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You
are here: Field Trips and Research Projects for Kids with Learning Disabilities
There are valid reasons for providing real-life, environmental experiences for students with learning disabilities: they are not only voters of tomorrow; they are among the future wardens of the Earth's remaining biodiversity and other natural resources. It is imperative that they become knowledgeable about the ecological tragedies of the past and how to prevent them in the future. First hand experiences will provide a personal link with what needs to be preserved, and increase the likelihood of a personal commitment to that preservation.
I have already mentioned that many students with learning disabilities possess tremendous gifts and talents. Prominent areas among these are painting, drawing, sculpture, dramatics, people skills, creative writing and natural history. These may occur singly, but often the individual is multitalented. In my experience, a lot of LD youngsters seem to have an innate interest and connection with nature; usually this is demonstrated at a very young age, often as toddlers. (Many parents have told me their child began collecting "bugs and things" before they walked.) If this talent is combined with artistic and/or communication talents, what better spokespersons can there be for promoting the need for and methods of biodiversity preservation?
I also have indicated the dismal statistics which exist for individuals with learning disabilities: school dropouts, failures in employment, failures in life. Among today's students with learning disabilities are tomorrow's potential Edisons and Einsteins. Can we afford to deny our future society the potential benefits and advances these creative minds may develop by denying them the means to overcome their weaknesses and nurture their strengths. The same holds true for every individual with learning disabilities who has the potential to become an independent, successful and responsible member of society employed in any field of endeavor rather than becoming a failed burden of society. We lose from their failures and gain from their successes!
Successful individuals with LD utilize their strengths in their chosen careers. This is why it is so important to nurture those strengths exhibited by students with LD. While many students express indecision about their future aspirations, this is often not the case with individuals who possess pronounced proclivities early in life. Thus, many students with LD express a desire to become involved in a career utilizing their talents at a young age: those who are young naturalists wish to become career naturalists as adults. Because many of these individuals are multitalented, their focus may change somewhat as they mature, yet it is still important to nurture those strengths they demonstrate.
Allow me to briefly use myself as an example. I am an adult with LD. As long as I can remember, I was interested in nature, especially animals. I was lucky enough to be raised within walking distance of the Bronx Zoo, and often spent part of my weekends there, not to just look at the exhibits, but to wander the extensive woods and fields, looking under rocks and logs, in streams and ponds, and usually bringing something home with me: a frog, toad, snake, turtle, tadpoles or fish. My parents and teachers always encouraged my fascination with nature, and this, together with good compensation skills and the various strategies and tricks my teachers seemed to regularly dole out prevented my learning disabilities from deterring my school success (until college).
I began keeping tropical fresh water fish at the age of seven, and at the age of ten set up my first marine aquarium, with some specimens I collected at Pelham Bay Park. I began making regular collecting trips there, and became very fascinated with marine creatures. I soon tried my hand at marine tropicals, and one of the first fishes I purchased was a small brightly colored, blue and yellow damselfish called a beaugregory. I became extremely fascinated with this fish's feistiness; it would challenge and chase after other fishes several times its size.~l remember one day when I was about 11, I was watching the beaugregory, and I said to myself, "I wonder why this fish is so aggressive? Someday, I'd like to study it."
When I entered the City College of New York, I majored in Biology. I also joined the Biological Society where my friends shared my interests, and I gained much field experience. To make a long story short, I went on to earn a doctorate in Biology from the University of South Florida, and my dissertation was entitled, "The ecoethology of the beaugregory, Eupomacentrus leucostictus . . . , with an emphasis on aggressive behavior and its endocrine control."
During my doctoral studies, I spent four years as a biology teaching assistant at USF, and then began teaching at Academic Achievement Center in Seffner, FL. The school had a significantly large proportion of students with LD; I soon discovered the reasons for the difficulties I had experienced throughout college and graduate school, and was diagnosed with LD and ADD. I also discovered that my students with LD had many talents and capabilities in spite of their school difficulties, and that many of them had interests similar to mine. As I was still involved in my research, several students began assisting me. They helped collect specimens, assisted in the surgical implantation of hormone pellets, helped record field data, and asked many thoughtful and insightful questions which helped direct parts of my research.
These students helped me realize the great potential which all too often goes unrecognized in students with LD, and that nurturing these strengths could make the difference between success and failure. I later replaced the original director of the school, changed it to a program specifically for bright students with LD, completed my doctorate, but changed my professional direction. I have now been educational director of AAC for 18 years, and am happy to say that the school has made a world of difference for a good number of students.
One of my earliest students had a great interest in science, asked many probing questions, and soon decided to become a marine biologist. As he became a little older, his questions became broader in spectrum, and even somewhat esoteric. After several years, he returned to the mainstream to complete high school, went to New College for his bachelor's degree, and just recently received a doctorate in Philosophy at the University of Florida.
Other students have become mechanical engineers, chemical engineers, medical doctors, electronics technicians, commercial artists and child care providers. One became a mortician, and has recently begun graduate studies in public health. A couple have pursued careers in the theater.
One student who had expressed a goal of becoming a marine biologist returned to AAC after beginning college to work part-time as a teacher aide. He then decided to become a science teacher, and today he is an intern in Special Education at USF, with plans to work as a high school LD teacher.
The common factor among all these past students is that their strengths, as varied as they may have been, were nurtured at school and at home, and experiential opportunities were provided whenever possible. Nurturing the strengths of students with LD via life experiences is a key to their success.
A large proportion of my current students at AAC have intense interests in natural history. Some are primarily interested in aquatic (mainly marine) biology, a couple in botany, and several in herpetology. Those who went to Costa Rica had their interests heightened, their knowledge increased; they returned with a clearer picture of their future goals and an increased determination to succeed at it. Even those whose primary interests were other than natural history were affected with regard to their strengths. One student is uniquely artistic and interested in computers and computer graphics; he spends much time drawing (even when he should be doing something else!) His drawings were usually of robots and weapon-bearing mechanical warriors. Since going to Costa Rica, there has been a decided change in his artwork; now he mostly draws scenes of worlds he is creating, filled with all manner of alien creatures and otherworldly plants. The subjects aren't mechanical, but biological. He also has developed an interest in growing plants, and recently set up his first aquarium.
This year we are planning a trip to the Peruvian Amazon which may well have the most profound effect upon these students of any trip we have taken. This is a part of the world where the Earth's biodiversity is at its richest. They will have their senses bombarded with experiences which will serve to expand their knowledge and understanding of nature's complexity and delicate balance. Those who are already nature-bugs will become even more intensely so; others will have their interests awa~ened, new areas of strength will develop, and their life's goals will become further clarified. The impact of this experience upon these students will have lifelong and quality-of-life ramifications.
Each student going on this trip will participate in a short research project, either biological or sociological in nature. For some this may be the initiation into their future careers. For all this will put into practice what they have learned about scientific methodology, as well as help develop critical thinking skills. Regardless of what strengths and interests each student has, the experience will help direct him along the path toward future success, and who knows what future benefits may be in store for all of us as a consequence.
Arnold L. Stark is Educational Director of the Academic Achievement Center http://www.iser.com/AAC-FL.html. Contact him through the center:
AAC
313 Pruett Road
Seffner, FL 33584
(just east of Tampa)
Ph: (813) 654-4198
Fax:(813) 871-7468E-mail:
ALSofAAC@aol.com
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