ESL for special ed students
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ESL for special ed students
I am a college student observing in a special ed classroom. One of the children has Down Syndrome, and is very low functioning. Her native language is Spanish. I have an ESL certificate and some experience, and want to tutor her in ESL. Does anyone have experience with this or resources to recommend for teaching ESL to students with special needs? thanks!
First, just to clarify, she is already in an English-speaking academic environment, right? Because otherwise, if she really is low-functioning, then monolingualism might be an option to consider (supporting her Spanish language development only, I mean).
But if the decision to encourage bilingualism has already been made by her parents, and you are thinking of helping them out with this, then by all means, go for it. Teaching kids with special needs is not all that different from teaching any other kids--let's face it, all kids have their own special needs after all.
You said the student has Down Syndrome and is low functioning. I'm therefore assuming at least moderate mental retardation along with decreased fine motor control. Your first step is to find out the method of communication used with the student. English only? Some sign language? Some picture symbols? Dynavox or other artificial speech device? Once you know what her teachers are using, try to use this method in your tutoring sessions also, for reinforcement.
Intelligibility of her speech will probably be an issue. Ask whether she has a speech therapist. If so, then get from the therapist homework exercises you can do with the student. If not, then just work on pronunciation yourself, picking one or two similar sounds to work on at a time (/p, b, m/, /g, k/ or /s, z, t, d, l, n/, etc.). You may have to work for several weeks on each sound category. Similarly, when working on vocabulary and grammar, keep things really really simple, and repeat the same points again and again.
A lot of kids with Down Syndrome are wonderfully social, so it sometimes helps to get a friend or family member involved in role play activities for practicing various words/structures. As for songs and chants, keep in mind that movement activities and language activities both require cognitive processing, and that therefore sometimes engaging in dancing or finger plays will make singing the words of songs more difficult. That's not to say don't add movement to words--just keep it simple, and perhaps practice the moving and the speaking separately a few times first. Another thing to keep in mind is her attention span. She may become distracted more easily than other kids her age. To improve her focus, schedule regular breaks, decrease outside sources of noise, make sure she has a small and nutritious snack every two hours, keep your full face (not profile) visible at all times, and of course, keep it fun. A lot of kids with Down Syndrome have frequent ear infections, so ask her parents about this regularly (is she having any difficulty hearing today? Is she in pain? Does her medication make her drowsy?) and tailor the day's lesson appropriately. In addition, a smaller but significant number of kids with Down Syndrome have heart problems, so ask her parents if there are any physical limitations you should keep in mind.
Hope this helps.
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But if the decision to encourage bilingualism has already been made by her parents, and you are thinking of helping them out with this, then by all means, go for it. Teaching kids with special needs is not all that different from teaching any other kids--let's face it, all kids have their own special needs after all.
You said the student has Down Syndrome and is low functioning. I'm therefore assuming at least moderate mental retardation along with decreased fine motor control. Your first step is to find out the method of communication used with the student. English only? Some sign language? Some picture symbols? Dynavox or other artificial speech device? Once you know what her teachers are using, try to use this method in your tutoring sessions also, for reinforcement.
Intelligibility of her speech will probably be an issue. Ask whether she has a speech therapist. If so, then get from the therapist homework exercises you can do with the student. If not, then just work on pronunciation yourself, picking one or two similar sounds to work on at a time (/p, b, m/, /g, k/ or /s, z, t, d, l, n/, etc.). You may have to work for several weeks on each sound category. Similarly, when working on vocabulary and grammar, keep things really really simple, and repeat the same points again and again.
A lot of kids with Down Syndrome are wonderfully social, so it sometimes helps to get a friend or family member involved in role play activities for practicing various words/structures. As for songs and chants, keep in mind that movement activities and language activities both require cognitive processing, and that therefore sometimes engaging in dancing or finger plays will make singing the words of songs more difficult. That's not to say don't add movement to words--just keep it simple, and perhaps practice the moving and the speaking separately a few times first. Another thing to keep in mind is her attention span. She may become distracted more easily than other kids her age. To improve her focus, schedule regular breaks, decrease outside sources of noise, make sure she has a small and nutritious snack every two hours, keep your full face (not profile) visible at all times, and of course, keep it fun. A lot of kids with Down Syndrome have frequent ear infections, so ask her parents about this regularly (is she having any difficulty hearing today? Is she in pain? Does her medication make her drowsy?) and tailor the day's lesson appropriately. In addition, a smaller but significant number of kids with Down Syndrome have heart problems, so ask her parents if there are any physical limitations you should keep in mind.
Hope this helps.
[email protected]