I'm dusting off the old blog here to use for a different course. For the next few weeks I will attempt to share some of the resources I have gathered as a special education teacher over the last 4 years with the hope of gaining feedback from others. There are millions of blogs out there but not enough that focus on curriculum for students with learning disabilities so hopefully I can make my own small contribution.
Recently I discovered a blog written by a special education teacher which can be found here:
Special Education Teacher in Washington DC
This blog was really the inspiration for my current blogging project. I believe this is a terrific resource for educators. It made me think about advocacy and how important it is to be an advocate for children in general but particularly for those with learning disabilities. There is too much misinformation about children with learning disabilities and special education. I figure a great way to start changing the mindset of others is to quote one of my students who struggles with dyslexia. In her self-assured manner, she simply explained to a visitor one day, "We're just like everyone else, but we learn differently." What is amusing is how complex learning disabilities are but how simply they can be explained.
That student is an example of a child who is a self advocate. In addition to explaining how she learns, she is also able to explain her disability to others, why she struggles, what she does to compensate and how others can help her. Shouldn't educators begin advocacy by teaching students to become advocates for themselves? Why do we hide from them, their disabilities. Why do we explain it away, chalk it up to nothing, pretend it doesn't exist. Do we fear they will be so overcome with pain they will not be able to go on? Don't we know that students with disabilities already know there is something different about how they learn and understand things?
These are the things I think of when I view the aforementioned blog. Here, in this blog, I hope to share some of the things I've done in my classroom to help students who "learn differently" and I contribute these ideas with the mindset that I do my job because I want to help my students advance in this world and say, "You know what? I have a learning disability but I can do anything I want to in spite of it."
