How do students with disabilities learn, interact, and take in information?

Question

In the classroom, how do individuals with disabilities perform? Not enough people give them credit for trying...Though they have a disability, they're not any different than us as people, and I was just wondering how different do they learn in the classroom?

Answer 1

Well, I have personal experience on this one. I am legally blind since birth, so I went all through school having a disability. It's true that it is all about having the appropriate accomodations so that the students have the best chance possible to learn at the same rate as the other children. However, my experience was that of a child who was so determined to be independent and be like everyone else that I did not always use my accomodations for fear of standing out or being "strange." I could fake it a lot because I am not totally blind, I can still see a bit. Some kids did make fun, all the way up through high school even. But once I did get to high school age, I didn't care as much anymore about what people thought - I needed some help via adaptive equipment or other accomodations, and that was just the way it was...if other kids couldn't accept it, then I didn't want to associate with them anyway. I did have some good friends who didn't care a thing about my vision impairment.

So after my experiences, I am all for main-streaming as much as possible for students with disabilities. I was main-streamed since first grade, and I think I have fared better than I would have if I were in a special education setting only for all those years. I think academically it's a benefit, because you compare yourself to the other students, so it makes you try that much harder. But the socialization is a big factor, too. I believe that being in school around kids without disabilities prepared me for the "real world" where the majority of people I interact with do not have disabilities. This is not to say that special education classes don't have their place, because they surely do, but I think more emphasis should be put on main-streaming if possible.

Anyway, that is just my personal experience and what I have come to learn from it. Certainly you could get varied answers from people with different types and degrees of disability. But I hope this helped a bit. : )

Answer 2

It is not a DISABILITY it is a CHALLENGE. Each of us learns at a different rate in a different modality. In the classroom it is the teacher who determines whether these children will be able to learn or not. If the teacher is an educated teacher about the challenges that some students have and is able to address them then the child can and will learn. If the teacher has not been educated in the new theories of education then the child does suffer. We first need to throw away the terms "disability" and "special education". Education should be special for everyone and there is no one with a disability. Challenges yes, so let us address those as such. Everyone can learn, to what degree and how fast depends on the student. The human brain is a fascinating and wonderful organ. If one part fails to work than another part can be taught to pick up the slack. If you expect students with challenges to never succeed then they won't, on the other hand if you expect them to learn then they will surprise you and they will learn. Can we measure their success by "normal" standards set up for the majority of students? NO, we must measure their success on their own accomplishments. It is unfair to judge any student or hold them up to some standard as there is no standard that will fit the "normal" child or the "challenged" child.

Answer 3

The key is having the necessary accomodation. For example, the required assitie technology to enable a blind student to take notes, etc.

Some students with intellectual disabilities don't learn as well--and so far we have no real way to change that. But for the great majority of students with disabilities, they perform just as well when the means to offset the impairment is made available.

There's a lot of evidence to back this up--especially at the college level. There have been many studies that show college students with disabilities have equal academic achievements on average as the rest of the population. That is not true in our primary and secondary schools overall--because they are (to put it politely) at leasta decade behind the colleges in complying with the law and addressing the needs of students with disabilities. The majority of local school systems are in outright violation of the law in at least some respects--and there is almost no effort on the part of the federal government to enforce those laws.

Answer 4

Some students with disabilities do not learn...they may even regress.

I have four children and one as mild autism and one has severe autism and epilepsy. From the beginning of their education my husband and I have had to fight for their education. In the beginning it was a real fight...but now many teachers are really caring and compassionate. My daughter that has mild autism has improved year after year and she is almost up to "normal" kids her age.

My son who has severe autism was making progress until the seizures started. Since then everything has been downhill. The seizures now over a two years later since diagnosis are relatively under control...he probably still has 30-50 small absent mind seizures now instead of 300+. But his learning has went downhill and it is extremely depressing. There was a time before the seizures that he was making great progress. But now they are talking about putting him a a class to just teach him basic life skills....total 360....

We have two normal children and have always expected the same out of our two disabled children. Our daughter who had less severe autism will no doubt lead a normal life. But our son is going through a real difficult time with the severe autism and epilepsy.....

Answer 5

Well i defently have the past experience with this one, i've got a disabiltiy but because i have a disability DOES NOT MEAN i have a learning disability, I was put in special classes cause i have a disability, me being those stupid classes caused me to not know the obvious things i should know. Some have no problem learning like me but some people cant comprehind things very well.

Answer 6

They learn the same things just at a different rate. They are different developmentally. I like what you said about giving the students credit for trying. It is very true that expectations are not high for most special education/special needs students. Children will give the teacher exactly what they expect. I personally have high expectations. I don't want to hear "I can't" from any of the students until they try if it is possible for them to at least try.

Answer 7

No, they are no different, however, they may learn differently. That being said, in my experience with students with disabilities, it is questionable many times if a disability even exists. Often, it is a broken system with outdated methods that hasnt yet figured out how to teach the students to learn.

Answer 8

Just like any other child they are all different and learn in different ways.
Like every one else they learn through hearing, seeing, doing, with lots of repetition and having appropriate rewards for success. The only difference is that some children take longer to process the information they get & some need input through all the different senses before they can master the information.

Answer 9

My son can't read or write and will probably never learn, but he does recognize letters in his name and that of his classmates, he memorized alot of things, and learns alot by singing. He will watch a movie over and over and will be able to learn all the lines, always know who is going to say what.
He knows recognizes the streets, landmarks etc.

a child with special needs is a fun loving individual, respectful and well mannered.
I love my child with or without disabilities.