While reading Somebody Else’s Kids by Torey Hayden (1981), what really struck me was the
way these children looked through her eyes. She acknowledged their quirks,
struggles, and disabilities, and celebrated their personalities and successes.
I think that in our world, it is easy for people to ignore or even ridicule a
child’s disability, but in Torey’s classroom, these kids were able to be
themselves and be accepted.
While I was reading this book, I
was really drawn to Lori. She was a very intelligent girl who was in the
general education classroom most of the day. She came to Torey’s classroom for
a short period each day because she had a brain injury that affected her
ability to understand written symbols as well as other aspects of her learning.
Lori is a perfect example of a student that I may very well have some day. Her
disability did not impact her understanding of concepts or ability to learn a
general educations curriculum, only her ability to read and write. Since her
disability was most likely caused by a physical injury to her brain, it is
entirely possible that she would never learn to read or write. By the time she
gets to high school, Lori will have had a plethora of classroom experiences
involving her disability, some good and some bad. In my classroom, I would hope
to create only a positive experience.
Lori’s disability would be
qualified as a traumatic brain injury (Who Are Exceptional Learners). She would most likely have an IEP outlining
how her other teachers and I can best meet her needs. Her IEP and Lori’s own
comfort level would determine the different accommodations that would be made
for her in my classroom, but the following are some ideas of how I could adapt
my classroom to Lori’s learning needs.
One challenge that will need to be
overcome is how Lori will receive information in the classroom. Many teachers
use presentations and handouts with words and symbols that Lori is not able to
comprehend. Lori’s instruction will need to be entirely through images and
spoken language rather than written down. By high school, teachers rely on
students’ ability to read and comprehend some things for themselves, so it
would be a challenge to convert presentations and lectures into a form that
will benefit Lori. Since Lori would also be unable to take notes, I could allow
her to record the lessons or provide her with a copy of any visual
presentation. If presentations and lectures are already created, it could be
very time consuming to rework every lesson like this.
Another challenge that Lori would
have in the classroom would be with written responses. Lori would be unable to write
responses to any questions posed in class or for homework. In class, there are
several options for helping Lori overcome this obstacle. In group or partner
work, another classmate could help transcribe Lori’s responses if she feels
comfortable with it. For any in-class work, if Lori has an aide or if I have a
co-teacher, either the other teacher or I could transcribe Lori’s responses. I
could also accept responses to classwork verbally. In certain situations in the
classroom or at home, Lori could use technology to help her answer questions as
well. A computer program could be used to speak the questions aloud to Lori and
a speech to text program could help her record her answers. A big difficulty
that we would encounter with all of these solutions, however, is that if
responses require confidentiality and cannot be said out loud, Lori would not
be able to speak her answers with the rest of the class present.
This brings up another challenge:
testing. When taking a test or a quiz, Lori would be unable to answer questions
verbally in the same room as other students. To solve this, Lori could complete
her test in a separate room or at a different time than her classmates. The
test or quiz could be taken on a computer, using the technology described above
or with the help of a teacher or other professional. Another option that would
depend on availability of technology and Lori’s comfort would be if there was a
computer program that could use images to represent ideas to convert into a
written response. Lori would wear headphones to have the questions read to her
and then use images to express her answer. A complication with this is that
there may be some complex ideas in a high school science class that would be
difficult to convey with images.
An additional challenge to Lori
would be any time there is a reading for class. In these cases, I would either
have to find readings that were previously recorded verbally, record the
reading myself, or someone would read it to Lori. The best option would be if
the reading was previously recorded, but this would really limit the number of
articles and readings I could choose from. I think that having a recording of a
reading would be ideal for Lori because she can put on headphones and listen to
the reading while her classmates are reading it rather than be secluded from
her classmates while someone reads it to her. It would also give her more
independence. However, this method would be much more time consuming for me
while preparing my lesson, which would create a personal challenge for me.
A challenge facing Lori that would
be unique to science classes is completing lab work and lab reports. The lab
information and instructions would need to be recorded on a computer or read to
Lori. If Lori is working with another student, they could help her understand
the lab instructions, but a recording would allow her more independence. If the
technology was available, the lab instructions could be formatted in a way that
allows Lori to go back and replay individual steps rather than simply playing
the instructions straight from beginning to end. If lab work required labeling,
preprinted labels could be provided for Lori, or her lab partner could label
lab work. If any pre lab or lab work required responses, these could be
recorded or transcribed using a speech to text feature or recorded by Lori’s
lab partner. Since a post-lab assignment or lab report would need to be
individual, Lori’s responses would need to be verbal, recorded, transcribed
using speech to text, or transcribed by a teacher or other adult.
Overall, there are many adaptations
that can be applied to my class to fit Lori’s learning needs. With help from
other professionals, teachers who have successfully taught Lori, and Lori
herself, I would be able to help Lori learn in my classroom to the best of my
ability. With the availability of
technology and resources today, many adaptations are relatively easy to apply
compared to what a similar situation would be like years ago. A bigger
challenge would be how to apply these adaptations in a way that makes Lori feel
comfortable and not secluded or singled out from her classmates. In the book,
Lori is in 1st grade and has already encountered very negative situations
where she is singled out because of her disability. In addition to any
accommodations outlined in this essay, I think that it would be beneficial for
Lori if I checked in with her on a regular basis to ensure that she feels that
she is getting the most out of my class. This could happen as often as it needs
to and I would use these meetings to adjust accommodations for future lessons.
References
Hayden, T.L. (1981). Somebody Else's Kids. New York: Putnam.
Who Are Exceptional Learners. (n.d.). Retrieved August 10, 2016, from http://www.cec.sped.org/Special-Ed-Topics/Who-Are-Exceptional-Learners?sclang=en.
