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I was recently chosen to give a speech on behalf of students with learning disabilities at my college. So, here is that speech:

My name is Kristen Lash, and I just graduated last Saturday with my degree in Child Development. I would like to thank the MCTI task force for the invitation to speak to you all today, and for the opportunity to advocate on behalf of students with disabilities. Before I begin with my experiences here at NIU, I'd like to take the opportunity to tell you a bit about my background.

I grew up in a small town about 4 hours south of here. Not to brag on myself or anything, but I was always a smart kid. I loved books from the time I was 2, and I was already starting to read even before I entered kindergarten.

I started having problems in school around third or fourth grade, when teachers were starting to send more homework home. I would forget to do it, or when I did it I would forget to bring it or hand it in. I was having terrible trouble paying attention in class. I was always fidgeting or rocking my chair on its back legs or simply staring off into space not taking in a word. My grades started to suffer, even in classes I enjoyed.

However, when it came time to take standardized tests, I always scored incredibly high. I was consistently in the 98th and 99th percentile. So, I got labeled as lazy. My grades in class didn't match my standardized test scores, so the teachers simply said I wasn't living up to my potential because I wasn't trying hard enough.

In fifth grade, they started giving detentions for not doing homework. I was in detention all the time. I only had one detention my entire school career that was for something other than not doing homework, and I had to have had at least 50 detentions. If you're curious, that detention was for running in the hall.

So, I became a C average student, with A's and B's in math and science, and C's and D's in English and History. I tried talking about this to my high school counselors a couple of times, but they always just pulled out my standardized tests and then said that according to those, I should be able to keep up, so I must just not be trying hard enough. It stayed like this from Junior High all the way through my third year of college. But then came NIU, and a wonderful professor named Edward Klonoski.

I was a music major at the time. Dr. Klonoski teaches a class called Aural Skills. In this class, you learn to dictate music. It trains you to listen to small sections of music and be able to remember and write down the chord progressions, the melody, and the bass line after only 3-4 playings. I struggled very much in this class. It is a progressive class that you take for 4 semesters. I barely passed the first semester. In the second semester, Dr. Klonoski talked to me in his office one of the times I came in for help outside of class. He had a book in his hands about how dyslexia can effect the way people hear music. He told me that many of the problems I was having in his class reminded him of what he had read in this book and asked if I had ever been tested for learning disabilities. I said that I hadn't, and I wouldn't even know where to start. He told me to call psychologists, so I did. I couldn't afford any of them. So, Dr. Klonoski did some research for me. He told me about the psychological services center on campus. They perform the tests for much cheaper than a normal psychologist, and let me make payments on it. So, I got tested.

Through the testing, we found out that I have ADHD, a working memory deficit, and an auditory processing deficit. No wonder I couldn't do Aural Skills: That class played to every weakness I have. I also found out that standardized tests play to every strength I have.

So, what does this all have to do with the MCTI? What can you, as NIU professors and instructors, learn from this story, and what can you do for students with disabilities?

I hope that the first thing you take from this story is that you, as professors and instructors, are also still learners. The best thing you can do for students with disabilities is to educate yourselves. If a student comes into your classroom with a disability you are unfamiliar with, there are many resources that you can learn from. There are books out there, and articles, and right on our very own campus we have the Center for Access Ability Resources. CAAR is a wonderful resource for both students and instructors. I learned so much about myself and my disabilities by talking with my coordinator at the CAAR office. However, the best authority on a student's particular disabilities and needs is the student themselves. Don't be afraid to ask them questions. However, remember that you don't know this student, and this student does not know you. Being blunt and direct is not a good idea, at least at first. Some students will not be comfortable talking about it, so approach them sensitively. When they come up to you with that letter from CAAR detailing the accommodations they need, it's okay to ask them what you can do as an instructor to better help them that may not be mentioned on the form. This lets them know that you are supportive and interested and gives them an opening to talk to you about their disability, but it also does not make the student feel pressured into talking about if they don't want to. In using this question, also remember that you are not REQUIRED to do anything that's not on that form. Just use your best judgement. You don't have to bend over backwards for a student, but if it's a simple request, it can mean the world to the student. For example, I remember a professor who usually left the door to the classroom open. I would get distracted every single time someone walked by. So, I asked him if we could keep the door closed during class time. Of course that's not on the form, but it was a little thing that made a world of a difference in my ability to focus in that class.

And, really, what kind of child development major would I be if I didn't talk a little theory? Remember that people learn in different ways! Just because a person has a disability doesn't mean that they can't learn. It simply means that they learn differently! I am a huge fan of Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences theory. The more ways you can present the materials in your curriculum, the better off ALL the students in your class will be, whether they have disabilities or not. This can be a bit difficult to do in a lecture class, I understand that. But even very simple visual aids, or memorable examples and anecdotes of the material you are presenting can go a long way. Even a math class can be presented in many different ways. I had a trigonometry teacher in high school who would put difficult definitions and concepts to the tunes of familiar songs. I can still, 8 years later, remember the long and complex definition of a mathematical function, because he put it to the tune of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” He also put a difficult formula to the tune of “If You're Happy and You Know It” and had us bunny hop around the room.

Also, I hope you learn from this that there is a possibility that there will be students in your class who have been marginalized or labeled, like I was, and have not been diagnosed. Be sensitive to this. Keep your eyes open and keep yourselves educated so that you know what signs to look for. It's never to late to catch someone who has fallen through the cracks. You could be the key to a student's success and help them find the path they are meant to be on, just like Dr. Klonoski did for me.

And one last thing: Simply be there for your students. No matter their background, no matter their issue, make yourself approachable. You cannot help your students if they are not comfortable coming to you.

Let me put you in a student's position. Imagine you are a student having trouble in a class. You walk into a professor's office. You are feeling a whole host of emotions: You're scared that you're going to fail the class. You've been labeled your whole life, so you're fully expecting the professor to do the same. You are feeling like a complete failure. You just KNOW the professor is going to tell you that there's no hope of you getting through this class, that you either need to stop being lazy or leave. You almost don't go, but you've had the appointment set up for a while, and it's too late to cancel. So, you walk into the office with all of these thoughts going through your head. But, instead of getting what you expected, the professor greets you warmly. Not only does the professor not label you as lazy, she doesn't label you at all. She acknowledges the problems you are having in the class. She offers you some help to find out WHY you are having these problems. Imagine your surprise and relief at this; given the experiences of every other teacher you've had.

This was the experience I had with Dr. Klonoski, and I will be forever greatful to him for it. I have also had wonderful experiences with almost all of the faculty in the child development major. They are almost all lecture classes, but the professors are good at giving memorable examples, and they all do the best they can at providing hands-on experience. If you can make your class hands-on, you will do wonders for ALL of your students.

Thank you again for the invitation to speak here today, and I look forward to answering any questions you may have for me.