It is common for those of us working in the field of learning disabilities and special education to get frustrated when we feel that students with disabilities of any kind seem to be getting shortchanged. For the most part, standard classrooms are geared toward the typical student; those who do not conform to the norm may miss out on opportunities to develop their full potential. Nevertheless, in my years of experience, I have rarely encounered a teacher who doesn’t want to help a student be successful. So then, where is the disconnect?
Fundamental Concepts to Help Students with Learning Disabilities
Teaching students with learning differences can be a daunting task for educators due to a variety of factors. These factors range from the basic logistical challenges of including students’ diverse needs in the existing classroom setting and framework to a fundamental misunderstanding of learning disabilities and other types of differences, to a lack of information or experience in how to approach these challenges to begin with.
While most educators are familiar with the concepts of inclusion, differentiation, and Universal Design for Learning (UDL), many still struggle with synthesizing these concepts and applying them to their individual classrooms in ways that are truly beneficial for neurodivergent students. In my role as coordinator of learning support services at an international private school, I often find a need to return to the basics and begin by distilling the concept of learning disabilities.
Developmental learning difficulties are neurobiological and do not “go away,” but these students have as much learning potential as their neurotypical peers do.
The Basics of Learning Disabilities
Developmental learning difficulties are neurobiological and do not “go away,” but these students have as much learning potential as their neurotypical peers do; they simply need an adapted process to “learn how to learn.” While most children naturally develop their own support systems to aid their learning, children with particular learning needs often don’t have this skill and must be taught directly how to scaffold their learning. They must be able to reflect on the process that they follow to complete their assignments. In other words, teachers must help make the learning process visible to these students.
Once we arrive at this common understanding, we can explore the tactical strategies students need to learn how to learn. Teaching a child with learning difficulties requires direct explicit instruction, instruction on specific learning strategies, and a multimodal approach to learning.
Teaching a child with learning difficulties requires direct explicit instruction, instruction on specific learning strategies, and a multimodal approach to learning.
Strategic Learning
Strategic learning requires students to identify their skills, evaluate their effectiveness, and understand when and how to use these skills. While study skills give students specific techniques for learning, learning strategies go beyond that. A learning strategy is “an individual’s approach to a task. It includes how a person thinks and acts when planning, executing, and evaluating performance on a task and its outcomes.” (Schumacher and Deshler, 2006). Step-by-step instruction, metacognitive practices, behavioral exercises, and a multimodal approach are some of the most effective learning strategies for students with learning disabilities.
One Step at a Time
Direct, explicit instruction offers structured steps and lots of practice, which in turn provide clarity and focus cognitive energy on the essential elements of a lesson. Solving complex problems by following a clear step-by-step method demonstrates students’ development of higher orders of thinking and learning, thus helping them grasp new material more easily. When instruction is direct and explicit, students gain consistent opportunities for practice and reinforcement and build solid foundational skills. Furthermore, the clear communication and organization of content in explicit instruction reduces the cognitive load on students, making it easier for them to focus, understand, and retain information.
…the clear communication and organization of content in explicit instruction reduces the cognitive load on students, making it easier for them to focus, understand, and retain information.
The Meta in Metacognitive
Metacognition involves the awareness and handling of one’s own cognitive processes, such as thinking, memory, and problem solving. A key concept in most learning strategies, metacognition helps students understand how they learn and better regulate and adjust their approach based on this understanding. This awareness also equips learners to identify their own strengths and weaknesses. This helps them figure out how to improve their work, and more importantly, their thinking and problem-solving processes.
The Behavioral Side
Learning strategies should also include a behavioral component. While the cognitive aspect of a learning strategy helps learners identify what they think about when learning a new task, the behavioral component includes the actions they take to learn. This is often where students with learning disabilities stumble. To better support their needs, educators must reimagine their role in this setting: Our job is not only to teach these students a concept but also to provide context for its application. Understanding the behavioral and cognitive components in their learning process allows students to generalize the actions they took and apply their learning in different settings.
Our job is not only to teach these students a concept but also to provide context for its application.
A Multimodal Approach
Finally, a multimodal approach makes sure that no sensory channels are left behind and increases the chances for students to understand and express concepts and ideas. Multimodal teaching is important because it acknowledges and caters to the diverse ways in which individuals process and retain information. Combining different modes of presenting information also increases engagement with the material and an opportunity to reinforce a student’s understanding of it. When learning is more accessible, students’ abilities to retain information and develop critical thinking skills for the future improve. In today’s learning environment, information is available in various forms. Multimodal learning sharpens students’ ability to handle this variety.
The Challenges Ahead
In an ever-evolving education landscape, teachers both impart knowledge and nurture the vital skill of learning to learn in all students. These responsibilities are magnified with neurodivergent students.
We must acknowledge the systemic challenges that educators and administrators face in their pursuit of an equitable, inclusive education experience for every student. The education system as a whole must address class sizes, time constraints, behavioral challenges, parental involvement, and assessment difficulties, among other elements, if we want to give neurodivergent learners our best effort. Serving these learners is a collective effort. Establishing the foundation to meet the diverse and unique needs of each student in the classroom by breaking down the barriers to their learning is a great start.
Combining different modes of presenting information also increases engagement with the material and an opportunity to reinforce a student’s understanding of it.
How We Learn
In a nice, full-circle moment, educators have an opportunity to “walk the walk” and broaden their own perspectives and approaches to instruction by learning how to adapt lessons for students with learning disabilities. An institution engaging in this work can embrace and leverage the benefits of peer-to-peer collaboration, professional development, community engagement, institutional improvement, and diversity of thought. But more importantly, and in service to every student, learning to learn offers benefits that go well beyond academic success.
While we can’t discount the importance of enabling pathways for students with learning disabilities and special needs to succeed alongside their neurotypical peers, we must acknowledge that these students may require alternate routes to pursue meaningful opportunities and achieve personal and professional goals as they progress through their learning journey. Success in these cases is truly subjective, but it is absolutely worth pursuing.
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