Strategies for Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities are always in need of “systems” and routines in their daily lives to make things less difficult for them.  Strategies are a way for them to learn new things in their lives, both academic and personal.  Strategies are often used by kids with disabilities but are useful for all people, as they help a person learn and remember new things. 

There are two main things that strategies do; one, it gets the subject active in their learning, and two, it moves the subject toward metacognition.  These are both very important in learning because the subject, or student in particular, will become more interested in what they are learning and will remember it better.  It will also assist them in learning the best way for them to effectively learn any subject matter, which will be useful for them in many aspects of their lives.  Generally students will not willingly consent to using strategies, but once they experience success with it they will adapt the strategy so it works better for them and will be excited about using it.

One of the most used strategies for students with disabilities is the “SQ4R” strategy for reading.  It is an acronym for multiple steps in reading and is used as follows:

S: Survey.  The student surveys the text, the content of it, any objectives involved in it, the introduction to the text, and the summary of the text.

Q: Question.  The student asks themselves multiple questions about the text, including what may happen, what the definition of something may be, who the main subject of the text is, and many others.

R (1): Read.  The student reads through the text, answering the questions they previously asked themselves, and paying attention to everything in the text.

R (2): Recite.  The student answers the questions they are answering out loud, reinforcing the knowledge of the text they are gaining.

R (3): Relate.  The student relates the text and happenings in the text to their own lives and events that they have encountered themselves.

R (4): Review.  The student reviews everything they read and recalls events and facts from the text.

This is a very successful strategy for students with disabilities to use when reading.  It helps them to concentrate on what they are reading and become active in their reading.  They can also use this strategy in areas of their everyday life that require reading, whether it be instructions, directions, or many other things.