Tag: Special Education

You’ve taught us about different types of writing—fiction, non-fiction, letters, and more. So, I thought I’d practice by writing to you about teaching me—a student with a disability.

Each year, groups of students in British Columbia begin classes after their peers because schools aren’t sure where to place them. Administrators and teachers often spend the first weeks of school finalizing classroom placements. It can take nearly a month, and often happens while students with disabilities stay at home.

Envision walking into a room designed by the King or Queen of Imagination and endless possibility. The room is dimly lit and you feel safe and calm. Its white walls bring a sense of peace and tranquility that you have never felt before.

Teachers need to be sensitive to the reality that there is usually more than one visual thing happening at one time like a teacher talking while expecting students to take notes of the lecture. Expecting a hearing impaired student to read lips and take notes at the same time is not realistic.

An inability to function socially or emotionally is as much of a learning disability as the inability to read. The tragedy of our time is that few people recognize it as such.