hearing and decide what’s most important.”
-Dr. Nancy Cushen-White, clinical professor at UCSF and certified instructor of the Slingerland Multisensory (Multimodal) Structured Language Approach, “Handwriting Instruction in the Digital Age,” The LDA Podcast
The more you repeat the information, whether it’s writing it out, saying it outloud, or listening to it, the more you’ll remember it. You can also use mnemonic devices. For example, to remember the great lakes, many people think of “HOMES” to remind them of the beginning letters of each lake (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior.) Using rhyming, music, or rhythm can also help you to better retain information.
Break the information into smaller parts, then remember the parts instead of the whole. For example, when remembering a phone number, try to remember each section before the hyphen. Once you’ve memorized the smaller series of numbers, you can put that information together to remember the full phone number. Learn more about how to chunk information here.
Associate words or numbers with pictures. This imagery can help when trying to remember names, which you can learn more about here.
“I realized that I couldn’t attack any word because I couldn’t figure out any of the sounds. So what I did was I used a visual association so every vowel sound, digraph, diphthong, consonant sounds…So for example, I came across an A, and short A has an A as in apple, so I had a picture of an apple. If it was long, it had a picture of an ape. So I’d bring the sound, I’d see the apple, go bring it to the word, and that’s how I could get the sound.”
-Patty Gillespie, reading specialist, “Patty Gillespie, A Self-Taught Reader,” The LDA Podcast
If you’re constantly losing your keys, phone, wallet, or important work documents, simplify your organizational strategy by keeping all important items in one place. Or, create an assigned space for each item and make sure to put everything back in its place. If possible, create duplicates of important items.
Dear Board of Directors, State Affiliate Leaders, Professional Advisory Board, and Committee Members,
Since 1964, LDA of America has provided support to people with learning disabilities, their parents, teachers and other professionals with cutting edge information on learning disabilities, practical solutions, and a comprehensive network of resources nationwide. These services make LDA the leading resource for information on learning disabilities. LDA’s mission is to create opportunities for success for all individuals affected by learning disabilities through support, education, and advocacy.
LDA of America is seeking to expand its Board of Directors by bringing on a diverse group of new members from across the nation. Nominations will enhance the strengths, expertise, business acumen, and demographics of our current board of directors. New board members will join an already committed, dedicated and professional governing board. The Board of Directors is responsible for supporting the mission of LDA of America, setting policy, providing leadership and is accountable for fiscal and strategic oversight.
To apply, please complete the Board of Directors Application by August 30, 2022. Applicants will be interviewed in September 2022 and notified about their application status prior to board elections in February 2023. Nominees must attend the 2023 LDA Annual International Conference.
What are some accommodations and teaching strategies that can be used in a general education classroom to help students with learning disabilities?
I spent a lot of my teaching career focusing on differentiation of instruction, and how beneficial that is to not only students with IEPs and 504s, but students who are below grade level or at risk, and for students that are primarily non-English language speakers. So differentiating instruction is beneficial for many different types of students that we encounter in our classrooms.
What is differentiation of instruction?
Differentiation of instruction is a teaching model that looks at explicitly teaching content in different ways. One of the strategies that I find very much used in my school is the gradual release of responsibility. I see a lot of teachers modeling new concepts and skills, and then teachers provide guided practice where students, once a teacher feels that they’ve modeled enough, have the students walk the teacher through how to complete a task, or do an assignment. And then based on the guided practice and working together, talking it out, the teacher can get a sense of, ‘okay, I feel that this group of students can do it independently, go for it. Maybe this group of students need to be a little bit more supported with more guided practice or with modeling.’
I’ve seen teachers do rotating stations where there’s a specific task at each station for an allotted time. And it might have a vocabulary visual station, a hands-on station, and a conference with the teacher, so you’re kind of using a wide variety of different approaches to delivery of instruction, teaching and learning.
A lot of teachers I know use project-based learning, and giving students a choice on how they want to create a project is great.
Use students’ strengths to demonstrate and apply a specific skill. I’ve seen teachers who use a lot of assistive technology, speech to text, and audio books. I’ve worked with students in looking at different software to create projects, virtually and digitally. I think COVID virtual learning allowed teachers to experiment with more digital programs and software that can be beneficial to students with LD or without a disability.
A lot of those accommodations that we look for in implementing the IEP can be beneficial for students who are not receiving special education services. Being a visual learner is something that I think each person enjoys, so using graphic organizers to break down large reading or writing assignments can be helpful for a student who’s learning English for the first time, or students that just need that visual support.
Highlighting vocabulary terms and pre-teaching content specific vocabulary can be beneficial to many diverse learners, not just specifically students with learning disabilities.
I make the point to tell teachers that an accommodation you might see in an IEP can become a class-wide accommodation if you feel it benefits all of your students, because I think that’s just part of good teaching.
How can general education teachers and special education teachers partner to benefit students with LD?
I really think that one of the most crucial pieces to supporting any student with a disability is the collaboration between the special education teacher and the general education teacher, because there may be a point where co-teaching needs to be embedded in the delivery of instruction, and so making sure that teachers have the opportunity to collaborate, and co-plan, co-teach and co-assess, and come up with a model that fits the classroom.
Working on building positive relationships between both teachers is very crucial, that line of communication needs to be consistent and clear. And both need to understand the roles in supporting the student.
It shouldn’t be me versus them, it should be us working together to support the needs of the student. And so in the classroom, whenever I push in, I always let the teacher lead the classroom. With the delivery of instruction, I will float around and support all students. And I think that’s really key.
Students who have IEPs and a learning disability don’t want to be picked out in the crowd and have an adult hovering over them. I see my role in the classroom as supporting all the students, so I build relationships with all the students. I’ll spend time working with students that aren’t on my caseload, because I know that kids on my caseload are working independently and are perfectly fine.
So the classroom kind of sees me as a co-teacher that’s there for everyone. I don’t hover over a particular student, and that classroom climate and environment is positive. They see myself and the general education teacher as partners, as a resource to ask for help. I never would turn away a student asking for help.
I think it’s also important that the co-teachers use common language and are on the same page of knowing that, ‘Yes, I have five or six students in your classroom that have IEPs that are on my caseload that I’m supporting, but I’m also supporting the entire class’
If a teacher has a student with LD and they feel like their needs aren’t being met, how can they advocate?
I think that goes back to the collaboration piece. When a special education teacher is not present in a classroom with a group of students who have a learning disability, and the general education teacher may be struggling with reaching those students or teaching a specific lesson, that’s where collaboration and communication need to come into play.
Having that open line of communication, where the general education teacher is comfortable to say, ‘Hey, I did this lesson today, it didn’t work out for the students, what can I do differently next time?’ Or, ‘Can you come in and maybe I’ll reteach those students and you work with the other group of students and then we’ll kind of do a split classroom.’
No teacher should feel that their hands are tied. And again, I think that goes to building positive relationships, communication, collaboration, and making sure that the special education teacher is also there to support the teacher. Because ultimately, the general education teacher spends the most time with their students.
Do you have any other advice for general education teachers who have students with learning disabilities in their class?
For teachers that find they have a large group of students primarily with LD, the number one thing is to reflect on your teaching practices. Because oftentimes, a lot of students with LD need things taught in a specific way that’s really broken down, through scaffolding or chunking, and usually need a lot of visual supports.
So if you really implement differentiation of instruction, you build strong relationships with those students, you refer to those IEPs, you’re an active collaborative member of the IEP team, and have a partnership with the special education teacher, you’re pretty much meeting all the needs and requirements of effectively teaching students with a learning disability.
And also understand that a learning disability should not be the focus. We want to focus more on the abilities and the strengths of the students. Oftentimes teachers will say, ‘Well, they have a reading disability, I’m never going to catch them up to reading at grade level.’ Well, maybe that’s not the goal, maybe the goal is to focus on what their strengths are, and using those to teach those areas of difficulty. And so it’s flipping the equation, in not so much focusing on the dyslexia, the LD, the ADHD, but focusing on what the student is capable of.
And that’s something to speak to on a personal level. I was diagnosed with a reading comprehension disability as well as a math disability in the fourth grade. And I received special education services throughout elementary school, throughout middle school, and up until junior year of high school. And I remember what it was like, being a student who receives services and had a co-teacher in the classroom, and feeling the stigma of having an IEP, having someone follow you and try to help you. And so my other word of advice would be it’s okay to let the students be independent, because in the end, special education shouldn’t be a life sentence.
And that’s something I always try to tell parents too. I don’t think it is talked about enough, but special education is there to support the student as much as is needed and appropriately. But if a student does find strategies that are effective and is compensating for those areas of difficulty, and they’re doing well academically and socially, students can be exited from special education.
A student with a learning disability will have it their whole life, but can find strategies to really address the difficulties that they’re having academically in school, and we shouldn’t look at them any differently than any other student. And so I think really understanding where the student is and where they’re coming from and building that relationship is crucial.
Listen to the full interview with Gregg French on The LDA Podcast: An Educator’s Guide to Helping Students with LD, Part Two
For a first time teacher, whether they’re special education teachers or general education teachers, an IEP meeting can be very stressful. There’s a lot of planning that goes into the before, during, and after. And this is where a lot of the legal guidelines come into play with developing the IEP with annual meetings, and the trainings that happen every three years for determining if a student continues to be eligible for receiving special education services.
One of the things I learned early on in my training to become a special education teacher is when you go into an IEP meeting, always use a checklist. And I had a great professor that really ingrained in me the importance of being organized when it came to these meetings, and she gave us a template of a checklist of every step of what to do for an IEP meeting. And I would tailor that checklist depending on what type of meeting it was. But it allowed me to go through and say, ‘Okay, before the meeting takes place, here’s what I need to go through and be prepared for.’ That checklist allowed me to go through and check off as I went through the meeting, then afterwards, it created my meeting minutes in the IEP, which I really just cut and pasted.
For special education teachers, I would say communicate with all stakeholders who are invited to the IEP meeting, and I say that because I’ve been in many IEP meetings where the team comes in with decisions already made, but not every stakeholder was involved in that decision making. Oftentimes, it’s to the parent, ‘Okay, the team discussed this, the team wants to do this, do we have your approval?’ And as a parent, that can be a very overwhelming encounter, and sometimes threatening because you weren’t prepared for what the team is delivering.
So when you’re developing an IEP, prior to an IEP meeting, or preparing for an IEP meeting, make sure that you have an agenda and a checklist to go through. Everyone can see that agenda before the meeting and be prepared for it, and have an open line of communication for all stakeholders invited.
General education teachers often ask what they should bring to the meeting, or how to prepare. I always say to bring any type of assessments that show student progress. Bring any online reading or math programs, or do a printout of the month of their progress using the IEP program, or include any work samples that relate to the goals and objectives in the IEP, like if they have a graphic organizer and they did really well using it. Get prepared with the reports that will be beneficial to speak to.
The general education teacher is the main eyes in the classroom, they spend the most time with the students, they’re assessing their work and grading it, and they’re familiar with it. So that role is important, they have the most observations on the student, they can identify the strengths and the areas of difficulty.
When we look at the present level of performance, general education teachers can give a good report on what changes have occurred based on the previous IEP, and what should be changed.
And I always tell general education teachers that it’s okay to talk privately with a student with their IEP to ask the student what they think. Oftentimes the teachers are implementing the accommodations and modifications in their classroom and when it comes to the annual review I always ask if they think the student has any accommodations in IEP that you feel they haven’t used, or if they think there’s something that should be added.
And a lot of times the teachers are good about saying, ‘Well, I noticed the student is provided with preferential seating up close to the board. Recently, they’ve been sitting more in the center of the room, and they seem to be more on task. So I think that’s an accommodation that I think can be removed from the IEP.’ So, the general education teachers have a lot more to say about specific parts of the IEP than they even know they do.
And have a conversation with the students, and see what they think. Because you have a relationship with the student that is different from a special education teacher’s relationship. And it provides both you and the student time to reflect on the IEP, which I also think is very important.
Listen to the full interview with Gregg French, “An Educator’s Guide to Helping Students with LD, Part 2.” Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts
