"Learned helplessness" is a psychological term that comes to us from disability studies. Though the idea has applications with all students, students who are registered with Disabled Student Programs & Services (and similar) come to tutoring with an added impediment to independence: the expectation of accommodation; yet these accommodations are important in order to help students and maintain compliance with the ADA. It’s vitally important to separate the idea of accommodating a student’s needs from enabling student dependence.
• Possession: Try to let the student have physical possession over their own work as much as possible.
• Choices: When you are in the position of “recorder,” don’t fill in the blanks: offer choices rather than answers.
• Resources: Discuss how to find the answer to something and guide the student through the process rather than giving an answer upfront.
• Approach: Try different approaches to material to address students who absorb knowledge differently. (i.e. kinesthetic learners, auditory learners, etc.)
• Review: Provide extensive session notes for the student to read on his or her own. These can be written, recorded, or e-mailed (for use with reader programs).
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