As a special education teacher, I'd say that the ADD and the learning disability are the easiest to deal with - I've had both in my TKD class, and neither is particularly difficult. Kids with ADD (and adults, too) do best when you don't spend too long on any one thing - changing activities, or at least changing the activity itself (doing different techniques in line drills, changing forms, etc.) provide enough stimulation to help keep the student on task. Learning disabilities are often related to reading, writing, and math, and often aren't a problem in the dojang - when they are, multiple modality instruction is the most effective - do it, say it, show it, manipulate the student through it, etc.; the more ways you can present the information you want the student to learn, the more success he'll have, and the sooner you'll find out which learning styles work best for him. The developmental delay is most likely the cause of the learning disability - in which case, hands-on, concrete instruction will work best; theoretical information will be particularly hard for this student to pick up. Show him how, break movements into small steps and teach them separately, and then recombine them - that will be the most suited to his needs.
How you break things down will be determined by his learning style - but I have a student with an IQ in the 60s and cerebral palsy as well, and small steps is what has worked best for him - for behavior as well as performance.
The bipolar disorder is something you can't do much about, except to acknowledge where he is in his cycle. People with bipolar disorder can be fast cyclers or slow cyclers - which means they can shift from depression to mania in anything from weeks (fast cycling - and occasionally hours for them, but it's rare) to years. Medication is intended to moderate the mood swings - but at 14, puberty and the hormonal shifts that accompany it will be wreaking havoc on his medication levels, and there's really nothing anyone can do about it except watch him closely. If you want the technical definitions for bipolar disorders, look
here - but be aware that diagnosis of bipolar disorder in anyone under the age of 18 is suspect (as are diagnoses of similar biochemical mood disorders) because the predominant symptom in
all biochemical mood disorders in children is fidgety behavior - which is why so many of them (80% or more) are diagnosed ADD/ADHD first, and then diagnosed something else later. I'm not saying this boy
isn't bipolar - just be aware that as he progresses through puberty, the mood stabilizers for the bipolar disorder may interact with the stimulants for the ADD... and generally not well. I have a student at school who is ADHD and bipolar... and 14... and puberty is playing hell with his medications, his moods, and his behavior - we've had him for 2 years (6th and 7th grades - he's now in 8th grade) and still can't contain him on far too many occasions.
Oppositional Defiant Disorder is often a precursor diagnosis for Conduct Disorder, which cannot technically be diagnosed until the age of 18. Given this boy's other diagnoses, I'd be cautious with this diagnosis - whether he is ADD
and bipolar, or just one or the other, that biochemical disorder, along with the developmental delay, is impacting his ability to pick up on and react to social cues properly, and what is most likely being seen is frustration.
Now that I've nattered on far too long about the various diagnoses, my suggestions would be as follows:
- be
consistent - consistency will be the key with this student. Don't ever make a promise or threat and not follow through on it, or you'll lose all control. He
must believe that you will do as you say, or you won't be able to teach him the rules you want him to follow.
- be
concrete - tie anything you possibly can into his own life experiences and/or experiences he may be anticipating, as this will provide the connections necessary for him to understand
why as well as
what - without those connections, you might as well be speaking French. For example, if you want him to speak politely to people, point out that this is a skill needed to hold a job - and he might as well start practicing now. If you want him to wait his turn in line or move on a certain side of the room, point out that this is a skill he'll need when he learns to drive. If you want him to perform a technique at a certain level, give him a specific target - not "low", but "belt knot". Abstractions of any type will be difficult for him because of the developmental delay, and will cause frustration, which will lead to behavior problems.
- provide lots of positive reinforcement, and as little negative reinforcement as you can. This will be hard, especially in the beginning - but try this exercise with your regular class: go the entire class without saying "no" or "don't"; instead, say "try this" or "change this" - and use positive reinforcing words like "good" instead of negative ones like "wrong". It has an amazing effect on nearly everyone - and will be particularly effective with this student.
- when you are ready to put him in your regular class, prepare your other students. If you think it won't freak them (or her) out too much, have his mother come to speak to the class - or, as Iceman suggested, talk to his school; maybe his special education teacher will have some ideas for you, and/or might be willing to talk to your class about what behaviors to ignore. I know that I, as a special education teacher, appreciate knowing what my students do outside of class; it gives me more things to connect new learning to. If your other students know what to expect, they can help you guide his behaviors - especially if they know what to ignore. Many negative behaviors are designed to gain attention - if everyone ignores those behaviors, and responds positively to desired behaviors, the negatives ones will be more readily replaced with the positive ones you desire. Without the help of my other students, the student I mentioned earlier would be a holy terror - but because the other students are so much help in guiding him through things, he does quite well... he's still a 7th gup after 6 years, where a student who started 3 months before him has been a black belt for 2 years, but he's taught me, and everyone else, quite a lot about perseverance along the way.
Also - if you do talk to his teacher, and he is in special ed (and I can't imagine that he's not) - make sure you get a release from his mother. Legally, the school can't talk to you without his mother's permission. If there's an occupational therapist who works with him, you might talk to that person as well.
Good luck, and let us know how it goes!
