Students Who Learn Differently Overseas

APPENDIX

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FROM THE 1999 ADDENDUM

Results of the 1998 Questionnaire

Since the "Students Who Learn Differently" report was presented in March of last year, how has your club informed your members of its existence?

· Newsletter: 15

· Monthly membership meeting (brought it and made an announcement): 7

· Distributed to local international schools: 3

· Report exhibited in FAWCO display at clubhouse: 1

· Copies handed to individual teachers: 4

· Copy sent to local support group for students who learn differently: 1

· Placed a copy in the club library: 1

· Report shown to FAWCO committee members: 1

How many, if any, of your club members have requested to see a copy of the report?

· 19

Do the people who have read the report feel that they have derived any benefit from it?

· "The suggestions for teachers were helpful. I plan to share with other teachers. I was pleased to have some addresses for books and correspondence courses dealing with this topic." (Written by a woman who is the principal and a teacher at a private elementary school.)

· "I'm the mother of three (two school-aged), and I must say I received a boost of confidence from your report which I hope I can pass on to my frustrated learners."

· Local support group found it to be exceptionally good.

· "Terrific, comprehensive, hopeful report. As a mother of and teacher of such children, I felt the report was an excellent, concrete, professional and practical guide. Thank you!"

· "This is an excellent report."

· "Not really. Feel that the report was not that relevant to our club."

Do you have any suggestions as to how this report might have been made more effective?

· "I feel that most articles on dyslexia deal primarily with identifying the problems and only superficially address concrete and effective ways to handle it. I would like to find a source for learning materials designed for students with dyslexia."

· "I would have liked more resource information."

· "It was too long for information sake and more people would have read the report if it were presented in a more condensed pocket-sized form."

· "It would have been very interesting to learn more specifics about bi-lingual learning. I notice that a lot of bi-lingual learners are at a disadvantage in local schools. They have learning difficulties and experience many of the symptoms listed for dyslexia and ADD although they don't have these disabilities. I'd be interested in investigating this further."

· "The report appears to be effective. It just seems that there is not a need in our community. The school system here for foreigners is very good. Therefore, people are probably getting their information there."

Any additions or corrections to the report?

· Correction to the list of participants in the 1998 Students Who Learn Differently study: We extend our sincere apology to Chilterns AWC whose name should have appeared in the original list of clubs participating in the 1998 report.

Other comments

· "We're very interested in the subject, and hope to have some kind of evening program or seminar during the next year."

· "Your report was informative and took a very positive approach to this subject which I appreciated."

· One mother wrote:

Our son struggled with dyslexia for years . . . It was so hard for him . . . He was born (outside of the US) and we lived (there) until he was a senior in high school. Since there was no help for his problem there, I had to teach him how to read with the help of a specialist (back in the US) - long distance. He graduated from high school and went three years to college . . . He is a wonderful artist . . . He is also an outstanding athlete and has more common sense than most people.

Special Events

· AWC Brussels hosted an Educational Forum on bilingualism and special needs.

· A teacher wrote, "I had my classes do reports on the People Who Learn Differently, and the kids were amazed. Eisenhower was an excellent map-reader because he saw everything in 3-D.

· One special education teacher would like to see the video, How Difficult Can This Be? shown to the school's Theory of Knowledge class.

Hints for Making FAWCO Material More Effective in your Club and Community

The somewhat disappointing answers regarding the number of people who read Students might in part be due to the fact that the deadline for returning the questionnaire was early. Some clubs hadn't started to publicize the report until after the summer holiday. However despite newsletter articles and announcements at meetings, a lot of FAWCO material, not just Students, is not getting out there. The following are some suggestions as to how this situation might be improved:

· Ask for a speaking slot at the general meeting and read part of the report to them.

· Publish part of the report in your newsletter; we are happy to send any requested sections via email so you don't have to retype.

· Summarize the report; one rep writes, "A statement that we received this report did nothing to arouse interest, whereas a 1 ½ page summary did get some response. I expect to hear more."

· Have a special display table each meeting featuring one aspect of FAWCO each month (e.g. environment, our NGO status, special education needs, other club newsletters, voter registration as appropriate, the R & D Fund, scholarships); putting a whole bunch of stuff out each month can be confusing to members who are unfamiliar with FAWCO activities.

· If you know that someone in your club would be interested in an aspect of FAWCO, photocopy the material and put it in her hands.

· Go out into your community with FAWCO material: environmental information can be shared with local environmental groups; copies of Students can be given to host country as well as international schools; during election periods organize voter registration tables at other clubs and venues that Americans frequent.

· Outreach into your community will strengthen both FAWCO's and your club's image; your club members are more likely to respond when they hear your information presented in different ways and in different locations.

· Ask local experts to run workshops or present programs on FAWCO issues (e.g. local psychologist on special needs).

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From the 1999 Addendum – Letters

What follows are parts of a letter that was sent in response to an article about Students that appeared in a FAWCO club magazine:

While I spend most of my time parenting my two children, I am also looking for ways to pursue my interest in child development. Prior to moving to Europe, I used to be a developmental and educational psychologist, doing teaching and research at both Teachers College and Hunter College in New York City. I became very excited this morning when I read your article, and heard that FAWCO was addressing some issues, which I believe to be very important to the international community.

These issues are important to me, both for professional and personal reasons. Before moving here, our family lived in Switzerland. There, at the age of five, my son was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Although we did all the things families confronting this problem should do (put him on Ritalin, zealously adhered to behavior modification systems and worked closely with his teachers), his international school decided to kick him out after first grade because he was not meeting their academic standards. He had been tested many different ways, and all of these tests showed him to be a bright and intelligent child. The teachers also said that his behavior was no longer disruptive since he had been on the medication. But because he was not reading fluently at the age of six, they believed that it would be better for him if he pursued his education elsewhere.

Given my background, I felt that not only was this conclusion unfair, it was based on a rigid definition of optimal learning and development. The school's philosophy of instruction was for six-year-olds to sit still and learn from the board, and then do work sheets all day. The children were also expected to have learned reading in kindergarten, and if they did not read in first grade, they did not receive any additional reading support. This school admitted that over 30% of the students there were having difficulties, but did not wish to change their teaching practices in order to accommodate these students. Their attitude was that these students should go elsewhere.

But the fact of the matter was, there was nowhere else for them to go. German Swiss schools are taught in a non-written dialect for the first three grades, so if my son could have made the transition to German, it would not have been a form that I could understand, nor would it have been any use to him down the road. Although we had a number of conversations with the school about their policies, and how a minimum of 4% of any given population is going to have attention problems, they did not see it as their role to educate these children. It was their goal to attract the quickest and brightest learners. After all, this is what attracts the majority of parents to schools, and the minority of families with children with learning problems "just need to go elsewhere."

But Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Dyslexia, etc. occur at a reliable rate, even in normal populations, which include families on overseas assignments. Ultimately, I ended up taking my son and daughter back to the United States, to the public school district where I grew up, and our family had to live separately on two continents. Fortunately, I was raised in a very good public school system (it has been consistently rated in the top 100 nationwide), and they were able to identify my son's problems and help him immediately. Their philosophy of education was one of inclusion rather than exclusion, and they made it their policy to teach to different learning styles.

During the first two months that we were there, his improvement was miraculous. First, the school noticed that he was a phonetic reader, and therefore would benefit from learning phonetic and word attack strategies. He also had a wonderful teacher who respected him as a learner and as an individual. Within two months, he was reading fluently (he no longer qualified for their reading support program) and he was a motivated and enthusiastic contributor in class.

After we were able to understand our son's needs more fully, we wanted to be once again reunited as a family. But there were still no options for us in Switzerland. So my husband persuaded his company to move us to England. After reviewing six international schools, we finally chose one where the teaching methods were most similar to those practiced in the US.

Since we have been here, our son continues to do as well as he can. On his recent standardized tests, he was in the 80th percentile for reading comprehension. Unfortunately however, the time we can spend with my husband is limited, because he still must be in Switzerland two to three days per week. While we have found a way to make our situation work, our compromise is costly to us in terms of the time we have together as a family, as well as to my husband's company, who has to take on the additional financial burden of flying my him back and forth from Switzerland, reimbursing his hotel expenses, and providing him with two offices instead of one.

On a more positive note, the school that my son now attends is making every effort to accommodate the learning needs of its students. This past January, the school helped the parents form a support group for families with children who have attention deficits, and they are also investing a great deal of money in a curriculum designed specifically for considering individual differences in learning styles. Unfortunately, however not all international schools share this commitment, since special needs generally do not attract the majority of families or funding. It is my hope that FAWCO can help other schools recognize the need for helping all children. When schools adopt standards that consider individual differences, the entire student body benefits - not only those with special needs.

I believe that FAWCO can play a very important role in helping families facing the problems outlined in your article. Based on my experience, I believe the problem we encountered with the school in Switzerland stems from two fundamental aspects of small independent overseas schools. The first is that these schools simply do not have the resources to attract and support their faculty. Unlike schools in the US that subscribe to outstanding in-service support programs, the overseas teacher is often poorly trained, poorly paid, and poorly informed. As I stated earlier, I also believe that this kind of support is often a low priority for these schools, because financial attention to these issues is not considered important for attracting families.

Secondly, the children who attend these schools are generally there for only two years (sometimes less). Quite often, these families are so busy orienting themselves to the new environment, they don't have the energy to address the school in the consistent manner that is sometimes necessary to get them to consider the non-traditional learner's needs. Therefore, these independent overseas schools are not consistently held accountable for their practices, as schools with more stable populations are.

This is where I see FAWCO's role as crucial. In defining standards for these international schools, and creating a "bill of rights," FAWCO is in a position of applying on-going pressure on these schools to become better informed in helping the non-traditional learner. FAWCO can be the consistent voice when the parents themselves cannot.

Overall, I agree with all of the important points made in your article, and I applaud FAWCO's effort in taking on this challenging problem. The only assertion that I question is that there are reliable methods for identifying non-traditional learners before kindergarten. Assessment is an expensive and timely process, and its predictive validity is limited until the child has entered primary school. I believe that one way that FAWCO can help parents in this process is to identify competent physicians and psychologists within each local community, who can be a potential resource for families confronting many of these issues.

I'm sure that you did not expect such a long letter when you wrote your article. It's just that I'm so excited to see that FAWCO is tackling these issues.

Another reader wrote:

I don't know how things are for Belgian citizens living abroad, but the Greek government has Greek, state-supported public schools for their citizens abroad, i.e. in Germany. I know the French government does the same thing for their French citizens in Greece. Isn't it a shame that the strongest economic power does not do this for its children? An economist parent at the American Community School here recently figured out that he is paying $18,000 for his child to attend elementary school if you factor in salaries, cost of living, etc. I do feel it would be very beneficial to the US to have these bi-cultural children educated in the American system.

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FROM THE 2000 ADDENDUM -- RESULTS OF THE 1999 QUESTIONNAIRE

The purpose of the 1999 Educational Support Committee questionnaire was to heighten awareness among FAWCO members and the members of the U.S. Congress regarding the situation faced by students, parents and overseas educators when students learn differently. Often very little provision, if any, is made for many learning-differently students in English-speaking, international schools. As they are private institutions, they can refuse to admit whomever they wish. Other students of FAWCO members attend host country schools, and often the thinking there is years behind the States regarding special education. In some cases, provisions are nonexistent.

In August of 1999, the FAWCO mailing did not include the 1999 questionnaire for the Educational Support Committee, but rather it indicated that the questionnaire was available on the FAWCO website (http://web.archive.org/web/20071010192927/http://www.fawco.org/). It encouraged the reps to download it and pass it out to their interested members. This was the first time that a FAWCO questionnaire was made available in this manner. In the past, a hard copy of the form was mailed to each club for the rep to photocopy and distribute. Judging from responses to questionnaires distributed in the old, hard copy manner and the response to the 1999 questionnaire, the old manner seems at this time to remain a more effective method of reaching our membership.

Some Questionnaire Responses

Was the diagnosis that your student learns differently made before or after the overseas move?	before	after	before	after	-	before	after	before
Is your student attending a private, international or host country school?	international	host country	both	private	both	international	international	international
Is school attendance a legal requirement in your host country?	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	-	yes
Did your host country sign the declaration of human rights?	yes	yes	yes	yes	-	yes	-	yes
Did you need to seek additional help outside of the school?	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
Do you have to pay for this help yourself?	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	no, company pays
Do you receive any host country or US tax deductions for this additional help?	no	no	no	-	-	15% from host country taxes	no	no
About how much, per year, must your family pay for this extra help?	$4,000	$4,000	$5,500 plus tuition of $15,000	not yet known	$1,200	$10,000	$1200-$1500	costs the company thousands of dollars
Do you think the U.S. and/or the host country should help with this expense?	yes	yes	yes, both	yes	-	yes	no	yes

What are/were your student's special needs?

• "small classes, help with organization, tutoring in math, writing, note taking (he is ADD & dysgraphic)"
• "dominant, right-brain hemisphere function, possible ADD"
• "significant motoric dyspraxia (motor planning difficulties), low muscle tone, very mild tremor. Educational needs include input from physical therapist, occupational therapist, learning specialist - particularly for math and handwriting."
• "learning disability in visual perception, visual processing and organizational skills"
• "varied, but mainly reading and spelling difficulties"
• a child with Down’s Syndrome
• central auditory processing deficit
• "speech therapy"
• "some auditory processing difficulties - is a visual learner; vocabulary and spelling are mediocre; has been diagnosed as dyslexic, and as we all know that covers a wide range of disabilities"

What accommodations were made at school?

• "None, will help with editing written assignments if asked"
• "When in 2nd and 3rd grade, given therapy for fine motor skills"
• "She attends [this particular] school because it has a special needs department. That said, the specialist teacher is able to see her for 45 minutes per day, which is enough to address only one subject, math. She also needs special seating, and allowances in PE, art, and so forth. Lunch can be an issue since she eats more slowly."
• "[The school is] helping me to find a tutor. There are no accommodations in high school. Learning help is through the middle school only." [This student's learning needs were only discovered when he was a senior in high school.]
• "International school has resource room for grades 1-6; European School had one special needs teacher for English section; [host country] school was a case of 'sink or swim'"
• One family placed their child in an English-speaking, host country special needs school and found the accommodations to be very good
• "Not a whole lot, although understanding; they permitted us to design a curriculum (IEP) and offer speech therapy by paying for this ourselves"
• "Allows my son to be late for classes to attend speech therapy sessions"
• "We have two sons and each attends a different school. This is due to the fact that the American International School refused our special needs son admission. When we initially moved overseas, [that school] too initially refused our one son admission. This was based on the fact that he was on an IEP (Individual Education Program) through the public school he attended. The administrators said they had no resources/staff to service our son, so therefore we would have to find some other school who might admit him. After much begging on our part and after many conversations between the educators of the public schools he attended and the private school, he was admitted on a trial basis. He was successful there and he did better than they thought he would. We tried unsuccessfully for many months to get our one son admitted to the American school where we are living currently. They would not budge from their position. They stated our son did not possess the capabilities to be a success under their highly academic curriculum and they too did not have the resources to support his needs. We were honest with the administrators during the admission process and showed them our son's records. This was a mistake. It is regrettable that he is not permitted to learn from an American curriculum with his fellow Americans. This discrimination without merit is most alarming to us especially when you consider our son works extra hard and receives good to excellent grades in most subjects. Our son now attends another international school here, where they are not aware of his disabilities. He was admitted based on his prior school records and test results during the admission process. We were afraid if we were honest again, then they would refuse him admission also."

How adequate have these accommodations been?

• "Needs more structured, ongoing help. [This] has been difficult to find privately."
• "School inadequate in proper diagnosis or treatment. We were forced at our own expense to seek help outside of school."
• "They have been reasonable, but do not entirely address her needs."
• "I have not been able to find anyone to help my son."
• "Good for what we have put in place; not too adequate for general special needs"
• "Not great" none have been made

What sort of additional help was required?

• "Math, chemistry tutoring, private instruction at LD school on Saturdays and counseling"
• "We have had to hire a teacher to provide help with handwriting during writing periods - she is too tired after school for tutoring then. She has also received consultation from PT through the National Health Service who went to the school; this is probably similar to what she would have gotten in the U.S. She also sees an OT privately, since the NHS, though admitting that her major needs are in the realm of an OT, is able to provide only 6 sessions of group OT therapy every 6 months; grossly inadequate. In addition, I have had to be the primary liaison between the therapist and the school; in the U.S., this would have been integrated."
• "The therapy is not provided by the school; we found it and we pay for it"
• Private tutoring

How can governments help?

• "Tax deduction"
• "By recognizing and accepting that students do have different ways of learning and often brilliant kids are led to believe they are "stupid" because they don't "fit the mold." More diverse teaching methods and educating the teachers to know how to deal with different learning types. Offer support through information to the parents who are also often left feeling guilty and inadequate."
• "Though the host country wants to evaluate our daughter periodically (a statement of special needs), they have not offered us adequate aid in the form of appropriate school placement and physical and occupational therapy after these evaluations. It is not because we are foreign nationals; it is simply how the educational and health systems work. As a taxpayer in both countries, I feel we are due a break in our U.S. taxes, since we receive no services in the U.S. As a taxpayer here, I wish that more of the tax money was distributed toward specials need and health, with a particular emphasis on hiring more trained professionals to provide the services."
• "Grants to schools to hire teachers for students in high school who have special needs."
• "American citizens living abroad are most often U.S. taxpayers, yet they are not counted in the census, they are not given PX privileges, their children are not always regarded as citizens. It would be a great help if the U.S. government were to accord access to ESL materials (sold at a PX perhaps?) and recognize the educational needs of taxpaying families abroad. Foreign countries seldom provide facilities/programs for disabled children. The private American and international schools do much better but are outrageously expensive. Subsidies for citizens?"
• "Grants for help in professional searches, materials (i.e. books, testing materials, computer programs), and courses for professionals and parents."
• "Yes, I feel strongly that one or the other [host country or U.S.] should assist. My company pays my foreign taxes, which are excessive, and we receive no benefits from the country we live in. I pay U.S. Federal taxes and . . . state taxes and receive no benefits because I don't live in the U.S. This in effect is "taxation without benefit or representation" when it comes to a child's education. Some host country schools have programs and services for the special needs student, but are taught in the language of the country, and therefore are of no benefit whatsoever to an American student. The American school here teaches an American curriculum, yet it is allowed to use discrimination in the admissions process to ferret out students who learn differently, and refuse them admission."

Personal experiences

• "Our son was diagnosed in the U.S. as ADD & dysgraphic about 8 years ago. Even there, it was challenging getting him appropriate services through the public school, but private tutoring & counseling was abundant and convenient. Here in [our host country], where the understanding of learning disorders (especially ADD) is less advanced, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to get those services. The school is very understanding, but there is no LD program or teacher for his age. For counseling he has to go into the city (a 2-hour trip by train). Private tutoring in subject areas is available for private tuition, but help in broad problem areas(writing, organization, note-taking and study skills) has been nearly impossible to find."
• "As a parent of a child with learning difficulties, living in a foreign environment, dealing with a foreign language, one often feels overwhelmed and just as inadequate as the child. It's not just the language, but the whole mentality of another culture to deal with. The structure of the school system is also completely different to that which I experienced as a child. It's often difficult to get any direct and straightforward feedback from the teacher or school authorities. The learning difficulties of your child may not be clearly defined or simply not recognized as such. It becomes a guessing game of who really knows what they are talking about. Your child is easily labeled with something that totally misses the mark. As my son's self-esteem sunk lower and lower and he thought he was stupid, we sought help outside of the school. With testing it was found that he in fact was of above average intelligence. Of course, although the school was shown to have been inadequate, we were stuck with the cost for supportive lessons and counseling."
• "I have 2 older children who do not have special needs and have attended host country schools; they are bilingual as a result and [have] benefited from the experience. With each child, the decision to place a child in a host country school requires a number of considerations; the age of the child, the length of time one plans to be in the host country, the commute to the school, the cost, and most importantly, the child's ability to cope with such an experience. If it's possible, there are many advantages: learning a second language, culture, and living close to your friends and classmates being the primary ones. However, with a special needs child, you are dealing not only with a different set of abilities, but also a culture that may deal with those special needs quite differently from your home culture. For example, some cultures believe in mainstreaming everyone for every subject (sometimes because of cost, sometimes because it's a philosophy), and support services may be quite different. I think the bottom line with this is that unless you are planning on having the special needs child reside in the host country for the rest of your lives, it takes some extra funding to strike a happy medium and find the support services that the expat special needs child requires. A tax break of some kind would certainly be a start; ultimately someone will be paying for the remedial services if the children are not given the opportunity to achieve what they can. In the case of an expat child who moves back to the U.S., it will be the issue of the U.S. educational system that he or she returns to."
• "The diagnosis was made late for my son - in his Senior year. It is a frustrating process now to find an appropriate person for my son. If he had been diagnosed in the elementary or middle school, he would have received accommodation and Optimal Match program in his school. It has now been 2 ½ months since I started the process to get help."
• "Very challenging - depends a lot on word-of-mouth recommendations for finding help"
• "Moving overseas even for a short period of time enables a family to experience cultures other than those they are accustomed to, and has proved a wonderful learning basis for all our children, enlightening them to literally the rest of the world. I would like the U.S. government to know that parents of special needs children face so many challenges in living each day, that education abroad should be made as simple as possible."
• "In [our EU host country], the idea of special needs does not exist within the school system. All help is given outside the school day (i.e. after school, in the evening, after sports) or on the weekends. The [private, American] school treats each case on an individual basis, but only as each one comes up. This is to say that there is no detailed special needs department with a staff of professionals. You are left to look for your own resources and have to fit them into the daily schedule for your child and according to the staff they hire each year. It is a very lonely and frustrating process. Especially in our case where we have been used to all the help received for two years in U.S. public schools. Personally, I feel that all international schools, private or public, should be chartered to include special needs as a part of their curriculum just as math and science are. We all know that children with learning disabilities need to learn how to learn and the only way to do that is to give them the help they need."
• "Finding adequate services is the biggest problem. I'd pay more money and get the school to adjust its schedule, if these were the problems. But finding a professional English-speech therapist is nearly impossible. Only one is available that we are aware of."
• "If you are fortunate enough to get your learning differently child enrolled in any one of the private, international schools, then finding a qualified tutor who can help them is very difficult. The resources overseas do not exist as they do in the U.S. Frustration soon takes over and fear that your child might not succeed follows. Their disabilities, whatever they are, start to become more visible and their self-confidence dwindles. And all this time, the school may be doing nothing, no intervention. It's all up to the parents, and in a foreign country this can be a daunting task."

Comments from educational professionals

• "I am an English teacher in [an overseas school]. There is no remedial intervention, no special education and no school psychologists in the public school system. Dyslexic students are given more time to complete tests and they can also choose to be tested orally. They are given the exact same test, only orally. Hope other places are more evolved than we are. The only way I can think of making the plight of students who learn differently easier would be to put them in the American schools when available. Please send me any suggestions you have. I can't see the government offering assistance to foreign experts. Perhaps the American schools could offer after school or Saturday intervention overseas, but I seriously doubt they would do it. I really feel all American citizens should have the opportunity to have an American education. I think it would be very good for the United States as they would have so many people to act as ambassadors for American values and ideals."
• "Not enough staff for the overwhelming needs, especially in the local situation with language groups other than English."

Conclusions

As we can see from these replies, the lives of our learning-differently students in overseas environments are far from perfect in the majority of cases. Our students fall through the crack created when they are unable to avail themselves of the provisions, if any, offered by their host country because of language constraints, and the inability of most international schools to provide adequately for their needs.

The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states in Article 26 that:

1. Everyone has the right to an education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages.
2. Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
3. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

The Rights of the Child which was adopted by the United Nations Assembly in 1989 spells out the right of children to an education suited to their needs. In the United States, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandates that all children have available to them a free appropriate public education that meets their education and related services needs in the least restrictive environment.

It is interesting to note that in about half the cases, the diagnosis that the student learned differently was made after the international move had taken place.

Most participants in the study felt that some financial assistance should be given by the host country, the U.S. Federal Government, or both, and numerous suggestions were offered on how this could be done.

One person indicated that the company they worked for paid the cost for extra tutoring. This might become more prevalent if the trend predicted in the following article becomes a reality:

In the early part of the next millennium we can hope and expect to see companies that are moving people internationally transform treatment of their expatriated employees. Greater emphasis will be placed on the impact that making an international move has on employees and families. Increasingly we will see services provided to address the specific needs of spouses - working and non-working - children, and elderly family members left at home. Companies will recognize that providing services to address all aspects of transition makes economic as well as emotional sense. Existing technology can allow us to provide face to face counseling to employees and/or family members in far off destinations, where access to direct services is limited.

Perhaps the same technology can provide special education, distance learning for our students.

Another solution might be the establishment of centrally-located English-speaking study centers. These centers could not only provide specialized teaching for learning-differently students, they might also provide an opportunity for host country special education teachers to share information and techniques with guest teachers from the United States or Great Britain. Perhaps such centers could be funded by contributions from multinational companies, the host country and the governments of the countries from which the students come.

As the world daily becomes a more global workplace, more and more families will be moving internationally. It would be a shame if some families are denied this opportunity because of inadequate educational opportunities for their children.

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FROM SUPPORT FOR TEACHERS WORLDWIDE

Project Participants

Ahrnell, Ewa. Special needs educator, Soderalje, Sweden.

Alm, Jan. Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Director, Swedish Institute of Psychological Assessment, Uppsala, Sweden.

Bleyberg, Peggy. Head of School, Berlin International School, Berlin, Germany.

Ilse Bielen, Pre-school teacher, Antwerp British School, Belgium.

Bodien, Philippa. Dyslexia Specialist, Head of the Dyslexia Unit, Jumeirah Primary School, United Arab Emirates.

Braden, Pamela Marchese. Third grade teacher, American Community School, U.K.

Cleary, Sue. Special needs teacher, Our Lady's Convent School, UK.

Cogan, Pauline. National Teaching Diploma, BA in Languages, Higher Diploma in Education, Diploma in Remedial Studies, BA in Psychology, M.Sc. in Neurolinguistics. Ireland.

Coward, Arline Burns. MA Education, Teachers' College Columbia University; 2001-03 FAWCO 3rd VP.

Cordery, Desmond. Teacher, Antwerp British School, Belgium.

Dixon, Gill. M.A., BHSc Hons, RGN, Independent Dyspraxia and Special Needs Advisor/Trainer. UK.

Dunhill, Allison. M.A. SEN (Special Educational Needs), senior special needs coordinator, The British School in The Netherlands, Voorschoten, The Netherlands.

Garvey, Sheelagh. Special needs teacher, Ireland.

Gibson, Harriet. M.A. Ed, British, secondary, ESL, teacher, Ecole Internationale Le Verseau, Bierges, Belgium. Executive board member of EC-OC (Europe's Children - Our Concern).

Hansteen, Judith. Teacher, AWC Oslo, Norway.

Hakiel, Nick. M.A. M. Counselling, Ed. S., educational psychologist, Seattle, WA, USA.

Henry, Marcia K. Ph.D. Professor Emerita, San Jose State University, Former President, International Dyslexia Association (1992-1996), USA.

Hensby, Caroline. Parent, www.adders.org, UK.

Hickman, Kay. Teacher, B.S., University of Massachusetts; MEd from Lesley College, Cambridge, MA.

Hoffman, Carol. Learning disabilities specialist, Centre for Child Evaluation and Teaching, Kuwait.

Hopkins, Susan. Special needs teacher, Sylvania, OH, USA.

Johnson, Kari. M.Ed, School psychologist, coordinator of student referrals, International School of Luxembourg, Luxembourg.

Kavkler, Marija. Ph.D. special needs specialist, Counciling Center for Children, Adolescents and Parents, Ljubljana, Slovenija.

Lafferty, Vivienne. Special Educational Needs Coordinator, Honilands Primary School, Enfield. UK.

Martin, Lynn. Secondary teacher, history/geography, Antwerp British School, Antwerp, Belgium.

McLean, Sue. Teacher. Luxembourg.

Midgley, Simon. Raising Achievement Coordinator, Rhyddings High School, Oswaldtwistle, UK.

Minder, Barbara. Parent, American Women's Club of Bern, Switzerland.

Moser, Irene. Special needs specialist, European Agency for Development in Special Needs, Salzburg, Austria.

Ontiveros, Susan. Coordinator of Educational Support Services, Antwerp International School, Ekeren, Belgium.

Owen, Jane. B.A. Hons, Dip. Sp. LD, Special needs specialist at The Dyslexia Institute, Cardiff, Wales. UK.

Peer, Lindsay. Ph.D., Educational Director, British Dyslexia Association, UK.

Pugh, Roger. M.A., Southern Illinois University, Achieve Program. USA.

Ross-Kidder, Kathleen. Ph.D. Department of Psychology, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., Licensed school psychologist, director of LD OnLine, WETA TV/FM.

Ryan, Frances. DE., Special Needs Psychomotor Therapist. Paris, France.

Sanson, Judith. Executive Director, Dyslexia International -Tools and Technologies, Brussels, Belgium.

Sharp, Sheridan. Dip. Sen(Sp.LD) (M), Sp. L.D. tutor (LEA), Caldicot Comprehensive School, UK.

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Sonslegard, Julie. Hornsby Certificate in LD. Bettembourg, Luxembourg.

Syme, Anne. Specialist teacher, Applecroft Specific Learning Difficulties Base, Herts. UK.

Thomson-Hale, Des. History/modern studies teacher, Oban High School, Arygll, Scotland.

Tunstall, Trish. Senco, Nottingham High School for Girls, Nottingham. UK.

van Alsenoy, Freya. Film editor and student, LD learner, Antwerp, Belgium.

Wagstaffe, Ruth. Special needs teacher, European School. Woluwe, Belgium.

Weavers, John. Special needs teacher, East Court School, Ramsgate, UK. Lecturer and author, Maths and Dyslexia.

Wilson, David. BA, MA, MEd. Advanced Diploma in Special Needs in Education, Modern Foreign Languages and SEN Teacher, Equal Opportunities Department, Harton School, South Shields, UK.

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Project Sources

adders.org ADD/ADHD Online Resource and Support: http://web.archive.org/web/20071007213049/http://www.adders.org/

British Dyslexia Association: http://web.archive.org/web/20071007213049/http://www.bda-dyslexia.org.uk/

British Educational Communications and Technology Agency:
senco-forum@ngfl.gov.uk ;
contributors: Gill Dixon, Philippa Bodien, Sally Raymond, Amanda Hipkiss

Brooks, Robert. video: Look What You've Done.
http://web.archive.org/web/20071007213049/http://www.ldonline.org/ld_store/ldproject.html#listing

CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) Landover, MD, USA. http://web.archive.org/web/20071007213049/http://www.chadd.org/

Dyslexia International: Tools and Technologies - Language Shock - Dyslexia across cultures, Pauline Cogan: http://web.archive.org/web/20071007213049/http://www.ditt-online.org/

Dyspel, Luxembourg special needs support group, publication, Dyslexie-Legasthenie Dyslexia;

Educational Psychologist, Co. UK:
http://web.archive.org/web/20071007213049/http://www.educationalpsychologist.co.uk/;

Lavoie, Richard: videos, How Difficult Can This Be?, Last One Picked, First One Picked On, When the Chips are Down. http://web.archive.org/web/20071007213049/http://www.ldonline.org/ld_store/ldproject.html#listing

Learning Disabilities Association of America.
http://web.archive.org/web/20071007213049/http://www.ldanatl.org/pamphlets/learning.html#3

LD OnLine, WETA. Washington, DC. http://web.archive.org/web/20071007213049/http://www.ldonline.org/;

National Attention Deficit Disorder Association, Highland Park, IL, USA. Rebecca
Chapman Booth: http://web.archive.org/web/20071007213049/http://www.add.org/

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Hyperactivity. The Center for Applied Research in Education, 1993.

Teens Helping Teens, a web page designed by dyslexic teens to help teens (and others).
http://web.archive.org/web/20071007213049/http://www.ldteens.org/

The Dyslexia Institute, Staines, Middlesex, U.K. http://web.archive.org/web/20071007213049/http://www.dyslexia-inst.org.uk/

The International Dyslexia Association: http://web.archive.org/web/20071007213049/http://www.interdys.org/index.jsp

The Schwab Learning Foundation: http://web.archive.org/web/20071007213049/http://www.schwablearning.org/

University of La Verne, Athens, Greece. Chris Parnassus, Director of Student Support Services.

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Phase 1 - The 203 Initial Strategies

The following is a list of suggestions for mainstream classroom teachers that have come from many different sources. These are noted at the end of this form. Perhaps you will recognize some of your own. In preparing this evaluation sheet, some suggestions have been copied verbatim, others have been combined with two or more possibilities, and some have been reworded. In all instances, the letters "LD" (learning differently /learning disabilities/SpLD) have been substituted for specific terms such as dyslexia, dyspraxia and ADD/HD.

If you are a specialist in special needs education for LD students, on the first space provided could you please rank these suggestions in what you consider to be their order of importance, taking into account that the eventual recipients will be educational professionals with little or no special needs experience.

Number 3 - would indicate greatest importance
Number 2 - moderate importance
Number 1 - somewhat important
0 - would indicate least or no importance

On the second space provided, please indicate if you feel the suggestion would pertain to primary school, secondary school, or both:

P = primary
S = secondary
B = both

For example:

 3 B  Allow extra time for thinking.

If you are a regular, classroom primary or secondary teacher, could you please evaluate the following strategies by indicating:

• Which of these strategies are you currently using? (C)
• Which ones do you think you can easily start to use? (E)
• Which ones would you first like to see modeled before attempting yourself? (M)

This information will be very valuable to the study, for indeed it makes no sense to suggest strategies that everyone is already employing.

If you are the parent of an LD child, please indicate which of these strategies:

• You already use at home. (U)
• You think might be most helpful if adapted for home use. (M)
• You think might be somewhat helpful if adapted for home use. (S)

If you are an LD student, please indicate which of these strategies:

• Your teachers already use.(U)
• You feel would be most helpful if they could use. (M)
• You feel would be somewhat helpful if they were used. (S)

During the evaluation, please keep in mind that we hope the final paper will contain easily incorporated strategies for mainstream teachers who have had little or no training in learning disabilities education. It is hoped that two lists will be created, one for primary and one for secondary school use, and that each list will be only 1 page in length. Space is provided at the end of the evaluation sheet if you have additional suggestions.

The reverse of the final paper will detail references and websites that mainstream teachers who wish to learn more about students who learn differently may consult. Please indicate your suggestions where indicated.

General Considerations

____ Be aware that learning difficulties many be undiagnosed even at the high school and university level and that there are degrees of LD: mild, moderate and severe.

____ Keep in mind that no two students with learning differences are the same, but always there is a discrepancy between achievement and aptitude. They have average to above average intelligence and are usually highly creative.

____ The younger the child is diagnosed, the more often remediation is possible. When a student is older, you should deal more with coping strategies and self-advocacy skills.

____ Recognize that the LD student may take up to three times longer to learn and will tire quickly. They have to try harder, which can be exhausting.

____ Remember that LD students have good days and bad days. Performance inconsistency is part of the problem.

____ Be aware that the pace of the normal class is likely to be too fast for LD students because they often need more time to process language.

____ Be aware that LD might be undiagnosed as late as secondary school or university, or even never at all.

____ Recognize the frustration felt by the LD student.

____ Remember the child is more normal than different, and different does not mean defective.

____ Recognize that LD is a neurological condition that is beyond the control of the student.

____ Understand the intermittent nature of pupil's performance and attention. Part of the LD profile is that the student's work will be inconsistent and erratic.

____ Make sure a child feels safe and secure in your classroom and in your presence.

____ Teachers are urged to re-examine the notion of what is "fair." "Fair" does not mean that every child gets the same treatment, but that every child gets what he or she needs.

An honest acknowledgement of the learner's difficulties by the learner, the parent and the teacher is the single most important key to success.

____ Time, not money, is the coin we spend on children.

Multi-Sensory Teaching

____ Learning is best when brought through the modalities of hearing, sight, touch, and movement - multi-sensory teaching. Students retain 10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see, 50% of what they see and hear, 70% of what they say, and 90% of what they say and do. A cumulative, highly structured, sequential, approach, which uses multi-sensory materials and software, is what is needed.

____ Use lots of visual aids such as overhead projectors, films, videos, slides, chalkboards, flip charts, computer graphics, diagrams, charts, highlighting, underlining, drawing arrows, and pictures to illustrate all subjects, including the teaching of language.

____ Encourage pupils to be aware of and to evaluate the strategies they use to study.

____ Develop active listening skills for everyone in the classroom.

____ Be aware that the student learns in a different way from the conventional methods.

____ Teaching spelling should be started with a multi-sensory approach -- say the word, spell the word orally, then write the word.

Learning Styles

____ Encourage pupils to be aware of and to evaluate the strategies they use to study.

Auditory

____ Test orally whenever possible.

____ Use games or songs that encourage repetition.

____ Permit students to repeat things under their breath.

____ Use games, songs, and rhymes to help the student listen and repeat sounds.

____ Allow a reader or taped version of exams where possible.

____ Allow the exam to be taken orally, or by using a word processor.

____ Allow oral or taped assignments.

____ Teach reading and spelling together through a structured, phonic, multi-sensory program.

Kinesthetic

____ Use games or songs that encourage repetition.

____ Allow credit for projects involving hands-on activities such as collages, dioramas, posters, and skits.

____ The letter "L" can only be made with the left hand using the thumb and index finger, which can help students with directionality.

____ Use games, songs, and rhymes to help the student listen and repeat sounds.

____ Do not use playtime to complete work.

____ Provide fidgeters with appropriate materials to manipulate. Bookmarks and bits of paper are less easily dropped than pencils. Depriving those who require the physical sensory stimulation of manipulative objects just leads them to search for something else.

____ Allow the students who need it to move around. Provide opportunities for physical action, such as handing out books, pacing in the rear of the classroom, doing an errand, washing the blackboard, getting a drink of water, or going to the bathroom.

____ Teach the student breath control to relieve stress and anxiety.

____ Use a wooden or plastic alphabet to teach names and sequence of letters - capital first, then lower case. Close eyes to feel the shape and remember its name and associated sound/sounds. Use pictures and memory hooks to provide pictorial and memory hooks for sounds.

____ Let children develop their own word bank/dictionary, cards, or notebook where they can practice difficult, new, or irregular words.

____ Practice writing in the air, in sand, on a board and/or with play dough as well as in an exercise book.

Visual

____ Use lots of visual aids such as overhead projectors, films, videos, slides, chalkboards, flip charts, computer graphics, diagrams, charts, highlighting, underlining, drawing arrows, and pictures to illustrate all subjects, including the teaching of language.

____ Write neatly on the board, using colored chalks or markers to emphasize different sections.

____ Use mind maps, writing frames, and other graphic organizers to help the student plan projects and papers.

____ Help the student see his/her progress using checklists, graphs or other visuals.

____ Don't expect the child to listen and do simultaneously. For example, note taking can be extremely difficult for some.

____ The design and presentation of worksheets needs to be carefully thought out - bold headings, clear print, less writing, more diagrams.

____ Provide wall displays of key terminology.

Multiple Intelligences

Just as there are different learning styles, so are there different kinds of intelligence. It is usually the students who have linguistic, logical, and mathematical intelligences that are often the most successful in academia. However other types of intelligence such as musical, environmental, spiritual, spatial, existential, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal, are just as valuable and add much to the enjoyment of life. These intelligences need also to be recognized and educated.

Academic

____ Give new information more than once.

____ Repeat, repeat, repeat.

____ Break down learning into small, sequential tasks. Give specific examples.

____ Put key words on the board clearly.

____ Provide a list of key vocabulary words, explaining technical language and any foreign words. (learned roots, prefixes, suffixes help to figure out new words)

____ Don't make an LD student rewrite work.

____ Don't speak too fast. LD students have difficulty following and processing fast speech.

____ Don't expect the child to listen and do simultaneously. For example, note taking can be extremely difficult for some.

____ Actively teach study skills.

____ Begin lectures with a review of the previous lecture, an overview of topics to be covered that day, and/or an outline of the lecture.

____ Teach how and help students to fill in forms and applications.

____ Leave time for a question-answer period at the end of each lesson.

____ Provide study questions for exams that show the format that will be used as well as the content.

____ Relate concepts to past experience.

____ Use cueing words and gestures to emphasize points.

____ Encourage students to ask questions, and teach them how to do so.

____ Read instructions aloud, even for tests and examinations.

____ Combine life skills such as reading medicine labels and filling out forms with phonics, word recognition, and reading comprehension.

____ Avoid double negatives, unduly complex sentence structure and embedding questions within questions when composing examinations.

____ Teach handwriting in very small groups or preferably one-to-one, using cursive script, which encourages flow and aids letter orientation.

____ Use Sassoon Primary, Comic Sans MS or Arial fonts in size 12-16, with double line spacing. Times Roman is to be avoided.

____ Allow students to use highlighters to mark key points/words/instructions.

____ Give out the homework assignment before the end of the lesson.

____ Actively teach study skills, like note taking and time organization.

____ Indicate reading priorities.

____ Summarize the main points.

____ Providing a list of topic words at the beginning of each unit helps parents know what's going to be covered, helps students to assimilate new vocabulary, and provides material for spelling development.

____ Provide wall displays of key terminology.

____ Ensure that pupils know the PURPOSE of tasks.

____ Provide practice questions for studying.

____ A 'mini-max' technique is best - take minimal steps for maximum practice and effect.

____ Remember that LD students are intellectually at the level of their chronological age, although functionally they may not be. Therefore, activities need to be appropriate to intellectual levels and broken down into achievable stages, to allow for success.

____ Textbooks and materials should be selected and/or adapted with the LD learner in mind. Check the readability of all texts and worksheets - they could be scanned into a computer that has the Word program as Word has a readability facility.

____ Discuss the value of making mistakes as a way of learning. Hold a brainstorming session to discuss, "What could I, as the teacher, and all the kids do, so that no one is afraid of making a mistake in this class?"

____ Provide the amount of support and structure the student needs, not the amount of support and structure traditional for that grade level or that classroom/subject.

____ Humor and exaggeration are two great teachers.

____ Attention span tends to lengthen when tasks are short and successful.

____ Teach the student efficient methods of proofreading own work.

____ Allow the student to begin an assignment and then go to the teacher after the first few problems are done for confirmation that he/she is doing the assignment properly, and to receive
gentle correction or praise.

____ Promote risk taking.

____ Do not use playtime to complete work.

____ Build up a bank of resources for the student. This will not be your last LD student, and you will be more prepared for the next.

Accommodations

Allow extra time for thinking.

____ Give study notes, models and guided outlines for projects and writing assignments.

____ Give shorter spelling lists and shorter essay tasks.

____ Use games or songs that encourage repetition.

____ Allow a dictionary at all times, even during tests.

____ Test orally whenever possible.

____ Leave notes on the board for as long as possible.

____ Put 3 lines of space between test questions.

Students with spatial awareness difficulties might find it useful to work "BIG" for a while.

____ When writing on the board, use a different color on alternating lines.

____ Pause occasionally in your lectures to allow students to catch up in their note taking.

____ Allow the student to experiment with different types and shapes of writing tools.

____ Stand near the student when giving instructions

____ Allow the use of any learning tool necessary, such as a tape recorder, spell checker, laptop, or calculator.

____ Provide alternatives such as lined paper or a word processor to aid students with overly large, cramped, laborious or illegible handwriting.

____ Permit students to repeat things under their breath.

____ Frequent quizzes rather than, or in addition to, 1 or 2 big exams.

____ Provide study questions for exams that show the format that will be used as well as the content.

____ Read instructions aloud, even for tests and examinations.

____ Check that homework assignments have been copied down correctly.

____ Reduce the number of items to be completed in a given assignment (for example, the number of words on the spelling list).

____ Allow credit for projects involving hands-on activities such as collages, dioramas, posters, and skits.

____ Allow a reader or taped version of exams where possible.

____ Allow tests/exams to be taken in a quiet room, alone, with no distraction, with a teacher available if needed.

____ Provide detailed guidelines for revision.

____ Allow the exam to be taken orally, or by using a word processor.

____ Avoid double negatives, unduly complex sentence structure and embedding questions within questions when composing examinations.

____ Help the student see his/her progress using checklists, graphs or other visuals.

____ Students with spatial awareness difficulties might find it useful to work "BIG" for a while

____ LD students should sit alongside well-motivated children or a "study buddy" whom they can ask to clarify instructions for them either during or after class.

____ Use Sassoon Primary, Comic Sans MS or Arial fonts in size 12-16, with double line spacing. Times Roman is to be avoided.

____ Allow students to use highlighters to mark key points/words/instructions.

____ Give time for the homework to be done rather than next-day deadlines.

____ Summarize the main points.

____ Providing a list of topic words at the beginning of each unit helps parents know what's going to be covered, helps students to assimilate new vocabulary, and provides material for spelling development.

____ Create summary cards of topic material at the end of each unit to aid in over-learning and revision.

____ Give older students a plastic-coated card that can be shown to teachers which details their special needs

____ Give more time - to plan, to start, to complete, and to respond.

____ Don't expect the child to listen and do simultaneously. For example, note taking can be extremely difficult for some.

____ An accommodation often offered is more time for taking tests. However this is not always appropriate for some students who rather need a chance to retake a test, to take it in a quiet room with no distractions, or to take it at a different time of day.

____ Accept typed or word-processed assignments.

____ Provide practice questions for studying.

____ Give open book tests.

____ Allow revision cards to be used during testing.

____ Vary the format of tests: true/false, matching questions to answers or words to definitions, multiple choice, labeling diagrams, sentence completion, title-paragraph match, table/grid completion.

____ Give parts of the test in more than one sitting.

____ Give more frequent, short quizzes and fewer long tests.

____ Limit the amount of homework to a certain amount of time spent productively, rather than an amount of work to be completed.

____ Allow extra credit assignments.

____ Allow the student to work on homework at school. Ideally study periods should be part of the school schedule.

____ Help the students feel comfortable with seeking assistance. Many students with
LD will not ask for help. They need to be taught how to ask questions.

____ Monitor frequently. Maintain a supportive attitude.

____ The design and presentation of worksheets needs to be carefully thought out - bold headings, clear print, less writing, more diagrams.

____ Choose only those accommodations and interventions that are the most needed. Attempt to select low-level accommodations and interventions before moving to more supportive or high-level accommodations and interventions. If high-level accommodations are necessary, choose them with the goal of slowly removing them whenever possible. The objective should always be to provide support while encouraging growth with these strategies to foster independence and self-advocacy.

____ Provide the student with a legible outline before a lesson/lecture and with legible teacher's notes of it.

____ Make a second set of books and materials available for this student to keep a back-up set at home.

____ Periodically if needed, modify classroom and homework assignments (examples: student does every 2nd or 3rd problem, or have the student use a timer and draw a line across their
homework page at the end of 15 minutes of sustained work).

____ For students with memory problems or unable to take notes in classroom, a fellow student might share notes by using carbon paper or photocopying, the teacher could provide a copy of the class lesson, or the student might be allowed to tape the lessons.

Behavioral

____ Avoid blaming and name-calling. Label the behavior, not the person.

____ Have pre-established consequences for misbehavior. Enforce classroom rules consistently.

____ Rewards should be frequent and important, but only when deserved.

____ Make sure the student is always provided opportunities for physical activities. Do not use recess as a time to make-up missed schoolwork. Do not remove daily recess as punishment.

____ Teach cognitive restructuring to students with low self-esteem. For example, positive "self-talk," - "I did that well."

____ Recognize EFFORTS the students employs toward attaining a goal, and recognize the problems resulting from skill deficits versus non-compliance.

____ Attention span tends to lengthen when tasks are short and successful.

Colleagues

____ Use a color-highlighted register to help remember specific needs of students (e.g. green = problems with language processing, blue = class position is important). This also helps new and substitute teachers.

____ Advocate on behalf of your student with other teachers, with the school administration, and with the parents, if necessary.

____ Insure that the information concerning the student is passed on when the child is in transition from one teacher to another, from one year to another and from one school or country to another. Do not assume that this will be done automatically.

____ Designate one teacher as the advisor/supervisor/coordinator/liaison for the student and the
implementation of the student's plan, who will periodically review the student's organizational system and to whom other staff may go when they have concerns about the student. This teacher would also act as the link between home and school.

____ Give older students a plastic-coated card that can be shown to teachers
which details their special needs.

____ Sensitively share the knowledge of your student's difficulties with appropriate others. In some countries, you might need to have the student's permission to do so.

Environmental

____ Minimize noise and visual distractions in and outside the classroom, including flickering light bulbs.

____ LD students should sit alongside well-motivated children or a "study buddy" whom they can ask to clarify instructions for them either during or after class.

____ Slanted desk tops.

____ Correct posture-producing chairs and footrests.

____ Allow the student to experiment with different types and shapes of writing tools.

____ Classrooms should be organized so that movement around the room is as quiet as possible.

____ Resources in the classroom should be clearly marked and neatly arranged so things can be found easily.

____ Place left-handers next to each other to reduce arm conflict.

____ Place the LD student in the front, middle of the class, thus reducing the angle of eye-to-board-to-book contact and minimizing distractions.

____ Provide wall displays of key terminology.

____ Have the daily routine in writing where it's easy to see, on the board, on the wall, or taped inside the student's books or desk.

____ The working environment should be quiet, non-distracting and attractive.

Grading

____ Recognize that test grades may be well below potential.

____ Use continuous portfolio assessment in preference to tests, and include non-print based assessment.

____ Frequent quizzes rather than, or in addition to, 1 or 2 big exams.

____ Mark positively - tick the good bits.

____ When correcting, use two colors, one for content and the other for spelling and presentation.

____ In grading, specify the skills mastered by the student, rather than giving a letter grade.

____ Marking of pupil's work should be carried out with her/him present whenever possible; the teacher should sit on the same side of the desk.

Homework

____ Limit the amount of homework to a certain amount of time spent productively, rather than an amount of work to be completed.

____ Allow extra credit assignments.

____ Allow the student to work on homework at school. Ideally study periods should be part of the school schedule.

____ Teach the student efficient methods of proofreading own work.

____ Periodically if needed, modify classroom and homework assignments (examples: student does every 2nd or 3rd problem, or have the student use a timer and draw a line across their
homework page at the end of 15 minutes of sustained work).

Memory

____ Use games or songs that encourage repetition.

____ Reduce the number of items to be completed in a given assignment (for example, the number of words on the spelling list).

____ Beware of overloading working memory.

____ Whenever possible, the child should be encouraged to repeat back what he has been asked to do - this also includes messages. His own voice is a very useful aid to memory.

____ For students with memory problems or unable to take notes in classroom, a fellow student might share notes by using carbon paper or photocopying, the teacher could provide a copy of the class lesson, or the student might be allowed to tape the lessons.

____ Information retrieval can be complicated by LD. When more time is available to complete an assignment, test, quiz or final exam, should it be needed, memory retrieval is improved and test pressure interferes less with the ability to retrieve and express what is known.

____ Across all subject areas, display and support the use of mnemonic strategies to aid memory formation and retrieval.

____ Offer review sessions.

____ Use a wooden or plastic alphabet to teach names and sequence of letters - capital first, then lower case. Close eyes to feel the shape and remember its name and associated sound/sounds. Use pictures and memory hooks to provide pictorial and memory hooks for sounds.

Organizational

____ Give study notes, models and guided outlines for projects and writing assignments.

____ Insist on drafts of written work with deadlines.

____ Don't make the child work for long periods without a break.

____ LD students need a lot of structure. Lists of the day's routine and expected behaviors can help.

____ Prepare the child ahead of time for any change in schedule, and keep reminding until the change has occurred.

____ Make sure that the student has a complete set of notes prior to any test or examination.

____ Check that homework assignments have been copied down correctly.

____ Give plenty of warning when changes are made to the timetable, teacher or task.

____ LD students might have difficulty with such organizational tasks as keeping their things tidy at school, getting dressed, remembering their PE kit, looking for something they have lost, packing their school bag and organizing the equipment needed for homework.

____ Actively teach study skills, like note taking and time organization.

____ Give more time - to plan, to start, to complete, and to respond.

____ Begin lectures with a review of the previous lecture, an overview of topics to be covered that day, and/or an outline of the lecture.

____ Provide regular guidance and appropriate supervision on planning assignments, especially extended projects that take several days or weeks to complete. A part of the LD spectrum of symptoms is a sort of a temporal disability where the gauging of time, and how long tasks will take, are distorted.

____ Permit the student to check-in with this advisor first thing each week (Monday mornings) to plan/organize the week and last thing each week (Friday afternoons) to review the week and to plan/organize homework for the weekend.

____ Provide the student with a regular program in study skills, test taking skills, organizational skills, and time management skills.

Parent Partnerships

____ Providing a list of topic words at the beginning of each unit helps parents know what's going to be covered, helps students to assimilate new vocabulary, and provides material for spelling development.

____ Be prepared to learn from the parents. Interest, involve and work closely with them. You both need each other's help.

____ Arrange for frequent parental contact, not just when a problem or crisis occurs. Celebrate successes, too.

____ Have a home/school communication book.

____ Advocate on behalf of your student with other teachers, with the school administration, and with the parents, if necessary.

____ Insure that the information concerning the student is passed on when the child is in transition from one teacher to another, from one year to another and from one school or country to another. Do not assume that this will be done automatically.

____ Designate one teacher as the advisor/supervisor/coordinator/liaison for the student and the implementation of the student's plan, who will periodically review the student's organizational system and to whom other staff may go when they have concerns about the student. This teacher would also act as the link between home and school.

____ Frequent parent/teacher communications via whatever works: home/school agendas, face-to-face meetings, phone calls, emails.

Self-Esteem

Students'

____ Seek opportunities to praise and build self-esteem.

____ Encourage expectations of success by having clearly set objectives.

____ At all times avoid the use of sarcasm, continual criticism or bringing attention to a student's different needs in front of his peers. Recognize that this student will respond significantly better when encouraged and when positive achievements are noticed and mentioned.

____ Don't compare LD students with other pupils or siblings.

____ Actively teach social skills and self-assessment.

____ Show sympathy, concern and understanding.

____ Be a good listener.

____ Avoid letting the student become aware of your own frustration.

____ Teach cognitive restructuring to students with low self-esteem. For example, positive "self-talk," - "I did that well."

____ Catch the child being good, and reward this behavior.

____ Recognize the frustration felt by the LD student.

____ See that the peer group understands the nature of the LD problem so that the child is not mocked or bullied. LD students are vulnerable to bullying.

____ Avoid blaming and name-calling. Label the behavior, not the person.

____ Remember the child is more normal than different, and different does not mean defective.

____ Emphasize to students that their worth as a person is not related to their test scores or how well they did on a particular assignment.

____ Encourage the child to compete against himself, not others.

____ Remember that tasks that seem simple to you may be complex for the pupil.

____ Talk to the student. Ask him/her what might be better.

____ Make PE activities less daunting. Avoid “team choosing."

____ Give older students a plastic-coated card that can be shown to teachers which details their special needs.

____ Let the student know privately that his/her difficulties are recognized.

____ Remember that LD students are intellectually at the level of their chronological age, although functionally they may not be. Therefore, activities need to be appropriate to intellectual levels and broken down into achievable stages, to allow for success.

____ Help the students feel comfortable with seeking assistance. Many students with
LD will not ask for help. They need to be taught how to ask questions.

____ Help the child to succeed. Avoid failure - be constructive and positive. Praise helps boost flagging self-esteem.

____ Encourage expectations of success by having clearly set objectives.

____ Show patience, understanding, encouragement, and friendship at all times.

____ Praise in public, reprimand in private.

____ Understand the intermittent nature of pupil's performance and attention. Part of the LD profile is that the student's work will be inconsistent and erratic.

____ All efforts should be made to build the confidence of the pupils through the development of their superior aptitudes, be it in music, sport, design, technology, science or drama.

____ Students with LD problems often feel they are stupid, dumb, and worthless, and that they are the only ones with this problem.

____ Make sure a child feels safe and secure in your classroom and in your presence.

____ Give private, discrete cues to the student to stay on task, cue the student in advance before calling on him, and cue before an important point is about to be made (for example: "This is a major point.").

____ Recognize EFFORTS the students employs toward attaining a goal, and recognize the problems resulting from skill deficits versus non-compliance.

____ Allow the student to begin an assignment and then go to the teacher after the first few problems are done for confirmation that he/she is doing the assignment properly, and to receive gentle correction or praise.

Teachers'

____ Avoid letting the student become aware of your own frustration.

____ Use a color-highlighted register to help remember specific needs of students (e.g. green = problems with language processing, blue = class position is important). This helps new and substitute teachers also.

____ Encourage expectations of success by having clearly set objectives.

____ Get support for yourself through your administration, colleagues and community. Seek the help of special educators and learning disability organizations. Draw on their expertise. Do not be afraid to acknowledge what you don't know.

____ Keep your education ongoing. Attend conferences, read books, visit websites, take classes.

____ When you start blaming the child, you're burning out. Burnout comes from feeling that you're not making a difference.

Signs to Watch For

____ Don't ignore the signs that the child is losing concentration or not understanding.

____ Recognize self-esteem/depression problems.

____ Recognize EFFORTS the students employs toward attaining a goal, and recognize the problems resulting from skill deficits versus non-compliance.

Technology

____ Voice-activated software.

____ Hand-held, electronic spellcheckers.

____ Mispellers' Dictionary.

____ Use Sassoon Primary, Comic Sans MS or Arial fonts in size 12-16, with double line spacing. Times Roman is to be avoided.

____ Teach keyboard and word-processing skills in primary school.

____ Allow the use of any learning tool necessary, such as a tape recorder, spell checker, laptop, or calculator.

____ Use selected computer programs to increase reading skills, improve comprehension, and aid written assignments. A computer is non-judgmental and is often the method of choice for many LD students.

____ Provide alternatives such as lined paper or a word processor to aid students with overly large, cramped, laborious or illegible handwriting.

____ Textbooks and materials should be selected and/or adapted with the LD learner in mind. Check the readability of all texts and worksheets - they could be scanned into a computer that has the Word program as Word has a readability facility.

____ Encourage the use of computers to help the child get over the hurdle of producing text, but remember that not all children relate to technology.

____ For students with difficulty reading, or the very slow reader, the "read along technique" with taped textbooks and workbooks might be used in the classroom, at home, and in the
Resource room. Talking books may be acquired from Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic http://www.rfbd.org/.

____ Educational filmstrips and videos are available on most subjects and most grade levels for general information not acquired from the printed page.

____ For students with short-term memory problems -- i.e., do not remember mathematical facts, but understand the computation process -- a table of math facts and other visual aids, and a printing calculator could be provided.

____ For the student who has difficulty writing, a battery cassette recorder could be provided for
the student to dictate answers to tests or written lessons.

____ Some students may benefit from colored plastic overlays thought by some to enhance symbols and to give depth to printed page.

Testing

____ Give open book tests.

____ Vary the format of tests: true/false, matching questions to answers or words to definitions, multiple choice, labeling diagrams, sentence completion, title-paragraph match, table/grid completion.

____ Give more frequent, short quizzes and fewer long tests.

____ Frequent quizzes rather than, or in addition to, 1 or 2 big exams.

____ Make sure you are testing knowledge and not attention span.

____ Test orally whenever possible.

---

Phase 2 - The 102 Strategies Chosen

The FAWCO Educational Support Committee's project to help support mainstream teachers worldwide is now in its second phase.

Additional participants are welcome at this time. Please return the evaluation form below as soon as possible.

PHASE 2 - EVALUATION FORM

• The DEADLINE for completing this form is NOVEMBER 30, 2002.
• Please return the completed form via email, fax or regular post to esc@fawco.org

Name of person completing this form:

Affiliations, organizations, titles and/or degrees:

Responding as (please circle): special needs specialist; mainstream teacher; parent; LD learner

Address:

Email/Phone/Fax:

Please indicate your first 20 choices, and number them according to preference.

• #1 should be your first choice, #2 your second, and so on.
• These are all good teaching strategies, which can be of benefit to all students. Which ones do you think would be of special benefit to the LD (learning differently/learning disabled/SpLD) learner?
• Please remember to take into consideration the fact that our target teachers might have little or no understanding of LD issues.
• Please ignore the numbers at the end of the strategies. They are for my reference only.

General Considerations

____ Be aware that LD might be undiagnosed as late as secondary school, university, or even never at all, and that there are degrees of LD, mild, moderate and severe.
____ The younger the child is diagnosed, the more often remediation is possible. When a student is older, you should deal more with coping strategies and self-advocacy skills.

____ Recognize that the LD student may take up to ten times longer to learn and will tire quickly. They have to try harder, which can be exhausting.

____ Remember that LD students have good days and bad days. Performance inconsistency is part of the problem.

____ Recognize the frustration felt by the LD student.

____ Remember the student is more normal than different, and different does not mean defective.

____ Recognize that LD is a neurological condition that is beyond the control of the student.

____ Make sure the student feels safe and secure in your classroom and in your presence.

____Teachers are urged to re-examine the notion of what is "fair." "Fair" does not mean that every student gets the same treatment, but that every student gets what he or she needs.

____ Time, not money, is the coin we spend on children.

Learning Styles

____ Encourage pupils to be aware of and to evaluate the strategies they use to study and to learn.

Auditory

____ Allow a reader or taped version of exams where appropriate.

____ Allow oral or taped assignments.

Kinesthetic

____ Allow credit for projects involving hands-on activities such as collages, dioramas, posters, and skits.

____ Use a wooden or plastic alphabet to teach names and sequence of letters - capital first, then lower case. Close eyes to feel the shape and remember its name and associated sound/sounds. Use pictures and memory hooks to provide pictorial and memory hooks for sounds.

____ Practice writing in the air, in sand, on a board and/or with play dough as well as in an exercise book.

Visual

____ Use lots of visual aids such as overhead projectors, films, videos, slides, chalkboards, flip charts, computer graphics, diagrams, charts, highlighting, underlining, drawing arrows, and pictures to illustrate all subjects, including the teaching of language.

____ Write neatly on the board, using colored chalks or markers to emphasize different sections.
____ Use mind maps, writing frames, and other graphic organizers to help the student plan projects and papers.

____ Don't expect the student to listen and do simultaneously. For example, note taking can be extremely difficult for some.

Multiple Intelligences

____ Just as there are different learning styles, so are there different kinds of intelligence. It is usually the students who have good linguistic, logical, and mathematical abilities that are often the most successful in school. However, other types of intelligence, such as musical, environmental, spiritual, spatial, existential, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal, are just as valuable and add much to the knowledge and enjoyment of life. These intelligences need also to be recognized and educated.

Multi-Sensory Teaching

____ Learning is best when brought through the modalities of hearing, sight, touch, and movement - multi-sensory teaching. Students retain 10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see, 50% of what they see and hear, 70% of what they say, and 90% of what they say and do. A cumulative, highly structured, sequential, approach, which uses multi-sensory materials and software, is what is needed.

____ Develop active listening skills for everyone in the classroom.

____ Be aware that the LD student learns in a different manner from the conventional methods.

____ Teaching spelling should start with a multi-sensory approach -- say the word, spell the word orally, then write the word.

Academic

____ Begin classes with a review of the previous lesson, an overview of topics to be covered that day, and/or an outline of the lecture.

____ Repeat, repeat, repeat - both new and old materials, in different ways.

____ Break down learning into small, sequential tasks. Give specific examples.

____ Provide a list of key vocabulary words, explaining technical language and any foreign words. Learned roots, prefixes, suffixes help to figure out new words.

____Across all subject areas, display and support the use of mnemonic strategies to aid memory formation and retrieval.

____ Make a conscious attempt not to speak too quickly because many LD students have difficulty following and processing fast speech.

____ Relate concepts to past experience.

____ Read all instructions aloud, even for tests and examinations, if appropriate.

____ Allow students to use highlighters to mark key points/words/instructions.

____ Actively teach study skills, like note taking and time organization.

____ Ensure that pupils know the PURPOSE of tasks.

____ Remember that LD students are intellectually at the level of their chronological age, although functionally they may not be. Therefore, activities need to be appropriate to intellectual levels to allow for success.

____ Provide the amount of support and structure the student needs, not the amount of support and structure traditional for that grade level or that classroom/subject.

____ Attention span tends to lengthen when tasks are short and successful.

Accommodations

____ Give study notes, models and guided outlines for projects and writing assignments.

____ Allow the use of any learning tool necessary - see Technology.

____ Accept typed or word-processed assignments.

_____ The design and presentation of worksheets needs to be carefully thought out - bold headings, clear print, less writing, more diagrams.

____ Choose only those accommodations and interventions that are the most needed. Attempt to select low-level accommodations and interventions before moving to more supportive or high-level accommodations and interventions. If high-level accommodations are necessary, choose them with the goal of slowly removing them whenever possible. The objective should always be to provide support while encouraging growth with these strategies to foster independence and self-advocacy.

____ For students with memory problems or unable to take notes in classroom, a fellow student might share notes by using carbon paper or photocopying, the teacher could provide a copy of the class lesson, or the student might be allowed to tape the lessons.

____ Do not use playtime to complete work.

Behavior

____ Catch the student being good, and reward this behavior.

____ Help the students feel comfortable with seeking assistance. Many students with LD will not ask for help. They need to be taught how to ask questions.

____ Recognize the EFFORTS the student employs toward attaining a goal, and be aware of the problems resulting from skill deficits versus non-compliance.

____ Avoid blaming and name-calling. Label the behavior, not the person.

____ Have pre-established consequences for misbehavior. Enforce classroom rules consistently.

Colleagues

____ Sensitively share the knowledge of your student's difficulties and advocate on behalf of your student with other teachers, with the school administration, and with the parents, if necessary. In some countries, you might need to have the student's permission in order to do so.

____ Insure that the information concerning the student is passed on when the student is in transition from one teacher to another, from one year to another, and from one school or country to another. Do not assume that this will be done automatically.

____ Designate one teacher as the advisor/supervisor/coordinator/liaison for the student and the implementation of the student's educational plan, who will periodically review the student's organizational system and to whom other staff may go when they have concerns about the student. This teacher would also act as the link between home and school.

Environment

____Place the LD student in the front, middle of the class, thus reducing the angle of eye-to-board-to-book contact and minimizing distractions.

____ Resources in the classroom should be clearly marked and neatly arranged so things can be found easily.

____ The working environment should be quiet, non-distracting and attractive.

____ LD students should sit alongside well-motivated children or a "study buddy" whom they can ask to clarify instructions for them either during or after class.

Grading

____ The teacher, the student, and the parents should recognize that test grades may not reflect the true potential of the student to achieve well in life, nor will grades in a specific subject reflect abilities in other areas.

____ Mark positively - tick the good bits; mark for knowledge - not presentation.

Homework

____ Check that homework assignments have been copied down correctly, or provide a written copy or a study-buddy for the student.

____ Reduce the number of items to be completed in a given assignment (for example, the number of words on the spelling list).

Organization

____ LD students might have difficulty with such organizational tasks as keeping their things tidy at school, getting dressed, remembering their PE kit, looking for something they have lost, packing their school bag and organizing the equipment needed for homework. The teacher should work with the student and the parents to devise strategies to help with organization, such as lists, timetables, and color-coding books.

____ Be aware that the pace of a normal class is likely to be too fast for LD students because they often need more time to process language. Give more time to think, to respond, to plan, to start, and to complete.

____ Don't make the student work for long periods without a break.

____ LD students need a lot of structure. Lists of the day's routine and expected behaviors can be of great help. Give plenty of warning when changes are made to the timetable, teacher or task.

Parent Partnerships

____ Be prepared to learn from the parents. Interest, involve and work closely with them. You both need each other's help.

____ Frequent parent/teacher communications (once a day, once a week or once a month, depending on need) via whatever works, home/school agendas, face-to-face meetings, phone calls or emails.

____ Providing a list of topic words at the beginning of each unit helps parents know what's going to be covered, helps students to assimilate new vocabulary, and provides material for spelling development.

____ Make sure that all students have had proper eye and ear check-ups. This is particularly important in the mobile population.

Self-Esteem

Students'

____ Seek opportunities to praise and build self-esteem.

____ Encourage expectations of success by having clearly set objectives.

____ At all times avoid the use of sarcasm, continual criticism, or bringing attention to the student's different needs in front of his peers. Recognize that this student will respond significantly better when encouraged and when positive achievements are noticed and mentioned.

____ Comparing LD students with other pupils or siblings does not improve self-esteem or behavior.

____ Actively teach social skills and self-assessment.

____ Show empathy, concern and understanding.

____ Be a good listener.

____ Avoid letting the student become aware of your own frustration.

____ See that the peer group understands the nature of the LD problem so that the student is not mocked or bullied. LD students are vulnerable to bullying.

____ Emphasize to students that their worth as a person is not related to their test scores or how well they did on a particular assignment.

____ Encourage the student to compete against him/herself, not others.

____ Remember that tasks that seem simple to you may be complex for the pupil.

____ Talk to the student. Ask him/her what strategies might be better.

____ Let the student know privately that his/her difficulties are recognized.

____ Show patience, understanding, encouragement, and friendship at all times.

____ Praise in public, seek an explanation of bad behavior in private.

____ Students with LD problems often feel they are stupid, dumb, and worthless, and that they are the only ones with this problem.

____ All efforts should be made to build the confidence of the pupils through the development of their superior aptitudes, be it in music, sport, design, technology, science or drama.

____ Give private, discrete cues to the student to stay on task, cue the student in advance before calling on him/her, and cue before an important point is about to be made (for example: "This is a major point.").

Teachers'

____ Get support for yourself through your administration, colleagues and community. Seek the help of special educators and learning disability organizations. Draw on their expertise. Do not be afraid to acknowledge what you don't know.

____ Keep your education ongoing. Attend conferences, read books, and visit websites, take classes.

Signs to Watch For

____ Be aware of when the student is losing concentration or not understanding.

____ Recognize self-esteem/depression problems.

Technology

____ Use Sassoon Primary, Comic Sans MS or Arial fonts in size 12-16, with double-line spacing. Times Roman is to be avoided.

____ Teach keyboard and word-processing skills, beginning in primary school.

____ Allow the use of any learning tool necessary, such as tape recorders, spell checkers, Misspellers' Dictionaries, laptops, voice-activated software, or calculators.

Testing

____ Provide study questions for exams that show the format that will be used as well as the content.

____Vary the format of tests: true/false, matching questions to answers or words to definitions, multiple choice, labeling diagrams, sentence completion, title-paragraph match, table/grid completion.

____ Make sure you are testing knowledge and not attention span.

____ If necessary due to the student's preferred learning and expressive style, test orally whenever possible.

____ Avoid double negatives, unduly complex sentence structure and embedding questions within questions when composing examinations.

____ If necessary, allow tests/exams to be taken in a quiet room, alone, with no distraction, and with a teacher available if needed.

---

Resources Recommended by Project Participants

Websites

adders.org: ADD/ADHD Online Resource and Support:
www.adders.org

British Dyslexia Association:
www.bda-dyslexia.org.uk

CHADD (Children & Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder):
www.chadd.org

Dyslexia International: Tools and Technologies:
http://web.archive.org/web/20071007213049/http://www.ditt-online.org/

Educational Psychologist:
http://web.archive.org/web/20071007213049/http://www.educationalpsychologist.co.uk/

Europe's Children – Our Concern:
http://web.archive.org/web/20071007213049/http://www.ecoc.be/

Federation of American Women's Clubs Overseas (FAWCO) Educational
Support Committee: http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://studentswholearn.fawco.org

Handy Hints on Supporting Dyslexia in the Classroom.
Sheridan Sharp:
http://web.archive.org/web/20071007213049/http://www.dyslexic.com/teachtips.htm

Hornsby International Dyslexia Centre: distance learning courses for
Teachers:
http://web.archive.org/web/20071007213049/http://www.hornsby.co.uk/

Learning Disabilities Association of America:
http://web.archive.org/web/20071007213049/http://www.ldanatl.org/

LD OnLine:
http://web.archive.org/web/20071007213049/http://www.ldonline.org/

National Attention Deficit Disorder:
http://web.archive.org/web/20071007213049/http://www.add.org/

Teens Helping Teens:
http://web.archive.org/web/20071007213049/http://www.ldteens.org/

The Dyslexia Institute: distance learning courses for teachers.
http://web.archive.org/web/20071007213049/http://www.dyslexia-inst.org.uk/

The Dyspraxia Foundation:
http://web.archive.org/web/20071007213049/http://www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/

The International Dyslexia Association:
http://web.archive.org/web/20071007213049/http://www.interdys.org/

The Schwab Learning Foundation:
http://web.archive.org/web/20071007213049/http://www.schwablearning.org/

Wilson, D. R. Links to websites featuring the teaching of National
Curriculum subjects to students with special educational needs:
http://web.archive.org/web/20071007213049/http://www.tomwilson.com/david/InclusiveCurricula/index.htm

Books

Developmental Dyspraxia. Madeleine Portwood. Second Edition. David Fulton Publishers. 1999. ISBN 1 83546 573 9

Dyspraxia. The Hidden Handicap. Dr. Amanda Kirby. Souvenier Press Ltd. ISBN 0-285 63512-3

Dyscover Yourself. Gill Dixon. Exclusive to the Dyspraxia Foundation.

Dyslexia, A Teaching Handbook. Michael Thomson, Bill Watkins, East Court School for Dyslexic Children. Whurr. 1997.

'Dyslexia Included' – A Whole School Approach. Edited by Michael Thomson. Written by a team of specialist staff from East Court School for Dyslexic Children. Ramsgate, Kent, UK. David Fulton, Publisher. 2003. ISBN 1-84312-002-x.

Dyslexia and Mathematics. Miles, T.R. and Miles, E. (eds). London. Routledge. 1992.

Dyslexia: Successful Inclusion in the Secondary School. Peer L. & Reid G. David Fulton, Publisher. London. 2001.

Dyspraxia A Guide for Teachers and Parents. K. Ripley, B. Daines and Jenny Barrett. David Fulton Publishers. 1997. ISBN 1 85346 444 9

Helping the Child who Doesn't Fit In. Duke & Nowicki, Peachtree Publishers. Atlanta. 1992.

ISBN 1561450251

How to Teach and Manage Children with ADHD. Fintan O'Regan. LDA. 16 May, 2002.

ISBN 1855033488

Identification Solutions for Specific Learning Difficulties. Jan Poustie. Next Generation. 2001.

Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and its Consequences. Paulos, J.A. Penguin Books. 1990.

Life Skills. Jan Poustie. Next Generation. 1998. ISBN 1 901544 50 8

Literacy, Multilingualsim & Dyslexia. Peer L. & Reid G. David Fulton, Publisher. London. 2000.

Living with dyspraxia. A guide for adults with developmental dyspraxia. Compiled by Mary Colley and the Adult Support Group. Dyspraxia Foundation. 2000. ISBN 0953434419

Keyboard, Graphic and Handwriting Skills. Dorothy E. Penso. Published by Chapman and Hall as part of the Therapy in Practice series, no.15. 1990. ISBN 0 412 32210 2

Mapwise: Accelerated Learning Through Visible Thinking. Oliver Caviglioli, Ian Harris. Network Educational Press Ltd. 2001. ISSBN 1855 39 0590

Mathematics for Dyslexics-Teaching Handbook. Chinn, S.J. & Ashcroft, J.R. London. Whurr.1993

Perceptuo-Motor Difficulties. Dorothy E. Penso. Published by Chapman & Hall in the Therapy in Practice series No. 34. 1992. ISBN.0 780412 398100.

Praxis Makes Perfect 2. Published by the Dyspraxia Foundation

Sensory Integration and the Child. A. Jean Ayres, Ph. D. Western Psychological Services. Los Angeles. 1979. ISBN 0874241588

Specific Learning Difficulties in Mathematics. A Classroom Approach. Olwen El-Naggar. NASEN publication. 1996. ISBN 0 906730 81 3.

Speech and Language Difficulties. B. Daines, P. Fleming and C. Miller. Published by NASEN.

ISBN 0 906730 87 2

Table Time: The Exciting new Way to learn Multiplication Tables. McDougall, S. London. Harrap. 1990.

The Study Skills Handbook. Cottrell. S. London. Macmillan Press. 1999.

Teaching Learning Strategies and study skills to students with learning disabilities, attention deficit disorders or special needs. Allyn & Bacon. Boston. 2001. ISBN 0205335136

Teaching Your Child The Language of Social Success. By M Duke, S Nowicki and E Martin. Peachtree. Atlanta. 1996. ISBN 1561451266

Watch Me I Can Do It. Neralie Cocks. Simon & Schuster, Australia. 1998. ISBN 073180578X

What teachers can do - What schools can do - What learners can do - What parents can do sections of the Guide (devised and compiled by Judith Sanson, MA, that accompanies the Language Shock BBC video in the LANGUAGE SHOCK, DYSLEXIA ACROSS CULTURES multimedia pack regularly updated on http://www.ditt-online.org

What To Do When You Can't Learn the Times Tables. Chinn, S.J. Marko Publishing. 1996.

Understanding ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder): A Book for Parents, Teachers and Professionals. Christopher Green, Kit Chee. Vermilion. 1997. ISBN 0091817005

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Students Who Learn Differently Overseas

by Susan van Alsenoy, AWC Antwerp

Website: http://www.studentswholearn.fawco.org Email: swl@fawco.org

Page created 10/29/99 EvE. Last updated 03/01/11 SvA

Federation of American Women's Clubs Overseas

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