How Do You Explain English To A Special Needs Citizen?

Explaining English to a person with a brain that functions properly is confusing in and of itself, but throw in a mental handicap of any kind and it becomes a bit more difficult. Even the spelling and grammar check on this here computer of mine is off its rocker because the “itself” in the second line of my blog, wants me to change it into “it”. That would be grammatically incorrect. Seriously though, how do you go about teaching the strange little things about the English language to a Learning Handicapped child? Patience.

Patience is the key to everything when it comes to working with a Learning Handicapped (from now on referred to as LH) child. What teachers and aids need to remember about LH students is that they ARE NOT stupid, they just learn at a different pace and will ask a lot of questions because they don’t understand why things are done the way they are in the English language. There are so many rules and they seem silly to them and, to be honest, I agree with the LH kids, some of these rules ARE silly! One time Mr. X, my 1:1 pronounced “know” as “kuh-now” and I had to tell him, “You know what? K and N, they are friends, so whenever you see them together the K lets the N do the talking so you only say the N sound”. Naturally, Mr. X, being the inquisitive and sneaky, wanting to get out of doing work, kind of guy, asked why. I told him, “You know, English, it’s a silly language. We have all these funny rules that don’t always make a whole lot of sense, but we have to follow them, so what do you think about following those rules? Do you think it’s a good idea?” And, naturally, he agreed with me and Mr. X has remembered the “Kn” rule ever since.

English is hard enough for adult English Language Learners let alone children who speak ONLY English, but have a Learning Handicap. Teachers and Aids just need to be patient and come up with some silly reason as to why there is a rule in the first place and, generally, the student will accept and will remember it for the rest of their lives. Patience is the key, they WILL get it eventually