Managing Students With Disabilities

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Introduction

Disability is one of the challenges encountered by teachers when delivering there services to students. It should be noted that nearly all the students could achieve their academic objectives if the right teaching and learning techniques are applied that take into account the individual student needs.

Different students having different learning abilities prompting for a need by the educators to differently address these students with special education needs.

If not correctly considered, the students in with mild disabilities under other unidentified disabilities might suffer due to the current emphasis on the educational sector that an inclusive educational practice be adopted. The instructors in this case should have the required knowledge and appropriately intervene to help these students to cope up with the curriculum requirements.

Instructional issues that are encountered in education are those arising due to the inability of the students to acquire, maintain, and relate the skills that are learned in class to other settings within and outside the classroom (Keel et al, 1999).

Instructional issues to be addressed for students with the disabilities

Students with autism

Autism refers to a disorder in the development of the nervous system. It refers to a group of slowly evolving disorders of the central nervous system that are collectively referred to as Autism Spectrum Disorders or Autism Spectrum Conditions. The victims of this disorder are seen to have an impaired speech. They are also seen to have difficulties in social interaction.

Regardless of type and level of autism in an individual, these behavioral and social developments are always retarded. The other obvious signs of autism include forgetfulness, problem in understanding and following instructions, avoiding direct eye contact during communication or poor sexual development.

Children with autism are epileptic, have no intuitions, and show no love or empathy for others. They consider the others much the same way they do to objects.

Handling students with this kind of disability is one of the hard tasks that a trainer will have to perform. One problem that the instructors face in handling autistic students is that they (autistic students) have little or no ability to concentrate in a given task like learning in class. However, despite their slow learning pace, there are techniques that can be applied to help the autistic students learn and achieve there desired goals.

Students with E/BD

Students with emotional and behavioral disorder manifest some kind of uncontrolled behaviour. The instructors need to first establish if the actions of a student are caused by emotional disturbance requiring special education, or it results from other psychological disorders. Students with emotional behavioral disorders have a low ability to learn and retain a concept in class (Westwood 2009, p.101).

They are not good at listening and taking instruction, which is a fundamental teaching and learning requirement. If the students with emotional and behavioral disorders are not properly handled, the effects of their uncontrolled behavior can extend and affect the learning of other students as well.

The difficulties that are associated with this kind of disorder among the student can be categorized as either externalized and internalized manifestations (Westwood p.99).

The externalized symptoms include unexplained aggression, being hostile, inability to socialize with the others, and inability to comply with the given instructions. The internalized signs include anxiety, social isolation, as well as exhibiting emotional depression.

Emotional behavioral disorders fall in the broad category of student disability referred to as high-incidence disabilities. The other kinds of disabilities in this group are learning disabilities (LD) and mild intellectual disabilities (MID). Even though victims of all these disabilities show similar social adaptability, they are seen to differ in cognitive and behavioral characteristics (Sabornie et al, 2006).

Discussions

The potential resources that may useful to obtain information/support for dealing with the above disability issues.

The teachers are the central players in identifying the students with some kind of disabilities and the kind of special needs education that are appropriate for such groups of students.

However, a collective responsibility needs the co-operation of all the stakeholders of a given learning institution. The following are some of the individuals and individual practices that can be appropriate in identifying and managing mild disabilities among the students.

Fellow students

Some behavioral disorders are known to spread due to the peer influence that occurs among the students. However, ensuring that the environment in class is favorable for learning is a collective responsibility that includes the participation of even the students.

It is through the co-operation of the students that an emerging uncontrolled behavior in some students can be identified and controlled. Besides, in an inclusive class, the other students with learning difficulties can be assisted through collective learning practices.

Fellow Teachers

These are the most valuable resources in helping a teacher to identify a disability issue that affects the teaching and learning process. Teachers should have instructional and collaborative teaming with the other teachers and professionals to help identify and manage disabilities in students (Rodriguez 1998).

Collaboration among a group of teachers is useful since it can take a single teacher to take a long time before identifying a weakness in a student.

School administrators

The administration has to ensure that there are adequate staffs that are trained on the techniques of handling students with various mild disabilities (Rodriguez 1998). The institutional management should ensure that there is proper time schedule for the learning process that fits students with these disabilities.

They should monitor how the teachers follow the learning schedules that have been planned. They should also establish and reinforce corrective measures that can be used for students with uncontrolled behaviors.

Family and community

The community from which a student hails can determine the kind of behaviors exhibited by the students. The community has a lot of support to offer to the student before, during, and after the schooling period (Rodriguez 1998). The knowledge of the family background of a student can quickly help a teacher in identifying the disabilities in that student.

Collaboration of teachers and the parents of a student can help in identifying disorders like autism, which may not be noticed at the first instance in school. Having identified a disorder in a student, there is still need for co-operation between the students and parents to ensure that the disorder is managed or corrected.

Family or group psychotherapy can be of some help (Westwood 2009, p107. Both the parties will give the necessary psychological, instructional, or financial support for the student.

Life experiences

Some of the emotional and behavioral behaviors witnessed in students stem from the experiences that one has had in life. For instance, female students who have had a childhood sexual abuse may show some signs of uncontrolled emotional behavior.

The teachers then need to be conversant with the possible effects of such childhood abuses before developing the best approach to manage the situation. Some personal experiences by the teacher concerning some of the uncontrolled emotional behavior among the students can also be help in identifying and managing the vice.

Support staff like lab technician or librarian

It might take long for a teacher to identify some poor behavior in students, especially those that are internally manifested. The students may be cheeky enough to conceal their true behavior while near the teaching staff and the administrators.

A librarian or laboratory technician can be of some help (Rodriguez 1998). A report on a student’s ability or conduct can also be obtained from other staffs like their librarian or laboratory technician. The conduct of a student during some social function as reported by security officials can provide an insight of his/her behavior.

Curriculum developers

The curriculum developers need to ensure that a coursework is designed that incorporates the techniques of managing various disabilities in students. Behavioral analysis techniques and behavioral reinforcement techniques should be fundamental components of every curriculum (Westwood 2009, p.107).

The teachers need to understand that techniques like rebuking a student publicly may mere worsen the situation rather than correct it.

Potential strategies that can be used to meet the challenges presented by the instructional issues.

An important factor that a trainer handling autistic student needs to consider is that the role needs a lot of patience and perseverance. They also need to understand that these students often prefer a set of routine learning practices.

Therefore, there needs to be no application of a variety of teaching techniques. The appropriate strategies are a combination of teacher directed and student directed interventions. These strategies might be of some help.

Never alter or modify the schedules

The children with autism are known to prefer and enjoy activities that are routinely carried out. Making unnecessary alterations in the learning schedules might cause them trouble, as they will take relatively long period to adapt to the changes.

Even though such a practice may be applicable in school, it might be hard to be adopted by private tutors or other mentors at home. Nonetheless, such alterations should be avoided as much as possible.

Select the appropriate learning style

There is also a need for the teachers to understand and adopt the teaching and learning style that is most suitable for a given student with disability. While some of the autistic students may be good taking instruction through listening, most of them are unable to concentrate and can best be instructed through illustration and demonstration.

Address writing issues- introduce computers

A more common problem among the students with autism is their inability to get hold of a pen and provide eligible writing. A teaching and learning session should involve an instruction given by the teacher followed by a response from the students.

This response could be required in form of written work. The application of modern information technology like computer can enable the teacher and student to communicate effectively with each other.

Use interesting objects like toys to give illustrations

One of the features of an effective curriculum is its ability to introduce a concept from a point that is well known to the student. Using teaching aids that are familiar to the students often restores their attention back to class thereby improving the quality of the learning process. Most autistic children are used to playing with toys.

The instructors’ uses of toys to demonstrate some model will attract their attention and makes them concentrate in class.

Identify the other talents in these students like

Students have different abilities in curriculum as well as extra curricula activities. A student who has mild disability like autism may be discouraged by his/her inability to perform well in academics. However, such students often have talents in other fields like sports, craft, or music. If any of the talents is identified and properly cultivated, then these students can be able to understand how they are not very different from the rest.

Other strategies

Apart from the strategies discussed for dealing with autism in students, other strategies might be appropriate in handling instructional issues in a collective inclusion of students. These include the use of self-instructional approaches, encouraging group learning among the students, employing individual direct instruction, and encouraging mutual learning skills among the students (Keel et al 1999).

Forming groups of heterogeneous students as well as the inclusion of the mild disabled students in classroom discussions help in managing these disabilities (Rodriguez 1998).

The teachers should consistently monitor the students’ progress to check if the corrective strategies are succeeding in managing the disability. The teachers should also establish rules and regulations to be used in class and the penalties associated with them (Westwood 2009, p108).

The other strategy that can be adopted to manage students with uncontrolled behavior is the application of Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT) (Zionts & Banks, 2008, p.2).

This involves the application of cognitive-behavioral intervention programs to help in shaping the students’ behavior while boosting their cognitive ability. It helps one in reducing the self-defeating emotions. It is aimed at ‘bringing about a reduction in the intensity of inappropriate negative emotions of students’ (Banks & Zionts, 2008, p.12).

Conclusion

The teachers need to understand the diversity that occurs among the students that they meet in learning institutions. Different students have different abilities in learning and, as far as possible, they should be provided with individual attention to supply their educational needs.

The teachers need to understand that every student can be trained to meet a given standard if and only if the appropriate corrective measure is taken. Identifying and managing such disabilities is a collective responsibility that requires the cooperation of all the stakeholders in education.

References

Banks, T. and Zionts, P., 2008. REBT Used with Children and Adolescents who have Emotional and Behavioral Disorders in Educational Settings: A Review of the Literature. Journal of Rational – Emotive & Cognitive – Behavior Therapy, Vol. 27, Iss. 1; p. 51. Web.

Keel, M. et al. 1999. Selecting Instructional Interventions for Students with Mild Disabilities in Inclusive Classrooms. Focus on Exceptional Children, Vol. 31, Issue 8. Web.

Rodriguez, P., 1998. Critical Issue: Meeting the Diverse Needs of Young Children North. Central Regional Educational Laboratory. Web.

Sabornie, E. et al. 2006. Comparing characteristics of high-incidence disability groups: a descriptive review. Web.

Westwood, P., 2009. What Teachers Need to Know About Students with Disabilities Victoria: Aust Council for Ed Research.

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