Tutoring Students with Special Needs

While tutors still follow the MOE curriculum and syllabus, they still have more freedom than school teachers to tweak these goals and objectives according to the students. They can develop their own goals and objectives based on what is suggested and apply them to their students. With special needs students, tutors have to be patient and take the time to consider the goals they want to achieve with their students. As such, the student should also be taken into consideration when setting up goals and objectives.

Being a home tutor and seeing your student reach their academic goal is satisfying enough, how much more with a student who requires special attention and care?

Special needs students are more apprehensive with their surroundings, shy with new people, and are generally guarded when it comes to interactions. Getting them comfortable around their home tutor is one of the main objectives a tutor should have before the start of the session or at the first session. In home tuition, the more comfortable and open the student is with their home tutor, the smoother home tuition would go. This is because the tutor would be able to properly understand the needs and struggles of the student and thus, can effectively formulate a plan to tackle the issue.

Additionally, earning the trust and respect of a special needs student isn’t an easy feat. If they are not comfortable with their home tutor, they may tend to become stressed out if the tutor is near them. It will defeat the purpose of tuition and may make it more painful for them to continue with the sessions.

Unfortunately, after gaining their trust and acceptance, the challenges don’t stop there. There is also the matter of helping these students understand concepts. As mentioned, they require more attention and care. As such, like every other student, they don’t learn the same way. A method may work on one special needs student but not on another. They may require a new style of teaching altogether, as they may find learning the common approach difficult.

With every concept they retained and understood, consider that a victory on your part and the students ‘ as well. As mentioned, it’s not an easy feat, and considering they retained the lesson, it’s already a good job for both the tutor and student. Additionally, the level of satisfaction is much higher with the student thanks you for teaching them. Some students feel left out of their classmates and lessons but with the tutor’s help, they can get back on track and catch up to their classmates.