Supports for Children with Special Needs

What strategies have you used to support children with special needs in your classroom?


I'm not in the classroom as much because I pull out students mostly except for the High Schoolers, however I did substitute twice this week in Teacher Hector's classroom.  There is a student, Kaila who I have tried to help incorporate in the classroom during the day.  I let her play a game, Silent Ball with the other students.  Also, during a group activity she was able to cut out ways of transportation after someone showed her what to cut out.  Also, since I have learned that she knows sign language I have been using word puzzle pieces to see what she tells me the word is.  During the same class I have been able to help Tayza with her skill of spelling and how to identify letter sounds a little.  


At the high school I have been supporting the in the students in the classroom just by offering help during the lesson.  I have worked mostly with Khoder and Darwin, but I have also worked some with Elsa.  Elsa does not have special needs but she speaks no English.  I have used my little knowledge of Spanish to help her in some ways during math.  I think the best thing I ever learned in Spanish is to ask "Come se dice (English word)?"  which is "How do you say (English word)."  I have found that she actually understands some English and if you model it she can figure out what you are talking about.  With Darwin I have only worked with him twice.  I have been helping him mostly stay on task.  I help him also gather his thoughts of what to write by just talking to him about a story a teacher may read out loud.  Khoder I have helped him mostly by helping him start things and do examples of specific assignments with a little help at first and then I let him work on things by his self.  He does a lot better when someone is working a problem out right beside of him and then he can practice it with someone.  I believe that he is very unsure of his self and I have noticed that he often looks and wait for someone to tell him that he is on the right track before he move on with a problem, but I'm trying to convince him that he can do work by his self.


This week I also worked after school with a student, Jason, from R.C.  His teacher and mother have said that he has problems reading and with memory.  I worked with him for about 45 minutes.  I never really noticed any major problems with his reading, but I could kind of tell that it was hard for him to stay on the right line with reading, so I had him put a piece of notebook paper down while he was reading and cover the words he had not yet read.  He read great after that.