The In-School Communication Process of Students with Learning Disabilities (LD)

Abstract

This qualitative research aimed to explore the in-school communication process of students with learning disabilities (LD) and study educational management for students with learning disabilities (LD). This study employed in-depth interviews and participant observation. The result revealed that the in-school communication process of students with learning disabilities included 1) the sender, who might be either the school director or teachers who were kind, understood the nature of such students and knew how to deal with them based on general and specific pedagogic principles to ensure they would be educated as equally as normal students; 2) the message including curriculums, teaching policies, and individualized education program planning that could meet students’ learning ability, needs, and interests; 3) the channel including instruction media integrated with innovation and technology; 4) the receiver, including the school director or teachers, capable of decoding the message sent by the sender. In this study, the sender applied different assessment methods as specified in the individualized education program (IEP) to evaluate the effectiveness of the educational management for students with learning disabilities. The research recommended the process of educational management include behavioral observation, followed by the organization of a meeting participated by the school director, teachers, and parents to summarize students’ knowledge and capability, the planning of an individualized education program (IEP) and an individual implementation plan (IIP), the verification of the plans, and the evaluation of teaching according to those plans.