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Students
Who Learn Differently
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Students
Who Learn Differently
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If you are a student who learns differently* who is living abroad, a family member of such a student, or an educational professional concerned with the teaching of such students, you've come to the right place. Much of the information compiled on these pages is the result of research undertaken by the Educational Support Committee of the Federation of American Women's Clubs Overseas. In many cases, the responders have been American women who were living overseas at the time the study took place. Many of these were living in non-English speaking countries. Often the women had to try to find adequate accommodations for their LD learners with little or no assistance. Students Who Learn Differently is an attempt to help fill that void by researching accommodations, rights, and resources that are or should be made available to our learning-differently students, their families and their educators.
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We live in a world that holds out many of its greatest prizes to those who can read and write. In other words, to those who can function effectively in a symbolic, linguistic medium. The ability to merely express one's thoughts verbally is not enough. Written words and sentences are needed to carry thoughts, needs and wishes to others over time and distance, whether it be in a note to a friend or over the Internet to a colleague on the other side of the world. Therefore, formal education rightly strives to produce students who are skilled in these abilities.
But unfortunately, many of the techniques of teaching in practice today are not suitable for all types of learners, and too many students who are of normal or above normal intelligence are mislabeled, mistaught and dismissed as being stupid, lazy or inattentive. The student is faulted rather than the method of instruction, and she or he becomes a life-long victim of an unsuitable educational process.
Recognition of a problem or a difficulty when one is far away from traditional support systems can be very daunting. Family, friends and care systems are no longer easily and economically accessible for advice and dialogue. Suddenly expectations and preconceptions as to how things should be done and what steps could be taken disappear, often leaving the displaced family members feeling confused, resentful and, perhaps most importantly, alone. These feelings can be multiplied ten- to a hundredfold when facing a foreign culture and an unfamiliar language.
When you are a student or a family member of a student who learns differently, the problems you face in getting the help you need can seem overwhelming. If you had a broken leg, everyone would see your problem, and most everyone would be happy to assist you in getting the appropriate care. Even in a foreign country, this would not be a very great problem. But when the problem is invisible, and when sometimes no one, including the parents, the teachers, or the student themselves, is aware that a problem even exists, getting the appropriate help can be very difficult. Indeed and most regrettably, sometimes the problem is never recognized, and appropriate help is never offered.
Families whose main financial support comes from employment in international companies can become vulnerable to discrimination in the job market. Sometimes lack of promotions result if family members require special support that cannot be found in international settings and the family is unable to accept a foreign assignment.
We would like to take this opportunity to recognize those students whose learning abilities do not fall within these parameters, such as students with exceptional ability who might function better in special programs or schools for gifted students, or those students whose needs, be they mental or physical, often demand highly specialized schooling. Perhaps in the future another study might be done that would explore the options available to such students in the context of expatriate living.
This study was originally going to be titled Children Who Learn Differently. But in recognition of the fact that we continue to learn all throughout our lives, and the fact that people who learn differently do not cease to learn differently just because they are no longer children, the name was changed to Students Who Learn Differently.
- To heighten awareness of how and why some students learn differently than others by examining some current thought on the subject.
- To highlight some of the challenges facing students, family members and educational professionals when a student learns differently.
- To suggest positive action that can be taken in an international setting.
- To help alleviate negative feelings through sharing knowledge of how others have dealt with similar situations.
In the autumn of 1997, a cover letter and questionnaire were sent out to the then 64 member clubs of the Federation. Of the 64 clubs surveyed, 32 responded and of that number, 24 completed the questionnaire. In addition to the information gathered as a result of this questionnaire, various organizations supporting students who learn differently were consulted, seminars and conferences on the subject were attended, and books, articles, websites and videos were researched. The first edition of Students Who Learn Differently was presented to the 1998 FAWCO conference which was held in Athens, Greece.
In the autumn of 1998, another questionnaire was sent to all FAWCO clubs, and the results were published in an Addendum to the original report in 1999 and presented at the FAWCO London conference.
Addendum 2000 was presented to the FAWCO conference which was held in Washington, D.C., that year. After the conference, ESC chair Susan van Alsenoy walked the halls of the Senate and House of Representative Office Buildings, hand-delivering the results of FAWCO constituents' questionnaires to the offices of their elected representatives.
In 2001, FAWCO's Educational Support Committee initiated a project to support mainstream educators, from pre-school teachers to university professors, by providing simple strategies they can employ in their classrooms to help learning-differently students. This project was completed in March 2003. Translations and details of this project can be found at Strategies to Support Mainstream Teachers Worldwide.
Students Who Learn Differently was compiled and written by the chair of the Educational Support Committee, Susan van Alsenoy, AWC Antwerp.
The original report and addenda were consolidated and edited for publication on the FAWCO Website by Emily van Eerten, AWC Amsterdam. Subsequent additions were incorporated into this site by Emily van Eerten and Susan van Alsenoy. We are extremely grateful to current and past FAWCO Web Teams that have created and maintain these pages.
Contact Us
Your feedback would be greatly appreciated. We can be reached at esc@fawco.org.
Statement of PolicyNone of the products, programs or resource materials presented in this study is endorsed by the Federation of American Women's Clubs Overseas or the Educational Support Committee. Any opinions expressed are the personal or professional opinions of individuals and do not necessarily represent the views of FAWCO clubs or their members.
*For the purposes of this study, students who learn differently (or LD learners) will refer to those people who are most commonly described as having specific learning difficulties/disabilities. These are students who are able, or should be able, to be mainstreamed (taught in a normal classroom setting) providing they receive the necessary accommodations.
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Page created 10/29/99 EvE. Last updated 07 June 2003 DH
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