Researched Paper on Strategies for Students with Disabilities

Introduction

The education system and profession and in general require a teacher to be able to communicate with students on a variety of levels since the students and the classes are not identical. Teachers should be capable of identifying and helping educate children from all backgrounds and at different levels, and teaching students with disabilities should never present any difficulties (Kirk, Gallagher, Coleman, & Anastasiow, 2011). Teachers should focus on the different strategies that will assist students with disabilities to maintain appropriate behaviors in the classroom, help with reading comprehension, and writing skills. When teaching students with disabilities, teachers should always search for the best way to instruct them to ensure that they have the best education available as the rest of other students (Kirk et al., 2011).

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

In 1975, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was enacted, and it provides that students with disabilities have the right to receive appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment with the help of their teachers. This Act applies to children with learning disabilities, hearing and vision impairment, mental retardation, physical disabilities, emotional disturbances, and autism to mention a few. Schools are responsible for providing an environment that does not restrict the learning process for students with disabilities and teachers should implement the appropriate strategies that engage these students (Kirk et al., 2011). Teachers need to integrate their development goals in the educational setting and provide necessary social skills to ensure a safe and accessible learning environment.

In this case, Benjamin suffers from speech delay, motor sensor, and focusing issues and to help him achieve the best learning experience I will pay more attention to differentiating instruction according to his needs. I will provide specialized guidance that is tailored to meet the needs of Benjamin and also engage him in a flexible grouping of students. If necessary, I will use the advancement of technology such as audio and visual supports to help Benjamin with his learning disabilities. To provide a safe environment, I will change my behaviors and act as a facilitator to enhance differentiated learning (Lee, Yeung, Tracey, & Barker, 2015).

Another strategy that I will adopt is the nonverbal reading approach that will promote reading literacy for students with physical disabilities such as Benjamin who suffers from motor sensors. This approach focuses on subvocal rehearsal, and it helps students to decode new words while the teachers can assess reading levels of students (Lee et al., 2015). After the assessment, teachers can evaluate the strategy by using diagnostic distractor arrays that combine corrections and analysis of errors.

I will also adopt different strategies to ensure that the environment is safe and accessible for students with special needs. For instance, I will start by researching the relevant information that pertains to specific student impairments; study the characteristics and behaviors of the disorder, restrictions, and course of the disorder and the treatment strategies in place (Kirk et al., 2011). I should be in a position to intervene appropriately after learning about the signs of problems associated with each disorder. In this case, Benjamin uses a weighted vest, and therefore I need to focus on the issues of endurance and fatigue by minimizing the potential sources of fatigue in the learning environment. I should also consider monitoring the motion or transition from one place to another or from one classroom to another because a student such as Benjamin may have difficulties balancing his body due to his motor sensor difficulties. Understanding the expected and actual development goals and motor goals will help in integrating motor goals in the education setting, by including activities that stimulate the motor goals as part of the class. I will also use assistive materials such as group activities and experiments for boosting general motor activity and reducing fatigue.

Some of the strategies that I will adapt to improve the social skills of Benjamin will be to teach different forms and types of communication to the class and help students with disabilities choose optimal forms of communication (Kirk et al., 2011). I will apply the techniques that assist in supporting disabled people with other students, and these include skills such as mobility assistance, provision of environmental adjustments or fatigue reduction as students with disabilities prefer peer assistance to adult assistance. I will also create other low-risk activities that will enhance and improve friendships such as role-playing and team competition.

Conclusion

Students with disabilities demonstrate a significant discrepancy in learning that is associated with oral expression, written expression, basic reading skills, reading comprehension, reasoning, and listening comprehension. Students with disabilities always have learning difficulties because of their poor auditory memory, low self-esteem, focusing problems, difficulty in following instructions, poor concepts of time, writing difficulty and they are easily confused to mention a few. The education system and teachers should put their energy and focus on the strategies that will assist the students with disabilities to maintain appropriate behaviors by providing a safe environment that will help with the learning process. Teachers should search and implement the proper techniques to instruct them to ensure that they have the best education available as the rest of other students.

In this particular case, Benjamin is a seven-year-old boy who suffers from speech delay, motor sensor, and focusing issues. His difficulty was first identified by a pre-kindergarten teacher at Cinnamon Tree who suggested having Benjamin evaluated. Benjamin had trouble concentrating and would always do the opposite of the group. In the interview, Barbara Casellas illustrates how they have to perform their daily routines because the school and other families are offering support and positive reinforcement. Barbara explains how the experience in school is fantastic and how the Occupational and speech Therapist helps by giving assignments that strive to improve speech delay and general health of Benjamin.

This interview expands on how the teacher, student, and parent relationship should be to students with learning difficulties caused their disabilities. Barbara Casellas emphasizes on the need to communicate between teachers and parents because she believes that will help in assessing the student's development and evaluation. She insists that teachers should be patient and understanding with their students, they should always keep an open mind because students with disabilities never do things on purpose, and they are not bad kids, but just students that suffer from disabilities. Teachers should create a safe environment to earn the trust of the students because such an environment may make them open up with their difficulties.

This essay, therefore, focuses on the different strategies that teachers should adopt when dealing with students with disabilities. Some of these strategies include teaching different forms and types of communication that will help students with disabilities choose the best optimal communication. Teachers should also apply techniques that improve students' mobility, fatigue reduction and pay more attention to differentiating instruction according to student's needs, and nonverbal reading approach that will promote reading literacy for students with physical disabilities. Teachers should research the relevant information that pertains to specific student impairments; study the characteristics and behaviors of the disorder, restrictions, and course of the disorder and the treatment strategies in place. This should help to intervene appropriately after learning about the signs of problems associated with each disorder. Research-based evidence also requires teachers to be conversant with Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that provides that students with disabilities have the right to receive appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment when structuring their teaching strategies for students with disabilities.

Barbara Casellas' interview gives an insight into how teachers should regularly communicate with their parents and other teaching staff to create a safe environment for students with disabilities. Teachers should adopt a variety of teaching techniques and strategies aimed at improving the learning process of students with disabilities.

References

Kirk, S., Gallagher, J. J., Coleman, M. R., & Anastasiow, N. J. (2011). Educating exceptional children. Cengage Learning.

Lee, F. L. M., Yeung, A. S., Tracey, D., & Barker, K. (2015). Inclusion of children with special needs in early childhood education: What teacher characteristics matter. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 35(2), 79-88.