A regular education teacher and a special education teacher have difficulty when a student with a writing disability will not complete his bell work. The regular education teacher thinks that the student is deliberately defying her. A meeting is held with the regular education teacher, parent, and special education teacher to come up with a solution using assistive technology. Effective communication among the regular education teacher, special education teacher, and parent can be the solution to the problem of a so-called problem student in a classroom. Assistive technology can solve the problem of a student that cannot express himself through written communication.
Effective Communication Through Assistive Technology …show more content…
This can be for many reasons. Regular education teachers may not think that they should have to provide accommodations for students with disabilities, they may not understand the nature of the student’s disability, they may not feel as if it is fair for a student with a disability to receive accommodations or modifications on core curriculum. According to Friend and Cook, (2010) “general education teachers and special services providers may have pronounced differences in their perceived levels of responsibility for facilitating learning of individual students” (Friend & Cook, 2010, p. 220). When a regular education teacher does not understand his or her responsibility regarding the students with disabilities in his or her classroom, communication between that teacher and the special education teacher can break down. This can cause a rift between these two teachers and can cause the students to not be successful in meeting their annual …show more content…
Friend and Cook write, “By listening, you communicate both concern for the speaker as an individual and the intent to understand what that person has to say. Second, listening helps build rapport when it allows you to demonstrate accurate understanding” (2010, p. 226). Even though Mrs. Hawkins was saying some things that were not necessarily correct, everyone listened and allowed her to get her feelings out into the open. Noah’s mother then used statements to describe Noah’s disability so that Mrs. Hawkins would have a better understanding of what exactly Noah was going through on an everyday basis. Friend and Cook write that using statements is very beneficial when one wants to express “observations, thoughts, feelings, or judgments” (2010, p. 257). Noah’s mom described the extent of Noah’s writing disability and asked Mrs. Hawkins to reflect on how a similar disability would affect another person. This type of communication was extremely useful because Mrs. Hawkins was able to think of other students and adults with similar