While children with Down Syndrome do experience learning challenges in regular classrooms, the good news is that they can reach their potential with specific teaching strategies that align with their learning strengths.
A person's dominant hemisphere is the one that processes incoming information. For right-brained learners who learn best via images and movement, learning content that is predominantly designed to match left-brained processing is going to be a challenge. If we want to help all our children learn to the best of their abilities, it will be important for us to lead them in activities that will strengthen their ability to process in their less dominant hemisphere. Sometimes we call this "whole brain learning."
When presented with details in isolation, visual learners can come to an abrupt, stammering halt. They appear to be slow and incapable of grasping what seems amazingly simple to their sequential peers. Thinking in whole pictures is actually a wonderful ability, it is just not utilized in traditional lessons.
