MCLB #1

When one is literate, it means that he or she is able to use a variety of tools to understand the world and convey his/her thoughts to the world. These tools could be anything from being able to read, write, and speak, but also being able to draw, sing, perform, and so on. It is any module that allows for your brain to take in the world and also give an opinion back. Being literate means being able to absorb information and contribute to any discourse through a variety of means. These variety of means can come from the strengths of students with different intelligences. As Collins says, literacy is no longer just one form of verbal/written expression. The expression can also be kinesthetic and visual. Language is complex, so must be its forms of expression. With its complexities, also come with complex difficulties for many learners with specific disabilities, as Lupiani-Farrell and Matthews say.

Ability and disability, as Collins says, is seen based on how learners interact with different activities in the classroom. Ability is what the students can do and disability is what the children are seemingly
unable to do on the first few attempts. By positioning students in certain environments can teachers
tell where weaknesses lie. However, by not providing enough avenues for expression can students of
different backgrounds and prior knowledge can hinder the debut of their abilities. This can then be seen
as disability.

A disability is a wall on different pathways of the brain. It can create blocks that make it more difficult

for someone with a disability to achieve literacy or understanding. However, that does not mean that

someone with a disability cannot achieve literacy or understanding of the world. It means that they, and

educators, have to think of more creative ways to get around the “wall”.

The way we currently teach literacy is not particularly helpful for those who need helping climbing over

the wall because literacy is taught linearly and cumulatively as a lesson to be learned and not necessary

as a skill to be acquired. Linearly means simply that you learn one skills about literacy in order to attain

the next based on what an instructor has showed you. The cumulative nature implies that a learner has to

understand the former before moving onto the latter. However, with a wall in place in the mind of a

student with disabilities, they need other methods to understand literacy. The difference between

acquiring skills and learning lessons is that acquisition is much more involved with retaining useful

information in a practical, skills-based experience. Meanwhile, learning is more involved with traditional

forms of instruction of straight retention and regurgitation of information in an abstract format. This is

what Paul Gee says in “A strange fact about not learning to read.” In addition, as Kluth &

Olcott-Chandler say, we have to presume competence within our students. We, as educators have to

believe that even those who present with disabilities are capable of acquiring skills. Competence in

literacy is difficult to acquire, particularly for young learner who already have many difficulties, whether

they are identified with disabilities or not. Already from this course, what I’ve noticed is an emphasis

made on multiple means of expression and engagement. As educators, it create equity in the classroom,

we must constantly learn and understand that there is more to literacy than what a student can write,

read, or say to others. It is most important for them to strengthen those skill sets, but also to allow for

learners to give what they can, as unique as it may be.

References

Images:
https://en.unesco.org/sites/default/files/styles/img_688x358/public/infocus_ild2015_drupal.jpg?itok=_vXkr_W9

http://cpccorkaccountants.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Learning-Disability.png

Readings:

Kluth & Olcott-Chandler (2007), Chapter 2

Lupiani-Farrell, M. & Matthews, F.M. (2010). Ready to Read: A Multisensory Approach
to Language

Collins (2011)

Gee (2014) Chapter 1: “A strange fact about not learning to read” from Situated
Language and Learning, pp.6-17