UDL Week: Day 1 - Specific Learning Disabilities
Get ready for a week of posts all about making lessons accessible and effective for diverse learners! Over the next 7 days, I’ll be writing daily on how teachers can design targeted accommodations for lesson plans that support specific student groups and needs.
Why me? For those that don’t know me, I’m a Resource Specialist Program (RSP) teacher at magnet school that features the full Inclusion model … who happens to be an autistic (AUT/ASD) gestalt language processor (aka, non-verbal - SLD) and a trans woman (May 2024 edit), with a slew of comorbidities and chronic conditions (OHI). Under the medical model, I have a miles-long diagnostic history with the requisite codes to get the appropriate supports and treatments. But as I point out in my book, No Place for Autism, in an educational setting, I would only get one eligibility for special education services. The system would choose which of my many conditions and ways of being cause IT the most trouble, and assign that to me with all the necessary supports that entails. Not all eligibilities get all types of services. An OHI, for example, might not get access to speech and language therapy.
At my school, all students learn in general education classrooms. Students with special needs, and have an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP), get their help and supports in class, not by being pulled out of class for one on one work. As such, things can be challenging for them. An RSP teacher (an RSP is a fully accredited teacher, not an aid or assistant) generally works with the gen ed teacher to provides structures, supports, accommodations, and (when specifically called for in an IEP) modifications to/for the general education curriculum.
Outline
Here’s where we’re going. Today begins the series. Each of the below listed articles will be released on the dates shown.
10-16-2023 - Students with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) (you are here)
10-17-2023 - Students with Other Health Impairments (OHI) (link to the article)
10-18-2023 - Autistic Students (ASD / AUT) (link to the article)
10-19-2023 - English Language Learners (ELLs) and Emergent Bilinguals (EBs) (link to the article)
10-20-2023 - Twice Exceptional Students (2e) & Gifted Learners (link to the article)
10-21-2023 - Supporting Unfinished Learning (link to the article)
10-22-2023 - Direct/Explicit Instruction and Pre-Teaching Key Vocabulary (link to the article)
10-22-2023 - Why no UDL for adult professional meetings? (link to the article)
My goal is to provide educators and parents with inclusive strategies to reduce barriers and optimize learning opportunities. I’ll offer real examples and practical tips on building in the flexibility, scaffolding, and responsiveness required to allow all students to meaningfully access content, actively participate, and demonstrate their knowledge … based upon my experience in my classes.
Whilst each post will focus on a specific group or need, many of these accommodation strategies can benefit multiple students in a variety of class settings. The aim is to equip folks to proactively design lessons that play to students’ strengths, spark their interests, and meet them where they are.
What we will work on
To do this effectively, we’ll need a class and a curriculum. This week, I’m inviting you into my geometry class. Here, we use Illustrative Math from Kendall Hunt. In this series, we’ll be using Unit 4, Lesson 1 - Angles and Steepness. At the linked location, you’ll find all of the resources necessary to engage with the content here. What you won’t find is help in creating the reasonable accommodations required in IEPs. That’s where this series comes in. I want to show you the though process behind UDL and creating full access to rigorous educational content with specific eligibilities in mind.
Why? Doesn’t the curriculum provider, Kendall Hunt, do this?
No. Not really. the above image is all that is provided in the teaching notes. Just a few sentence starters. Ironically, and the reason I chose this lesson, the lesson is about accessibility and access. “The goal of this lesson is for students to recognize that the ratio of the legs of a right triangle with a given acute angle is fixed. They are building connections to similar right triangles in the previous unit. Students should leave the lesson wondering how the people who wrote the Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines knew what the ratio of two sides of a right triangle would be for a given angle, or what the angle would be for a given ratio.” In other words, how do we know that certain ramps are accessible and others are not.
UDL - Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD)
To help us in our work, we’ll employ a strategy known as Universal Design for Learning (UDL). UDL is a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all students based on scientific insights into how humans learn. The core principles of UDL are:
Provide Multiple Means of Representation: Present information and content in different ways (visual, auditory, kinesthetic etc.) to account for diverse learning styles and abilities.
Provide Multiple Means of Action and Expression: Allow students to demonstrate knowledge and skills in various ways (writing, speaking, drawing, designing etc.) to remove barriers.
Provide Multiple Means of Engagement: Stimulate interest and motivation through options for self-regulation, sustaining effort, and recruiting interests.
The goal of UDL is to be proactive in designing flexible instruction to meet the needs of diverse learners from the start (helping things go right), rather than needing individual accommodations as an afterthought. Key techniques include providing options for perception, language/symbols, comprehension, executive function, expression and communication, and recruiting interest.
UDL aims to create an inclusive, accessible learning environment that accounts for disabilities, language proficiency, cultural background, and learning differences. Applying UDL principles in lesson planning and assessment can help ensure all students are provided equitable opportunities to learn and succeed.
Let’s begin our work
Review the lesson. What do you notice? What do you wonder? Students with an eligibility for special education services under SLD (who have an IEP) may struggle with this geometry lesson in some of the following ways:
The multiple step procedures and complex verbal/written instructions could be difficult for students with learning disabilities affecting auditory or language processing.
The hands-on measuring and calculation required in the ramp design task may overwhelm students with dyscalculia or math disabilities.
The small group and whole class discussions require strong verbal expression which students with language disorders / difficulties (e.g., gestalt language processors, etc.) may lack.
The cool-down word problem and written responses could be challenging for those with dyslexia or reading/writing disabilities.
The pace and abstract nature of the lesson may pose issues for students with processing speed or working memory challenges.
How might we correct these issues, applying the principles of UDL? Some suggested supports that we can build in might include:
Providing visual aids, models, diagrams, and step-by-step checklists for multi-step tasks.
Allowing use of manipulatives, calculators, and assistive technology for math computations.
Giving clear speech-to-text, picture, and word bank supports for discussion responses.
Reading aloud word problems and allowing verbal explanations or bulleted responses.
Chunking instructions into smaller discrete steps and allowing processing time.
Using concrete examples and scaffolds like graphic organizers to support concepts.
Providing printed lesson summaries and outlines for note taking assistance.
Modifying workload and pacing demands in line with IEP goals.
Implementing their IEP accommodations and providing multimodal ways to access content and demonstrate knowledge … without them having to ask … can help students with SLDs engage meaningfully. When you work in this way, you will also be benefiting those in the room who have SLDs, but lack an IEP.
Why doesn’t the publisher do this? The curriculum page seems rather inclusive.
The simple answer is that the publisher is all-in on the pedagogy of Productive Struggle. Productive Struggle in math involves allowing students to grapple with mathematical concepts and problems before stepping in to provide scaffolds and supports. The goal is to give students time to engage meaningfully with challenging content, make connections, and persevere through difficulty before intervening with direct instruction. This gives students the opportunity to develop critical thinking skills, gain confidence in their own mathematical abilities, and construct deeper understanding. However, teachers still monitor students' struggle and provide assistance as needed. The aim is an appropriate balance of productive struggle versus unproductive frustration.
Whilst Productive Struggle can benefit many students, it may inequitably disadvantage those with SLDs. Students who struggle due to a true skill deficit or information processing challenges may become excessively frustrated if left to persevere independently for too long. They may disengage from the content rather than developing persistence and deeper learning. Teachers must be mindful of each student's unique needs and challenges - thus UDL. Students with SLDs will require more strategic scaffolding, explicit direct instruction paired with struggles, and prompt feedback to support both perseverance and understanding. With appropriate accommodations and supports, productive struggle can benefit learners with SLDs as well. The key is maintaining high expectations whilst providing truly equitable access to the struggle - via the support suggestions shown above.
Conclusion
I hope that you’ve found this article to be useful. Having handled the introduction to the series here, the next articles won’t feature the introduction. We’ll just dive right into the issues and support our learners.
December 2024 Update
Since writing this article, I’ve explored how UDL intersects with the concept of Purposeful and Productive Instructional Groups (PPIGs) in a new piece. Whilst UDL provides the framework for creating accessible and inclusive learning environments, PPIGs present a unique challenge as they are often talk-centric and can unintentionally exclude students with verbal or auditory processing difficulties, including those with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) or Gestalt Language Processors (GLPs). In the updated discussion, I delve into strategies for designing PPIGs that align with UDL principles, ensuring that these group activities are not just accessible but also meaningful for all students. If you’re interested in extending your understanding of UDL and learning how to apply it to collaborative group work, I encourage you to check out the new article. It builds on the foundation laid here and offers practical insights into making PPIGs an equitable part of your classroom practice.