Assistive Technologies for College Students with Learning Disabilities
Learning Module
- Creator(s):
This learning module is designed for campus disability services centers to assist higher education faculty and instructors to better understand their students with learning disability (LD). Our hope is to help facilitators think about how assistive and web technology in the classroom can be used in instruction for the success of all students, while at the same time specifically aiming to allow for accommodations under ADA requirements. This training module is designed to help facilitators enter the classroom fully prepared for technology assisted courses and programs, as well as provide tips on planning, developing and writing course content for both classroom and online instruction that will allow for academic success.
This course is not intended to explain ADA or IDEA guidelines. It is suggested facilitators visit their Office of Disability Services or visit their institution’s Equal Access web page for further explanation of recommendations and policies for your school.
The learning objectives of the course are:
Provide a brief overview of learning disabilities and the neurological and physiological causes behind them (the hidden aspects of learning disabilities).
Define assistive technology for different areas of coursework while providing a better understanding of LD and their abilities with proper supports.
Offer ways for instructors to better manage time and resources, provide engaging learning opportunities for all students, especially those with LD.
This module is intended to be a ‘collaborative knowledge production’. Meaning we will be working from readings and works posted throughout the course, lecture given during our weekly meeting time, and through previous research you may have completed, or from experiences in your own classrooms.
Interactions during our eight-week course will take various forms:
What is a learning disability? According to IDEA, a “specific learning disability” (a term used by IDEA), is “a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which disorder may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations. Such term includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. Such term does not include a learning problem that is primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, or mental retardation*, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.” (20 U.S.C. § 1401 (30)) *Now known as intellectual disability.
Comment: In what ways could learning disabilities be misunderstood? What are the dangers of these misperceptions of hidden disabilities in the classroom?
Make an Update: View the videos with Dr. Sheldon Horowitz and produced by IDEA. Analyze an example of one of the specific learning disabilities. How it might affect a student’s success in the classroom? What are some potential strengths and limits for such a student?
Instructor Overview
The ideal instructor for this course is someone who has a degree in Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction Development, or Technology, preferably a Master’s Degree or higher. This course is designed to allow the learners to gather information in eight separate self-paced lessons regarding curriculum and instruction development and to think about ways they can utilize assistive technology in the classroom to assist in the academic success for students with learning difficulties. Each session will take an hour to an hour and a half based on the institution. Much of the learning will come from the readings and videos the students will watch after the live session. In addition, students will learn a great deal from their own inquiry and by doing research on the subject during the given week.
Lesson Overview
Begin the first session, introduce yourself, then have the students introduce themselves. During their introductions, ask them to talk about their interest (or lack thereof) in using technology in the classroom. Each introduction should take no more than three minutes. Should the class consist of more than ten students then split the introductions over multiple sessions.
After introductions, explain the foundational information regarding Learning Disabilities and Other Disorders, give an overview of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and define accommodations and the responsibilities of academic institutions and instructors. Reference the Third Edition of the National Center for Learning Disabilities 2014 report entitled “The State of Learning Disabilities”:
Definitions of common LD of OHI:
Discuss definitions of LD:
Refer to pages 3-5 of the State of LD Report.
In the State of LD Report touch on the data showing the numbers students graduating from high school and moving on to high school. How many are accepted into college and how many are graduating. Touch on the reasons mentioned in the report as to why students are not completing Higher Ed with success (pg. 28-29).
ADA and 504s:
Reasonable Accommodations:
Helpful Tips!
Be the timekeeper for introductions – try to keep them to three minutes each. Thank them for their time and for sharing!
Stress importance of having an open mind toward multiple learning styles.
Most importantly – let us have fun! Remind students that this is not intended to be a lecture on how to teach their subject, but rather a curriculum to run parallel to their plan of study that allows for success for both the instructor and all students, regardless of learning style.
It is almost an everyday occurrence, in today’s college classroom for students to almost demand copies of lecture notes and/or PowerPoint lecture slides. Studies have shown repeatedly, however, that students benefit more from handwriting their own notes. This allows for successful retention of content and better recall. As we have learned for students with learning disabilities, taking notes can be a very difficult task. If a student presents with a learning disability and has an accommodation request for note taking, it is imperative to provide them with the best format for successful learning. Let’s take a deeper look into the process of note taking and some suggestions for Assistive Technology.
So, why take notes anyway?
Comment: Review the various AT available (image and YouTube video) for note taking and read the Association for Psychological Science article Take notes by hand for better long-term comprehension. Comment on which items you feel might best assist a student with specific learning disorders knowing what you know about the benefits of taking notes by hand.
How your "working memory" makes sense of the world
"Life comes at us very quickly, and what we need to do is take that amorphous flow of experience and somehow extract meaning from it." In this funny, enlightening talk, educational psychologist Peter Doolittle details the importance -- and limitations -- of your "working memory," that part of the brain that allows us to make sense of what's happening right now.
Make an Update: Watch the video How your “working memory” makes sense of the world by Peter Doolittle. How does the task of listening and taking notes during lecture relate to working memory? From what you have learned about learning disabilities, discuss in what ways having to listen and take notes while learning might be a challenge for a student with LD.
Lesson Overview
If there are students who have not introduced themselves, then start the class with more introductions. Begin lecture by discussing what technology can do for students with disability.
Weekly Course Discussion:
We are in the midst of a technology and mobile innovation revolution, especially in education. For students with disabilities reliable assistive technology is at the heart of their academic success.
The Assistive Technology Act (1998), written by President Bill Clinton, was drafted in a way that is consistent with the development and use of assistive technologies around the world:
“Any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities. AT service is directly assisting an individual with a disability in the selection, acquisition, or use of an assistive technology device.”
In other words, when you see someone wearing a hearing aid, using prosthetics, employing speech-to-text software or other tools, they are using assistive technology.
Alternatively, when students receive extended time for exams or assignments, have a note taker or precompiled notes from an instructor, or have other personal non-technical aids, they are receiving an accommodation for a documented disability.
Over the eight weeks, we will be discussing seven major areas in which students with LD can face the most difficulty in the classroom:
1. Listening and Taking Notes in Lecture
2. Reading Large Amounts of Complex Text (i.e. College Textbooks)
3. Writing Essays and Thesis
4. Organizing Study and Works Efficiently
5. Preparing for Exams
6. Memory/Recall on Exams
7. Manage Higher Stress Levels than Other Students at their Grade Level
This week we being our discussion with Listening and Taking Notes in Lecture.
Poor fine-motor (small muscle) coordination can result in poor handwriting and difficulty manipulating small objects. Visual motor coordination problems make it difficult for the hands or feet to obey visual commands in such activities as copying from the board, cutting a pattern, typing, or writing. Auditory motor problems interfere with following spoken directions or listening and taking notes at the same time.
As we learned in week one, students with dysgraphia, dyslexia, and some processing disorders can be affected.
Learning disabilities do not go away as people age. They are there for a lifetime. We must do what we can as a society to assist them in finding ways to best navigate a world that is not always designed for them. Let’s end this class with a short video made by two students with disability, who attend Mills College in Oakland, California. After the video, we will take a few short minutes to discuss.
Instructor Tips
Be cognizant of time again this week. There is a lot of information to cover.
Highlight key components of note taking technology and how instructors might best assist prior to lecture.
Provide thoughts on continuing to improve in the classroom by engaging students in various sensory formats.
Once young adults make it to the college level, they are often overwhelmed by the amount of required reading. Keeping up can be a challenge when reading is not one’s strongest skill, especially with a visual processing issue. Text comprehension, decoding, vocabulary, and fluency at the college level can be very difficult for many students at the neurotypical level, let alone for a student with specific learning disabilities. This is where assistive learning devices are can be helpful, with the proper training and technical support. Technology has come a long way even in the last five years; there are so many options. The trick is finding the one that works best for the text in question and for the student’s specific needs. Read the following article from LD Online and the video presented by AccessibleMedia Tube to view some available options for reading tools. While reading and watching, think about the types of readings required at the Higher Ed level and think about the difficulties we have discussed already that student with LD experience.
Comment: List a few of the various suggested Assistive Technology devices for reading that you feel would best assist a student with visual processing issues. What, in your opinion, would be the biggest struggle in using these devices – specifically for a person with fine motor issues, as learned in week one? Could this pose further struggle for students? How could we best assist in this case? If you find this frustrating from an instructional standpoint, what emotions do you feel a student might be experiencing at this point?
Update: After viewing the video by Dr. Sheldon Horowitz on Visual Processing and reading the various articles by Beth Arky from Understood, what are your feelings on the benefits of trying to find other ways to present material aside from strictly reading complex text from textbooks? Are there other ways information could be presented? If the textbook is the only manner to give large amounts of information, what are your thoughts on the best ways to assist students with learning disabilities in capturing this information successfully?After viewing the video by Dr. Sheldon Horowitz on Visual Processing and reading the various articles by Beth Arky from Understood, what are your feelings on the benefits of trying to find other ways to present material aside from strictly reading complex text from textbooks? Are there other ways information could be presented? If the textbook is the only manner to give large amounts of information, what are your thoughts on the best ways to assist students with learning disabilities in capturing this information successfully?
Lesson Overview
This week we being our discussion with Reading Large Amounts of Complex Text.
When it comes to reading, several processes pose a problem for students who have learning disabilities. The areas of the brain the process language information and that, which processes incoming information, such as from reading, are two separate processes. For students with learning disabilities, we often see issues with the following specific learning processes:
Visual Perception Problems: Letters may be seen in reversed order or be confused, even with perfect eyesight. Many fail to see some letters, words, or even whole paragraphs; may confuse letters and symbols that are similar, such as the letters b and d, or g and q. They often omit ends of words and may jumble spaces between words. It is common for students with these problems to misinterpret facial expressions and confuse emotions like boredom, anger, frustration, or sadness. They may not always note the end of a conversation.
Memory Problems: Some LD students have difficulty with word and information retrieval. Short-term memory than with long-term memory are often a problem. Again, word and information retrieval is an issue, as they search for words, names, dates, and thoughts that seem lost inside their heads.
Sequencing Problems: Students with sequencing problems may have difficulty with the order and arrangement of letters and numbers (spelling and mathematics), following step-by-step outlining, choosing priorities, organizing notes, and keeping track of important materials. Often noted are generalized difficulties in understanding the structure of a lecture or readings and often have difficulty connecting main ideas to subordinate ideas.
Again, every student is unique and every disability is unique. Some students may have greater deficits in certain areas, while others may have strengths in those same areas. Any combination of issues can cause further struggle and confusion. The descriptions above are just to give an idea of the processes of the brain that might be causing delays and deficits and which require assistance and support.
Perceptions can cause problems for students with visual, memory, or sequencing problems, too. The 2014 report from the National Center for Learning Disabilities points out:
As we learned in week one and week two, students with dysgraphia, dyslexia, and processing disorders all can find reading difficult. Despite this hurdle, they can find success with the right supports. Let’s look at a short video of American poet, and the founder/director of The Writers Studio, Philip Schultz, as he discusses his journey with dyslexia. Let’s watch…
Instructor Tips
Begin class with any further introductions, if need be. Take time for any housekeeping issues, with regard to agenda, or homework posts, etc.
Start lecture with questioning feelings on readings and feelings and perceptions of accommodations.
Are we beginning to empathize with the frustration and struggle? Can we begin to transition from labels like “Lazy” and “unmotivated” to “hardworking” or “creative”, for instance?
Frustration has been a key word throughout our lessons. Writing essays and thesis in college can be one of those times. Dysgraphia and dyspraxia are the two key brain deficits wreaking havoc in this one area of academics. Not only is it a disorder of working memory, it also includes underlying issues in orthographic coding, orthographic loop, and the hand and finger movements that result in writing (graph motor output), as well as the executive functioning skills required for letter writing. Wow. That is a lot of neuro and physiological process talk! Even so, bear with us, here. All of these processes happen – normally, for most – in a split second. For students with specific learning disabilities, the challenge of writing may not happen so naturally and can be frustrating and incredibly time consuming. Mix that in with the time being consumed just to understand a specific topic and spelling individual words, and figuring out what an instructor really wants them to say and it becomes a recipe for failure – that is, without the right tools and support to create a successful paper.
To add to this idea, as we poet Philip Schulz pointed out in last week’s meeting, reading and writing go hand-in-hand. Without success in both areas of reading and writing, turning in a successful written assignment, without the proper supports and accommodations, might just prove impossible for those with specific learning disabilities.
Comment: After viewing the assistive technology solutions video and reviewing The Pedagogy Wheel V2.0 developed by Allan Carrington of Designing Outcomes. Comment on a few ways in which AT might help your students achieve successful writing supports for your courses. What challenges might they face?
Visit the Teacher Tube Web Site to view the video entitled: Cognitive Process of Writing available here: http://www.teachertube.com/video/cognitive-process-of-writing-274724?utm_source=video-google&utm_medium=video-view&utm_term=video&utm_content=video-page&utm_campaign=video-view-page
Update: Writing is important in every area of study. It is one of the few ways in which a professor or instructor can rate at which a student has grasped the concepts of a specific course. Take a moment to view the video Cognitive Process of Writing. Now that you have a sense of the complexity of the process of writing (something that comes so easily to many), discuss how it could go wrong for those who have deficits in working or visual memory along with other underlying motor and feedback issues. Is it understandable how extended deadlines for writing or research projects, essays, and thesis might be appropriate accommodations for those who find writing problematic? If so, how might we as an academic society better accommodate students with writing and reading accommodations?
Lesson Overview
Words are spoken to us from the very beginning of our lives. We are constantly receiving messages. Not only do we learn and develop cognitively from these messages, we also learn how to communicate and navigate the world from this type of verbal interaction. This verbal learning process leads to the process of other communication, such as reading and writing. Experts have been researching how the process of learning has worked for years. We now have a foundational understanding of the process, thanks to the greats like Thorndike, Pavlov, Skinner and even Chomsky, who set research on fire with his research on Universal Grammar. However, when something goes wrong in that process, as we see in for kids who have learning disabilities, we do not always understand where the process fell apart and, we often understand even less how to fix it, or how to help, or what tools to use to help them achieve. Nevertheless, we are learning that the best way to teach kids with specific learning disabilities, especially in the area of writing is to teach toward their strengths, rather than force them to lean into their deficits.
Matthew Peterson, a dyslexic, has one such concept of teaching. Peterson’s program Teaching without Words at the MIND Research Institute in California has seen great success for teaching math through visual learning. Let’s watch his TEDx Talk of the same name and then discuss our feelings on such a concept for college students. While we watch, think about how we might utilize such a visual learning concept for teaching other subjects for those with language and processing difficulties.
Let us discuss further the idea of ways we could creatively teach without words. In other words, add to our lectures and lessons in ways that all learners, regardless of disability or deficit, could learn and excel.
Through the weekly assignment, we have a better understanding of how dysgraphia might interfere with writing essays and thesis. Dr. Steve Graham explains the process of learning to write a little further. Let’s watch and discuss some possible options for Assistive Technology at this level:
Instructor Tips
At the beginning of the class. Check in with students. Gage how they are feeling about the course, thus far. Take any housekeeping questions and try to leave a few minutes at the end of the class for any potential Q&A.
At the college level, students are required to advocate for themselves. This means they must manage every aspect of their college life. From class to class, project to project, test to exam. They are responsible for discussing their disability and accommodations with each instructor/professor. They are responsible for managing their accommodations. They are responsible for managing their time from their academic workload, to social outings, to extracurricular events. Many times without parental support and now without the extra support they once received under their Individualized Education Plans (IEPs). This can be overwhelming, challenging, and difficulty to navigate – especially when dealing with varying work styles of everyone with whom they must work, from the Office of Disability Services, advisors, professors, staff, and fellow students.
Students must know how to plan their time, how to map out deadlines, create study schedules, create a safe place to study, understand available resources, and most importantly the student must absolutely understand their specific learning disability, their barriers to success, and know when to ask for help.
This is a heavy burden to carry alone, especially when organization and planning are a real problem. As discussed in other lessons, executive functioning issues are common in students with specific learning disabilities.
Comment: It appears, based on much of the information available to us, in most cases, that information related to executive functioning issues are relegated to children in K-12. Yet, we do see many young adults to adult learners experiencing these same difficulties. Comment as to why you think there might be research and information lacking beyond K-12.
Update: Executive Functioning is an individualized problem and one that can be difficult to assist with at the classroom level, especially in Higher Ed. However, there are ways in which an instructor/professor might be able to offer assistance. We have shared many potential accommodations and media regarding Executive Functioning; what are some ways in which you could direct your course planning that might be beneficial to the class as a whole?
Lesson Overview
Today we are going to jump right in and discuss Executive Functioning and how it affects Organizing Study and Working Efficiently. Joyce Cooper-Kahn and Laurie Dietzel
With this example as a base, let's turn back to the question of what specific abilities are covered under the umbrella term of executive functioning. Below is the list of executive functions from Dr. Gioia and his colleagues. We've included a specific illustration of each executive function from our case study of Robin in parentheses after each definition.
The executive functions are a diverse, but related and overlapping, set of skills. In order to understand a person, it is important to look at which executive skills are problematic for her and to what degree.
Instructor Tips
Take time to discuss each area of executive functioning. Have participants chime in and contribute from this week’s asynchronous assignments. Also, take time for questions in this area, since there is much discussion in the field related to strengthening executive function skills.
Save time at the end of this week’s synchronous session for questions.
For students who have received accommodations for other areas like note taking, reading, or writing, it is possible that student will have a documented accommodation for exams. Some of these accommodations might include:
There are additional steps instructors can take to make for successful exam preparation for all students, including those with learning disabilities. A few suggestions:
Comment: By understanding testing issues for students with LD, how might it be easier to prepare to assess their understanding of the subject matter for which you are presenting? Are there other ways aside from essays or written tests for which a student might be assessed?
Update: Read the article What Is Personalized Learning and What Does it Mean for Kids with Disabilities? by Meghan Casey, Policy Research & Advocacy Associate at the National Center for Learning Disabilities. If you have time, view the webinar presenting NCLD’s personalized learning program. Write an update on your thoughts on how this movement might assist students and young adults at the Higher Ed level. How might understanding Personalized Learning assist faculty in creating or designing courses toward a more inclusive curriculum and instruction?
Lesson Overview
Discuss the current research and data for young adults navigating life after high school. Discuss success factors as presented by NCLD. Also talk about the article by Samuel Bagenstos from the Democracy Journal entitled The Disability Cliff.
Instructor Tips
Be sure to explain why it is important to know statistics and the benefits of academic success for students with specific learning disabilities.
Note that while it can be construed as extra work during curriculum development, it is a benefit from a public health standpoint and a societal standpoint.
Thank the students/participants for their willingness to participate in the modules and for working hard to think creatively and positively.
University of Worcester
Strategies for Creating Inclusive Programmes of Study
Short-term memory is the ability to hold information for a limited time, such as visual images (e.g. a shape or face) and / or phonological / auditory information (e.g. a spoken telephone number or sentence). Information can be held in this way for a few seconds. If information needs to be held for longer, a system of rehearsal can be used (e.g. repeating a number to yourself to help you remember). Should one of these skills fail to work in some way, this could lead to specific short-term memory problems. However, problems that appear to be due to poor memory can also have other causes, such as inattention, language difficulties and general learning difficulties. Therefore, a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment is necessary in order to reliably identify a specific memory disorder and rule out other possible causes of problematic behaviour.
Students with short-term memory disorders can also have particular problems in a number of areas, including:
(Cited from: https://uk.scips.eu/challenges/memory/)
Comment: After reading about Short Term Memory and viewing the Working Memory video, what are some modifications you can make in your course that would benefit possible documented accommodations for students with specific learning disabilities? How might it benefit all students?
Update: Working Memory is an issue for students with specific learning disabilities, as we have discussed previously. What are some ways in which students are required to use working memory in your course and what are some creative ways to boost working memory and executive function in your specific discipline? Please provide some examples.
Lesson Overview
In order to help a student with their best learning strategies, we must consider their strengths. Howard Gardner of Harvard has identified seven distinct intelligences. This theory has emerged from recent cognitive research and "documents the extent to which students possess different kinds of minds and therefore learn, remember, perform, and understand in different ways," according to Gardner (1991). According to this theory, "we are all able to know the world through language, logical-mathematical analysis, spatial representation, musical thinking, the use of the body to solve problems or to make things, an understanding of other individuals, and an understanding of ourselves. Where individuals differ is in the strength of these intelligences - the so-called profile of intelligences -and in the ways in which such intelligences are invoked and combined to carry out different tasks, solve diverse problems, and progress in various domains."
Gardner says that these differences "challenge an educational system that assumes that everyone can learn the same materials in the same way and that a uniform, universal measure suffices to test student learning. Indeed, as currently constituted, our educational system is heavily biased toward linguistic modes of instruction and assessment and, to a somewhat lesser degree, toward logical-quantitative modes as well." Gardner argues that "a contrasting set of assumptions is more likely to be educationally effective. Students learn in ways that are identifiably distinctive. The broad spectrum of students - and perhaps the society as a whole - would be better served if disciplines could be presented in a numbers of ways and learning could be assessed through a variety of means." from "The Distance Learning Technology Resource Guide," by Carla Lane.
Instructor Tips
Make correlation between multiple intelligence and students with specific learning disabilities. While they may not learn in the same manner as neurotypical students, they do have strengths and abilities when given the right tools and supports. We are trying to show that accommodations are a good thing – not a hassle or time suck. These are students worthy of our time.
It is a fact that many college students keep their learning disabilities a secret. Now, more than ever, colleges and universities are working toward increasing awareness of services available to students with specific learning disabilities and encouraging students to disclose their conditions before issues arise. While graduate rates have given administrators a push toward inclusiveness, it is a step in the right direction for students with learning disabilities. Managing stress and anxiety at the upper grade levels. Being out on their own for the first time in the life, managing things on their own brings about a level of freedom and independence. They really want to do this on their own, especially after a lifetime of navigating an often unwelcoming and sometimes abrasive world of special education and social services. They just want to be “normal”. However, students with disability quickly find out that the world is not so accommodating. According to the National Center for Special Education Research, only 34% of students with LD complete a four-year degree within eight years of finishing high school.
Now, the federal government is putting more pressure on schools to improve their graduation rates and has suggested doling out federal funding based on an institutions success rates. Yet, in some ways, this could hurt acceptance rates for those students with learning disabilities who are able to make it to college and can do so successfully with the right tools and supports.
One such strategy for success is Universal Design for Learning (UDL):
Comment: How do you think programs such as Universal Design might better help students navigate higher education and how might it assist in managing stress and anxiety?
Update: View the video by Dr. Sheldon Horowitz entitled Strengths of Students with Learning Disabilities and Other Disorders, how does understanding neurodiversity help you to understand the types of strengths these individuals might have to offer to your course, to your institution, to your community?
This week’s topic is a tough one, for sure, and we saved it for last for a reason. Anxiety and stress befall us all. Hopefully, by now, we have given you some insight as to how a student with specific learning disabilities might experience stress and anxiety, more so than most, and how managing it might prove even more difficult for such students. Throughtout the past eight weeks, we have learned, kids with specific learning disabilities have a lot of pots to stir, a lot of responsibility, all at the same time navigating a new world, one in which they have, up until now, received support and personal assistance. They have just been dropped into a foreign and often times abrasive world, one that is not always accpeting of differences, especially ones that cannot be seen, or readily understood. They are, as I dare say, square pegs trying to fit into a circular world of academia and of social life. What we have hoped to have accomplished through this course is to shed some light as to our role, as fellow human beings, in helping to smooth the edges for these students. To help them fit in, to find success in college - a place where they want to be - and etch a place for themselves in this world. In the end, they are just like the rest of us, except, as we have come to learn, they have to work a little harder, use different tools, and seek out extra support to meet the same goals. Why would we, as educators, want to add more stress by placing more hardship on that struggle?
Today, in this time, I would like to talk about ways in which we can provide support and “accommodation” that might help alleviate stress and anxiety, even if it is for just one course, one topic area, or for one assignment.
Discussion Starter: What are some ways in which we might take all that we have learned in the eight weeks and bring it all together to help alleviate stress and anxiety for our students? Do you feel differently today than you did on day one regarding ways in which you might provide accommodations to those who require them? Do you feel differently about creating curriculum that is inclusive to all learning styles? Why or why not?
Instructor Tips
End class with final thoughts and survey instructions.