When many teachers ask themselves the following question, “Why does my student with Down syndrome learn differently?”, many might answer: “because they have a disability”, and well, yes, we know that one of their characteristics is the intellectual disability, but then, perhaps it would be more convenient to ask ourselves, how do they learn?
Firstly, we must remember that every person is different, whether they have a disability or not, therefore, the answer to why they learn differently would be: because they are a person. But, as educators, we should not be content with just knowing this, but rather, strive to learn a little more about the characteristics and needs of our students. This is where the “how?” comes in.
Learning Difficulties in People with Down Syndrome
Well, to begin, it is worth mentioning that people with Down syndrome often have learning difficulties due to the alteration of some brain functions that are “related to the prefrontal cortex.” (Flórez, 2016), a region of the brain responsible for cognitive processes that are required for learning in the school environment, in most educational systems.
However, knowing this should not be enough either, if our intention is to collaborate in our student’s educational process. Perhaps it would be more convenient to ask ourselves a third question: how can I help them from the classroom? To do this, below, we will briefly review the characteristics of the processes mentioned in the previous paragraph, in relation to Down syndrome, and some suggestions to apply in class:
Students with Down Syndrome: Best Practices
To begin, we will talk about attention, which is a basic and indispensable cognitive process for selecting relevant stimuli from the environment that lead us to achieve objectives. This is precisely one of the main difficulties that students with Down syndrome may present, especially if there is a lack of motivation: “motivation plays a relevant role in attentional capacity as it drives our behavior according to the objectives, intentions, expectations, and/or rewards that are to be achieved” (Garrido, 2000).
For this, it is advisable to reinforce their achievements, recognize their effort and involvement in completing tasks, seat them at the front or in a place where they can see and hear better, offer them a small moment of rest, for example, to drink water.
Memory and People with Down Syndrome
Secondly, we will talk about memory, which is the basic cognitive process that allows us to encode information that reaches us sensorially (for which we also need attention), then store it, and finally retrieve it when necessary.
Many people with Down syndrome may have significant limitations in both short-term and long-term memory, or, in other words, difficulties in retaining, processing, consolidating, and retrieving the information they receive. However, this does not mean that they cannot learn; in fact, they can remember more things than we imagine, especially if the information they receive has more visual than verbal content.
Visual Support in the Classroom
Regarding this, we can offer them visual support with images or videos; encourage the use of an agenda; ask them to repeat instructions before starting a task, and if necessary, also provide them in writing as a list of steps to follow; use the modeling technique; anticipate the content to be worked on; and make methodological adjustments both in class and in evaluation.
The Importance of Language in People with Down Syndrome
Now we move on to a slightly more complex function, one that allows us to communicate and express ourselves: language, which, although not an exclusive process of the prefrontal cortex, is related to some functions that depend on this region, for example, memory.
Most people with Down syndrome often have language alterations at the level of articulation or fluency, but, if you use simple words to communicate something to them, they can understand what you say, even if it doesn’t seem like it; that is, they tend to develop receptive language more than expressive language.
To facilitate this, we can use pictograms or communication boards (especially at early ages or when verbal language does not yet exist); provide clear instructions one at a time; seek eye contact; use simple language when conversing; look for synonyms, examples, or propose experiential activities when they need to learn abstract concepts.
Organization and Planning Strategies
Finally, we will talk about the so-called executive functions, which are those more complex cognitive processes that give us the ability to self-regulate, organize, pursue goals, and adapt to complicated and novel situations. Many of these are essential for optimal development in the educational context, for example, those mentioned below:
- Inhibition: ability to stop inappropriate behavior generated by a certain stimulus, to generate one more adapted to the specific situation we are in.
- Planning: allows us to design action plans to achieve specific objectives.
- Reasoning: faculty for solving various types of problems.
- Cognitive flexibility: adaptive ability that gives us the faculty to make changes to something that was already established or planned.
- Initiation: ability to start tasks or activities independently.
- Organization: action related to planning, ordering, and monitoring tasks for a purpose.
In a large part of schoolchildren with Down syndrome, we can observe difficulties in these functions; however, we can compensate for this by offering them alternatives to negative behaviors they may present; using organization and planning strategies such as: self-instructions, checklists; or encouraging them to start class activities.
Learning in Students with Down Syndrome
In conclusion, to understand how my student with Down syndrome learns, and to be able to support them, we need to carry out three essential actions:
- The first is to invest time in understanding their learning characteristics, that is, their strengths and weaknesses; however, for this, it is not enough to know the general particularities of Down syndrome, but we also need to identify the student’s personal qualities beyond their diagnosis.
- The second is to learn to work as a team with the family and other professionals involved in their educational process.
- The third, to believe in them.