Types Of Disabilities That College Students May Have
For learning to be effective, educators need to be aware of the types of disabilities that college students may have. A particular student’s disability might be different from that of others. With this, the type of approach that a teacher should do must vary from one student to another.
The following is a list of the types of disabilities that college students may have:
1. Visual Impairment or Blindness
Students who are totally blind can be taught through Braille scripts or with audio books, which are gaining popularity among students who are visually impaired. On the other hand, for students with low vision, teachers need to provide learning materials with huge fonts to make the lesson clearer.
2. Speech and Language Disabilities
In most cases, students with celebral palsy or a hearing impairment are the ones who have speech disabilities. With this, patience is the key tool of the teacher because he or she has to spend enough time for the student to speak or communicate. This type of disability includes difficulty to express ideas, such as chronic hoarseness, stuttering or stammering.
3. Hearing Impairment
Listening is very essential for better learning. These students have a different requirement when it comes to learning. So for students with hearing impairments, it is very crucial to make use of hearing aids, lip reading, and sign language for better communication. The teachers must maintain eye to eye contact whenever possible, specifically when he or she is trying to communicate with a certain learner.
4. Mental Health Conditions
Students with mental conditions have a lack of concentration or short-term memory loss or disruptiveness. A great amount of time must be given to such students. Plus, they must be given extra time during exams or class exercises. For this type of student, the teacher must break a task into smaller ones so that the student is able to absorb and fulfill each given task.
5. Learning Disabilities
These are neurologically-based disabilities that have to do with speaking, writing, reading, and other skills. Students with learning difficulties have short-term memory and a hard time interpreting social cues. Proper assistance and guidance must be given by the teachers because these students have a tough time following directions and concentrating. Teachers can make use of visual aids and projectors in order to make the discussion more enhanced. Interactive whiteboards are a great choice as well.
The type of instructional activities and exercises given by the teachers must be different among students with varying learning disabilities. For instance, a student who is visually-impaired should be given test papers with big fonts, large enough to enable clear reading. Perhaps, the teacher can make use of audio books for such types of learners for better learning. Indeed, teachers play a vital role in the students’ learning. Regardless of the types of disabilities that college students may have, it is the role of their educators and parents to provide them the necessary assistance they need in order to succeed in college.
Incoming search terms:
- disabled college students lacking short term memory
- Assisting college students with Hearing impairments
- different disabilities for college students
- FILETYPE:PDF CHALLENGES OF TEACHING VISUALLY IMPAIRED STUDENTS
- students lacking memory
- types of disabilities in college
- types of disability
- www ilomessina org