Erin Hepler
Grand Canyon University: EDU-313 N Educational Psychology
May 5, 2013
Prospective Groups

As teachers we will be faced with the challenge of working with children who have many different learning abilities, characteristics, and differences among them. These differences can be identified by culture, learning style, and special ability. Let us take a look at a group of students who have different learning abilities. Those three groups are students with ADHD, Down Syndrome, and Autism. We will take a look at some of the common characteristics these three groups of students have, some challenges that an educator My have to overcome when it comes to teaching that particular group of students, what special learning opportunities can be offered to the whole class, and some specific strategies to help each group of students to be able to successfully succeed. First, let us take a look at some of the characteristics of children with ADHD. Some of those characteristics are doesn’t pay attention to details, has trouble staying focused, has trouble following directions, constantly fidgets and squirms, acts out without thinking, and often leaves his or her sit where sitting quietly is expected. Some characteristics of children with Down syndrome are short attention span, language impairment, refusing to comply with requests, and delayed social development. A person with autism can display the following characteristics; some of those characteristics are may not imitate others, may not understand social cues, may be resistant to change, and may only focus on one thing such as a particular toy. Now we will take a look at some of the common characteristics that all three groups have in common. First of all, in all three of these groups the children have some sort of disability. Children will ADHD, Down syndrome, and Autism often at times has a hard time following directions due to the short attention spans that they have. Also, each of these groups of students needs to have very consistent routine and everyday changes in the schedule can be hard for them to follow; yet again because of their short attention spans. Last all three of these groups have a hard time staying focused and staying in their seats when it is supposed to be quiet time. They have other things on their mind and can only focus on that particular thing. What are some special challenges an educator may face when trying to accommodate this group of students? One problem is meeting the needs of all children in the classroom. If there was a child with ADHD, Down syndrome, and autism in the classroom these students would really need some extra attention to help them be able to succeed in the regular classroom. Keeping that in mind it would be very important for the teacher to plan lessons that meet the needs of all the children in the classroom without making the typically developing students feel bored. This can be a hard task, but with practice it can be done. The teacher would need to know how to adapt the lesson on the spot to keep all the children focused and entertained. The children with special needs may need less problems or certain adaptations made to be able to be successful on the assignment. Also, the teacher needs to be prepared for any behavior problems that could result due to the children’s disabilities. Therefore, the teacher would have to know how to entertain the other children in the classroom while she is handling discipline problems. This can be a hard task to accomplish at times as children often follow what they see. Last, the teacher would have to become familiar with best practices on how all the children learn best, but become familiar with several of the characteristics of the group of students with disabilities especially so that they can ensure they are approaching them in the best ways possible. What special learning opportunities can be offered by such a group presented in class? First and foremost, the teacher at times will have to change how she teaches in order to meet the needs of these particular children in the classroom. All three groups have a hard time sitting still for long periods of time; therefore the teacher would want to incorporate some movement activities in the lesson to give the children a chance to get up and move around. However, this could benefit the class as a whole as no young child can sit for long periods at a time. Also, by having this group of students in the classroom it can help all the children to learn to respect such differences. It would teach the typically developing children that there are always children who are different than they are and that it is important to accept each other for who they are. The typically developing students can learn from the children with disabilities by acting as a mentor and learning how these students learn best and ways to help them to succeed. Last, it provides learning opportunities for all the children in the classroom. The children with special needs can gain knowledge by watching the typically developing children and vise versa. Here are some specific strategies that a teacher could use to help children with ADHD to succeed in the classroom. For example if you are teaching a social studies lesson you could have the child use role play. This keeps the child actively engaged so that the child will not get bored. The children could dress up in costumes during the role playing, which is another way to keep them interested since they do have short attention spans. Another great strategy is to use graphic organizers. As the teacher is lecturing the students could draw picture or add words to the graphic organizer to help them learn to stay focused. Here again the direct instruction can only last about 15 minutes at a time or the child will start to get very fidgety and perhaps start to act out due to the inability to sit still for long periods of time (Gold writer, 2012). Last, for children with ADHD review games could be used. The whole class would benefit from this as well as all children learn better when they are actively engaged. Children love to play games and perhaps they will not even realize that they are really learning the material being presented. The interactive nature of the game will help students with ADHD to pay attention while learning (Gold Writer, 2012). For children with Down syndrome the following strategies can be used. It is important to introduce new material slowly, sequentially, and in a step by step fashion (Watson). This is important because these children have a hard time following directions and a hard time adjusting to new routines every day. Some other strategies are keeping the student away from the window, using a slightly more structured environment, keeping the noise level down and having an orderly classroom where students are free from surprises and know what your expectations, routines and rules are (Watson). These students are easily distracted and again can follow the rules and understand better in a very structured environment where the schedule stays the same for the majority of the time meaning not changed constantly or daily. Here is a checklist that teachers could use to ensure that they are meeting the needs of this particular group of students. Learn how to be inclusional in your practice. Are you setting your students up for success? Try this checklist to see where your areas of strengths and weaknesses are (Watson). 1.___ Are students able to cope with the assigned tasks? 2.___ Do you give instructions/directions at his/her level of need? 3.___ Have you considered the individual's learning style? 4.___ Are your objectives, routines and rules clearly understood by the students? 5.___ Are your activities engaging and motivating for your students? 6.___ Are your rules/routines posted clearly and stated positively? 7.___ Do you have a variety of rewards/consequences that are well known by your students? 8.___ Do you have smooth transitions from one subject to another and when students return from recess/lunch? 9.___ Do you promote self-esteem and confidence? 10.___ Do you ensure you have your student's attention before starting? Do you pause when somebody interrupts? 11.___ Do you always demonstrate respect for your students and value their contributions? 12.___ Do you remember to have fun with your students and provide humor when the opportunity presents itself?
If you can answer yes to all of these questions than we as teachers are setting the children up for success. These strategies can be implemented at both the classroom and at home to help children with autism to be successful. One strategy is to create an environment that is not over stimulating. The child will do better if there are no loud noises, as it can distract the child with autism from concentrating (Hembree, 2007). Give fewer choices. If a child is asked to pick a color, say red, only give him two to three choices to pick from. The more choices, the more confused an autistic child will become. Select repetitive motions when working on projects. Most autistic classrooms have an area for work box tasks, such as putting erasers on pencils or sorting colors into colored cups. Encourage and promote one to one interactions with students to promote social skills. Since autistic children have a problem with social skills and appropriates social behavior this is very important. Opportunities for social interaction might have to be structured at first, but with practice, they will start to understand social interactions (Hembree, 2007). It can be seen that there are many types of students that teachers will encounter throughout their teaching careers. With the diverse group of students that we as teachers encounter it is important for us to understand and be prepared to use a variety of teaching strategies in the classroom to ensure that we are meeting the needs of all of the children. It also can be seen that inclusion classrooms can be very beneficial for all the children in the classroom. The children with special needs learn from the typically developing peers and vise versa.

References
Gold writer. Bright Hub Education. (2012). Five Ideas for Teaching Social Studies to Students with ADHD. Retrieved May 3, 2013 from http://www.brighthubeducation.com/special-ed-inclusion-strategies/97609-five-ideas-for-teaching-social-studies-to-students-with-adhd/
Hembree, P. (2007). Teaching Strategies for Autistic children. Retrieved May 4, 2013 from http://specialed.about.com/od/integration/a/checklist.htm
Watson, S. About.com. (n.d). Setting them up for Success Checklist. Retrieved May 3, 2013 from http://voices.yahoo.com/teaching-strategies-autistic-children-732387.html?cat=4