TEACHING STRATEGIES

FOR LEARNERS WITH

DIFFICULTIES/DISABILIT
IES

SONIA P. UNDAG
Master Teacher II
Questi on:

How can we help learners with special

needs?

What strategies can we employ in order to

help these learners?

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 For your guide: Know the child’s
learning needs or difficulty
DYSGRAPHIA
DYSCALCULIA
Learning difficulties DYSLEXIA
AUDITORY PROCESSING DISORDER (APD)
LANGUAGE PROCESSING DISORDER NON-
VERBAL LEARNING DISABILITIES VISUAL
PERCEPTUAL/VISUAL MOTOR DEFICIT
ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY
DISORDER (ADHD)
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 How to help a pupil with…
 .

DIFFICULTY IN
READING

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 Teacher will use Fuller Method on teaching
te a c h er word sounds
The
will… Example :

cap man
fan van
mat fan Click icon to add picture
Focus on activities that ham can
involve sounds of words, not tag pan
on letters or spelling cab ran

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 Breaking down a sentence, also
called diagramming a sentence, is a
skill most students learn in school. It
involves separating a sentence into its
component parts: subject, object, verbs,
Model and prepositional phrases, adjectives,
demonstrate how adverbsClick icon to add
and articles, picture
among other
to break short things
sentences into
individual words

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 te a c h er
The
will
pencil
Have students
clap out syllables
and listen for and
generate rhymes.

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 te a c h er
The
will

Model specific
sounds, and ask
students to
produce each
sound in isolation

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 te a c h er
The
will

Teach students
to blend, identify
sounds, and
break up words
into sounds.

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 Rem em b er
that…

When teaching the

letters of the
alphabet, activities
should be explicit
and unambiguous

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 Rem em b er
that…
When teaching
decoding,
begin with
small, familiar
words.

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 e r wi ll
Teach

• Model sounding
out words, Click icon to add picture
blending the
sounds together,
and saying the
word.

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How to help learners with…

DIFFICULTY IN WRITING

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 For students learning to
print/write, teach letter
formation in a methodical
method (ie. grouping letters
which have similar formations),
emphasizing the correctness of
pencil grip, motor memory for
the letter formations, practice
for fluency.

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Have the student
practice copying for
short periods of time
and then increasing the
time as fluency
increases.

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 Encourage the use
of pencil grips
and/or large
mechanical pencils.

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 Encourage use of
alternative paper material
(e.g. for younger students,
paper with raised lines
provides a sensory guide
for the student to stay
within the lines)

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 Encourage training for
keyboarding skills so
that a computer can be
used for school
assignments.

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 Suggestions for addressing written expression
difficulties
• Assist with the development of a schedule allowing time to complete assignments
• Work in small time periods rather than spending hours at a time
• Begin with a brainstorming stage where ideas about the subject are written down. If a
student has spelling or graphomotor problems, scribe for them or allow use of a computer
• Help the student organize their ideas from the brainstorming to an organizational model
(i.e. a story map, a timeline, an outline, organizational software such as Inspiration, Spark-
Space)
• Encourage the student to elaborate on which ideas need to be included in the assignment
within the organizational model
• Begin writing first/rough draft from the model
• Edit for vocabulary usage, sentencing, grammatical constructions, mechanics of writing
(spelling, capitals, punctuation, paragraphing)
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 he lp le ar ners
How to
with…

DYSCALCULIA
• Talk or Write Out a Problem
• Draw the Problem
• Break Tasks Down into Subsets
• Use “Real-Life” Cues and Physical
Objects
• Review Often

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How to manage
learners with ADHD

Build a Strong Relationship with the Child’s Parents

Educate Fellow Pupils
Establish Effective Seating Arrangements
Establish Rules and Routines
Be Simple, Clear, and Direct
Break Things Up
Allow Extensions
Reward Good Behavior
Make Tasks Interactive
Create a Quiet Area
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REMEMBER THIS………

Some see the disabilities,

but special education
teachers see the possibilities

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GO D
BLE S
S US A
LL!