DeAnna Horstmeir’s, “Teaching Math to People With Down Syndrome and Other Hands-On Learners: Basic Survival Skills (Second Edition) was extremely interesting, responsive, and thought provoking. Considering that she wrote this book from her own experiences with her son with Down Syndrome, it is focused and instructional but filled with love. The proposed audience for this book includes teachers, parents, and anyone else of instructional nature (especially those in proximity to students with delayed or lower level intellectual ability). This book illustrated practical but very useful evidenced based instructional techniques to teach and strengthen the mathematical cognitive development in children and adults who have down syndrome. Horstmeir’s …show more content…
Its pragmatic approach ensures that these strategies are buildable and usable in society. As an illustration, one evidenced based strategy that was emphasized in this book was “select[ing] a well-defined target behavior” for students to engage in – so they can make meaningful connections, are apt to retain information taught, and will genuinely be able to witness the manifestations of the instruction learned in their everyday interactions. This is seen on page ____ as teachers are instructed to teach students to count – but specifically by introducing a clear purpose: counting, adding, and subtracting scores in a game. It also exemplified the idea that an even greater motivation evinces when students play games with their peers who may be more developed than they; so that they can learn new gaming strategies (and learn math at the same time). This illustrates peer to peer tutoring which serves yet another effective technique for helping to integrate students with intellectual disabilities into general education classrooms (which seeks facilitate their learning in the least restrictive environments for them.) Finally, once students with down syndrome have acquired even a small portion of understanding in the games, they are given a space to display their
Lavoie’s workshop provokes an emotional response. After viewing life through the eyes of a child with special needs, I cannot help but have a more significant understanding of what people, especially children with disabilities, must deal with every day, everywhere. During the many years that I have worked with children with various disabilities, I have encountered each of the topics discussed in Lavoie’s workshop and agree with the points he makes regarding children with disabilities. Particularly impacting the way I interact with my students are the topics concerning: anxiety, reading comprehension, and fairness.
PALS accommodates learners with different levels of academic ability. This strategy can be implemented for students with learning disabilities, ELLs, general education students, and high-achievers. Therefore, PALS is great for inclusion classrooms. In addition, students work with their peers, rather than constantly with the teacher. This is advantageous for several reasons. It can be more motivating for students, it promotes collaboration and interaction. In addition, if students are working with each other, the teacher’s time is freed to work with students individually and provide the necessary levels of support and feedback. Furthermore, the skills learned
Bryant, D. P., Smith, D. D., & Bryant, B. R. (2008). Teaching Students with Special Needs in
Instruction. These two strategies are approaches that address classroom diversity in general education settings, and inclusion classroom settings. The idea of UDL is that instructional lessons, strategies, and assessments are planned with supports, which are more likely to be well-suited for students with special needs. The supports minimize the need for adaptations at a later time. Properly designed classrooms require fewer adaptations for students with special needs, is an ass...
"Having Down syndrome is like being born normal. I am just like you and you are just like me. We are all born in different ways, that is the way I can describe it. I have a normal life"(Burke, C., n.d.). Where special education is concerned, one must always remember that exceptional learners are different, not less. In the following studies, the various strengths and weaknesses of the language and communication of individuals with Down syndrome (DS) is reviewed and discussed.
Inadequate Preparations: the Primary Threat to First Responders Responding to an international Terrorist Event on US Soil
There are 400,000 people with Down Syndrome in The United States. They are people with developmental delays just like Charlie Gordon. People with developmental delays have a harder time processing things. Developmental delays affect a person's learning, language, physical, and behavioral areas. The short story “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes tells us about Charlie's life through his progress reports. Charlie always dreamed of being smart. They offered him a chance to have an experimental brain operation to triple his intelligence and he took the offer. After his operation he started to learn many new things. His progress reports improved in spelling and punctuation. He started to work in the research lab and gather data of his own. After
"Teaching Games for Understanding ." Teaching Games for Understanding . N.p.. Web. 16 Sep 2013. .
Warger, C. (2002). Helping students with disabilities participate in standards- based mathematics curriculum. ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education, Council for Exceptional Children. 1-5. Retrieved October 3, 2004, from ERIC Digests full-text database.
Students with learning disabilities can learn; each student has his or her own strengths and weaknesses. Educators must continue to focus on the strengths of each student and building on them, creating a stronger student and person. Identifying the weakness is at the core of getting a student help with their learning disability, but after this initial identification and placement, the focus should shift to the strengths and adjusting the student’s schoolwork to reflect these strengths. For instance, if a student is weak in reading but has wonderful group interaction skills and is good with his or her hands, the students' reading tasks should then be shifted to reflect these st...
Using the Stages of the Research Process flowchart below, describe the steps involved in the Rescue Heroes research program. Make sure to discuss the different types of research methods employed in the program (e.g., focus groups, etc.) and the outcome/information obtained by Fisher-Price from the studies carried with each of these methods
Down Syndrome Education Online -. Education online. 1996-2013. Web. The Web. The Web.
What most people don’t know about Down syndrome is that they can live normal lives and with much therapy and the right education people with the condition can live on their own, have a career, and get married. (Linda Crnic Institute for Down syndrome.) However, helping them is crucial to be able to do everyday things, such as cooking, cleaning, and taking care of personal hygiene. With learning these life skills that most adults learn over time, they need more help and people to work with them. (KidsHealth) To truly help and understand someone with Down syndrome one has to have patience, compassion, and knowledge about the condition. Having this disorder does not hold them back from anything, they can do anything they put their mind too. Yet there are some things and programs to help them along the way, like physical therapy, speech therapy, and a more in depth education.
If we can harness/utilize the energy, motivation and sheer potential of their game-play and direct it toward learning, we can give students the tools to become winners in real game of life.