Title: Accommodating students with disabilities in YOUR classroom
1Accommodating students with disabilities in YOUR
classroom
- Session Facilitator
- Tammy Harrison
- NSSAL Conference March 3rd, 2006
2Welcome!
- Introductions
- What would you like to learn in this session?
- Brief introduction to disabilities- examples and
impact - Discussion questions
- Potential strategies to assist students
- Concluding questions and feedback
3What are some different types of disabilities you
may see in your classroom?
- Neurological
- Psychiatric
- Learning
- Developmental
- Physical
- Visual
- Hearing
4What are some examples of each?
- Neurological- Cerebral Palsy, ADD/ADHD
- Psychiatric- Schizophrenia, bipolar disorder
- Learning- dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia,
nonverbal - Developmental- Down Syndrome, autism
- Physical- arthritis, Chrons disease
- Visual blind, low vision
- Hearing-deaf, hard of hearing
5What impact can they have?
- Self esteem issues- lack of confidence
- Concentration problems
- Attendance problems
- Organizational issues
- Anxiety around testing
- Withdrawn, quiet
- Unwilling to ask for help
- Unwilling to admit there is a problem
- And
6- What type of disabilities do you see the most?
7- Which disabilities challenge your students the
most? Why?
8- What are other challenges that your students face?
9- What type of disabilities challenge you as a
teacher the most? Why?
10What are some strategies that I can use to assist
students?
- Universal Instructional Design
- Peer tutoring
- Alternate testing
- Assistive Technology
- Referrals to other agencies
11- What is Universal Instructional Design (UID)?
12What are the principles of UID
- Materials should be
- 1) accessible
- 2) flexible
- 3) consistent
- 4) explicit
- 5) supportive and
- 6) minimize unnecessary physical effort while
- 7) learning environments should be accessible and
appropriate for multiple teaching methods.
13What does this mean for MY classroom?
- Practical things you can do regarding testing
- Explicitly state what will be on tests (Chapters,
pages, important material) - Explicitly state what type of questions will be
on test (multiple choice, true false, short
answer) - State value for questions
- State what will not be on the test
14What does this mean for MY classroom?
- Practical things you can do regarding testing
continued - Allow tests to be taken in alternative format
- Allow extra time for tests
- Allow private room for testing
- Allow tests to be broken down into smaller pieces
(chunking) - Possibly allow for other modes of assessment
rather than testing (papers, presentations)
15What does this mean for MY classroom?
- Practical things you can do regarding report
writing/ papers - Provide examples of good papers
- Show grading rubrics
- Allow drafts to be submitted for feedback
- Encourage writing circles for peer support
- Break papers down into smaller pieces Outline,
research, drafts
16What does this mean for MY classroom?
- Look at the structure, accessibility and use of
your classroom space - Determine the physical needs of you and your
students - Determine the learning needs of you and your
students - Determine the social needs of you and your
students (quiet space, small groups) - Does your classroom fit with the needs of
everyone involved? - If not, how can you change it?
17Remember
- UID is not a strict set of rules to follow when
working with SWD, it for the improvement of all
students. - Creativity and adaptability are key for UID
18What are some resources to help my students now?
- Peer tutoring
- Professional tutoring
- Alternate testing formats (print, oral, video,
tape recorded, chunked) - Assistive Technology
- Referrals to other agencies
19What are the differences between peer tutoring
and professional tutoring?
- Cost
- Training
- Environment
- Comfort level
- Knowledge/background
- Types offered (Content, Time Management/Organizati
onal, Paper Writing, etc)
20What are some general Assistive Technology
Software packages that may assist my students?
- Kurzweil
- Dragon
- Texthelp Read and Write (Gold and Standard)
- Inspiration
- Zoomtext
- JAWS
21Referrals to other agencies
- DCS
- LDANS
- CMHA
- CPA
- SDHHNS
- CNIB
22 23Contact Information
- Tammy Harrison
- 563-8041
- tammy.harrison_at_nscc.ca
- Thank You