The following advice comes from an interview with Bill McCarthy, a literacy
instructor working with adults with developmental disabilities at the Gardiner
Area Activities Center, located in Maine.
- On Goal Setting: “Each student and I set goals
together. We have an informal interview in which we sit down and try to
discover what goals are important to the student, just what it is that he
wants to learn. When we have done this, I draw up a plan (in the form of
an IEP, Individualized Education Plan) for achieving those goals. The important
part of this process is a careful evaluation of the student; it is imperative
to be aware of his primary goals and make those goals the focal point of
each lesson.”
- On Progress: “Some students, naturally, progress
more rapidly than others. Others require that extra measure of individual
help and encouragement. The important thing is to see some progress in each
post-test. Also, we consider the students’ attitudes carefully. As
you noticed, they are not rocking and pacing; they are cooperating, working
in teams, finishing projects they have begun. Their personalities show marked
improvement. This is perhaps the most dramatic change of all.”
- On Discouragement: “As I said before, we devise
lessons so that students can progress toward their goals at a rate commensurate
with their abilities. Students are confronted with an increasing need to
make decisions and to accept responsibility. But when an educational limit
is met, we don’t think in terms of failure. We either try some other
way to reach a student’s goal or else we counsel and redirect the
student, helping him to accept his limitations, if indeed those limits have
been met.”
