Topic > Teachers Face Challenges of Students with Disabilities

In this chapter we have discussed the many challenges teachers face when teaching students with various disabilities. It was found that, with the exception of a few teachers who knew exactly the needs of these students, most teachers used methods that they believed would help them in learning. Changes have been made to teaching methods based on the nature of students' disabilities and the demands of the subject taught. In the case of some government universities, parents reportedly assisted in the laboratory due to the absence of support staff. For students with visual impairments and/or learning disabilities, repetition was found to be the preferred method for explaining everything from economic diagrams to sociological concepts. However, implementing this method was time consuming. While, in general, students with disabilities were encouraged to ask teachers for help beyond class time, it was observed that students with learning difficulties rarely did so, perhaps due to the social stigma attached to their disability. Regarding teaching students with learning disabilities, it was found that the majority of teachers did not make any special effort to meet the needs of these students, perhaps because their disabilities were of a hidden or invisible nature. In contrast to the lack of information on how to accommodate students with learning disabilities, the majority of teachers were able to rate some measures as facilitating learning among students with visual impairments, such as encouraging students to sit in the front row , read aloud any text that has been presented in visual format or by making study material available in electronic format. The burden, however, fell on the study… at the heart of the article… 7–24. Reddy, Raghava C. 2011. “From Impairment to Disability and Beyond: Critical Explorations in Disability Studies,” Sociological Bulletin, 60(2): 287–306. Sharma, Umesh, Dennis Moore and Sanjeev Sonawane. 2009. “Pre-service teachers' attitudes and concerns regarding the inclusion of students with disabilities in regular schools in Pune, India,” Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 37(3): 319–31. Singal, Nidhi. 2005. “Mapping the Field of Inclusive Education: A Review of the Indian Literature,” International Journal of Inclusive Education, 9(4): 331–50.––––. 2006. “Inclusive Education in India: International Concept, National Interpretation,” International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 53 (3): 351–69.––––. 2010. “Doing Disability Research in a Southern Context: Challenges and Possibilities,” Disabilities and Society, 25 (4): 415–26.