Working with special needs?

Question

My 17-year-old has a few learning disabilities that hold him back in learning. He has auditory processing disorder and dysgraphia. What that means is that moving things from short term memory to long term memory is a challenge, but not impossible. This means sometimes you have to back up to move forward often. He also struggles with his fine motor skills in writing; his hand fatigues easily. He really wants to attend Pitt County Community College, but we have to get him ready to take the PACER test. Can you work with someone who has some learning challenges?

Answer 1

Hi, Dawn, Have you approached the Wyzant site as a client needing a tutor who specializes in special needs, such as auditory processing disorder and dysgraphia? Check their reviews and qualifications, looking for those tutors that live closest to your residence. Sometimes, it's best to meet in-person with a tutor rather than online or in your home when you are the person who exhibits learning challenges. Try a public facility. Also, there is computer software that he might use at school and at home that caters to students who have spelling, writing, and physical challenges. For instance, dyslexia learners have found special computer software to be very beneficial when completing assignments in-and-out of their classrooms from middle school through adulthood, even when taking notes in the classroom. I don't know where you live, but some junior/community colleges allow students to practice taking tests, like a typical Accuplacer, online or via sets of study sheets. Just ask at their career centers or libraries. Also, public libraries in Texas, for instance, include testing practice sites online. When you have a library card, you can access these practice tests like Accuplacer from your home or in a public library. Your son might find these testing sites to be very helpful. Furthermore, your son might notice that graphic organizers, which are a little more detailed than the VENN diagram, help him greatly with recall since his thoughts are codified on these special subject sheets. Just look online for 'graphic organizers' and see all the options he has to record his facts. You can copy these sheets, especially the ones he favors the most. He can make copies of them for future projects and even copy the forms into the special computer software that schools provide for learning-challenged people. Then, as he reads material on his own or listens to a teacher in a classroom, he will add these notes in a timely manner, previewing them before being tested or when writing different essays, etc. I hope these tips help you.

Working with special needs?

My 17-year-old has a few learning disabilities that hold him back in learning. He has auditory processing disorder and dysgraphia. What that means is that moving things from short term memory to long term memory is a challenge, but not impossible. This means sometimes you have to back up to move forward often. He also struggles with his fine motor skills in writing; his hand fatigues easily. He really wants to attend Pitt County Community College, but we have to get him ready to take the PACER test. Can you work with someone who has some learning challenges?