FACILITATING LEARNER-CENTERED TEACHING ED 105

Activity

Make a teaching guidelines or tips on how to work with students with exceptionalities following
the categories shown in this module.

 Mental Retardation

To fully address the limitations in intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior often
experienced by individuals with intellectual disabilities, teachers need to provide direct
instruction in a number of skill areas outside of the general curriculum. Useful guidelines or tips
on how to work with intellectual disabilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

Teach one concept or activity component at a time

Teach one step at a time to help support memorization and sequencing
Teach students in small groups, or one-on-one, if possible
Always provide multiple opportunities to practice skills in a number of different settings
Use physical and verbal prompting to guide correct responses, and provide specific verbal
praise to reinforce these responses

 Learning Disabilities

Success for the student with learning disabilities requires a focus on individual
achievement, individual progress, and individual learning. This requires specific, directed,
individualized, intensive remedial instruction for students who are struggling. The following are
the teaching guidelines or tips:

break learning into small steps;

supply regular, quality feedback;
use diagrams, graphics and pictures to augment what they say in words;
provide ample independent, well-designed intensive practice;
model instructional practices that they want students to follow;
provide prompts of strategies to use; and
engage students in process type questions like “How is the strategy working? Where else
might you apply it?”

 Sensory Impairments

Students with sensory disabilities such as those who are blind, visually impaired, deaf, or
hearing impaired often bring auxiliary aids and adaptive equipment to the classroom (e.g., dog,
cane, interpreter).  These aids assist in gaining access to the classroom; however, they do not
ensure access. 
 The classroom instructor is responsible for considering the needs of every student when
teaching.  For example, your instruction, including lectures, website, videos, overheads, handouts,
and textbook must be accessible to all students.  

Encourage the student to use visual aids/resources that have been prescribed (e.g. glasses,
magnifiers, big-print books, etc).
Seat the student appropriately in the classroom (e.g. in the middle towards the front).
Make sure lighting is suitable.
Make efforts to eliminate the risk of glare from the desk and whiteboard.
If possible ensure lights are coming from behind or to the side of the student.
Give clear instructions as the student may misinterpret gestures and facial expressions.
Consider the use of enlarged print/magnified worksheets.
The less configurations on a page the better (worksheets can be cut in strips and stapled
together to present less work at a time).
Print materials need to be clear and dark.

 Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

Students who suffer from Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, or EBD, often find it very
difficult to control their behavior and focus on their work in the classroom. EBD students also
commonly lack the impulse control and the emotional balance that is necessary to handle social
interactions with other students effectively. The following are the effective guidelines or tips to
work with students with exceptionalities.

Keep class rules/activities simple and clear

Reward positive behaviors
Allow for mini-breaks
Fair treatment for all
Use motivational strategies

 Autism

The following are the guidelines or tips on how to work with students with
exceptionalities. Use simple, concrete language. Simple, concrete language, especially when the
words used are visual in nature and accompanied by visual supports, is easier for students on the
spectrum to interpret than abstract or metaphorical language is. It is also important that the
choices presented to students are both clear and limited in scope. This rule should be applied to
both assignments and personal decisions and lastly when working with them always be gentle in
tone and word when offering correction or critique.
  Physical Disabilities and Health Impairments

 Physical disabilities require the use of an assistive device (for example, a wheelchair or
walker). However, those with arthritis or multiple sclerosis, for instance, may not show any
visible signs of disability. Physical disabilities may affect someone’s ability to stand, walk, sit or
move around. Some physical disabilities are episodic; they can flare up, and then go through
periods of remission. Some persons with physical disabilities may be accompanied by a personal
support person. Some teaching guidelines or tips on how to work with students with
exceptionalities are:

If possible, send your teaching material to the student electronically, or transfer it onto a
USB flash drive for the student.
Assist in identifying potential tutors and/or note-takers.
Allow students to audio-record lectures.
Allow for preferential seating, either to facilitate better listening or to allow for proximity
to an electrical outlet or the exit.
Lean towards flexibility for absences and late assignments.
Arrange to meet with the student to discuss specific learning needs, strategies for success,
alternatives to course assignments, and methods of evaluation when the student provides
his or her letter of accommodation.
Allow for extensions on assignments and essays.
Provide extended time for tests and exams.
Allow for alternate scheduling of tests and exams.

APPLICATION

Revise the following sentences to adhere to the people-first language and other guidelines given
in this module.

1. Their brother is mentally retarded.

Revision: Their brother has a cognitive disability.

2. The teacher thought many strategies to teach the mentally challenged.

Revision: The teacher thought many strategies to teach a person with learning disability.

3. He is the polio victim who currently suffers from post-polio syndrome.

Revision: He had polio when he was younger, and now has post-polio syndrome.

4. The organization is for the autistic.

Revision: The organization is for the person who has or has been diagnosed with autism.
5. There was a blind girl in my psychology class.
Revision: There was a girl who is visually impaired in my psychology class.