Working with Students with Disabilities

What can a teacher do to help a student with disabilities?

• S/he can watch for students who are not progressing or who make uneven progress, who are frustrated,
  who just "don’t get it", who try hard but just don’t seem to be successful, who fidget, who can’t
  concentrate or pay attention, who lose focus easily, who have a history of special education or resource
  room, who get headaches when they read, who squint, who have poor coordination, who can’t find their
  way around, who are continually late, who can’t get organized, who can’t use a pencil well, etc. — AND
  help them get screened for learning disabilities.

• S/he can be an advocate in the test accommodations process by helping the student to request special
  education records, understand and follow the steps of the process, solve problems, keeping all the
  records together, etc.

• S/he can have the student practice using the requested accommodation in the classroom.

• S/he can work on graphic organizers and strategy instruction with the student.

• S/he can use a multi-sensorial approach to teaching and learning.

• S/he can indicate the effectiveness of the accommodation by giving the practice GED test in accommodated
  and un-accommodated modes to demonstrate the impact of the accommodation.
  

• S/he can develop the student’s ability to self-advocate for disability services through role-plays, understanding
  disability-related rights and responsibilities, etc.

• S/he can get more knowledgeable about how both low-end (pencil-holders) and high-end (computer)
   technology can assist people with disabilities.
  

• S/he can learn more about how disabilities can interfere with learning and testing.

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This site brought to you through the partnership of Utah State Office of Education (USOE), Utah Education Network (UEN) and Utah System of Higher Education (USHE). Send questions or comments regarding this site to murray [dot] meszaros [at] schools [dot] utah [dot] gov (Murray Meszaros) . This page last updated December 19, 2007 .