Rationale
My goal as a special education teacher is to move students with learning difficulties towards independence in the general education classroom. This happens by increasingly scaffolding student skills and strategies, enabling them to move to the next least restrictive environment and succeed with less support. The students I teach are in one of the least restrictive environments available to learners with disabilities. They have a class with me in which we work on skills and strategies they can use in their general education classrooms to help access the curriculum. These strategies can be specific ways of taking notes, listening to an audiobook of the assigned reading while they follow along, or extra time on a math quiz, just to name a few. This idea of independence for learners with disabilities has gained momentum over the years and coalesced in a theory called Self-Determination. 1
I see very little independence in my students when it comes to succeeding in spite of their disabilities. One of the overarching issues which I feel is one of the most important tenants of a self-determined learner's skill-set, is self-advocacy. Struggles with self-advocacy can take many shapes. One issue I frequently come across is student embarrassment or timidity in approaching a teacher who needs to be alerted or reminded that a particular accommodation is in place or would be beneficial; another is lack of student self-knowledge, specifically related to their disability. These struggles are the first to be dealt with in the self-directed learner's model, as illustrated by the combination of the first two tenants in a skill set as devised by Ward and Kohler. 2 If students knew more about their disabilities they would know more about the way in which they learn and what strategies work best for them in each classroom. In the case of most special education students, this is where their special education teacher jumps in.
As a special education teacher whose students infrequently exhibit attributes of a self-determined learner, I find that I often work in triage; working towards a strategy or solution only after a problem arises in a student's general education class. A student that cannot make any sense of her notes come to me after failing a test and tells me why. She explains that she has a hard time following the teacher and taking notes at the same time. This is something that we can attribute to her specific learning disability in auditory processing speed. After discussing the problem we try out a strategy we think may work: the teacher provides a copy of the PowerPoint presentation or one of her classmates with excellent penmanship takes notes on a piece of carbon paper and all her energy and focus can be concentrated on listening to the lecture. If this student would have advocated this problem with her general education teacher when the year started an agreement of this kind could have been reached before her failing test grade and all of the anxiety that came with it. It would be difficult for this to happen however, if the student knows little to nothing about her disability and how it works.
In the scenario above, as in most scenarios I encounter, special education teachers help liaise student/general education teacher relationships when considering and applying accommodations, learning strategies, and coping skills among others. When a general education teacher forgets to implement an accommodation that is written in a student's IEP, often times the student or guardian of that student contacts the special education teacher who in turn discusses the situation with the general education teacher. The special education teacher also uses the information gleaned from discussions with students and parents like this to create appropriate accommodations and goals for the student's IEP. In the case of some of my incoming students, some will surely be unaware of what an accommodation actually is, as well as how or why they should ask for it. If students do understand all of this information, they often times feel embarrassed about asking for it and navigating the questions from their peers that naturally result. It is difficult to field questions about something you know little about.
I don't believe any of my shorter students would feel shame in using a step stool to accommodate their needs in retrieving a bowl that I placed on a high shelf while flat footed. We both have hands and fingers with which to grasp the bowl, and arms and legs that work similarly. The difference, however, is that my short student needs to use the stool as an extension of her limbs. We have a biological difference in limb length just as we have a biological difference in brain function. My students all have brains and the ability to learn things. Some, however, need accommodations because of how they learn best and its relationship to the way the students are expected to learn in school and shouldn't be ashamed to ask for them. Many students wear glasses as an accommodation for the difference in their focal capability. My students happen to need accommodations for the way their brains work, though their lack of knowledge of their disability disallows them to make the comparison with all the accommodations they both see and take part in on a daily basis.
These accommodations and the confidence to ask for them become very important when students graduate high school and matriculate to college. Almost all of my students are college bound and the moment they walk across that platform and move their tassel from one side to the other their IEP is no longer valid and they cease to be a "special education student". When freshman year of college begins, services for learners with disabilities will be available and in many cases things like assisted technology and access to tutoring will improve. The difference is, however, that students will not be flagged and tested by special education teachers and school psychologists, nor sought out and reminded about special access to various kinds of assistance. Instead students will be expected to take these matters into their own hands and seek services out. There are often people put in place that will help with some of the liaison work between certain stakeholders, however, they still expect students to advocate for their needs both to the department as well as to the teachers and tutors.
I would like their asking for academic accommodations in high school to become as easy and worry free for them as asking for a step stool or using a pair of glasses, because they will soon be in college and not have me to pester them. Furthermore, these students for the most part, have above average intelligences (though very few know or realize this) and should not be scared to participate in class or speak up for their needs because they may be perceived as "stupid". In a 2002 study, Hartman-Hall and Haaga found that students who found their disabilities more stigmatizing were less likely to seek tutoring or accommodations on the college level. 3
Self-determination skills, specifically self-advocacy, do not stop after school is over, and students will use these skills for the rest of their lives. In any job or career, self-awareness of particular struggles and the ability to express those struggles and offer alternatives and strategies that work better are paramount.
My goal in this unit is to, at the very least, propagate within my students a powerful sense of worth and ability and to use this knowledge to advocate for their needs and grow towards becoming self-determined learners. I want this for my students because the research I read that involves teaching students about their disabilities points towards increased academic achievement, positive adult outcomes and a higher sense of self-worth. 4 5 6 7 As a special education teacher I feel that this is my job, and after much searching I am beginning to feel like I am on the right track.
This unit will illustrate my plan for planting the seed of self-determination in each of my students with disabilities. As most of my students know little about their learning disabilities and less about those of their peers, the first step is to educate them on the three major disabilities in my classroom: specific learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, and emotional and behavioral disorders. Once the students possess knowledge of their learning struggles we can begin to discuss strategies and coping skills to combat these learning roadblocks. To become self-aware of who they are as learners, students should know what is difficult for them, why, and how to circumvent or supplement other strategies to overcome the obstacle. We will explore this through association, learning inventories and multimodal activities.
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