Understanding Comprehension: Strategies for Students with Learning Disabilities

Understanding Comprehension: Strategies for Students with Learning Disabilities

As students with learning disabilities go through school, they are not only facing challenges with reading, writing, spelling, and math, but they also struggle with comprehension. Comprehension is the ability to understand and interpret information that has been read or heard. This is not only an important skill for academic success, but it’s also crucial for daily life. Therefore, students with learning disabilities require instructional strategies to improve comprehension skills. In this article, we will discuss different strategies that can be used to aid students with learning disabilities in building their comprehension skills.

1. Pre-reading Strategies

Pre-reading activities help students set the stage for the text they are about to read. Before reading, it is essential to provide students with a purpose for reading, so they can focus on what they need to learn from the text. Pre-reading activities can include previewing text features such as the title, headings, illustrations, and other graphics, discussing the topic, connecting the topic to prior knowledge, and predicting what they think the text will be about.

2. Graphic Organizers

Graphic organizers are visual tools that can help students organize information and enhance their understanding of what they have read. They create a visual representation of key concepts and ideas. Graphic organizers can be used before, during, and after reading to aid in comprehension. They can also be used during class discussions and note-taking.

3. Chunking

Some students with learning disabilities find it challenging to process a large amount of information at once. Chunking refers to breaking down a long text into smaller, more accessible parts. This helps students to focus on understanding each part before moving on to the next, leading to better overall comprehension.

4. Summarizing and Retelling

Summarizing and retelling are crucial in comprehension development. Students must be able to summarize and retell information in their own words to ensure that they have understood it. It is important to teach students how to identify the main idea and supporting details of a text, and to summarize these into a brief and coherent summary. Retelling also helps students remember important information and comprehensively connect what they have learned.

5. Visual Aids

For students with learning disabilities, visual aids such as diagrams, graphs, and charts can massively aid their comprehension skills. Visual aids are representations of information that can enhance understanding and assist with information recall. Instructors can also use videos that are related to the subject matter to provide students with a visual representation of what is being taught.

6. Active Reading

Active reading encourages students to interact with the text as they read. This includes highlighting key information, asking questions, taking notes, and making connections to other texts or materials. Instead of reading passively, students are actively engaging with the text, which can enhance their comprehension skills.

7. Direct Instruction

Direct instruction is an effective approach to support students with learning disabilities. Direct instruction should be used to teach learning strategies, such as summarizing, retelling, and identifying main ideas and details, which are essential for comprehension. Direct instruction also provides explicit instruction in vocabulary, decoding, and syntax in order to enhance comprehension.

In conclusion, many comprehension strategies can be used to support students with learning disabilities in understanding what they are reading. By implementing strategies such as pre-reading, graphic organizers, chunking, summarizing and retelling, visual aids, active reading, and direct instruction, students can improve their comprehension skills and be successful in their academic and everyday lives.

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