Background

We can see almost in every classroom at least a few students who have Learning Disabilities (LD). Teachers face tremendous challenges teaching these students, because students with Learning Disabilities often experience significant difficulties to cope up- with academic content due to their weaknesses in reading, comprehension, writing, mathematics skills and vocabulary learning skills. Therefore, this is an urgent need for teachers to be trained to teach these children successfully. This course will offer the required knowledge, skills and teaching strategies for teachers to teach primary and secondary level school children with learning disabilities. 

Objectives

This short course will enable the trainee teachers

• to identify the students with LD
• to enhance their professional skills to facilitate the successful learning of children with LD.
• to apply an research in their class room to improve the learning ability of selected LD students.

Target Group

Trained teachers who teach at pre-primary or primary or secondary level schools, who wish to enhance their professional skills in this field.

Applications

Applications will be called once a year. Depending on the number of applications the number of cycles to be conducted in each year will be decided by the Department of Special Needs Education. Only 25 Students will be enrolled for one cycle.

Instruction Procedure

Ten (10) Activity based workshops (one day-6 hours) are proposed as the strategy for conducting this course. Workshops will be conducted only in weekends or holidays.

Duration of the course

The duration of the course will be limited to three months so that the Department would be able to conduct the course at least three times a year.

Medium

This course is conducted in all three media at the Colombo Regional Centre.

Certification

The participants will be awarded a certificate of participation by the Faculty of Education of the Open University of Sri Lanka.

Course Structure

Workshop 01 Identification and Assessment of children with Learning Disabilities, The different types of Learning Disabilities

Workshop 02 Dyslexia

Workshop 03 Strategies to teach children with Dyslexia

Workshop 04 Dyscalculia

Workshop 05 Strategies to teach children with Dyscalculia

Workshop 06 Dysgraphia and Aphasia

Workshop 07 Strategies to teach children with Dysgraphia and  Aphasia

Workshop 08 Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Memory Problems

Workshop 09 How to teach children with ADHD. Developing Memory Skills

Workshop 10 Action research to enhance the learning of students with Learning Disabilities.