As parents and Primary teachers prepare for a new year of gospel instruction with “Come, Follow Me,” a resource from the Church for teaching children with disabilities may be helpful.
“Teaching Strategies for Children with Disabilities” is a series of 10 videos produced by Brigham Young University’s David O. McKay School of Education and can be found on disability.ChurchofJesusChrist.org and in the Gospel Library app in the Disabilities section under Life Help.
The webpage and 10 videos are now available in 10 languages: Cebuano, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish and Tagalog.
“We know that so many of our teachers in the Church have never taken a course on teaching,” said Katie Steed, disability specialist in the Church’s Priesthood and Family Department. “We want them to feel confident that they can have the tools to be successful in their desires to teach all of God’s children about His gospel.”
10 strategies for teaching children with disabilities
Each video is about a minute in length and is available for download.
“As you watch this series,” the webpage states, “remember that the teaching techniques described in each segment can apply to all students in the classroom, even if that particular technique is utilized for an individual student.”
The 10 parts of the series are:
- Good Teaching is Good Teaching
- Attention Getter
- State Objective
- Attention Span
- Using Visual Aids
- Wait Time
- Active Participation
- Music and Drama
- Using a Schedule to Help Reduce Anxiety
- Positive Behavior Strategies
Simple concepts, big difference
Steed, a former associate clinical professor at BYU and a mother of a son with autism, is featured in the videos. She has witnessed these strategies help engage children with disabilities.
“I’ve had people come up to me that I never knew before and tell me that they have seen the videos and how they have helped them when they teach Primary. That is so exciting to me,” Steed said. “Someone once shared with me how simple and easy the concepts in the videos were and yet what a difference they made in her class when she implemented them.”
To see more of the Church’s resources for members with disabilities, visit disability.ChurchofJesusChrist.org. This webpage is also available in 10 languages including ASL.
