Benefits to Supporting Students with Needs

New terms refocus attention from an overall deficiency to a narrow developmental disorder that affects how the student learns. Two terms, specific learning disorder (SLD) and specific developmental disorder (SDD), emphasize that these disorders are specific in nature, suggesting specific coping strategies for individual disorders.
This change in terminology emphasizes that a student may have difficulty in one particular aspect of learning while mastering and excelling in others. Therefore, many SLD students may not need major modifications to succeed at a college level, but rather minor accommodations to meet his or her specific differing learning needs.

Some accommodations are naturally evolving with changes in pedagogy as well as technology. If teachers recognize and understand the needs of SLD students, they can begin to accommodate these needs with resources at hand. This is the challenge for most educational leaders. Some technological resources include specific assistive technology for SLD students and are offered through campus support services. 

However, as an educator you will find that many technology resources standard to most computer classrooms - word processing, Internet use, PowerPoint, and other types of multimedia - may benefit SLD students with only slight modifications.

Unfortunately these technologies are too rarely evaluated for how they might help individuals with learning disabilities to compensate for specific cognitive deficits within the day to day in the classroom. 

Something as simple as encouraging students to word process all assignments can have a dramatic impact on a student with poor motor-coordination, which often makes his or her handwriting disorganized and difficult to read. When these students get to college they will continue with this disorganization, have difficulty in planning and time management.

However, just because a teacher uses technology in the classroom does not mean the SLD student will benefit. In order for technology to truly function as an assistive devices, potential needs for accommodation must be considered when designing an activity/assignment. A crucial accommodation is giving explicit clarification whether in the classroom, in the lab, on the web, or via distance learning. 

Facing the challenge begins with recognition and understanding. First, recognizing that spending some time making accommodations/modifications for these students is, in the terms of our economically-driven society, cost beneficial. Second, and most significantly, educators need to understand why standard academic practices do not work for SLD students and how they do learn.

Personally if I observe a teacher accommodating all students they are creating a environment of judgment free support. Everyone knows that specific learning disability means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations.
 Instead of focusing on our own frustrations as educators with a particular student, we can focus on learning from their frustrations. By accommodating their differing learning needs, we learn how to teach more effectively. Rather than adding to these students frustrations, we can help them reach their potential. The pain that a troubled student causes in a classroom is never greater than the pain that he feels inside his body,  but it is a teachers responsibility to give and be their best to lift the students spirit. Students can not function, grow, or progress with anything less from their teachers.