One thing I learned very soon in my work with people with severe and persistent psychiatric disabilities is that most of them want to learn. I would go so far as to say that all of these special needs people want to learn if they are given the right environment and skilled and caring teachers. I can honestly say that I have never had as much fun teaching as I did when I was teaching groups of men at a residential rehabilitation facility.
The first requirement is that the students must feel safe when they are in your classroom. They must realize as soon as possible that they will not be humiliated either by their teacher or their peers. The residents must also feel that they are " smart enough" to succeed in your classroom. My clients had a n extremely wide variance in their educational backgrounds and abilities. I taught residents that were functionally illiterate and residents that held university degrees and everywhere in between. Severe and chronic mental illness is no respecter of intelligence or academic ability. The teacher's challenge is to teach a lesson that will have meaning for all the residents despite the variety of academic skill levels.
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