Teaching Strategies that Help Learners with Different Needs

Adult learners with many different special needs are part of all areas of adult education, including GED/ABE programs, higher education, workplace training, ESL programs, and community education programs. Adult education has a long tradition of respect for the diversity of learners and the uniqueness of each learner. Recognizing the amazing range of differences among learners includes understanding the particular needs of individuals with disabilities and is a growing imperative for adult educators (Du Bois, 1998). This article considers what strategies and approaches can be used to help these individuals as well as all adult learners learn effectively in classroom settings, in one-on-one situations and online learning programs. Adult educators are challenged to experiment with the learners as partners and co-learners and to "teach responsively" (Brookfield, 1990). Learners with disabilities include persons with both visible and invisible disabilities, including orthopedic, health-related, hearing, sight, learning, and speech disabilities (Henderson, 1995). Persons with mental and emotional disabilities also may have a number of conditions with a range of severity. Although there is not an agreed upon definition of learning disabilities (LD), persons with LD have some difficulty in the way they receive, process, store and/or retrieve information (Ross-Gordon, 1989). Jordan (1996, 2000) provides excellent suggestions for teaching adults with learning disabilities. Because individuals may have multiple disabilities, their learning needs also may be varied and complex. Persons with the same condition may have different learning needs and require zero, limited or very substantial accommodations (Gadbow and Du Bois, 1998). To further complicate learning situations, all the other factors that make adult learners a diverse group affect persons with disabilities: differences in age, gender, ethnicity, language, culture, socioeconomic factors, geography, education, learning styles, and past experience. How can teachers or trainers meet the needs of diverse groups of adult learners with such a range of learning needs? An underlying premise is a belief that applies to all areas of adult education, and to all learners: there are many ways to learn and to demonstrate that learning has occurred. Whether in a classroom, working one-to-one with a learner or in an online learning situation, a teacher or facilitator can use strategies and approaches that may increase the learning for all. Students can become co-learners in discovering what works best for them individually and as a group. The following principles can apply to working with adult learners with disabilities, and indeed all adult learners, in classes, in one-on-one settings and in online courses: * Do not assume that you know what is needed to accommodate a learner with a particular disability: ask. Generally the learner can provide the best information on what types of accommodations, if any, are needed. As Vella (1994) suggests, let the learner become the teacher. * Some learners do not know what they do not know. Particularly in the area of assistive technologies, they often do not know there are many recently developed and improved technologies that can aid and support learning: voice recognition programs, screen readers and other computer-related technologies that permit learners with different disabilities to be able to access information and "write" papers. * However, appropriate training and support services are critical if the individual is to be able to use these new technologies successfully * Knowing a few key resources in the community or region or the contact person for your organization or institution who has such information is very useful when working with students who may not have contacted the appropriate service providers. Teachers and trainers do not have to become experts on these resources or strategies. …