I am currently taking Introduction to Special Education where I have learned a lot about teaching exceptional students. I believe the thing that I really learned was how little I knew about the different conditions that make students exceptional. It is so important that we are knowledgeable of learning disabilities, autism, ADHD...etc.. if we are planning on becoming teachers. We are sure to encounter exceptional students in our classrooms. Teachers are the closest people to children with learning differences besides their parents. Treatment, diagnosis, and the where and how exceptional students should be taught, are all very controversial topics. Also these types of disabilities are different for everyone so there is no one solution for dealing with exceptional students. Each students will have certain methods that work for them but will fail with others.
In this 60 Minutes News Special they talk in detail about how the iPad is a tool that is helping autistic children communicate. These are the kinds of toolS I would like to use in my classroom to help with communication. Also I would allow students with learning differences to use word processors. It is much easier for anyone to organize their thoughts without having to constantly correct spelling and grammatical errors.
This is a link to a website that will help us better understand learning differences. It is most important to be able to recognize when your student is having difficulties. Instead of assuming there is a lack of motivation you must do your research. Children with learning differences may be more of a challenge to teach but, being aware and knowledgeable of these conditions will better suit us when teaching exceptional students.
Thanks for the links to the Apps for Autism! I know the iPad has really captivated Dylan and helped in engage with the spoken and written word in ways not possible through static print based text!
ReplyDeleteI agree. Teachers need to know the learning differences to know how to teach the best way they can.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the fact that children all learn in different ways. As teachers, we need to understand this and work very hard to get every student to understand what we are teaching.
I think the internet has some really great programs to help teachers out. I really want to use computers and some of the programs we have used in my future classroom.