Honestly, i don't have much to say about this reading selection. I agreed with most of what it had to say and felt a lot of it was common sense such as, students with learning disablities "need more specific help than other students" (292). The biggest thing i feel writing tutors, and anyone who encounters students with learning disablities, should keep in mind is to avoid making any assumptions. Do not assume they know or do not know something. Actually, i think all assumptions should be cast aside in the writing center setting. I also stress that it is unlikely we will even know that a client has a learning disablity.
I found the case study about Barb to be intriguing. I am very unfamiliar with the concept of spatial learning and am interested in learning more. I should also point out that i know very little about any learning disabilities. This is something i feel that I should be more informed of.
I thought that the session between David and his writing advisor went very well. Asking David such direct questions really seemed to stimulate a whole new line of thinking for him. I would tend to worry that i would be insulting if i asked "obvious questions" but i feel that they did it in a very effective manner. The method of keeping David's mind off of the paper that he was worried about worked well. I think a big problem with students with learning disabilities, or any student, is the fact that they get overwhelmed easily and early in the writing process. By the tutor doing this, David was able to focus only on what was happening in the session at that particular moment. (245)
I am glad that Neff included the section entitled social interaction because i know that many people with learning disablities lack an understanding of personal space. The possible solutino that is listed seems like a very sophisticated and professional way to handle the situation.
I would like to see some specific training for tutoring students with learning disabilites. If i were handed the task now i would feel very inadequate.
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I had a client with a learning disability at SIUC, and he had no concept of personal space. This was my first semester in the writing center; I hadn't yet read anything about learning disabilities. I honestly thought the guy was a sexual predator. He would sit so incredibly close to me and just STARE right into my face during the whole tutoring session. I might not have been so creeped out by it if I hadn't been at the satellite center in the basement of Trueblood Hall, one of the dorms; there was never anyone around in the evenings when this client would come in, and I would spend the whole session gripping a pencil under the desk, ready to stab him if he made a move!
ReplyDeleteFinally, I talked to my director about it, and she explained to me that the student had a diagnosed learning disability (see what happens when you read a client's file?). After that, I felt comfortable telling the client that he was sitting too close. He would apologize and scoot away. Although I had to do this every single time, I was finally able to concentrate on the session - I even put my pencil back in my bag!
I say this because the social interaction aspect of learning disabilities is often overlooked. Remind me to bring this up in class next week.
I like your suggestion about special tutor training for students with learning disabilities. It can prove to be a bit more difficult, especially if you don't understand or realize that the student has one! I did not even realize that files were there to access until class on Wednesday, and that should prove to be useful on recognizing a student with a learning disability. However, the student could be new and not have a file yet, so it's still important to be comfortable working with LD students.
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