Teaching Students With Learning Disabilities

Learn how to meet the diverse needs of students with disabilities in your classroom through easy, practical, and creative strategies developed by an experienced special educator. This course explores the total special education process and help you understand and empower your special needs students.

6 Weeks / 24 Course Hrs

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Learning method

Self-Guided

$185

No instructor. Study on your own schedule

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Instructor-Moderated

$170

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Starting March 12 | April 16

Details + Objectives

Course code: lds

This course will teach you how to meet the diverse needs of students with disabilities in your classroom. With lessons developed by an experienced special educator, you will explore the special education process, from working with individualized education programs (IEPs) to helping students struggling with reading comprehension, math skills, and writing. In this course, you will discover easy, practical, and creative strategies that will help your struggling students find their light bulb moments.

You will also discover fun games you can incorporate, tips for modifying your classroom, and many tested methods for bringing out the best behavior in your students. Whether you are in the classroom, studying for the Praxis Special Education exam, or preparing to work with students in a variety of settings, this course will help you to understand and empower your students with learning disabilities.

What you will learn

Learn how to decode and use IEPs to help students be successful at school
Examine strategies to make learning fun for students with LDs
Discover the source of frustration for students with LDs and learn how to engage them
Explore new and innovative ways to modify your classroom, assignments, and tests

How you will benefit

Gain understanding and compassion for your students with LDs
Learn how to plan and execute successful parent-teacher conferences
Increase your effectiveness as a teacher and your ability to reach students

How the course is taught

Instructor-Moderated or Self-Guided online course
6 Weeks or 3 Months access
24 course hours

Outline

One in seven Americans has a learning disability. That means that in your class of 28 students, four could have significant trouble keeping up with the basics. Your first lesson investigates what learning disabilities (LDs) are and defines some common types that you may often see in the classroom.

Is Tamara having trouble with reading because it's not her favorite subject, or is something else going on? The process of identifying students with LDs is a long and sometimes tedious one, which is what you will learn about in this lesson.

This lesson explores individualized education programs (IEPs), which are road maps that guide the learning curve of every child with LDs. Once you know how to decode the language and the sections, it's easy to start using IEPs as the helpful tools they are meant to be.

This lesson focuses on common service locations that help students with LDs meet educational goals. Students with LDs receive IEP-mandated services in a number of ways. Whether they're in their main classroom or a special education room, they will learn a bit differently than other students.

In this lesson, you will learn about teaching strategies that make learning memorable for students with LDs. The right teaching strategies spell out the difference between a creative, engaging classroom and one that stagnates without reaching most of its students.

Word identification problems can make "cat" look like "can" or "pan." Imagine how hard it would be to read all the wrong words in all the right places. In this lesson, you will discover smart strategies to help students find their words.

For students who have trouble reading, it's hard enough to just get the words right. But to pair those words with their meaning is a seemingly insurmountable task. In this lesson, you will learn how to chunk information, so students can understand what they're reading and fall in love with texts.

Writing poses quite a few challenges for students with LDs—some may have trouble holding their pencils, and others find it difficult to communicate. This lesson takes a tour of strategies that bring writing to life for students who often don't even realize all the neat things they have to say.

Many students with LDs dread math because math requires various skills to come together seamlessly: reasoning, logic, number sense, writing, and computation are all key. In this lesson, you will learn how to make all those numbers a little easier for students with LDs to manipulate.

Even though the IEP gives you a general idea of how to help your students with LDs, you will still need to explore new, innovative ideas to modify your classroom, assignments, and tests. In this lesson, you will learn modifications that may spell success for students with LDs who need a push in the right direction.

Every student has had days when going to school was a drag. Students with LDs are no different. Because school forces them to tackle big challenges head on, it's often their least favorite thing to do. This can lead to behavior problems that you will have to defuse creatively, which is what this lesson covers.

The connection between home and school is a powerful predictor of classroom success for students with LDs. Your final lesson focuses on the best ways to conduct meaningful parent-teacher conferences that help everyone unite behind a child with LDs in need.

Instructors & Support

Sara Hardin

Sara Hardin is an educator with a focus on special education and language studies. She has taught special education at the elementary level for over a decade. Sara holds a BA in French, and lived in France to study at the university level. In 2000, she earned her master's degree in special education.

Instructor Interaction: The instructor looks forward to interacting with learners in the online moderated discussion area to share their expertise and answer any questions you may have on the course content.

Requirements

Prerequisites:

There are no prerequisites to take this course.

Requirements:

Hardware Requirements:

This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook.

Software Requirements:

PC: Windows 8 or later.
Mac: macOS 10.6 or later.
Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred. Microsoft Edge and Safari are also compatible.
Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.

Other:

Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.

Instructional Material Requirements:

The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.

FAQ

Instructor-Moderated: A new session of each course begins each month. Please refer to the session start dates for scheduling.

Self-Guided: Your course begins immediately after you enroll.

Instructor-Moderated: Once a course session starts, two lessons will be released each week for the 6 week duration of your course. You will have access to all previously released lessons until the course ends. You will interact with the instructor through the online discussion area. There are no live sessions or online meetings with the instructor.

Self-Guided: You have 3 months of access to the course. After enrolling, you can learn and complete the course at your own pace, within the allotted access period. You will have the opportunity to interact with other students in the online discussion area.

Instructor-Moderated: The interactive discussion area for each lesson automatically closes two weeks after each lesson is released, so you're encouraged to complete each lesson within two weeks of its release. However, you will have access to all lessons from the time they are released until the course ends.

Self-Guided: There is no time limit to complete each lesson, other than completing all lessons within the allotted access period. Discussion areas for each lesson are open for the entire duration of the course.

Instructor-Moderated: Students enrolled in a six-week online class benefit from a one-time, 10-day extension for each course. No further extensions can be provided beyond these 10 days.

Self-Guided: Because this course is self-guided, no extensions will be granted after the start of your enrollment.

Reviews

EXCELLENT COURSE! I would highly recommend this course to any teacher that deals with any type of student. The teaching tips can be used for a seasoned or new instructor.

I highly recommend this course even to those veterans in the teaching profession. More students are being diagnosed with LD and we all need to be prepared to work with them.

I loved Sara's positive and practical knowledge of the classroom. The additional resources she recommended were great. I would love to take some more classes under her.

I will be co-teaching next year. This was a wonderful prep course and review of some valued strategies I hope to incorporate and revisit. Thank you so very much.

The instructor was very organized and thorough. I like the fact that she started with the basics and didn't assume what we already knew (or didn't know for that matter!). Sara has a great writing style and it made the lessons fun and easy to read. Thanks for a wonderful online class!

This was the very BEST internet class I have ever taken! Our instructor was wonderful, very interactive, and all lessons were relevant and useful!! I would look forward to taking any other course that this instructor teaches!!

I am not an educator. I [recently] retired from AACO Detention Center, I have a strong desire, no, a love to teach LD STUDENTS. The instructor kept my interest and left me wanting more! She did a super job and I will be looking for other classes to take with her.

The course and instructor were excellent. The list of supplementary materials was very thorough and helpful when seeking further information on specific topics. The instructor was also very helpful when seeking information on keyboarding sites for LD students. This class is a must!

This is one of the best on-line classes that I have ever had. The instructor made learning interesting and fun. It is apparent that she knows her subject very well. If I had a child with a learning disability I would want her to be his teacher!

Thank you, Sara, for providing such a valuable and informative class online. I appreciate being able to work towards both professional, as well as personal growth/development, with online classes. This class has impacted me both with my students in my Special Day class, as well as at home with my son, who has Discalculia. The format was clear, well-organized, and easy to navigate. I've checked out a couple of the resources you recommended from the library. It has been an absolute pleasure taking your class. Thanks again!

EXCELLENT COURSE! I would highly recommend this course to any teacher that deals with any type of student. The teaching tips can be used for a seasoned or new instructor.

I highly recommend this course even to those veterans in the teaching profession. More students are being diagnosed with LD and we all need to be prepared to work with them.

I loved Sara's positive and practical knowledge of the classroom. The additional resources she recommended were great. I would love to take some more classes under her.

I will be co-teaching next year. This was a wonderful prep course and review of some valued strategies I hope to incorporate and revisit. Thank you so very much.

Teaching Students With Learning Disabilities

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