Connie is exceptionally well at receptive vocabulary, understanding words in common use. She is able to express herself well orally and loves to participate in class discussions. Because Connie does well in these areas, she is expected by teachers and support staff to be a strong reader. Connie struggles with core subjects, identifying written words, identifying letters, and matching letters and words. After testing, the psychologist’s report states that Connie has a learning disability in reading. My hypothesis for why the student is not thriving in reading, could be because she is portraying that she knows her vocabulary through oral speaking, so teachers are assuming she is thriving in all areas and not spending time helping her develop reading skills.
From looking at ideas for adapting the variables, I think a big thing to look at for Connie is the resources being shared with her. A good adaptation for Connie could be to provide her with a dictionary that offers visuals along with the spelling and meaning of words. By seeing the visual of the word, this will provide Connie with the ability to identify the word and letters. Another great resource that could be useful to Connie could be to use technology that uses a speech to text option. This will allow her to use her oral skills to then see the words written out in text. She will actively be able to identify the words she is speaking written out and read them back. Other ways she could use technology in a useful way could be by using a talking dictionary. This will let her hear the word being spoken while actively seeing it in text as well. The case study does not state Connie’s interests, but it would be relevant to use stories for her to listen to that are on a topic of interest to her. This will keep her active in the learning of reading, while also learning more about her interests.
My plan of action with Connie would be to talk to her family and provide them with free technology resources that would be helpful for her to use at home. It would also be important to discuss with them that it would be helpful to Connie if they encouraged her to read at home with someone as well as have someone read to her as she follows along. At school, it will be useful for support staff to spend one-on-one time with Connie to help her identify letters and words. This can be by using technology that I have mentioned or by simply using pictures and words on flash cards. It is also important for the teacher to not put Connie on the spot by making her read orally to the class because this has caused her to be upset and puts her inability on spotlight for the rest of the class. The teacher needs to be provided adapted lessons for Connie so that she can actively take part in the lessons. A team approach is helpful for Connie to thrive and grow because it shows her that adults care about her learning and are taking an interest in her. She needs to feel as though she has support from all angles of her life and through a team approach, she will get this.
Resources
Ministry of Education. (2017). The Adaptive Dimension for K-12 Students. The Adaptive Dimension.pdf.