Our cohort was fortunate enough to be invited to attend a workshop based around Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, also known as FASD. I liked attending this seminar as this hasn’t been something that we have covered a whole lot in our program. It has popped up on occasion, but we didn’t do that much of a deep dive into it.
There were a couple of things from this presentation that I was able to really latch onto. The first was when we are dealing with students who may be on the spectrum. That it’s important that bring concepts and ideas into our classroom that the students are use to experiencing. Whether that be the use of pictures or hands-on manipulatives, they can be great tools for their learning. Especially since we want to build a positive learning environment that provides the best opportunities for all our students.
The importance of differentiating assessment to benefit students who are on the FASD was something that was important in the workshop as well as for my future practice. It’s important, when it comes to assessment, that we soften our students workload and provide them enough time to get everything done and to not experience overload. One that stood out to me was that we allow them to fidget if they so feel like it. Students may also need to be guided in a sequential order, so taking it step by step whether it be visually or orally will be important for their learning.
In the end, this was a great experience for myself and I taught be quite a bit about FASD that I didn’t already know about. This who experience really reminded me of the problems that students face. It’s important and vital for my learning that I be aware of any problems that my students may be facing in their lives. That’s the great opportunity that we have been given with these professional day experiences, it reminds me to remember my students and what I need to do so as to provide the best experiences for their development and growth.