I work as a part-time instructor teaching writing to adults with developmental disabilities and those in the gray zone

I work as a part-time instructor for a writing program at a welfare facility. I believe the reason I was approached, despite not having a teaching license, reveals the "difficulties" that adults with developmental disabilities and those in the gray zone face. In this article, I would like to talk about that.

As for what Machika-sensei usually does, I share information about writing on note and social media, hold group lessons at a writing school, provide private lessons, go out as a lecturer, do writing-related work as an editor/writer (individual), and work as a writing (wording) consultant for companies.

Wow. That's a lot!
But I think the work of "writing" is just that broad.

A few years ago, I was approached about teaching writing. They asked me to hold a writing course for people with developmental disabilities, mental disabilities, and those in the gray zone.

They said they thought, "This is it!" based on the articles about my writing school that I had been posting. After a meeting, I started helping out as a part-time instructor. During that meeting, I demonstrated a lesson. The reaction I received then was a major realization for me.

It has been 12 years since I started my writing school, and if you include the time I spent as a private tutor specializing in writing before that, I have been writing with many children for about 20 years. Through that experience, I have come to believe that there are many different backgrounds behind why children "cannot write compositions" or "do not write compositions".

・Resistance to trying something (activity) for the first time
・Takes time to write characters / gets tired
・Has the motivation but finds it difficult to understand the rules
・Good at speaking but bad at writing
・Writing ability cannot keep up with the desire to write
・Cannot remember or associate things related to the theme
・Writes sentences, but grammar and structure are missing
・Talk jumps around, attention wanders, stops halfway
・Difficulty grasping the theme of the assignment or what they want to say in general
・Always writes in the same pattern
・Doing it because parents told them to (attending school), so they are not convinced about being here now

Machika-sensei believes that every child can write. That is why, when there is a child who cannot or will not write during a lesson, I start to wonder, "Why is that?" The important thing is not to ask the person directly, "Why don't you write?". First, I observe while working with them. From there, I provide the necessary encouragement for that child. I think about how I can encourage them so that they can enjoy writing.

I thought that was a matter of course. In other words, I thought that communication is something you do by adapting to the other person. Because, after all, teaching means conveying, right?

But apparently, that was not normal. By "not normal," I don't mean it's strange (probably), but I learned that it means it is not widely practiced. Conversely, I am worried on my own about how much burden is placed on school teachers who teach one-to-many...

I mentioned earlier that it is good to observe and provide the necessary encouragement for the child. In fields such as education and developmental support, this is called "assessment". When people hear "assessment," many think of developmental tests or intelligence tests, but assessment is not just that. What can they do, and what are they having trouble with? How they chat, how they interact with other children.

What I thought was communication was actually assessment. During the demonstration lesson at the meeting, I was told it was "an assessment that doesn't feel like an assessment," and I realized, "That's true." I don't have a teaching license, but perhaps I was unconsciously interacting that way because I majored in psychology at university.

At the facility where I work as a part-time instructor, there are support professionals and education professionals. I was asked to be involved there as a "writing professional". I think it is truly wonderful to be able to support people who have difficulties together. I am very happy.

Things I have heard from people who feel difficulty in writing. The voice saying, "It's painful to lose out or get into trouble because I can't write.". That is very earnest. Adults (18 and older) after leaving educational institutions like special needs classes or developmental support are very worried about where they should train for that, and their families are too.

Speaking of support organizations, they would be welfare facilities that provide life support and employment support. I am involved there as a part-time instructor in charge of the writing program. Sometimes interested businesses come from outside the prefecture to observe.

As I wrote in the site map↑, I started note because I had a desire to create content called "Writing Training for Children with Developmental Differences". This article is the first in the series.

I look forward to working with you from here on out☆

I started writing this article as "The Problem of Developmental Disabilities Being Bad at Writing?" At first, I thought, "I'll start by writing about what I've done so far", but... it got long, and I thought it might be better to end it here and change the title. So I changed it to "I work as a part-time instructor teaching writing to adults with developmental disabilities and those in the gray zone."

I would like to write about why people feel they are bad at writing in a separate article (from the second installment of the series onwards).