ESL and disability

Hello,

I just got an email from my friend and I think this is a great place to put this question. (I know Rochelle will tell me that I shouldu know by now what to do but for me ESL part is a problem) . Please, advise. My friend is not a teacher, she works for community-faith based organization.

This is her email:

Hi Aza,
I have an ESL student (adult) who I think has a learning disability.  Do you have any idea how I can get her tested and find help for her? She has been in my class for 2 years and still cannot read  even simple words. She mixes up her letters, writes "b" for "d", etc.  I really want to help her.
Thanks,   Sharon

 

Thanks,

Aza Camo

Comments

Hi Aza,

Thanks for posting this interesting question.  You did it perfectly!!  I hope that some of our group members will post responses that answer this question.

Who will be the first to respond?

Rochelle Kenyon, Subject Matter Expert 

Hello Aza,

We've had this issue arise at our literacy council.  Here is the problem we've found:  The battery of tests needed to determine if her dyslexic tendencies are combined with any other learning difficulties, how severe each of these may be, and which unique traits are most/least dominant, can take many hours and be quite expensive.  Neither our organization nor our students would ever be able to afford them (unless we wrote for special grants).  

We were lucky enough, however, to learn of a university professor who donated his time to give scaled-down versions of these tests.  He worked with a local organization that helped people with disabilities and that organization allowed us to bring our student in for testing.  There was a nominal fee involved (perhaps $45?).  So, it might be worthwhile to see if her local university's education department had a professor who might be willing to do this.  It's amazing how many people want to help if they know what the situation is.  She might also want to check with a local disabilities organization to see if they already have a program like this in place.

Dana           

 

One way to help the student might be to access local Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) services. Those services should provide her with testing as well as direct funds for training and support in developing accommodations for classroom, testing and work. Most VR services are provided in a multi-lingual environment. Most importantly, that includes the psychological testing environment. The psychologist should provide testing in the student’s native language with appropriate standardized tests in that language. Once the process and results are sorted out, the student will have a better idea what they need educationally. They can then share with the teacher, in the form of requested accommodations, what they will need in the classroom and testing environments. That foundation should be able to be used for the development of "practical" accommodations in ever day life and work. The process is not always easy  (bureaucracies and their difficulties) but well worth the effort.<?xml:namespace prefix = o />

 

Hi Aza,

Andrea's question reminded me of something.  The students I had mentioned earlier had limited literacy in their own language.  One Burmese student was at an intermediate level in written Karen, and one Sudanese student was at a beginning level in written Dinka.  Testing is quite difficult in these circustances.  Because the Sudanese student spoke English well, this person could be tested.  Searching the web and the educational and governmental agencies in south-east Asia, we could find no LD testing material, so the Burmese student could not be tested.  Talk about grinding your teeth!   

The real issue with testing is how well they understand spoken English and our alphabet.  If they can't understand the questions or the instructions, there is no way to accurately evaluate their disabilities.  We're in luck if they speak a language of a 'developed' country.  Finding an LD test created in Germany, for example, or getting our test translated into Spanish should be no problem.  

Dana

        

Dana,

What a mess!  

Of course you can't evaluate them, there is nothing to evaluate!

I would just push ahead with the Sudanese student, continue teaching no matter what.

I may have missed a beat here, you are using the past tense, do you no longer work with them?

The Burmese student--I would jsut start with the most basic, regular, sound/symbol.  Is this the student who has not progressed in 2 years?

Or am I thinking of someone else?

 

Andrea

 

I've gotten kind of scrambled here about who is who.

Aza,

You need to know how much your friend (Sharon) who is not a techer knows about teaching the English language.

Maybe you should start by teaching her.  I'd use the Wilson books as a foundation.  Two years is nuts for her not to

have learned something.  She needs to start with the alphabetic principle, and in small doses, and utter regularity,

like short a, and some consonants.  All the alphabet at once is too much. If I had to learn Arabic....  I would go nuts if

it weren't in small doses.

 

Andrea