SharonJ.

Edwards
ED142:EducationandtheExceptionalChild
Assignment#3
December1,2014

CaseStudy
StudentProfile:
ThestudentthatIvechosentowriteaboutisnamedRichard.Richardcomes
fromabilingualhomewhereSpanishisspokenoften.Heis15yearsoldandiscurrently
asophomoreatSomervilleHighSchool.ImethimthisyearwhileIwasobservinghis
U.S.Historyclass.MymentorteachershowedmeallofherIEPand504planpapersso
thatIcouldbeknowledgeableofallofthestudentswhowereplacedonthoseformsand
sothatIdknowhowtotreatthoseparticularstudentswhenitcametoassignments.
RichardhappenedtobeoneofthosestudentswhohadanIEPandhewillalsobeoneof
thestudentsthatIwillhavetheprivilegetoteachnextsemesterinU.S.History.
Ifoundoutthroughobservations,formalreportsandaccessthroughRichards
workthatRichardisaverycreativewriterandthathereallyenjoysart.Richard
consistentlycomestoschoolpreparedandismotivatedforclass.Heenjoysplayingvideo
games,playingoutside,goingtogymclassandhelovestoplayonthecomputer.Ialso
learnedthatRichardisaveryquietandrespectfulyoungman.Allofhisgeneral
educationteachersagreedaswellthatRichardwasveryquietandtheyallsuggestfor
Richardtoparticipateandcontributemoreinclasses.
GeneralaccommodationsforRichardincludemakingsurethathesitsnearthe
sourceofinstruction,havinghimsitawayfromdoorsandwindows,togivehimoraland

writteninstructions,havehimrepeatdirectionsthataregiven,havehimtakefrequent
breaks,andtogivehimmoretimetofinishupassignments.
RichardsmotherseemedtobeverypleasedwithRichardsprogressat
SomervilleHighandthecurrentprogramthatheisin.ShenotedthatRichardhasbeen
muchhappierbothathomeandatschoolnowsincetheseaccommodationshavebeen
made.Atthistimealso,Richardsmotherdidnothaveanyconcerns.

Disability:
WhenIfoundoutthatRichardhadanIEP,Iwaskindofpuzzledashowthis
couldbeso.Heworkedreallyhardandhedidntseemedtohaveanyproblemswithany
ofthematerialgiventohim.Hewaslikealloftheotherstudentsinmyeyes.HisIEP
statedthatwhenhehasdifficultyunderstandinginstructionsgiven,itcouldincreasehis
frustrationandinterferewithhimcompletingassignments.Testingcompletedin2011
showeddeficitsintheareasofworkingmemory,wordclassification,andunderstanding
therelationshipsbetweenwordsandasaconsequenceRichardwasdiagnosedwith
havingspecificlearningdisability.
SpecificLearningDisability,accordingtotheMassachusettsDepartmentof
Education,meansa disorder in one or more of the basic psychological
processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or
written, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think,
speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations.1 People
1 Special Education: Specific Learning Disability. Massachusetts Department of Elementary &
Secondary Education. 22 Aug. 2008. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.

with Specific LDs are usually average or above average intelligence.

This means that although they may struggle to acquire skills that
impact their performances in many areas like home, schools, and their
community, they can still combat these challenges with help. These
disabilities are lifelong and the sooner that they are recognized, the
sooner one can take steps to overcome many challenges that will
occur.

ResearchQuestion:
WhileworkingwithRichardIhadmanyquestionsabouthowtoeffectivelyteachhimso
thathecouldunderstandandperformwell.SomeofthequestionsthatIthoughtabout
werewhatkindofactivitiescanbedevelopedforstudentsthathavedifficultywiththeir
workingmemory,wordclassification,andunderstandingtherelationshipsbetweenwords
andasaconsequences?HowcanIdevelopalessonwherethesechildrencanbe
successful?HowcanchildrenwiththesedisabilitiesunderstandthedirectionsthatIgive?
AccordingtoJoaquinVillegasandAnaGilGarcia,advanceorganizersareused
toteachspecificcontextswithdifferentlevelsofcomplexity.Regardlessofones
educationallevel,theadvanceorganizerorgraphicorganizerisatoolthathelpsone
connectandrememberunknowninformationandknowninformation.2This

GilGarcia,Ana,andJoaquinVillegas.EngagingMinds,EnhancingComprehensionandConstructing

KnowledgethroughVisualRepresentations.,2003.ProQuest.Web.22Nov.2014.

communicationtoolusesvisualsymbolstoexpressknowledgeandknowingthatRichard
reallylovesart;Ibelievethatthistoolwilldrawhiminbecausethemainpurposeofa
graphicorganizeristoprovideonewithavisualaidtofacilitatetheirlearningand
instruction.
Inaqualitativeinvestigationoftheuseofgraphicorganizers,ElizabethCulbert,
MichelleFlood,RachelWindlerandDebraWorkinvestigatedandexaminedhowgraphic
organizersfacilitatestudentcomprehensionofexpositorytexts.Althoughthisexperiment
wasdoneonstudentsingradesK8,Ibelievethatifitwillworkforsomeitcouldalso
workforothers.Inthisinvestigationteachersweresurveyedandthefindingswerethat
manyteachersbelievethatorganizersimprovepresentationsofmaterialsandthat
teacherscompletetheorganizerswiththeirstudents.3Someteachers, according to
the article, feel that the use of graphic organizers increases student
comprehension of text because students were more engaged in
learning.
ReflectionandConclusion:
Studentstendtorememberinformationbetterandcanbetterrecallitwhenitis
representedbothvisuallyandverbally.Theuseofgraphicorganizershelpsimprovethe
readingcomprehensionofstudents.Studentswithandwithoutlearningdisabilities
improveachievementsacrosscontentareasandgradelevels.Whenstudentsdevelopand
3 Culbert,Elizabeth,etal.AQualitativeInvestigationoftheuseofGraphicOrganizers.,1998.
ProQuest.Web.23Nov.2014.

usegraphicorganizerstheirhigherorderthinkingandcriticalthinkingskillsare
enhanced.Sooverall,thisstrategycouldbeawinwinsituationbeingthatithelpsall
studentsstayorganized.
Many of the strategies I found represented students at many
different levels and aimed directly at assisting the problem. I began to
find that there was a lot of information directed at how to help students
of any age with reading, writing and comprehension. For students like
Richard, this becomes very helpful.
Ann Richards suggests in Instruction in Reading Comprehension,
Written Expression, and Math Problems that the ability to understand
what is read and the ability to organize longer pieces of information
does not just happen.4 Students, therefore, need to be taught how to
organize their thoughts and what better way to do this than to use
graphic organizers.

This concept is interesting because it requires for

teachers to know what difficulties a student is having.

Evaluation:

GilGarcia,Ana,andJoaquinVillegas.EngagingMinds,EnhancingComprehensionandConstructing

KnowledgethroughVisualRepresentations.,2003.ProQuest.Web.22Nov.2014.

5 Richards,Ann.InstructioninReadingComprehension,Writtenexpression,andMathProblemSolving.

Some students can easily go under the radar and never be

diagnosed if they blend in. Invisible disabilities are something that
Im still uncertain of how to deal with, however, I believe that in order
to understand the needs of a specific student it is important for a
teacher to make an effort in their lives by reaching out. This could be
by simply being flexible to meet students needs, or just repeating any
material that is gone over in class. Like weve stated in previous
classes, its important for all students to simply have support.
Looking back on the research Ive done, and the
accommodations that were provided to help Richard in his own time in
education, I feel better about knowing what things I can do for him and
my future students in the classroom so that they can understand
information and retain information. Although I know that each student
is different and therefore may learn differently, it eases my mind a little
to know other methods in order to combat some LDs.

Works Cited

Culbert,Elizabeth,etal.AQualitativeInvestigationoftheuseofGraphicOrganizers.,
1998.ProQuest.Web.23Nov.2014.

GilGarcia,Ana,andJoaquinVillegas.EngagingMinds,EnhancingComprehensionand
ConstructingKnowledgethroughVisualRepresentations.,2003.ProQuest.Web.
22Nov.2014.

Richards,Ann.InstructioninReadingComprehension,Writtenexpression,andMath
ProblemSolving.

Special Education: Specific Learning Disability. Massachusetts Department of

Elementary & Secondary Education. 22 Aug. 2008. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.

<http://www.doe.mass.edu/sped/links/learndisability.html#>