Introduction to Psychology:
Teaching Strategies that Work for
Students with Learning Disabilities
(and Everyone Else)
Kathleen Trujillo, Ph.D.
Carol DeVolder, Ph.D.
St. Ambrose University
518 West Locust Street
Davenport, Iowa
52803
National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology
Thursday, January 4, 2001
Introduction to Psychology:
Teaching Strategies that Work for
Students with Learning Disabilities (and
Everyone Else)
¨
How is
“learning disability” defined?
Learning disabilities
is a general term that refers to a heterogeneous group of disorders manifested
by significant difficulties in the acquisition and use of listening, speaking,
reading, writing, reasoning, or mathematical skills.
These
disorders are intrinsic to the individual, presumed to be due to central
nervous system dysfunction, and may occur across the life span. Problems in
self-regulatory behaviors, social perception, and social interaction may exist
with learning disabilities but do not, by themselves, constitute a learning
disability.
Although
learning disabilities may occur concomitantly with other disabilities (for
example, sensory impairment, mental retardation, serious emotional
disturbances) or with extrinsic influences (such as cultural differences,
insufficient or inappropriate instruction), they are not the result of those
conditions or influences (National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities,
1990).
¨
Can you
translate that please?
Learning occurs in 5 steps:
§
acquiring
information through the senses
§
determining what
the information means
§
storing the
information in memory
§
retrieving the
information appropriately
§
using the
information effectively
Someone with a learning disability has a glitch in one of those steps. (Warner, 1988). This glitch may also underscore related problems (e.g. inappropriate or absent social skills, sensory or physical deficits). These related problems are not part of the learning disability, but may accompany it. (Brinckerhoff, Shaw, &
McGuire, 1993).
The question “What is a learning disability?” may actually be a different question for different faculty members, but
remember that learning disabilities are NOT
hypothetical constructs, they are REAL and last a lifetime.
§
Individuals with learning disabilities have at a minimum,
average potential
§
Impairments exist in their learning processes, NOT in their
learning potential.
§
Because of the heterogeneity of LDs, and that
individuals may react to their disabilities in different ways, performance may be
poor in some classes yet quite good in others (Vogel & Adelman, 1993).
¨
What does
the law say?
There are two laws that were developed to protect
the rights of people with disabilities.
1. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of
1973 states that no otherwise qualified individual with a disability be
denied access to the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination, under any
program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.
2. The Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA)(effective since Jan 26, 1992) is very similar except that the ADA applies
not only to institutions, but in most cases, to any private or public
university.
§
According to the law, then, faculty are not
volunteering to help students with learning disabilities, but fulfilling an obligation.
The term “otherwise qualified individual” means that the student DID meet
admissions requirements for the college or university, and the institution is
now committed to making reasonable accommodations (Vogel & Adelman, 1993).
§
Reasonable accommodations may encompass specific
teaching mechanisms or evaluation standards that enable success without
compromising the standards of the coursework.
Unfortunately, regulations and guidelines
regarding who is eligible for services differ from state to state and are prone
to change, depending upon funding. So although the law says that the LD must be
documented, how a learning disability is defined and how that documentation is
compiled may be quite different in different colleges and universities.
¨ Types of learning disabilities
Broadly
categorized, learning disabilities include
§
Language-based disabilities
dyslexia
(reading)
dysgraphia
(writing)
dyscalculia
(calculations and math facts)
language deficits (difficulties in articulation, recalling
expressive words, elaborating similarities and differences, or identifying and
using appropriate verb tenses)
§
Sensory-perceptual disabilities
Visual (e.g., judging distance from an object, visually
determining the difference between two objects, identifying figure against
competing background--including reading a line of text in a book, copying
information from the board, etc.)
Auditory (e.g., detecting sounds over background noise,
processing verbal instructions, sequencing, fatigue from listening to lecture
material)
§
Executive and cognitive disabilities
Attention deficits (e.g.,
inability to concentrate, remain on task, budget time)
Memory deficits (e.g., inability to engage
in rote memorization such as facts, tables, dates, etc.)
Reasoning deficits (e.g.,
unorganized or non-logical thinking, inability to properly prioritize tasks,
difficulty with application of new material)
Spatial organizational difficulties (e.g.,
problems with compass directions, right and left, up and down, ahead and
behind, over and under, etc.)
§
Defective social skills
Discriminating visual cues and other forms of body
language.
Comprehending the emotional content of speech
(prosody).
Deciphering the meaning of constructive criticism,
sarcasm, or other types of humor.
(Based on information from Project T.A.P.E., College of Education,
Northern Illinois University)
¨
What ISN’T
a learning disability?
There are a number of other developmental problems
that can be confused with learning disabilities.
§
Slow learners might look as if they have
learning disabilities, but in reality, their less-than-average learning ability
doesn’t qualify as a true learning disability.
Slow learners generally have difficulty in all or
most aspects of learning. On the other hand, their ability is high enough that
slow learners can be easily distinguished from individuals with mental
retardation.
§
Attention Deficit Disorder (with or
without Hyperactivity) also may be confused with a learning disability. However,
students with ADD are more likely to be restless, disorganized, easily
frustrated, and so on. These behaviors might interfere with learning, but they
are not the result of a learning disability.
§
Students with traumatic brain injury may resemble
students with learning disabilities so much that it is almost impossible to
distinguish the difference. However, there are likely to be other conditions
that are concomitant (health, emotional, or physical disabilities).
Teaching Strategies that Work
What
MUST a faculty member do?
When
necessary a faculty member must:
¨ Permit a student extra time on an
exam, and/or permit a student to take the exam at an alternate location.
¨ Assist a student in finding a student
who will volunteer to take notes
¨ Allow a student to use auxiliary aids
in class such as a sign language interpreter, a laptop computer to take notes,
or a calculator for math
¨ Allow any accommodation that the
Disability Specialist at your institution deems necessary for an individual
student
What
should a faculty member NOT do?
¨ Provide special accommodations to
students who have not provided documentation for their disability
¨ Provide accommodations not required by
the student’s disability
¨ Grade students with disabilities
differently, or expect lower quality work
¨ Disclose a student’s disability to
other faculty or students
¨ Directly ask students to disclose a
disability (unless they are directly asking you for accommodations)
What
CAN a faculty member do to help students with Learning Disabilities (and
everyone else)?
¨ Include a statement in your syllabi
inviting students who need accommodations to contact you
Why?
§
Students
who need accommodations will feel more comfortable approaching you if they have
been invited to do so
¨ Provide all students as much time as
they need to complete exams
Why?
§
Students
who suffer from test anxiety perform better without time constraints
§
Students
with disabilities may be able to take the exam with the rest of the class if
there are no time constraints
§
It
encourages accuracy and careful work
¨ Teach study skills specific to the
textbook and format of the class
Why?
§
Many
students have never been taught how to study
§
Students
often ignore textbook aids like chapter summaries and tables because they
assume they aren’t helpful
§
Students
will better understand what skills will help them succeed in your class
¨ Allow students to tape your lecture
Why?
§
Students
who have trouble keeping up with notes can pay attention during class, and then
take notes on the taped lecture later
¨ Provide variety within each class
period (lecture, overheads, videos, voice inflection, moving around, personal
experiences, discussion, questions)
Why?
§
Students
with attention problems need variety to keep them focused
§
All
students will be more interested in the material and retain it longer
§
Note: Be careful not to jump around or get off
track in your efforts to keep students interested—organization is critical
¨ Ask questions that assume that some
people need more explaining (How many people want to hear this a second
time? Which parts need more
explaining? What questions do you have
about this?) and allow plenty of time for students to respond
Why?
§
Students
often assume they are the only ones who don’t understand
§
Students
with disabilities benefit from repetition
¨
Provide
both oral and written instructions for assignments, and ask them which parts
need more explaining
Why?
§
Many students
are stronger at auditory processing,
others are stronger at visual processing
§
Some
learning disabilities are specific to auditory or visual or reading
§
All
students benefit from hearing it more than once
¨ Ask students to write down their own
example or a definition in their own words, then walk around and provide
immediate feedback
Why?
§
Coming
up with their own example makes the information more meaningful and concrete
§
It gives
students time to process the information
§
It gives
immediate feedback to the instructor and to the student
¨ Teach definitions for words used in
textbooks and in lecture—including those you think they should already know—by
writing, explaining, and reviewing
Why?
§
Some
disabilities may result in below-average vocabulary
§
Many students
may have only a vague idea of what some words mean
§
Students
will understand what they are reading/hearing much better
¨ Provide multiple means for student
participation (asking questions in writing as well as verbally, participating
in on-line discussions, etc)
Why?
§
Some
students cannot form questions or comments quickly enough during class
discussions
¨ Preview your lecture/class material
with an outline, and make connections to previously presented information
Why?
§
It aids
students in note-taking
§
It helps
students anticipate important points
§
Students
may not intuitively make connections, even those that may seem obvious
Do
not expect less of students with learning disabilities, do not have a special
grading scale for them! The primary ingredient to success is respect.
References
Austin, A. & Kaiser, A. (1996). Instructional
implications for students with learning disabilities. Paper presented at
the Rock Island/Milan Education Conference, Rock Island, IL.
Brinckerhoff, L. C., Shaw, S. F.,
& McGuire, J. M. (1993). Promoting
postsecondary education for students with learning disabilities: A handbook for
practitioners. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.
College of Education, Northiern
Illinois University. Project T.A.P.E.
National Joint Committee on Learning
Disabilities (1998). Learning disabilities:
Issues on definition. Unpublished manuscript.
St. Ambrose University Services for
Students with Disabilities (2000). Faculty Handbook..
Vogel, S. A. & Adelman, P. B.
(Eds.).(1993). Success for college
students with learning disabilities. New York: Springer-Verlag
Warner,
C. (1998). Understanding your learning disability. Newark, OH: The Ohio
State University at Newark.