Ewa Hondra, GPTE.

Topic: Challenges which language teachers working with dyslectic, autistic

and ADHD students face.

Literature review

Nowadays, placing an emphasis on special educational needs students

becomes more and more popular. In the past, we could hardly see an additional
teacher working with this type of learners, which is nothing unusual now. Most
frequently, this type of students were sent to the educationalist/pedagogue or the
therapist working at school who was supposed to provide the solution. However,
many teachers saw that this solution is working but on the short run. The help
relying on the educationalist’s short talk with an over impulsive child or the one
who is rejected by peers is certainly meaningful but it is not sufficient. In search
of the best way to cope with these types of learners and to avoid negative
consequences for the rest of the class, teachers consider the determinants and
factors influencing the cooperation with special educational needs students.
Teachers on their side are aware that they can deepen their knowledge concerning
a particular affliction to be better prepared for students’ unexpected behaviour
and; consequently, they can better prepare mentally before the lesson. For
example, they can think about an appropriate use of gestures, intonation as well
as their attitude towards the special educational needs learner. They can also think
about the division of tasks in the way which will enable everyone to work in the
right pace, so that no one is bored because of the lack of work. Additionally, it is
a good idea for teachers to take into consideration one more matter, the matter
which for many seems to be a tall order - the collaboration with parents. This
work focuses on examining what determinants and factors affect the teacher and
special educational need student collaboration and what teachers can reflect on
and do to face challenges which they can meet while working with special
educational needs learners.

The first group of special educational needs students are dyslexic learners.
Teachers should be aware of the fact that dyslexic students cannot see the letters
properly as, according to them, the text “moves”. Consequently, such a learner
does not know or is not fully aware of what he or she reads. This matter is even
worse when a dyslectic student has to read out loud, skipping some of the letters
or pronouncing the words with an inappropriate intonation. Seeing such a picture,
the rest of the class has thousands of reasons to place this learner in the centre of
attention and to laugh at him. That is why, the teacher working with dyslectic
learners should ask the learner before the class if he or she feels up to read out
loud/wants to read out loud this particular day. It is also a good idea to think about
the use of gestures to provide these learners meaningful context. Apart from it,
the pace of reading should be slowed down and consequently, dyslectic students
should get a simplified version of the text and less activities than the rest of the
class to practice the comprehension of the text. It will balance the pace of work
of the whole class.

Another thing which is the cause of difficulties for dyslectic learners are the
problems connected to writing. The learners tend to miss the letters or re-write the
text from the board with mistakes. Consequently, the teacher should remember
about bringing additional copies of the text which is written on the board in case
the learner cannot deal with re-writing it correctly. Thinking about an appropriate
board management is also on the side of the teacher who has to decide how many
words he or she wants to write, in what sequence and what words will be chosen
as the key ones. These can be the words whose spelling is really difficult in this
particular group and on that level. (Bogdanowicz, 2006). It is also important to
leave these words on the board for the long time to help the learners memorize
them better. Whereas coping the text from the board may seem a problem for a
dyslectic student, the bigger problem starts when he or she is supposed to write a
few sentences, for example on the basis of the listening. Apart from the fact that
it will probably take a very long time to gather ideas and write this down, this
learner may have a problem how to process the text to understand it. The quality
of the writing style may be a bigger problem because it may be impossible to
understand it. Relating to all of these, the teacher should prepare the activities
which constitute a challenge for all the learners. These tasks can be differentiated:
more complex tasks for high-achievers and easier ones, not requiring so much
effort for low-achievers. In this way, there is a chance that everyone will finish at
the same time. (Bogdanowicz 2006). The teacher should monitor the dyslectic
learner’s work in the classroom as well as provide scaffolding while it is needed.
For example, knowing that these learners need schemata to start work, teachers
can indicate prompts which are in the classroom such as posters or mind-maps. A
proven way is re-phrasing the text or the instruction to the task to help the learners
understand the main message.

Moreover, these learners struggle with listening comprehension problems.

For instance, they tend to confuse two similar words, such as fought and thought
and; consequently, they may incorrectly interpret other people’s words.
(Bogdanowicz, 2006) That is why lots of teachers opt for dividing the instruction
into smaller steps. It is also a good idea to provide monitoring, even when it comes
to making notes concerning homework. Adding the right flashcard which makes
the context completely clear to the teacher’s words is also helpful.

Another challenge is the question of where in the classroom the best place
for a dyslectic student is. According to Bogdanowicz (2006), a proven way is
finding a place which is the nearest to the teacher’s desk because it allows to
monitor this student’s work. It also helps the learner to see better what on the
board is. Finding the appropriate peer who is eager to help this learner really
matters. However, it is not always so easy to do it, because usually learners tend
to sit at a desk with someone whom they like, but not with someone who is
perceived as a strange person. If the second situation happens, then the problems
of finding the best partner to share the same desk with the special educational
needs’ learner begin.

The last thing worth considering is assessment. Apart from the

psychological attitude towards the learners, on the side of the teacher is also to
think about the assessment of these learners. These students should be praised for
all of their achievements but the mistakes should not be highlighted because it can
discourage them from further work. When it comes to the assessment, the
mistakes in orthography which dyslectic students commit should not be taken into
consideration It means that teachers should mainly assess merithoric part, but it
does not mean that orthographical mistakes should be ignored. The assessment of
this type of mistakes should have a descriptive character and it should motivate
the learners. Bogdanowicz suggests that some dyslectic learners prefer to take part
in oral exams than in written ones. She claims that the question of whether a
dyslectic student achieves better results on oral exams than on written ones
depends on individual factors, such as: preferences, what the student’s preparation
to the test is and on what level of language he or she is. (Bogdanowicz,2006)

The second affliction is ADHD. This type of learners is characterized by

three main factors that is inattention, hyperactivity and impulsiveness. The most
typical symptom of ADHD is the fact that they constantly need a task to work on;
otherwise, these learners will not be focused. The teacher should divide work into
smaller parts. For example, ask the learners at first to show that they are ready and
then to open the book. According to Cytowska, Winczura and Stawarski these
type of learners need the external mechanisms of control to help them prosper
better. This type of learners works the best during very short periods of time, by
turns. Physical exercises during the classes will also help them focus. It is also
useful to introduce routines, use self-stick notes to help them remind important
matters. Learners, especially these ones need external motivation and they really
need a teacher who guides them step by step and controls this process very
precisely. (2006)

The third affliction which I want to talk about is autism. Contrary to ADHD
students, autistic children do not have problems connected with concentration,
thanks to which the teacher can more easily take control over such a child;
however, teachers of foreign language should be aware of difficulties connected
to foreign language acquisition. The first thing is that speech of an autistic child
is not fluent and tends to be monotonous. They have a very limited range of
vocabulary and tend to make sentences with inappropriate grammatical
structures.(Cytowska, Winczura and Stawarski 2006) Consequently, they struggle
with producing speech which other people will understand easily. Apart from it,
autistic learners have a tendency to ask the same questions all the time and even
if they receive an answer, they do not react to that. That is why, one can have a
feeling that this child does not understand his or her interlocutor or badly
interprets one’s message. As a result, lots of teachers select the information which
covers facts only. They do it in order to make the message clear as well as not to
raise a few subplots at the same time as this can make such a child even more
confused.

Difficulties also concern non-verbal communication that is understanding

the information expressed through gestures, mime, one’s attitude as well as
intonation. Autistic learners also cannot even understand their own emotions, so
understanding others may be a real challenge for them. The best solution is to not
introduce sudden changes in teacher’s attitude and body language towards such a
child in order not to provoke misunderstandings. Whereas not introducing sudden
changes and; for example, treating an autistic child in the same caring way will
certainly be beneficial for this child, what about the rest of the class? How will
they react on teacher’s warm attitude towards this particular learner? There is a
risk that some of the learners will feel unappreciated, and that they will stop
learning because they see that the teacher does not see their progress and does not
have a liking for them as much as for this learner. That is why, it is a good idea at
the beginning to inform the class about their peer who has autism and needs other
treatment. However, the teacher should not do it in a straightforward way because
this learner may take/perceive it as malicious personal attack. For instance, the
teacher should do it through reading a story about an autistic child, and, as a
follow-up activity, the teacher a special educational need learner as an example.
If the teacher does it in a dexterous way, this learner may even feel unique and
start to think more positively about himself.

Under the question mark is also left the matter related to fears and
sometimes phobias which autistic learners tend to have. Teachers cannot remove
them, but they can make them feel them less. For example, they can control the
situations when this learner may feel fear. They can talk to parents that their child
needs a therapist who will help his or her to sort out the chaos in emotions.

In the light of these problems, there is one more crucial aspect concerning
special educational needs learners. The positive rapport with parents really
matters since in most cases they have known their child since birth and they can
take further steps such as consulting the therapist and seeking other types of help.
A proven solution seems to be collaboration with parents and their child to
systematically work on students’ progress. Creating an environment of so-called
“dyad” that is the interaction between an adult and a child during which a child
can always receive help and during which an adult is sensitive to students’ needs
and his or her conditions of gaining knowledge is also helpful.(Brzezińska 2005)

If teachers want to achieve the pre-planned goals an important thing to take

into consideration is also motivating the students. Apart from praising them for
every single correct step which I have already wrote about, it is also important to
help them discover their own strengths and to help them be aware of their strong
points, in case, for example, if they change the school and in the new school there
is almost nobody who praises them. (Dorney 2013)To avoid special educational
learner’s disappointment, teachers can repeat the activities which these type of
learners can deal with and are good at them. After checking the answers, each
learner writes on a small piece of paper three positive strong points which were
useful to do this task and puts them into the praising jar. (This is a place where all
the learner’s strong points are placed).

To conclude, each affliction concerns another matter. In dyslexia learners

struggle with reading and writing, in ADHD with controlling their behavior
whereas in autism with social interaction and producing an appropriate speech.
The similar things is the fact that in all of these afflictions the learners need to be
motivated to cooperate as well as in all of them teachers have to reflect on the
right, non-violent communication with parents. It frequently happens that many
claim parents do not trust the teacher in the diagnosis of their child’s affliction,
they just think that their child has no potential at all to achieve any success and it
is not the matter of affliction but of his or her limited potential to gain knowledge.
That is why teachers should always start from positive sides in communication
with parents, from expressing positive feelings which they have, going into facts
and ending with specific things which need to be worked on. Whatever the case
is, the key to success is knowing the child, his or her interests, needs as well as
weak points. Since the teacher does not know the child as good as parents, it is
only through the method of trials and mistakes which helps them adopt an
appropriate action.
References:

Bogdanowicz, K.(2006). Dyslexia in the English Classroom. Gdańsk:Harmonia

Brzezińska, A.(2006). Dziecko w zabawie i świecie języka. Poznań: Zysk i S-ka

Cytowska, Winczura and Stawarski (2008). Dzieci chore, niepełnosprawne i z

utrudnieniami w rozwoju. Kraków:Impuls

Dornyei, Z.(2013). Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Erenc-Grygoruk,G.(2018). Nauczanie języków obcych w edukacji

wczesnoszkolnej. Kraków: Impuls