Individualized Education Program for Dyslexic Student

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Individualized Education Program for Dyslexic Student

I chose the first video featuring Alex as the student who was a dyslexic child. Dyslexia is a learning disability characterized by difficulty to identify learning as well as speech sounds and how they are related to the words and letters. The reading disability affects the part of the brain that is associated with language (Sandman-Hurley, 2013). In order for the educator and the parents to help Alex become better, an Individualized Education Program was held by educators, parents and other relevant stakeholders. From the IEP meeting, Alex the student has several strengths including how she is an obedient and hardworking student who is often ready to help other people. Her challenge includes the fact that she is a shy student and in dealing with this the math teacher created a smaller group for her and thus she can be able to work with them. She is good at math and enjoys doing math related subjects. He is also dyslexic and needs help with reading at times so that he may have a better understanding. Because of his shyness he does not love to work with the groups.

The IEP meeting was parent friendly as the teachers gave the parents an opportunity to talk. It was an engaging conversation. The teachers were also mindful of what they said and how they said it. Even while giving the weaknesses that Alex has they were able to put in a way that made the comets seem that they are out of love and concern that they have for Alex as they would want the best for her. The team composed all the members require in order for the IEP meeting to be successful. The members present in the meeting were Alex, the student, Joe who is Alex’s father, Lia who is the students mother, Mrs. Parker the ATP who was chairing the meeting, Dry Sanchez the school psychologist, Mr. Ivan who was the note taker in the meeting. Mr. Brooks, a teacher, Miss Emily who is Alex’s English teacher, Mrs. Sarah who is Alex’s math teacher. The room used was also not a class setting and was friendly. I did notice however there was no representative from the district. The district representative plays a very important role especially when it comes to placement of the student which includes ant classroom or building changes that may be suggested (Ruppar, 2011). The district representative is also important in approving services that may be seen as beyond the normal protocol. Aside from the representative, all the other members needed in an IEP meeting were present.

Meting protocol was followed, Mrs. Parker who was the one chairing the meeting first introduced herself then later everyone introduced themselves. The agenda being discussed had already been printed out in the paper prior to the meeting. She then went ahead to specify the agenda for the meeting which would involve creating a plan that would help Alex to study better as she was dyslexic. She gave an opportunity first to the parents to state what they thought of their daughter ad later the teacher gave their comments on the strengths and weaknesses that Alex have including her favorite subject to her least favorite subject. The protocols were followed and all the papers signed. Every member who had attended the meeting had to sign the document before leaving affirming that all had been discussed and recommendation on bow to help Alex had been made (Zeitlin, 2014). There was need for follow up especially on the recommendations that were made including encouraging reading at home with the help of the parents.

A child’s history is important in helping the child become better and also helps the educators have a better understanding on how they would handle. In Alex’s case, one important information would be how the child behaves while at home be it her social life or how she handles academic. For example, information from the parents on whether the child is shy also around the friends at home. This will help the educators understand if it is the school setting that makes him shy or does the discrimination from the other students tend to make him shy and afraid of interacting with other students. Another important history would be the psychologist or medical practitioners he may have seen and what they had to say about the child. This will help the educators have a better understanding of your child’s need thus creating a perfect way to help the student improve and build on his weaknesses to become strengths. The child’s needs were put in front instead of their needs. The discussion that the educators had was to identify what ways the teacher would help the students. They did not bring up matter such as student placement. The meeting clearly indicates that Alex’s education needs were outlined first and very clearly.

A child with special needs such as dyslexic home environment is important. She needs to feel the love and support from the parents that they are ready to help her out. If a child is constantly being condemned and being made to feel that all mistakes were her fault, she may develop a hate towards herself and may eventually not work on her weaknesses. However, a child who constantly receives love and care from home is most likely to become a better student. IT is therefore important to understand the environment she leaves in by asking questions that will help the educators know her life. By understanding the background as well as the environment the evaluation will help describe the student’s needs, their current performance as well as behaviors and services or techniques that may have been employed in the past that has seen her improve.

As an educator dealing with a dyslexic child, exercising patience is important. Including Alex into the school environment will help her become better by helping her to be more outgoing and free with the other students. One strategy that may be put in place that may help Alex is employing memory aid as it has been proved there exist certain tricks that may help a child remember a word. A rhyme often referred to as mnemonics can be used so a child may associate something to the word that they are learning. Multisensory learning may be employed for Alex where senses are used such as sight and hearing in order to help the student. Use of multisensory learning has been found to help learners remember what they have been taught and it is an approach that can be used on all the students. Educational games are also an important strategy that can help Alex out. With technology, there are educational apps that have been created that will help dyslexic patients improve their learning (Bjorklund, 2011). Educators have often pointed out that dyslexic children are just as much as likely to become successful like other students if the educators implement strategies and program that makes it easier for them to learn.

References

Björklund, M. (2011). Dyslexic students: Success factors for support in a learning environment. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 37(5), 423-429.

Ruppar, A. L., & Gaffney, J. S. (2011). Individualized education program team decisions: A preliminary study of conversations, negotiations, and power. Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, 36(1-2), 11-22.

Sandman-Hurley, Kelli. (2013). “Of dyslexia.” TED-Ed Lessons Worth Sharing.

Zeitlin, V. M., & Curcic, S. (2014). Parental voices on individualized education programs:‘Oh, IEP meeting tomorrow? Rum tonight!’. Disability & Society, 29(3), 373-387.