Literacy Activities Handbook - Saskatchewan Association of Rehabilitation Centres

Always try to make learning concrete by relating it to familiar events or practical skills. Have the learner do things and handle things. Try exercises which use the hands.
Long explanations, even for the auditory learner, should be avoided, due to shorter attention spans. Frequent repetition and breaking explanations into parts are advisable. Fully utilizing your voice, eyes, and facial expressions can help make meanings and intentions more clear for these learners.
Utilizing computers in your teaching can be effective, as multimedia effects, sounds and images can stimulate the learning. Using a mouse and keyboard allows for a tactile involvement to taking in information.
Modeling (demonstrating tasks step-by-step) can be an effective instructional strategy for learners with intellectual / developmental disabilities, one that can utilize visual and tactile learning.
Because these learners often have shorter attention spans and retention abilities, repetition and reinforcement are crucial. It is therefore advisable to present the same idea in a variety of interesting ways. There is a need to emphasise many intelligences or senses in learning activities.
Sometimes learners with intellectual / developmental disabilities may also have a motor or sensory impairment that can reduce the effectiveness of a particular learning style, such as a hearing impairment. Emphasising other learning styles may compensate somewhat for these difficulties.

“We know where we’re going, we know there are a number of roads to get there and we know the student is going to tell us when we find the right road. We only have one challenge left – and that’s for the two of us to explore each road.”

Shirley Hollingshead
Walkerton & District Literacy Council. On the Road Back (Video). Walkerton, ON: Walkerton & District Literacy Council / Saugeen Telecable, 1995