Fat City Workshop

FAT CITY WORKSHOP Angelica Bruschi EXC 4020 Georgia State University

F.A.T.? F Frustration A Anxiety T Tension A workshop run by Mr. Rick Lavoie, intending to shed some light on the daily perspective of students with learning disabilities.

F.A.T.? In the workshop, Mr. Lavoie simulated a classroom environment from the perspective of a child with learning disabilities. There was no need for the adults to play the part of the student, since learning the content was hard enough. Everyone was able to see first hand how everyday tasks all of a sudden became quite difficult.

Mr. Lavoie began his lesson; but he did so by talking quickly and asking for responses immediately, hardly giving anyone time to think. Experiencing Experiencing F Frustration, A Anxiety, and T Tension By doing so, Mr. Lavoie was demonstrating how prone teachers are in becoming frustrated with students with disabilities without understanding that they are creating an environment that is full of anxiety and tension.

Risk Taking Mr. Lavoie continued to speak quickly as he was giving the lesson ; he was also quick to reprimand anyone who did not answer correctly. Because of his actions, when he asked for a volunteer, no one raised their hand. The actions of everyone in the class proved the point that students with learning disabilities do not often take risks (like volunteering) because they dislike surprises and dislike the constant lack of positive reinforcement.

Visual Perception Four common mistakes teachers who have students with learning disabilities make: 1. Look at it harder! 2. Try to reward 3. Try to take things away 4. Blame the victim (ex: student is not trying hard enough)

Reading Comprehension Mr. Lavoie pointed out that teachers often just assume that students with learning disabilities can still read at the same level as other students, which is not always the case. Students with reading disabilities often struggle with making sense of individual words, which is why they read so slowly and carefully sound out sounds.

Effects of Perception on Behavior Mr. Lavoie had his participants title a painting he had shown them. After asking one participant if he could share her title, he berated her because she had not perceived it the same way he had. But I didn t do anything wrong By doing that, Mr. Lavoie was showing everyone how oftentimes students with learning disabilities will get in trouble with their teachers because of differences in perception.

Oral Expression Kids with learning disabilities often suffer from dysnomia ( tip of the tongue situation) Mr. Lavoie stated two functions of the brain: storage and retrieval He also explained how tasks are separated into associative or cognitive; speaking often becomes a cognitive task for students with disabilities, since they have to think harder in order to get their entire sentences out.

Reading & Decoding An activity was conducted in which the participants had to read a passage with the letters b, d, p, and q switched up. Students with learning disabilities often read the same way. The example shed light on the fact that students do need auditory methods of learning in order to take in the information. Everyone found themselves struggle to make sense of the words and really took the time to sound everything out.

Fairness I can t do that It isn t fair to the other students Mr. Lavoie pointed out that fairness in the classroom is not equality for all, but rather making sure everyone gets want they need. Therefore, it is not fair that a student with disabilities not have access to a better understanding of the lessons because it wouldn t be fair to the others

Summary The FAT city workshop did an excellent job of allowing people who do not have disabilities experience the learning environment as someone who does. By doing so, FAT city workshop helps gain a better understanding for students with disabilities and how to help them.

WORKS CITED https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yIp6ez6iWs