Strategies for Teachers Working with Students with Multiple

Disabilities
http://www.do2learn.com/disabilities/CharacteristicsAndStrategies/TwiceExeptional_Strategies.html
It is important to implement strategies that address the needs of the individual. We recommend that you apply these
strategies across home, school, and community contexts.

Learning and Academics

Detect underlying skill deficits, such as difficulty with directions.

Overview books, chapters and sections with students.
Vary rates and sophistication of presentation.
Encourage reading with a pencil, underlining, highlighting, color coding, and making notes in margins.
Emphasize cognitive strategies over rote memory to teach facts, and help students differentiate what must be
memorized from what can be figured out.
Dont over rely on memory, but emphasize logic.
Encourage frequent self-testing using flash cards, tapes, etc.
Provide clear, sequenced review sheets for tests with adequate spacing and clarity.
Emphasize higher-level thinking skills, such as problem-solving skills and divergent thinking.
Encourage students to work through a concept to discover the process, details, and deeper understanding.
Allow student to pace learning.
Provide access to enrichment, challenge, and rigor.
Provide exposure to above-grade-level content in mathematics, reading/language arts, science, or social studies,
depending on students strengths.
Consider having student temporarily join a giftedness program and monitor performance.
Use curriculum compacting, activity enrichment, or acceleration to the next grade level.
When using compacting, conduct pre and post testing to adjust pacing.
After direct instruction with a group, assign a specific number of practice problems.
Use skill and strategy instruction and integrate and embed into high-level instruction for a comprehensive
approach.
Use a multisensory approach to instruction.
Focus on whole-to-part instruction and concepts vs. memorization of isolated facts.
Use advance organizers, preview instructional units, and concept maps.
Teach details in context.
Use mnemonics, visual imagery, visual/verbal cues and prompts, notes, outlines, formula cards, cheat sheets,
picture vocabulary, and word banks.
Use open-ended assignments, and allow students to choose or change the product to best illustrate and
facilitate understanding of material.
Use independent study activities, in which students choose a concept they want to study and the teacher
facilitates the goals and organization of the content.
Create learning centers for students to use, which allow students to share special interests with others while
learning more about other subjects.
Use brainstorming techniques to develop thinking processes and ability to solve problems.
Use tiered lessons and multi-leveled activities, such as tic-tac-toe boards, learning cubes, etc.

Facilitate discussion of students progress of material and ability to articulate their reasoning or conclusion to a
problem or question.
Incorporate cognitive challenges through use of Bloom's Taxonomy of Cognitive Processes.
Use products that are real and relevant to the student whenever possible.
Use conferencing to allow student to negotiate, review, and discuss work.
Create multi-media products, such as dioramas, illustrations, speeches, centers, reports, movies, puppet shows,
and plays.
Allow reasonable and purposeful movement, including flexibility to work standing up.

Math

Reduce quantity of problems.

Provide adequate space and graph paper.
Read aloud word problems.
Use calculators and charts.
Use visuals, posters, reference sheets, and formula cards.
Use 3-D models and adaptive tools to address fine motor difficulties.
Use verbal elaboration and dictation.
Teach use of symbols and pictures.

Reading

Avoid asking for oral reading, and provide quiet place to read.
Use context clues for decoding and / or vocabulary.
Encourage use of tape recorders for both note-taking and listening comprehension.
Use recorded textbooks, movies, or videos.
Allow movement while reading and listening.
Pair delivery of visual and auditory information.
Arrange collaborative learning through peer partners or groups.
Provide adequate time for completion of reading assignment.
Highlight critical information and preview vocabulary (provide in advance).
Preview content to activate prior knowledge, and provide summaries.
Use read aloud software and partner reading.
Chunk assignments and reduce workload.
Provide structure for note-taking.
Use in-class read aloud.
Provide external representations (e.g. graphic organizers, story maps).

Writing

Provide copies of notes, graphic organizers, outlines to complete, picture notes, and main ideas.
Use verbal rehearsal.
Give answers to a worksheet or homework in both visual and auditory forms.
Provide extra time, reduce workload, and grade for content.
Use verbal elaboration and provide outlines.
Have a verbal prewriting conference.
Provide quiet area to work, and use frequent checks.

Use task analysis, checklists, rubrics, and examples of model papers.

Ensure adequate space to write or attach extra paper.
Reduce visual clutter, fold in half, and assign fewer problems / questions.
If there are fine motor difficulties, provide an enlarged writing template / outline.
Provide computer, electronic spellers, or dictation to scribe devices.
Consider alternatives to writing for demonstrating content knowledge.
Use an individualized system for spelling, so there is a focus on building vocabulary.

Organization

Use planning books and calendars, homework websites, homework buddy, frequent progress reports, digital
recorders, and daily check-in.
Give daily help with maintenance of notebook and model notebook organization requirements often.
Use contracts for goal-setting, time-management and pacing of projects and papers.
Use task analysis and mini-deadlines.
Label papers, and have a folder, tray, or section for all papers.
Prompt student to submit work, and implement a clear routine for submitting work.
Reduce workload or provide extended time.
Keep assignments visible and accessible (ongoing list of assignments and due dates).
Use color coding and accordion files.
Provide time to file things and to clean out (have a place for old stuff).
Have supplies ready, such as copies of texts for home and class.
Provide study guides and outlines.
Assign test preparation tasks such as the development of flashcards, writing test questions, practicing problems.
Preview test questions, focusing on type and length.
Provide a syllabus emphasizing primary ideas.
Offer visual organizational strategies such as mind mapping, treeing, or webbing for note- taking or organizing
background information.
Teach research skills, and consider team teaching for major projects and papers.
Divide assignments into small parts with a definitive time schedule.
Photocopy research, and highlight main ideas and important details.

Affective Characteristics

Provide stimulating assignments and multisensory instruction.

Use rubrics, contracts, observation, and testing, in which students can be involved in the evaluation process by
helping to create criteria.
Use flexibility, choices, communication, positive feedback, respect, and encouragement.
Provide reasonable or reduced workload, support, and feedback.
Understand the students interests and hobbies.
Be aware of strengths and needs.
Encourage student to create a better self-concept by building on strengths and by emphasizing effort.
Work with parents to comprehend the combination of giftedness and disability.
Allow student to have choice and a voice in the classroom environment.
Encourage acceptance of each students ideas and opinions.
Create a safe environment where students can freely brainstorm and suggest ideas.

When appropriate, allow the class or group to come to conclusions together as a group, instead of all
conclusions being teacher directed.
Use competition in a way that empowers all students through the use of games.
Facilitate groups where students can work together and interact.
Establish goals for individual students, small groups, and whole class on assignments.
Use team building and praise incentives.
Model appropriate responses to social situations.
Engage student in role-play opportunities to practice appropriate initiations and responses in social contexts.
Explain rules / rationales behind social exchanges.
Explicitly target perspective-taking skills when needed.