E-School News – Chris Elsworthy
“I had always been good at building or “making” with my hands. Whether it was helping my dad with repairs around the house or building model airplanes, I found tremendous focus and inspiration with these types of projects. The classroom was another matter. Throughout my time in school, I struggled greatly with traditional learning methods. My teachers quickly became frustrated with my lack of enthusiasm and focus on my work. Most assumed I was unintelligent or lazy. It wasn’t until I was diagnosed with dyslexia at the age of sixteen that things began to change. Like myself, other students with learning difficulties—from dysgraphia (a difficulty with writing, mainly in spelling) and attention disorders like ADD and ADHD—respond well to visual or tactile learning and activities that allow physical participation, according to the U.S. Department of Education. And these learning impediments are not as uncommon as you might imagine. In the US alone, approximately eight percent of children were identified by a health professional as having a learning disorder, according to a 2014 study. As these types of difficulties become more recognized every day, the importance of adjusting teaching methods has started to increase accordingly.”(more)