{"id":8453,"date":"2012-12-06T10:01:15","date_gmt":"2012-12-06T14:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/?p=8453"},"modified":"2013-03-08T11:45:37","modified_gmt":"2013-03-08T15:45:37","slug":"giving-kids-with-ld-adhd-an-equal-opportunity-to-learn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/giving-kids-with-ld-adhd-an-equal-opportunity-to-learn\/","title":{"rendered":"Giving Kids with LD &#038; ADHD an Equal Opportunity to Learn"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_pop\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/gallery\/share-button-gray.png\" style=\"border:0px\" alt=\"Share\" \/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\");var hupso_icon_type = \"labels\";var hupso_background=\"#FFFFFF\";var hupso_border=\"#FFFFFF\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_twitter_via=\"wrightslaw\";var hupso_url=\"\";var hupso_title=\"Giving%20Kids%20with%20LD%20%26%20ADHD%20an%20Equal%20Opportunity%20to%20Learn\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div><p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" style=\"border: 1px solid black; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; float:right\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/nltr\/img\/students.jpg\" width=\"199\" height=\"147\" \/>What is Universal Design for Learning?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Universal design calls for <em>planning for the needs of the broadest possible range of users<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Within an educational framework, universal design refers to a similar approach in designing and delivering products and services, such as curricula, instruction, and evaluations.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Application for Special Education<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For students with LD and ADHD, who may struggle with traditional teaching methods, <strong>UDL offers the opportunity to access learning in ways that utilize their strengths rather than focusing on their deficits.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Students\u2019 individual learning styles are taken into account, in order to take advantage of the different ways in which they are able to learn.<\/p>\n<p>Brain research tells us that lecturing to students and then asking them to repeat the information or using standard textbooks are not the best ways of getting the message across. <!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Rather, <strong>a student must be engaged in order to learn<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Teachers are encouraged to vary the ways in which they present information, regardless of a student\u2019s learning abilities. For example, material may be presented orally, visually in images, as in videos or DVDs, in song, through music, in Braille, and kinesthetically in hands-on activities.<\/p>\n<p>Because students learn better when they are motivated and engaged, teachers need to allow students to explore their own interests, and consider developmental and cultural concerns. Some need repetition; others thrive on novelty and surprise.<\/p>\n<p>In an environment that applies the principles of UDL, students are given choices, for example, a menu of activities from which to select their preferences. The amount of support and challenge is also varied, again depending on the student\u2019s abilities.<\/p>\n<p>Students are also encouraged to demonstrate what they have learned in a variety of ways. For kids who can\u2019t express themselves well in writing, a traditional written assignment may be a poor measure of their learning.<\/p>\n<p>While the need for students to take written exams cannot be ignored, it should not be the only way to determine what they know.<\/p>\n<p>Simply put, <strong>UDL allows all students to access information and be evaluated in ways that take advantage of their abilities<\/strong>\u2014rather than requiring them to learn in ways that allow their deficits to become barriers to success.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>This post contains excepts from an <a href=\"http:\/\/www.smartkidswithld.org\/ld-basics\/treatments-and-support\/universal-design-for-learning-opening-doors-for-students-with-ld-and-adhd\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">article by Eve Kessler, Esq.<\/span><\/a>, President of SPED*NET Wilton (CT) based on a presentation by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/store\/iep.eason.html\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Kathleen Whitbread, Ph.D.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Go to SMARTKIDS with LD for the complete article &#8211; <span style=\"color: #000080;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.smartkidswithld.org\/ld-basics\/treatments-and-support\/universal-design-for-learning-opening-doors-for-students-with-ld-and-adhd\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Universal Design for Learning: Opening Doors for Students with LD and ADHD<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.smartkidswithld.org\/ld-basics\/treatments-and-support\/universal-design-for-learning-opening-doors-for-students-with-ld-and-adhd\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">http:\/\/www.smartkidswithld.org\/ld-basics\/treatments-and-support\/universal-design-for-learning-opening-doors-for-students-with-ld-and-adhd<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>More About Universal Design for Learning (UDL)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Wrightslaw <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/info\/atech.index.htm\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Assistive Technology<\/span><\/a> page at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/info\/atech.index.htm\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/info\/atech.index.htm<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.udlcenter.org\/\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">National Center on Universal Design for Learning<\/span><\/a> at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.udlcenter.org\/\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">http:\/\/www.udlcenter.org\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is Universal Design for Learning? &#8220;Universal design calls for planning for the needs of the broadest possible range of users. Within an educational framework, universal design refers to a <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/giving-kids-with-ld-adhd-an-equal-opportunity-to-learn\/\">Continue Reading \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55,3,429],"tags":[1007,1008,1009,462,885,884],"class_list":["post-8453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-accommodations-modifications","category-advocacy","category-assistive-technology","tag-access-to-education","tag-dr-kathleen-whitbread","tag-eve-kessler-esq","tag-smart-kids-with-ld","tag-udl","tag-universal-design-for-learning"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8453"}],"version-history":[{"count":33,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8960,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8453\/revisions\/8960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}