How to Recognize Kids With Special Learning Needs
If Sunday school teachers don’t know how to recognize kids with special learning needs, they’re at a severe disadvantage. Use this special teacher-training meeting plan with this article.
A learning disability may appear in many forms and have several symptoms. By becoming aware of different types of learning disabilities and how to handle them, you can alleviate misunderstandings and embarrassment for children. Some common learning disabilities:
Reading and language delays
When 9-year-old Amy was asked to read, “Daniel was in the lion’s den,” she read, “Daniel saw the lion dead.” Children with reading and language delays often reverse words or skip words and letters. Unless a parent tells you about the child’s reading disability, you won’t discover it until you ask the child to read aloud.
Written language delays
Whenever the teacher asks Joshua to copy the Bible verse on the board, he is disruptive. Joshua acts out to avoid becoming embarrassed by his disability. When Joshua does write, he spells many words wrong. He leaves out punctuation and spacing between words.
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Seven-year-old Jason received notoriety in the church at an early age. As an infant, he was inconsolable; he fought all cuddling. As a toddler, he tore through the hallways, wrote on walls and knocked over chairs. He never seemed to sit still. Tests at school revealed that Jason had a high IQ and neurological signs of ADHD. Children with ADHD have difficulty in paying attention and following instructions.
Auditory processing difficulties
Eight-year-old Sherrie doesn’t quite hear right. She says “huh?” or “what?” quite often. She also misses the subtleties of languages such as homonyms (meet vs. meat). Although tests revealed that Sherrie has normal hearing, she may have intermittent hearing. Or she may have difficulty with processing auditory information inside her brain.
Sensory-motor difficulties
Four-year-old Sammy astounds everyone with his advanced language ability. But Sammy also has behaviors that puzzle his teachers. Sammy doesn’t like being around other kids. He seems afraid to get playdough or glue on his hands. Using scissors, crayons, and pencils frustrate him.
Sammy has sensory-motor integration problems. Even though he’s bright, Sammy’s brain struggles to sort and organize all the information coming through his senses. Sammy simply cannot cope with all the sensory stimulation in the classroom.
Teaching Kids With Special Learning Needs
When working with children who have learning disabilities, respect them. Most learning-disabled children have normal or even superior intelligence. They just have trouble learning information in ways most children can learn.
Use care in labeling a child “learning disabled.” Until a child has been tested and the family shares this information with you, it’s unfair to judge. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t report your observations to your children’s ministry leader. Sometimes a teacher is the first to notice a learning disability.
Show God’s love for children with learning difficulties. Find out what these children are good at. Dr. Maxine Smith, who operates a learning center in California, says, “Mastery of something difficult gives a child the self-confidence that is needed for success in school and is crucial to building self-esteem.”
Use these practical methods to teach children with learning difficulties.
Be flexible with your teaching methods.
Give children choices of activities by varying the materials and using both visual and auditory input. That way, a child with a reading delay won’t feel self-conscious if they can choose a listening activity over a writing activity.
Ask parents for suggestions about what works with their child and what’s being done at school. Keep parents posted on progress. If needed, ask your children’s ministry leader to consider encouraging parents to have the child tested for learning disabilities at school.
Be sensitive.
Don’t assume the child who acts out is “bad.” The child may just be trying to cope with a learning disability.
Use lots of praise.
Notice what the child does right. Remind the child that everyone has difficulties in some way. Then give the child the genuine love of God — who loves us just as we are!
Barb Taylor is a special education consultant in Colorado.
Teaching children with special learning needs is easier when you have plentiful resources to guide you. Check out Group’s Children’s Ministry Pocket Guide to Special Needs for relevant teaching techniques, age-appropriate ways to inspire positive peer relationships, tips for partnering with parents and more! Or gain some powerful insight from Pat Verbal in Group’s Special Needs Ministry for Children training book.
Want more articles regarding children with special needs? Check out these posts!
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