Suggestions for Faculty working with Student with Learning Disabilities

Syllabus Tips

Provide a detailed syllabus to students that is visually easy to comprehend:

• Bold or color code sections 
• Underline/highlight key words or phrases
• Provide clear due dates for assignments and assessments
• Don't be afraid to use visuals that make information more understandable for visual learners (e.g. illustrations, charts, tables, images)
• Please include a disability statement in your syllabus so that students who need our services know where to find us.  Please consult with one of our counselors or Director if you need assistance drafting a disability statement.

Universal Design

The best way to help students with learning and health challenges is to practice universal design.  Here are a few tips:

Multi-sensory Teaching –

Some students learn more readily if material is presented in as many modalities as possible (seeing, speaking, doing.) Provide opportunities for touching and handling materials that relate to ideas. Cutting and pasting parts of compositions to achieve logical plotting of thoughts is one possibility.

Visualization –

Help students visualize the material. Visual aids can include overhead projectors, films, carousel slide projectors, chalkboards, flip charts, computer graphics, and illustrations of written text.

Auditory - 

Some students learn and remember better when they hear new information.  Giving students an opportunity to ask questions, having class discussions, and group activities are a great way to engage all students.

Analogies - 

Some students learn new information by connecting to information they already know.  Providing something to compare new information to will help students comprehend lessons and concepts on a deeper level.

Access to Information - 

Many students cannot write notes very quickly, so if you are writing on the white board or projecting information on a screen, allow students to take pictures of white board or screen.