Learning Disabilities Training: A New Approach - Module 4

Questions to consider	Responses to questions
The student What does the student need to do?	Take effective notes. Read and comprehend various textbooks.
What are the student's special needs and current abilities?	Samantha has a visual processing disability, which affects her reading and comprehension skills. She is very motivated, aware of her weaknesses and has made attempts to develop strategies to help her deal with them.
The environment What are the instructional and physical arrangements? Are there any special concerns?	At present, Samantha's environment is a combination of individual and small group formats. She is concerned with the level and amount of reading and note-taking she will face during her ECE training. She may face instruction that is only visual such as overheads.
What materials and equipment are currently available in the environment?	Computers, tape recorders, highlighters, and individual work stations are currently available.
What supports are available to the student and the people working with the student on a daily basis?	There are three practitioners in the department and they have limited access to the Special Needs Department in the college.
How are the attitudes and expectations of the people in the environment likely to affect the student's performance?	At present, a college-wide professional development initiative on learning disabilities is occurring. Most likely the instructors will be open to accommodations. The current college preparation program is a very open and supportive environment.
The Tasks What activities occur in the student's natural environments that enable progress toward mastery of identified goals?	The development of individualized training plans occurs and learning strategies are being used to help improve Samantha's reading fluency and comprehension. Material is presented at her pace.
What is everyone else doing?	At present each learner is working under similar conditions - however when Samantha enters the ECE program she will be expected to work at the pace of the program along with the other learners. She will be expected to keep up with the text readings and assignments.
What are the critical elements of the activities?	The critical elements are reading comprehension, spelling, and sentence structure.
The Tools Is a system of assistive technology tools and strategies required for the student to do the tasks in the environments?	At present, Samantha is using a variety of strategies and minor accommodations such as listening to books on tape and using a spell checker for her writing. The increase in reading and writing demands in the ECE program may require additional supports, other than what is being used at the present time.
What no-tech, low-tech and high-tech options should be considered for inclusion in the assistive technology system for the student?	Outlines or summaries of notes could be given to Samantha prior to each lesson. Samantha could be provided with material that already has the most important information highlighted (only if necessary). Samantha could use a tape recorder during the lesson/lecture. She could be provided with the opportunity to use a word processor for her written assignments and taught how to use the spell checker and thesaurus. She may benefit from word prediction software. Samantha could be allowed more time on tests to help accommodate her reading comprehension difficulties. She could also use a reading pen to help with spelling and decoding. She could access reading text hardware and software as well as voice to text software for lengthy writing assignments.
How could the student's needs be accommodated without changing the critical elements of the activities?	Have the instructors provide her with a simple overview or summary of what will be learned before each lesson so that some of the confusing visual information can make more sense. Allow more time for her to complete tests. For lengthy written assignments have Samantha provide a written outline of her assignment, but allow her to use the voice to text software to produce the full report.
Will modifications in the critical elements of the activity be necessary to promote the student's participation?	No - it is expected that with the right combination of learning strategies and assistive technology Samantha should be able to meet the critical elements.
What strategies might be used to invite increased student performance?	The following strategies might be used: textbook reading comprehension strategies, strategies for writing, and note-taking strategies. Provide Samantha with verbal descriptions to help her understand visual information and encourage her to clarify and confirm her understanding of written information by verbalizing to her instructors.
How might the student and others try out the proposed system of tools in the customary environments in which they will be used?	Have Samantha ask permission to attend some of the ECE classes to practice her note-taking skills. Get a list of reading and writing requirements from the program to help determine the amount of time she will need to access the reading text and voice-to-text assistive technology, in relation to her own attempts at reading and writing using a word processor.