Accommodating students with disabilities in YOUR classroom

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Accommodating students with disabilities in YOUR
classroom

• Session Facilitator
• Tammy Harrison
• NSSAL Conference March 3rd, 2006

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Welcome!

• Introductions
• What would you like to learn in this session?
• Brief introduction to disabilities- examples and
  impact
• Discussion questions
• Potential strategies to assist students
• Concluding questions and feedback

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What are some different types of disabilities you
may see in your classroom?

• Neurological
• Psychiatric
• Learning
• Developmental
• Physical
• Visual
• Hearing

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What are some examples of each?

• Neurological- Cerebral Palsy, ADD/ADHD
• Psychiatric- Schizophrenia, bipolar disorder
• Learning- dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia,
  nonverbal
• Developmental- Down Syndrome, autism
• Physical- arthritis, Chrons disease
• Visual blind, low vision
• Hearing-deaf, hard of hearing

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What impact can they have?

• Self esteem issues- lack of confidence
• Concentration problems
• Attendance problems
• Organizational issues
• Anxiety around testing
• Withdrawn, quiet
• Unwilling to ask for help
• Unwilling to admit there is a problem
• And

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• What type of disabilities do you see the most?

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• Which disabilities challenge your students the
  most? Why?

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• What are other challenges that your students face?

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• What type of disabilities challenge you as a
  teacher the most? Why?

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What are some strategies that I can use to assist
students?

• Universal Instructional Design
• Peer tutoring
• Alternate testing
• Assistive Technology
• Referrals to other agencies

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• What is Universal Instructional Design (UID)?

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What are the principles of UID

• Materials should be
• 1) accessible
• 2) flexible
• 3) consistent
• 4) explicit
• 5) supportive and
• 6) minimize unnecessary physical effort while
• 7) learning environments should be accessible and
  appropriate for multiple teaching methods.

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What does this mean for MY classroom?

• Practical things you can do regarding testing
• Explicitly state what will be on tests (Chapters,
  pages, important material)
• Explicitly state what type of questions will be
  on test (multiple choice, true false, short
  answer)
• State value for questions
• State what will not be on the test

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What does this mean for MY classroom?

• Practical things you can do regarding testing
  continued
• Allow tests to be taken in alternative format
• Allow extra time for tests
• Allow private room for testing
• Allow tests to be broken down into smaller pieces
  (chunking)
• Possibly allow for other modes of assessment
  rather than testing (papers, presentations)

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What does this mean for MY classroom?

• Practical things you can do regarding report
  writing/ papers
• Provide examples of good papers
• Show grading rubrics
• Allow drafts to be submitted for feedback
• Encourage writing circles for peer support
• Break papers down into smaller pieces Outline,
  research, drafts

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What does this mean for MY classroom?

• Look at the structure, accessibility and use of
  your classroom space
• Determine the physical needs of you and your
  students
• Determine the learning needs of you and your
  students
• Determine the social needs of you and your
  students (quiet space, small groups)
• Does your classroom fit with the needs of
  everyone involved?
• If not, how can you change it?

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Remember

• UID is not a strict set of rules to follow when
  working with SWD, it for the improvement of all
  students.
• Creativity and adaptability are key for UID

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What are some resources to help my students now?

• Peer tutoring
• Professional tutoring
• Alternate testing formats (print, oral, video,
  tape recorded, chunked)
• Assistive Technology
• Referrals to other agencies

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What are the differences between peer tutoring
and professional tutoring?

• Cost
• Training
• Environment
• Comfort level
• Knowledge/background
• Types offered (Content, Time Management/Organizati
  onal, Paper Writing, etc)

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What are some general Assistive Technology
Software packages that may assist my students?

• Kurzweil
• Dragon
• Texthelp Read and Write (Gold and Standard)
• Inspiration
• Zoomtext
• JAWS

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Referrals to other agencies

• DCS
• LDANS
• CMHA
• CPA
• SDHHNS
• CNIB

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• Questions and Comments

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Contact Information

• Tammy Harrison
• 563-8041
• tammy.harrison_at_nscc.ca
• Thank You