Children with Developmental Challenges

Children With Developmental Challenges 3(2+1)

Lesson 29 : Children with Specific Learning Disabilities

Strategies for Helping a Child With SLD

Reading:

• New concepts & vocabulary has to be introduced gradually
• While reading ask questions to enhance the child’s understanding
• Work sheets are useful in strengthening reading skills
• Provide meaningful reading material
• Encourage oral reading
• Encourage group reading
• Extensive phonic drills, ideally done in context
• Extensive letter-sound correspondence drills, ideally done in context
• Sight word recognition drills, ideally done in context
• Use of visual images corresponding to letter sounds 9eg, “i” becomes the feather in an Indian headdress)
• Text books are read aloud to the student
• Extra time for tests
• Interactive computer reading programmes

Writing

• Expose the child to broad range of writing material
• Help the student to focus on those processes that are required for good writing
• Teacher should monitor the posture, pencil grip and position of the paper.
• Encourage the child to draw patterns
• Use colored cues in writing such as blue signs & orange dots
• Help students to from association for letter they have difficulty in remembering
• Use of computer or word processor for written assignments and note taking
• Permission to write in print rather than cursive
• Use of a template to maintain margins (eg, a “window frame”)
• Acceptance of homework dictated by student and written by parents
• Use of electronic or computer spell checkers
• Permission to do oral testing
• Multi-sensory approach to learning spellings (eg, tracing the word and saying it)

Maths:

• Use concrete materials such as buttons, straws, seeds, pebbles and beads to teach children how to count
• Teacher should use lot of visual aids to teach simple mathematical operations and concepts
• Tactile materials such as embossed numerals, symbols should be used to used to teach simple concepts such as long or short
• Concepts such as time and money should be linked to day to day events
• Playing cards can be used to teach computation skills
• Blocks & puzzles and word games are always useful in teaching mathematical concepts
• Have students estimate distance, weights, and sizes
• Have students use abacus to facilitate counting, calculations etc
• Play maths games
• Teach the relationship between additions & subtractions and multiplications 7 divisions
• Use of graph paper for calculations
• Use of manipulative materials, even in upper grades
• Use of calculator
• Placement of no line on student’s desk for addition and subtraction
• Use of basic math fact charts to refer to when solving problems
• Use of colour coding steps in multi step problems
• Use of deck cards or real money to learn no concepts