1. Love the Student

The greatest need of your students with disabilities is to feel understood, included, and loved. Avoid putting all members with disabilities, of any age, in the ward in the same "Primary" class just because each has a disability. Try to have each individual with peers their age for as much time as the individual, family, and church leaders feel is possible.

Be respectful of the individual. Treat them as you would any student by trying to provide age appropriate activities, stories, and music.

2. Create a Class Schedule

Create a class schedule, outlining the order of prayer, song, lesson, etc. to help your student feel more at peace. Providing a personal schedule may be helpful to some students who might not otherwise see the relevance of a schedule on the wall.

State your lesson objective at the beginning of class in students' terms. Make sure they know from the beginning what they are expected to learn. Connect the content to them. Avoid simply stating a topic, describe the effect you hope the lesson to have upon them.

For example, instead of stating "today we are going to speak about kindness," try instead saying something like, "Today we are going to learn from Jesus' example how we can be kind to our families."

Both creating a schedule and stating your objective simply and specifically can help reduce anxiety for some students.

3. Speak to Parents

Speak to parents to find out what your student enjoys. If you find that their child loves baseball, for instance, you might use a story about baseball to teach a principle. Teacher and parents should fill out a plan together, addressing:

• The specific goals/wishes for the child
• Specific needs or accommodations
• Health concerns
• Things to avoid / things to try (e.g. identify distractors)
• Behavioral concerns

4. Look for Ways to Keep All Students Engaged

Adjust Seating Arrangement to Avoid Distractions

• Try to eliminate or reduce distractors such as piano, doors, and certain children.
• Consider: if child is not seated in the front, do they know where to focus?

Start with an Attention Getter

• Make it quick, short, and tailored to your audience

Break Up Your Lesson

• The average child’s attention span lasts 5-10 minutes with some lasting as a few as 30 seconds. Making a schedule will help you to effectively break up your lesson. Don’t not simply pass from one item to the next. Allow students the opportunity to move. For example, begin the lesson sitting in chairs, but stand up to sing a song, and then sit on the floor next to read a story.

Use Visual Aids

• Use images or tangible objects. For example, when teaching about the baby Jesus, allow students to hold a doll as if they were holding baby Jesus. You may notice that they handle the doll with great care.
• Warning: Be cautious when inviting students to pretend or use their imaginations as this can be challenging for some children, particularly those with autism.

Leave Ample Wait Time

• Resist the fear of silence and allow students enough time and enough silence to think. Some students with disabilities require extra time to process and respond to questions.
• As a rule of thumb, leave at least five seconds of silence for children to reply after a question has been asked.

Let All Actively Participate

• Have students turn to a partner and share throughout the lesson. Ensure that all find a partner or partners.
• Include actions (everyone touch your head) or use sign language with songs or activities.

Use Music and Drama

• Try to use music with every lesson to help teach and reinforce what you are teaching. You can also help support learning by having students act out a story or watch others act something out.

Use Art

• Invite students to draw a picture of the story you told them. You might start a drawing and let each finish it.

5. Take Time to Compliment

Every few minutes, take time to compliment students for good behavior. Some adults are good at catching children behaving poorly, but not nearly as good at catching them behaving well.

Be Specific

• Being specific is key for kids. Try compliments like “Good job staying seated,” and “I like how you raised your hand!”

Compliment by Name

• Try calling students by name when giving positive reinforcements. Try name tags if necessary.

Report Good Behavior to Parents

• Tell parents what went well, and not just went wrong.

6. Reward the Good

Make a reward the students can earn for being good, such as reading a story together, going for a walk, or getting to play a game.

Let students know your expectations for being good. State clear, measurable, and simple rules at the beginning of class. Follow these guidelines when establishing rules:

• Make between three and five rules together with your students.
• State the rules positively and in “kid” language.
• State the rules in observable and measurable terms.
• Always enforce the rules with their associated consequences- both positive and negative.

Example Rules

• I sit in my chair.
• I keep my hands, feet, and objects to myself.
• I raise my hand to talk and use a six-inch whisper.
• I follow instructions the first time they are given.
• I walk in the hall with my arms folded.

7. Consider a Co-Teacher

A co-teacher might be helpful. When two leaders share the responsibilities of the class, one can focus more fully on assisting the individual needs of all the students in a class. This is very different than one teacher called for one child with special needs which can lead to negative results. A willing teacher can be over-loaded with the most challenging classes simply because he/she can't say no. Please be sensitive to this.