Reflection on Ted Leroy's video

I think the video by Ted Leroy was quite insightful. I know working with people with disabilities can be a handful sometimes and this video helped me understand. For example now knowing how they process information I will start to give more time for them to answer my questions. Also that they are processing so much information at one time that it may be hard for them to focus in the classroom.

I learned that they need positive reinforcement to do better, not punishments. The video made me sad when the individuals were asked to read from a passage that was scrambled and on different levels, and hearing them read showed me exactly how disabled people must feel. I take away from this being more respectable of individuals with disabilities, and also more patient. I agree that it is great to have these individuals in class if they are not so disabled that they cannot follow with any concepts or materials in the classroom setting.

I would like to learn more about how to treat people with learning disabilities so that when I am in the classroom I can teach them in a positive and effective manner. At the Roland Michener center where I lifeguard I am involved with guarding the Special Olympics. This is very fun to observe and it is great interacting with the people involved in it. There was an incident a while ago at the pool during Special Olympics where a boy with autism was going over into the fast swimmers lane. This boy could not swim and I had to yell to try and get him to move. The next week my work had brought in a girl that was very experienced in helping people with disabilities and she informed me that loud noises distracted the boy even more, and she offered a alternative way of getting children with that disabilities attention.

If I am to teach a child with a learning disability I will tell him the question before I ask it and let him process the question before I ask for an answer. Also I will go slower in the classroom and give positive reinforcement to those students who get the questions correct. By doing this I will hope to achieve confidence in the learning disabled child.