Three years ago, I began my career as the IB Environmental Systems
and Societies teacher at St. Paul’s School for Boys. Over the past few years,
my class has taken a shape of its own. My first year, the students were the
most gifted academically, despite the course being listed as a Standard Level
course. These were the kind of students that argue over one or two points on a
paper or test because they are terrified of earning any sort of B (or even an
A-) on their report card. The last two years have diversified academically in
an enormous way. This is mostly due to three additional honors classes being
added to the course roster, but also because I requested more diversified
achievement from the academic dean in the school. I have figured out that I
much prefer a class with a wide range of capabilities. If I may generalize a
bit, most of the high achieving students want to know an answer for a test,
while some of the students that need to work harder for high marks take the
time to ask good questions and understand processes. Lori is one of these
latter students. She works extremely hard to understand the concepts that are
presented to her, and is obviously a critical thinker. However, there is one
quality about Lori that sets her about from her peers: she currently lacks the
ability to read or write (Hayden, 1981).
Due to an abusive father she previously lived with, Lori sustained
a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and now has what is called a Visual Processing
Disorder (VPD). Specifically, she has problems with visual discrimination.
Visual discrimination is the ability to tell objects or symbols apart from one
another (Arkay, 2015). Because of the TBI she sustained from the abuse, Lori
completely lacks visual discrimination and may not ever learn this ability. This
means that she currently cannot tell the difference between letters and
numbers. Thus, Lori currently lacks the ability to read or write anything at
all, despite being in First Grade. It should also be mentioned that Lori lives
with her adopted father, where she is in extremely improved, safe and
supportive living conditions(Hayden, 1981).
This student continues to struggle with her VPD severely, to the
point where she still cannot write her name. Aside from that, however, Lori is
extremely proficient at retaining information(Hayden, 1981). When material is
read to her, she is able to solve math problems, carry out science experiments,
and draw pictures of objects she has seen before, including birds. Lori is also
an extremely sweet girl who has an infectious cheeriness that rubs off on her
peers. Currently, we are working with the frustrations related to an incident
at school in which a teacher forcibly made her read to the class against her
will, making her the laughing stock and causing her to vomit. There has been
progress in rebuilding her confidence by teaching her to memorize simple
stories, but she is still hesitant when it comes to reading other materials.
It has come to my attention that when other students are reading
in class, Lori has been known to become restless, distracting other students (Hayden,
1981). It is obvious that Lori is bored because she is struggling to absorb the
material, let alone identify words. I have also found that she has become the
target of ridicule from many of her peers, and is avoided immediately when
students are asked to read in groups. This causes Lori to become frustrated and
resentful, which is why it is critical that accommodations be developed for her
as soon as possible.
Outside of my classroom, I know that Lori is currently working
on tactile sensations as a method to become with letters and numbers (Hayden,
1981). She has used blocks and sandpaper in the shapes of the letters in her
name to actually feel out the letters. Unfortunately, due to her TBI, she
cannot recognize the letters when she is asked to identify them. After a year
of working with Torey Hayden with these methods, it may be time to change them
and attempt to help Lori through other means. One of these methods could be a
digital writing pad hooked up to a computer through a USB port, or depending on
the school, a tablet such as an Apple iPad or a Microsoft Surface. There, Lori
would be able to use an app to trace letters with her hand or a stylus to
familiarize herself with the letters to promote muscle memory. The advantage of
the apps would be that they are games, and ideally she would be extrinsically motivated
to improve her score.
In the same thread of technology, Lori could use websites like “Eyecanlearn.com”
to practice visual discrimination between symbols. This does not have to
include numbers and letters. It could begin with matching shapes familiar to
the student, like animals, household items, or playground objects. This may
help her in visually processing images and symbols before her, ideally
establishing new connections in her brain around the cracked and damaged
tissues (Morin, 2015).
Due to Lori’s disability, the key to her success is through oral
instructions and having her dictate her answers to either me or the special
education instructor. Until Lori has some grasp of reading and writing, it is
absolutely essential that she continues to receive accommodations for her
disability. This could be done by allowing her to step outside of the classroom
to speak to the co-teacher, if there is one, or go into a more secluded area in
the classroom. A more technology driven approach for an accommodation could be
for Lori to utilize a speech-to-text program to write, as well as a
text-to-speech application on a computer, with assistance, to help her with her
readings (Morin, 2015). The risk with either of these programs is that they are not 100%
accurate, and Lori would not be able to check her own work for accuracy. Another
issue behind this accommodation would be that Lori will first need to get help
from either a teacher or a peer to assist her in opening the program and the
reading, due to her disability. There also may be issues with her using the controls
for the programs, due to the symbols. Although, if the buttons on the computer
were colored, she may be able to use the program without assistance of others.
Along those same lines,
it would be helpful if Lori could also be given a recording device to record
class lectures every day(Morin, 2015). This would allow her to review the material gone over in class,
rather than relying on notes. Again, it would depend on the use of symbols on
the device and whether or not Lori would be able to use them. For assessments,
Lori may be able to draw pictures for the answers of questions, such as short
answers and essays, which may help her prompt her memory. This may end up becoming
more of a modification, as Lori may not be able to draw as accurately what
another student may write, but it could help in some way. Finally, if possible,
it may be advantageous to use pictures in instructions for worksheets. An
example of this is when Hayden gave her a book of science experiments that was
designed for students with low reading abilities (Hayden, 1981). It was proven that
Lori was able to carry out the experiments this way with minimal assistance.
Overall, a combination of these accommodations may help with
Lori’s learning, especially if it is alongside an IEP. However, there are some
disadvantages to these strategies as well. The largest disadvantage that Lori
would have would be simply be time. Depending on the class’s pace and Lori’s
workload in other classes, it could take a considerable amount of time to
listen to the assigned readings. This could apply for work at home as well as
work in the classroom. Lori should also have a co-teacher in the room so that
she would be able to dictate her answers to them for recording. This may be
limited depending on the resources of the school. However, this is critical
because, as her instructor, I would prefer to listen to her answers when I
could give her responses then and there to her answers. An alternative to this
would be to allow a trusted peer to read and record her answers for her. This could
possibly make her feel more included. The drawback is that she may also feel
alienated because of the extra attention. A solution to this could be, as
mentioned above, that she could be paired with a responsible peer or placed in
a group that works with a special education teacher, rather than Lori and the
teacher one-on-one.
On first impression, it may seem to a teacher that Lori is not a
high achieving students. However, it is quite the contrary. Lori has proven
that in many subjects, when given the right resources, she excels beyond some
of her peers. With proper accommodations and time, Lori will go on to be a very
successful person. On a personal note, I have now worked with students with
very severe dyslexia and while it was not close to Lori’s disability, it did
greatly increase the amount of time spent on assignments. However, two of these
students in particular are the hardest workers I know, and because of that, were
hired to work with me recently at a camp. They were by far the most reliable
employees I have ever worked with in a camp. It is because of them that I chose
Lori as my subject. Just like my students, Lori’s reading ability very rarely
impeded her enthusiasm or ability to get a task finished. It is truly
inspirational to see that.
References
·
Arky,
B. (2015) Understanding visual processing issues. Understood.org. USA. Retrieved from: https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/child-learning-disabilities/visual-processing-issues/understanding-visual-processing-issues#item7
·
Hayden,
T. L. (1981). Somebody else's kids. New York: Putnam.
·
Morin,
A. (2015) Classroom accommodations for visual processing issues. Understood.org. USA Retrieved from: https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/partnering-with-childs-school/instructional-strategies/at-a-glance-classroom-accommodations-for-visual-processing-issues
