Low-Incidence Disabilities {Chapter THREE Synthesis}

What I Do Right...

I have not had much experience with teaching students with low-incidence disabilities. So, I would like to reflect on ways that I {and my school community} have tries to raise awareness for students with disabilities:

We have a wonderful lady at my school {Centerville Elementary} who coordinates our tutoring program. She also organizes a Disabilities Awareness Day each year. She has stations that the students can rotate through where they can feel what it is like to have various disabilities. She also has had Michael Cogdill {from WYFF News Channel 4} come to our school twice to speak and read his book Cracker the Crab and the Sideways Afternoon. This book is a great tool to use in the classroom because it teaches how to treat people how have disabilities with dignity and respect. 

We also have two LD self contained classes that are new to our school each year. One of these classes includes a boy who is Vision Impaired. This child is truly a blessing to our school. My class has the opportunity to go to related arts with this class, and my students love to talk to him, help him, and learn about him. He uses a Braille machine, and his teacher will hang his writing out in the hall. He has helped my students to learn how to treat others in a kind and compassionate matter.   


Just recently, I had a group of students to read a book about Guide Dogs in one of my guided reading groups. I was shocked and AMAZED at what they had learned while I was teaching a whole class lesson when we were discussing Henry Ford. We learned that Ford would hire people with disabilities to work in his factory because he would focus on what they could do rather than by what they could not. During the whole class discussion, the students from that particular guided reading group began to share what they had learned from reading the book. WOW! I was one proud teacher during that moment! I included the website under the Webliography tab to the right.


What I Do Wrong... 
I do have a student this year who is high functioning autistic. He is an extremely bright boy! He makes the honor roll, is a great reader, and he is a whiz at math. He does, however, have a hard time socially. I feel that I have not done the best job with him by helping him find ways to express his emotions. I tend to ignore behaviors rather than trying to find ways to help him deal with his social problems.

How I'm Going to Fix It:
Reading the chapter, I have found many new strategies that I cannot wait to implement with him. I think that I can implement some "consistent prompts, cues, and feedback" that only he and I would know. This way he would see the cue, and modify his behavior without being embarrassed. I could also try reading social stories that would model to him successful ways to interact with his friends and handle frustrating dilemmas. Finally, I could target certain behaviors to work on when he does interact with his classmates. I could work with him on how to handle losing a game, handling a disagreement, and sharing classroom materials.