The Research Dialogue

Abstract

The very essence of an inclusive learning is to cater to the educational needs of all students regardless of their varying learning styles and patterns, this not only helps in ensuring holistic developments for our students but also promotes strong relationship building opportunities among both neurotypical and neurodivergent students. After all, in its simplest terms inclusion does mean equal opportunity and participation for all & with all. With regards to children with Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia or any other learning disability, it gets very hard for them to gel up with their peers in the class, this could be due to many factors like feeling of incompetency, lack of self esteem, poor social interaction skills, etc. which hinders their social participation inside and outside the classroom. The objective of this paper is to explore the effectiveness of buddy systems as an educational approach to promote social inclusion and academic assistance via peer support in an inclusive classroom set up. For this study, the author reviewed numerous journals, research articles, blogs, research papers, newspapers, along with their own observations and understanding regarding the merits of buddy system for a child with specific learning disability. Buddy system is an excellent strategy to promote learning and social interaction among students not only inside the classroom or school premises but also during other important events that do not significantly involve the academic area, it is recommended that such a strategy should be put into use more often since it also sensitizes and creates awareness among neurotypical students to assist and respect students with special needs.

Keywords: Specific learning disability, peer buddy systems, inclusive education, teaching strategies, educational intervention, inclusive classroom, etc.