Other Benefits

I currently am not doing any field work but I am taking an adapted education class that works with communication handicapped children. These student are not ELL students, but they do have a problem either receiving and processing information or expressing themselves. I found this somewhat similar to dealing with ELL students because they are both challenging to interact with. I found myself using words they did not understand and having to use trial and error until i found a word that made sense to them. I also used demonstration which i feel could be useful with ELL students as well. Gestures and facial expressions were also very important in my opinion. If students aren't picking up on the verbal communication, odds are good that they are picking up on atleast some non verbal communication. I just found it interesting that there were similarities between ELL students and communication handicapped students and the methods that can be helpful in dealing with both groups.