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DDLP forms bond between developmentally disabled adults, student tutors
Hannah Levintova
Issue date: 4/24/07 Section: Features
The Swearer Center for Public Service's Developmentally Disabled Literacy Program - which has undergone a revival in recent years - pairs Brown students and developmentally disabled adults from the Providence area for one-on-one tutoring that emphasizes developing literacy and basic life skills.
The adults, who are called "learners," range in age from 23 to 60 and have disabilities such as muscular dystrophy, Down's syndrome, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis and bipolar disorder, and a few are also blind or mute, said program coordinator Vijay Narayan '08 and assistant coordinator Rudmila Rahman '09. All of the adults are transported to Brown weekly from about six residential facilities to work with their Brown student tutor for an hour and a half.
Thirty-six students currently work with DDLP, Narayan said.
Each tutor is asked to commit to the program for the full academic year, promoting long-lasting bonds between tutor and learner. Narayan has been tutoring the same learner for the past three years.
"That's an evolution," Narayan said. "It really takes a lot of time for the tutor and learner to bond."
The program helps to facilitate this bond by giving each tutor a written list of commitments and expectations. Narayan said he organizes about two tutor training sessions each semester, arranging guest speakers and activities geared toward teaching tutors how to best interact with and teach developmentally disabled adults.
DDLP emphasizes the idea that tutoring must revolve around the individual needs of each learner, Narayan said. Thus, while tutors promote literacy, they often teach subjects specific to the desires and abilities of each learner.
"My learner wants to be able to go into a restaurant and look at a menu, get the right change and know how much to pay," Narayan said. "So we started with basic addition and subtraction."
Narayan attributed the program's success over the past two years - it has 36 active tutors this year, compared to only 10 in 2005 - largely to the continual dedication of the tutors. This year, the program received so many applications that a waitlist had to be created.
The adults, who are called "learners," range in age from 23 to 60 and have disabilities such as muscular dystrophy, Down's syndrome, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis and bipolar disorder, and a few are also blind or mute, said program coordinator Vijay Narayan '08 and assistant coordinator Rudmila Rahman '09. All of the adults are transported to Brown weekly from about six residential facilities to work with their Brown student tutor for an hour and a half.
Thirty-six students currently work with DDLP, Narayan said.
Each tutor is asked to commit to the program for the full academic year, promoting long-lasting bonds between tutor and learner. Narayan has been tutoring the same learner for the past three years.
"That's an evolution," Narayan said. "It really takes a lot of time for the tutor and learner to bond."
The program helps to facilitate this bond by giving each tutor a written list of commitments and expectations. Narayan said he organizes about two tutor training sessions each semester, arranging guest speakers and activities geared toward teaching tutors how to best interact with and teach developmentally disabled adults.
DDLP emphasizes the idea that tutoring must revolve around the individual needs of each learner, Narayan said. Thus, while tutors promote literacy, they often teach subjects specific to the desires and abilities of each learner.
"My learner wants to be able to go into a restaurant and look at a menu, get the right change and know how much to pay," Narayan said. "So we started with basic addition and subtraction."
Narayan attributed the program's success over the past two years - it has 36 active tutors this year, compared to only 10 in 2005 - largely to the continual dedication of the tutors. This year, the program received so many applications that a waitlist had to be created.