2.5 General Advice
This section provides some general advice to tutors assisting adults with intellectual
/ developmental disabilities. The information comes from several different sources:
- a handbook on Reader’s Theatre
- an online tutorial by a professor in the Department of Curriculum and
Instruction at Arkansas Tech University,
- a fact sheet produced by the National Information Centre for Children
and Youth with Disabilities (NICHCY),
- an “open letter” to parents of children with Down syndrome,
- an interview with a literacy instructor,
- a workplace literacy guide for employees with intellectual disabilities,
and
- a guide for parents of developmentally disabled adults.
Here is some “general information regarding the mentally challenged student”
from Reader’s Theatre for the Mentally Challenged:
- Some students may have speech impediments. It is difficult to learn phonics
if an individual has difficulties pronouncing specific sounds. This may cause
the student to learn verbal tasks at a slower rate. Tongue twisters may help
with pronunciation and voice projection.
- Some students think in a “me” sense of the world. The student
may have difficulties comprehending ideas or situations that he / she may
not have experienced in his / her life. These students may learn better with
concrete rather than abstract ideas. Comprehension is better when an individual
can identify with what is being discussed.
