I am inspired by Mr Jeyaram for going beyond his duties in giving support and providing interventions for academic needs other than the learning and behavioural needs of two students with autism.

He read up empirical research papers for strategies in helping the students in meeting the English Language or Humanities curriculum that required higher order thinking skills. On his own, he conducted a one to one intervention session with the student to support them in understanding the comprehension text and in acting out the emotions. It is heartwarming to learn that the students managed well in the National ‘O’ level exam.

 

I am inspired by Ms Lim for putting effort into looking into the basic needs of the student. Her little effort helped to motivate the student to come to school and also helped to encourage the student  to take bus to and fro school without any support from her mum.

From this video, I am inspired by Ms Lim and the staff in her school for making a big difference in the life of the student who then moved on to study at the Polytechnic for further education despite her disabilities. I believed that it is important to think positively and as educators, we need to try anything that we could utilise to help the student achieve her academic expectations. This shows that educators in school play a big part in moulding or breaking a child in his/ her progress through life. 

I have learned from Mr Muhammad’s sharing that it takes a  whole school effort to help a student who chose to attend mainstream school. It was a happy story as the child had done well and could remain in the school and the success factor was that all stakeholders were involved in the best way they could. It was a success when the teachers who were supporting the student had motivated him and the student was also self-driven to be better than where he was.

I am very impressed by the way the teaching staff cared for the student. It was mentioned that teachers were watching for the student during recess and making sure that his buddy did not abandon him and there were teachers who walked  2 to 3 metres behind the child to see him home.

I have learned from Ms Lee’s sharing on how they have helped a student with autism become a top achiever in the FCE subject at ‘N’ level. This was accomplished with a visual guide design of the recipe which greatly helped the student who is a visual learner.

It was the joint effort put in by AED(LBS) and the FCE teacher in training the student to create the visual guide for herself that has helped her complete 90% of  the whole practical without the help of her class buddy or teacher. 

I believe that such a miracle would not have happened if Ms Lee did not bother to check what are the factors that were affecting the student’s performance in FCE. It was Ms Lee’s observation that led the student to create her visual guide design which could be brought in during ‘N’ level with SEAB approval.

I am inspired by Ms Lee for being meticulous in her work. It is important that as AED (LBS), we must  find out what would work best for our students or what are the tools that could enhance their academic performance.

It was encouraging to see what Mr Jeyaram has done to help his students in their learning. I agree with him that it is important to work together with our fellow teachers to revisit the academic expectations of our students who has learning difficulties and look into what strategies can be implemented to help our students in their learning.

It makes sense that we sometimes get easily blinded by the diagnosis of our students that we lose focus on the other areas that the student may be struggling in. Hence, it is crucial that we look beyond their diagnosis and address the underlying issues as well, as it may hinder their overall performance in school too.

It was inspiring to see the things Ms Michelle does for her students such as promoting independence in her students. The adaptations of materials and consideration of physical setting to accommodate to her student’s needs were heartening. I also find it assuring to see the rapport she has with the parents which I feel is important for the betterment of the student. 

I feel it is necessary that as educators, we look into our students’ needs and see how else we can accommodate to our students. I like that ICT was used as a tool to assist the students in their learning and the willingness of the school to allow different modes of assessment for the students with learning needs. I think the implementation of buddy system is also useful as it helps promote friendship, the ability to foster a greater sense of responsibility and a more inclusive school environment. 

Mr Muhammad mentioned the importance of collaborative effort involving everyone in school, relevant professionals like the occupational therapist, physiotherapist and parents for the benefit of the student’s success in school. It allows every one of the stakeholders to contribute in the best way that they could through communicating expectations and setting of realistic goals for the student. I like the idea of it as it helps people learn from each other and gain a better sense of how things work.

It is also useful to note that as educators, we need to understand the academic frustrations of our students and provide them with not only academic support but emotional support as well. 

Takeaways from Video #4
Ms Lee’s sharing was very meaningful. It recognizes how important it is to have rapport with our students. It builds trust between the student and the teacher, which can be used as a way to find out rationale behind their decision if the circumstances arise. She also makes an effort to look into her student’s strengths and weaknesses as it helps her to better determine the readiness level of her student. 

It is admirable to see the effort and time taken to help the student in their learning especially through the various classroom observations, creating of resources to aid student in their learning and liaising with various stakeholders to look into feasible possibilities that could accommodate to the student’s needs.

My main takeaway is to not adopt tunnel vision when it comes to supporting students with learning issues. I agree with Mr Jeyaram that educators tend to focus on teaching social skills particularly to students with autism. I understand that educators main goal is to fulfill students’ basic needs. But Mr Jeyaram highlighted that students’ requires academic support as well. One of the requirements for secondary school is to analyse and interpret passages. It is challenging for students with autism when there is a change in curriculum as the old resources are no longer relevant. I believed that Mr Jeyaram collaborated effort with teachers worked out positively. Reason being, teachers saw the need in providing the necessary scaffolding for students to comprehend passages, especially for humanities where students are required to do higher order thinking.

Video 2

My main takeaway is to promote students’ independence. Our goal as educators is to nurture students to be confident, self-directed, active and concerned citizens after completing 10 years of compulsory education. From Ms Michelle’s sharing, I understand that her student requires support from her grandma or mother in primary school. Hence, I am glad that Ms Michelle were able to convince the parents to let go of their child. I believe that this is not an easy feat considering that the child’s mother and grandma supported her throughout the 6 years of primary school. Convincing parents in one challenge down. The other challenge is to ensure that the child’s basic needs are met. It can’t be all words and no action. I am truly inspired by the school’s willingness to accommodate to the child’s needs by allowing uniform modifications, changing school amenities to provide a safe and conducive environment for the child to learn. 

My main takeaway is that collaborative effort from all stakeholders is vital to support students with learning needs. It was comforting to know that the parents initiate a meeting with the school to discuss their child. But what was truly inspiring is that the school were willing to adopt a pragmatic approach to give their child an opportunity to lead a normal childhood. Despite numerous challenges, the school did not give up. Instead, teachers went above their duty by ensuring the child reaches home safely, explaining puberty and bodily changes to a child with learning needs and more. I agree with Mr Muhammad that the child plays a key role. From his sharing, I understand that the child is driven and wants to continuously improve himself. Hence, with the right support he can achieve great things. 

Video 4

My main takeaway is to give students a chance to prove themselves. The school had doubts when Sally opted for FCE amongst other subjects. I am glad that Ms Yah Mei had the opportunity to listen to how Sally’s arrived at her decision. Moreover, the school respected and supported Sally’s decision. Honestly, I am inspired by Ms Yah Mei for putting in a lot of effort in supporting Sally during practical session. I am able to relate to this because I undergo a similar experience with one of my students for FCE. Trust me, it is not easy supporting a teenager with sensory issues in the kitchen. Furthermore, Ms Yah Mei went the extra length to check with SEAB for the use of visual guide. Nonetheless, things worked out positively in the end. When Sally emerged as the top scorer for FCE, it is like a cherry on top of the cake.

 

Most students just need the right push and motivation at the right time to catch the “AHA” moment that will give them directions or purpose for them to work hard and strive in everything they do. I might not know when that “AHA” moment will appear for my own set of students that I will be working with but I just have to keep on trying and not to give up similarly like what the 4 AED(LBS) have been doing.

Being in this profession all we can do are to keep doing what we believe in and work towards achieving success. Just like the saying, “every little steps goes a long way” .Most likely without our realization, we could have created many “AHA” moments for our fellow students.

I believe much effort had been put in to ensure a fruitful learning experience for both AED(LBS) and the students. Moreover, with great partnership between school and home, it helps in making a positive impact to the special needs community as well. I hereby conclude that it takes a village to raise a child and I believe Mr Jeyaram, Ms Michelle, Mr Muhammad and Ms Lee did a tremendously good job to inspire and ignite their students’ lives in their own special way.

(1) Keep things in perspective

Different people face different challenges in life. In the case of Ms. Lee Yah Mei’s client, the child had multiple issues and decided to choose FCE as one of the subjects at Upper Secondary. While many people were sceptical about her decision, Ms. Lee pondered and decided to keep things in perspective in the best interest of the child

(2) Be your own expert

In the case of Mr. Jeyaram, he explored the academic aspect of students with autism in his school. He took the initiative to find out empirical studies on how to do well for the subject of Humanities. Also, he worked with various teachers to tailor to the needs of the profile of students in that school.

(3) Keep calm and stay positive

In the course of Ms. Michelle Lim’s work, she interacted with a client who has selective mutism with fine and gross motor difficulties. At the start, it was not easy to work with the client’s parents and convincing them to allow the child to be more independent as she is currently studying in a secondary school. With a positive attitude and determination, Michelle managed to convince the parents and came out with strategies to work towards the client’s independence.

 

Another takeaway from the videos are the acceptance of challenges both on the student’s part and the teacher and LBS’s part. What was inspiring was the fact that the LBS might have felt that certain interventions must take place for the student to gain independence, even though the actions to take are challenging and might even seem impossible but they challenged themselves and still went ahead to try. The students also challenged themselves and worked well with the teacher, not giving up along the way. In accepting the challenge, they were able to push the limits for the student, hence resulting in their success factor. 

 

The last video also prompted me that sometimes we should avoid thinking that we know better, sometimes our students know what they want and if they are able to express that, then what we have to do is to trust them and give them their freedom of choice, especially for the students who are in secondary school or those that really shows their thought process in conversations. I think it is also recognizing that in the end, it is the student’s life and their journey to take and we are there to support them and maximize their potential as best as possible. After all, the biggest motivation has to come from within and from the students themselves. 

- Tedra (TG02)

 

As an AED LBS, our teacher-student relationship has to be excellent. Without good rapport with our students, it’s going to be difficult to get them to buy in with our interventions. Also, not forgetting to work closely with the various stakeholders (parents and teachers) to help and reinforce certain interventions that we have taught the students. After all, it takes a village to raise a child. 

I was very impress with Mr Jeyaram and the English Language and Humanities department for working together to support students with disabilities who had challenges coping with the subject. Using evidence-based strategies, Mt Jeyaram taught his students to decipher the meaning of the passage and understand emotions. He even managed to get the buy-in from teachers to modify curriculum material and provide scaffolding for students.

Ms. Michelle shared how she provided support for a student with selective mutism through accommodation and adaptation to build more independent skills. I was very impressed with the creative idea and efforts put in to do this. For example. Ms. Michelle customized the school uniform with Velcro and elastic skirt to enable her student to dress independently. In time, the child became more independent and confident enough to travel to school independently.

I learned how good collaboration between parents and the school is important for a child with special needs to succeed in school. It is also very important for both parents and school to be able to communicate well with each other, set expectations and goals for the child to achieve and to be transparent about their limitations. 

I was very impressed with how Ms. Lee and the teachers went the extra mile to help their student with autism excel in FCE. From looking at the student’s strength and challenges, they created a visual guide for the student to enable her to work independently. They even checked with SEAB about using visual strategy during her practical exam for FCE and worked closely with the student to develop an “approved” strategy in order to take her exams. 

 

 

Another takeaway I got from the videos is that it is important to know the student we are working with very well. We should know their interests, strengths, difficulties as well as their needs. Just like first video, the AED (LBS) thought that the student would need social skills sessions however realized that the student in fact needed more support in academic aspects. Only when we know the student very well inside out, we can then decide what is the best and optimum support we can give them.

 

I have also learnt that when we AED (LBS) are working with students with special needs, it is important to take into account the best interest of the student, not just what we think is best for the student. This is especially shared during the 4^th video where the student wanted to take FCE but all the stakeholders had doubts about it. However, instead of forcing the student to take other subjects, they supported her and accommodated to her needs and never gave up looking for ways to ensure that the student is able to show her full potential despite her needs. It is a definite learning point for me, to give what is best for our students but taking into consideration greatly their interest. 

As an LBS, it is important to learn the curriculum better so that we can understand the difficulties our students are facing and work on strategies to help overcome these difficulties. Knowing the strategies of how to help the students may not be helpful if we do not understand the needs of our students.

I am also very heartened to see the collective effort by the teaches, LBS and parents helped the student with selective mutism and difficulty with her fine and gross motor skills became more independent. Instead of focusing on the student’s inability to speak, she found alternatives that would allow her to still communicate with her peers such as through video calls and WhatsApp. Also, instead of forcing the student to present, she could submit her assignment in a video format. It is also encouraging to see how supportive the classmates are in accommodating to the different needs of their friends.

Through these videos, I can see how the success stories by the LBS is not achieved through the hard work of just one individual. It is a collective effort of the different stakeholders in modifying the environment for the student, accommodating to their different needs and understanding their difficulties in order to support them better. 

I also see the need to promote students’ independence. It was heart-warming to see that the school was willing to accommodate to the student’s needs by allowing uniform modifications, changing school amenities to provide a safe and conducive environment for the student to learn. 

Collaborative effort from all stakeholders is important to support students with learning needs. School should not give up and need to adopt a pragmatic approach for every student to be giving an opportunity to lead a normal childhood. 

As an AED (LBS), I see the importance of giving students a chance to prove themselves. The school can show support by showing respect to student’s decision. Ultimately, our main objective in the education fraternity is to nurture students to be confident, self-directed, active and concerned citizens.

High order thinking skills and academic areas are also important areas of development for students with disabilities. As LBS, we do not only focus on social skills teaching during our support of students.

As LBS, we need to be patient with parents and try to win over their support. With perseverance and effort, parents will be able to see minor improvements and will be assured that changes are possible. 

All stakeholders were involved in the best way they could with parents being the main driver and initiator. LBS do not work alone in a vacuum and we need to realize this.

Success came because all stakeholders were involved and cooperated to support the student with needs.

 

 

As an AED(LBS), I understand that a child’s needs may not be fixated to his diagnosis. For example, the needs of a child diagnosed with Autism may not be specifically just social skills. Therefore, this shows how important it is for an educator to always look at a child’s needs beyond his diagnosis. This is so that the child will be able to cope in a mainstream setting with the right level of support. 

From the 4 videos, it is also evident that collaborative efforts from all stakeholders is part of the key ingredient to their success stories. Students will be able to reach out to their fullest potential when support and motivation are provided all around them. Tapping on fullest potential, I think it is also crucial for us, as educators, to always make it known to the students that we believe they can do it. 

I have also learnt that, as an AED(LBS), is it important for one to build rapport with his students. With rapport comes mutual understanding and trust between the AED(LBS) and students.

I observe all 4 AED (LBS) have a very positive relationship with stakeholders. With a good rapport from subject teachers and parents, the AED (LBS) can support the student more effectively and learning can take place.

We need to understand our students well before we carry out any intervention plans. Depending on the student’s needs, the resources are usually individualized as they are specifically tailored for the student only. 

 

Quoting the examples shared by some of the LBS from the videos, it is encouraging to see how some teachers ‘step-up’ and walk the student home after seeing the LBS doing it previously and at the same time giving the student their personal space to learn independence by walking 2-3m apart. Another example was also on how teachers scaffold their learning resources to best accommodate the needs of the student and all the other teachers follow suit too. This is a perfect example of different people coming together all for the benefit of the child.

As an AED(LBS) in the future, I feel that there shouldn’t be a ‘plan’ for me to prep myself on how to better support my students with learning issues. What should be right is understanding that ‘one size doesn’t fit all’. I have to learn to be flexible and cater to the demands that is needed at the point of time. At the end of the day, as long as I’ve placed my student to be my utmost priority, everything else is secondary. 

 

Transition process is a big change for students with special needs. I believe It is crucial to have discussions with parents to allow the student be more independent, especially when they transit to a secondary school. AED LBS need to make arrangements for the students to cater to their needs, including the basics. The AED LBS also needs to work closely with parents to prove that the student is capable of being independent as parents can be overly concerned. It is important to make parents have this assurance because eventually our aim is to make our special needs students to be independent. 

 

 

Students with reading difficulties could have self-esteem issue as it is hard for them to keep up with their peers. I recognized the importance of the whole-school approach in helping these students. However, parent’s support and commitment to help their children also helps in their learning development. For example, mainstream schools might not be able to meet certain expectations that parents set but the involvement of parents to take the effort in sending their child for further reading therapy and enrichment will help the child to learn better. The AED LBS holds an important role in giving recommendation to help the parents seek interventions that is beyond the school’s resources. It is also important for AED LBS and the school to set targets for the child, so that there will be targeted goals, hence progress can be measured and seen. This also helps the parents to see what is needed to be achieved by the child, and they could assist with it too. With the support received, the child will benefit holistically.

 

Student with autism has sensory issues that they need to cope with. This is important to take note of when the student has to choose elective subjects such as Art, FCE and D&T. Even though the student has interest in D&T, the student might not be able cope with certain activities as it might be too sensitive for their senses. This will affect their progress and involvement in that subject negatively. Hence as AED LBS, we have to be the one to flag these culpable issues out, to prevent possible undesired outcomes in the future. This of course has to be done under discussion with teachers and other stakeholders. Collaboration is key, and I strongly believe that with collective consensus, we are able to help make the best decisions for the students.

 

·        The most important thing as an AED (LBS) is to communicate effectively with school personnel such as school leaders, year-head, form and subject teachers and also stakeholders.

·        Parents plays a huge role in the lives of these students. Parents are willing to send their children to speech and language classes if there is a need to. If parents are more open-minded and supportive it will impact positively on their children’s life.

·        It is important to know about the profile of the students. One way to achieve this is to build rapport with them. With this knowledge that we gained about the students it would be easier to work with them.

 

Also as an AED LBS, we must know the profile of the child. This is important to determine their strengths and weaknesses so as to tailor the appropriate assessments and interventions accordingly. With this, it is easy to manage the expectations and goals for the student.

 

It is important to have the buy-in and collaboration between all stakeholders so as to support the students holistically. 

 

It is also important to empower student to be independent. LBS must believe in their student and set realistic and achievable goals. It is also important to empower teachers by sharing useful strategies. 

 

As curriculum becomes more demanding, higher order thinking is expected from the students. Hence, transition support is important for our SEN students to cope with these changes

(2)   advocates and speaks up for him/her through my lens as an specialist or professional in SEN, and

(3)   brings together this village community comprised of school stakeholders, through professional communication and collaboration, so as to better support this student with SEN.

1.       To achieve the best outcomes for our students, the different stakeholders need to work collaboratively. In all the videos, the AED (LBS) cited the joint effort of stakeholders such as teachers, school leaders, caregivers and therapists as key to promoting positive outcomes for the students.

 

2.       We should provide accommodations and adaptations to enhance the learning of our students. Mr Jeyaram Kadivan shared that the teachers in his school modified the curriculum and provided extra notes for their students with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Additionally, Ms Michelle Lim said that the teachers in her school used different modes of assessments to accommodate the needs of their student with selective mutism.

 

3.       We should provide appropriate scaffolding and tailor learning according to the strengths of our students. Ms Lee Yah Mei talked about how she used visual guides to help her student (who is a visual learner) to be more independent.

 

4.       We should promote self-determination in our students and consider their opinions and preferences. Ms Lee Yah Mei and the school provided the student with the opportunity to pursue a subject of her interest and supported her to be successful in it.  

I gained a new perspective from the videos. The AED talked to the student and found out why she wanted to take FCE as her subject when the adults felt that D&T or Art suit her more. It is not about what we think is best for the student. It is finding out what the student really need and want. Often, the adults will have their own thinking and impose it on the student. The more mature students know their strengths and weaknesses, especially for secondary school students. The student is the main party and should have a say in the decisions affecting their life. 

I was inspired by how the different LBS going the extra mile and tapping on various methods such as uniform modifications and arranging suitable examination accommodations. To provide the best arrangement for the students, we should examine their needs and provide customised interventions for each and everyone of them.

 

Video2: I’m encouraged by how Michelle’s school was willing to make the neccesary adaptation by starting at her student’s level first, before slowly guiding her up to the next level towards being independent.  As educators, we should not hesitate to use alternative communication techniques (like writing and texting), and different modes of assessment to help our students thrive in the mainstream school.

 

Video 3: It showed the importance of whole-school effort, together with the family, to help the student to succeed.  Mr Muhamad Bin Dahler really believed in his student, and that made a lot of difference.

 

Video 4: I admired how Ms Yah Mei showed how much she respected  her student’s point of view.  It showed how she valued her student first, and that motivated her to find out more from relevant agencies what accommodations are allowed to help her student succeed. 

 

Equivalently, with innovation and to challenge the norms such as modifying the curriculum materials, additional notes & scaffolding the passage, changing of the uniform to Velcro & elastic skirt, giving opportunities to attend mainstream school and to use self created visual guide for FCE practical exams all benefited their respective students overcome their learning issues . Therefore, to keep trying different strategies, empirical research and learning issues is not limited to academics, learning to be more independent is just as important.

Thank you for reading ('<')

Main takeaway - ‘It takes a village to raise a child’. It is necessary to have a collaborative effort from all stakeholders (parents, teachers, AEDs, caregivers, school etc) to ensure that the child thrives. It takes commitment and support to make a difference to the child’s life. 

As AED LBS, we need to take the initiative to look through empirical based strategies to find which ones work best and modify or adapt it to suit our contexts as well as the child’s needs. It is also important that we should also take the initiative to find out something that we are not sure of to keep ourselves ahead. As AEDs, we play a big part in shaping a child’s progress in life. 

2.       In order to collaborate successfully, as an AED LBS one needs to be resourceful and constantly read up and explore the variety means of available teaching methods that are suited to the needs of our profile of students. Individually, one needs to be resilient in tough times and aspire to be an effective “detective” through our observational skills, inquiry with others and analysis. We also need to sharpen our content knowledge dealing with behavioural and learning needs of children, move with changes in curriculum and education modifications in Singapore context, and have a support system to rely on in managing our children more effectively. Discover what works and what does not and its impact on children’s development. 

3.       To always assess children’s areas of strengths and weaknesses. Setting up of goals for children through discussion with parents and teachers. Apply adaptations and modifications where necessary and also take child’s wants and needs in considerations.

4.       Perseverance and importance of setting the right tone in school in order to be an effective influence agent.  

  The next thing that screams for attention is how all 4 AED LBS had communicated with the relevant parties to come together to affect change for the benefit of the students. All of them understood that working in silos, is far from productive and will not bring them closer to their objectives. It is also good to note as to how communication with all relevant parties will allow a common understanding of shared objectives.

Every stakeholder brings with them a different, significant role in supporting the life of a student with SEN. Thus, it is important that everyone involved harmoniously work together to help create a positive impact on him/her. 

 

#Be Resourceful

In order to enhance a student’s learning capabilities, it is important for us educators to constantly upgrade ourselves with fresh new knowledge, stay resourceful and never to shy away from trying new things. An effective educator will help tailor to every student’s needs and create a climate of learning in the most creative way. 

 

#Have an Inclusive Heart

It is important for people in general to gain some kind of personal, practical knowledge and experience towards students with SEN. Thus, if we dream of having an inclusive community for the future, we as future AED(LBS) should advocate positivity and role-model the right attitudes. We should promote an environment of care, support, love and warmth for everyone because truly, that is what inclusion is all about. 

-        Look into all aspects of the child that they may have a deficits in. Do not only focus on social skills when we know that they are diagnosed with Autism and we sometimes stereotype them with a certain deficit rather than actually observing and finding out what they actually need the most help in.

-        Promote independence in all our students. After all they will eventually leave the school system and enter the adult working world. We want them to be able to face the world on their own and not be shut into their own cocoon. 

-        Collaborative effort is important in our cause of championing the rights of our students. Without the teamwork and understanding of other stakeholders, we may not be able to help our student reach his/her maximum potential. 

-        It really takes a village to raise a child, what more a child with special needs. 

(1)   Collaboration with all stakeholders.

In all the four videos, all the interviewees mentioned that they work closely with the different stakeholders. This stress the importance of collaboration and a team work effort in assisting students with their difficulties. 

(2)   Importance of discovering the needs of each individual student. 

Interviewee in the first video mentioned the need to give academic supports to students with autism and not just social skills support. Due to the diagnosis, AED (LBS) may easily assume that social skill is the necessary support needed by students. However, students with autism will also benefit from academic support due to the high-order thinking skills required in academics as they progress to higher level of education. As for interviewee in the second video, she had supported the student to acquire basic life skills. Whereas interviewee in the third video had supported his student in accepting the changes as student underwent the stage of puberty. These shows that every student have different needs. Hence, instead of jumping to conclusion and assuming that our students needs support in the commonly known area of social skills or reading and writing, we should always try to know our student better to be able to recognise the different support they may require. 

(3)   Getting the students involve in decision making. 

Interviewee in the fourth video shared how the adults were, at first undermining student’s decision-making process. However, after consulting the student herself, interviewee discover that student had thought through her decision. As adults have the tendency to think that we know what is best for our students, we may overlook their opinion, thoughts and feelings. It is important to consider student’s opinion as ultimately; they are the ones who will be going through the process. 

(4)   Setting expectations. 

The sharing by interviewee in the fourth video shows how much preparation was made in advance for student. Since the beginning, teachers have gathered to discuss the expectation, student’s strengths and weakness. From there, they supported her slowly to acquire the necessary skills. Having the expectation laid out made it easier of teachers to know in which area do they need to support the student. Teachers can then work on a plan to scaffold students to acquire the necessary skills to meet the expectation put in place. This was also mentioned by interviewee in the third video. Interviewee mentioned that expectation of students was clearly discussed with parents. 

Another takeaway would be the importance of patience and dedication towards our students as an AED (LBS). In all the cases, it was really the constant and unwavering support provided to the child that led to the child’s eventual success. Having the belief that every student is unique and has the potential to succeed will influence the way we relate to them and promote their independence instead of limiting their abilities or performance. 

Video 2: Transition phase is the hardest for students with learning issues. At times parents might be too protective or worried for their child’s safety. However, when they reach secondary school, they need to learn how to adapt and to achieve this, parents need to learn how to let their child be independent. In order to help the student to be independent, adaptations, adjusting and modifications need be done for lessons, having different mode of assessments and even for the student’s basic needs. For example, modifying her skirts to elastic waistband skirts, and instead of buttons, changing it to Velcro for her uniform. All these just to ease her in wearing the uniform independently. Having routines are also important so that the student know the steps taken to do something, and with enough practices they are able to do it on their own. 

Video 3: Helping students with learning issues most of the time need a collaborative effort, it is a whole school effort. It would be good to set goals and targets pertaining the student’s progression whether in academic or a skill as it will be clearer and more concise to what is needed to be done, what needs to improve and so on. Similarly, a work system is something beneficial for us to use. 

Video 4: It would be significant to listen to the student’s view and opinion when it comes to making choices even, thou sometimes we tend to think student tend to make decisions without thinking. They might have their own supporting reasons for choosing a particular subject for example. When a discussion is needed to discuss about a student’s progression in school, it would be wise to include those who can help make a difference such as subject teachers, school leaders, HODs and parents. As an AED LBS, to help the student with learning issues, we need to be able to identify their strength and weaknesses by getting to know them, gather feedback from teachers or even class observation. We need to identify factors that might affect the student and most importantly to identify what type of learner the student is. With this information, we can then think about ways or right strategies to help them improve progressively.