Learning on their own pace: Working with students with learning disabilities

By Katie DiGennaro
College of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
October , 2010

Yesterdays class we watched a movie called How Difficult Can This Be? I really enjoyed the movie because it was a good insight to how children with different kind of disabilities work and how they process information. I feel as thought students who have learning disabilities should be in different classrooms because it will give them a chance to work at their own pace, and not have to feel pressured to keep up with the other children in the class. I do not think that they should be excluded just for the sole purpose that they are different, but that they should be in a different class if they feel they are not able to retain or learn the information that is given in class.

The most important thing to me in education is that they students are able to process the information in a coherent manner, and are not stuck struggling with information they are not sure about. I feel as though it is a great opportunity for learning disabled (LD) children to be given an opportunity to learn with people who are just like them and who will not judge them. They do not need the added pressure of feeling as though someone is watching them and constantly judging them. If they feel anxiety, then they are not going to want to learn, nor will they want to try and attempt to do different things in learning.
I also believe that praise works better than punishment when it comes to reinforcing a child's learning.

I personally have had experiences where I had two totally different teachers teaching the same material. The teacher that would take their time and go over things when I have a question, and also congratulated me when I was right was the class that I got an A in. The other teacher was rude, ignorant, self centered, and only cared about their own opinion. Also, they did not tell you that you did well, or give you and positive feedback. You basically had to quietly congratulate yourself and hope that the next time the teacher came around you not only knew the answer, but also did not loose your cool because that was looked down upon as well.

I do think that punishment should still be enforced in school, but it needs to be done at the right time for the right reasons. Just because someone doesn't not know an answer to a question, or they can not explain it properly, does not always mean they did not pay attention or that they are stupid...it could mean that they did not know how to answer the question, or could not find the answer they were looking for and do not want to be embarrassed. If the child is being hurtful to other classmates or the teacher, then methods of punishment should be used.

More teachers should watch this video and learn that students are not robots and that we have other problems in life besides school. Sometimes the problems lie inside ourselves and it is something we cannot control. It is the teachers job to make learning a positive experience so the student will always some back for more.