Aarshia School
Aarshia School
Aarshia School
Also
Most children with Down syndrome are very sensitive to other
peoples attitude towards them and shy away from people
who they feel, are indifferent towards them.
They are comparatively well behaved and generally do not
exhibit severe anti-social activities such as violence, hitting
others or destruction.
It has also been well documented that a child with DS would
never hit unprovoked.
Aarshia, just like other children with Down syndrome has particular strengths
and weaknesses associated with her learning development :
She is a visual learner.
She loves unconditionally.
She loves to be the centre of attention.
Her social and emotional intelligence is very high. She
understands a lot more than she can say.
She is able to follow classroom rules and routines.
She will need help to remember instructions eg shorter phrases or
visual clues.
Teacher expectations of behaviour, attitude and ability need to remain high
Limitations
Make it visual!
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Teaching To Read
Teaching reading
Almost all children with Down syndrome are
capable of reaching a level of reading achievement
that will be functionally useful if we, their parents
and teachers, believe that this is possible and
steadily help them to progress.
-Sue Buckley, Director
Down Syndrome Education International, UK
Courtesy: specialreads.com
memory
Difficulty in auditory
memory
Fluctuating hearing loss throughout life
Deficits in auditory processing, which
impact phonological awareness:
difficulty in discriminating
sounds, blending sounds, and
Keeping
the order of sounds in
Courtesy:
specialreads.com
short term memory
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Maturing the
Visual Pathway
is a Practiced
Process.
Courtesy: specialreads.com
Courtesy: specialreads.com
Comprehension Techniques
Errorless Learning
One fascinating tip that all of you may like to know and
use is that children with Down syndrome including Aarshia
are very SENSITIVE TO FAILURE. If they sense they will
not be able to do something correctly.
A lot of times she simply refuses to do if she feels she
would not be able to do a task. You may present a task to
her, which she may avoid or would not show interest. This
may think its just a behaviour, but it may also be her way
of trying to get out of doing the task as she may sense
that she wouldnt be able to do it.
A way around this is to use errorless learning. In other
words, build her confidence or give her ridiculously easy
choices so she can get it right. Once we assist her in
getting the answers right until she learns to do it herself,
she is more than happy to keep working.
As Of Today
As of today, Aarshia can read grade 1 books and book
like Peppa, Bruno, pepper, comfortably. She can
answer what who and where questions.
She can copy comfortably from the board but may take
a little longer than others.
Also her writing has improved greatly in last year and
she is writing within lines now.
Teaching Numbers
Implications andStrategies
Hearing
Specific Learning Difficulties
Implications
Strategies
Frequent colds,
upper respiratory
infections and small
ear canals resulting
in impacted
Delayed speech
and language
development.
When the hearing
is affected the
student will not
hear well in the
classroom
situation.
wax,can cause
varying degrees of
temporary or
permanent hearing
loss.
Hyperacusis, ie.
over-sensitive to
loud noises. Aarshia
is also very sensitive
to loud noices.
Inconsistent
responses to
instructions
from day to day
Use language
appropriate to her
She places her hands
level of
over ears or want to
development.
withdraw from
situations where there
is a lot of loud noise,
i.e. concerts,
Varying degrees
of poor muscle
tone.
Slow motor
planning.
She is 'flat'
footed.
Strategies
Should be
encouraged to
She is floppy and
participate in
loose jointed.
physical activity
along with his/her
Difficulties with coordination and gait. peers.
Speech
Due to the broad range of physical characteristics and intellectual abilities,
students with Down syndrome may display varying degrees of intelligible
Implications
Strategies
speech.
Speech
Implications
Strategie
s Give instructions
in small
stages, eg...."Get the
book" ... wait for the student
to carry out the instruction,
then ... "Go to the table".
( though she is getting better
at multiple instructions now)
It may be necessary to
model what is required.
If you can, please spend five
minutes each day talking
with her.
Behaviour
Aarshia should be expected to conform to classroom and school rules the
same
as her peers.
Implications
Strategy
She may
experience
developmental
She does
experience difficulty
in 'keeping up' with
Believe in Justice!
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