A dillema

[tn5986]

I am currently teaching traditional TaeKwon-Do and am having a bit of a moral dillema. I recently had a student transfer in from out of state as a 1st gup. This in and of itself is a non issue, however the student has some learning disabilities which impact his retentive capacity. He has no problem learning his Hyung required for promotion, but his difficulty lies in remembering his previous patterns. It is getting close to test time and i have been working wth him for close to six months. One one hand want to allow him to test for 1st Dan because he puts in more effort than the vast majority of my other students and his technique is quite good, on the other hand, as a black belt, he should know all the required Hyung and with his disability he cannot remember them all. Has anyone else experienced a similar situation? Any advice?

[sensei8]

Sleep on it. If when you wake up and you still feel the same way about it, and if that be that you'd rather not test him, then don't test him. I personally have never had this type of situation, therefore, I don't envy you for the decision that your facing.

Speak with YOUR instructor for his/her advise and/or speak with your organizations governing body for their advise. Your organization might not approve the test if your student can't remember all of the required Hyungs. I'd also speak with an expert in the field of learning disabilities in order to get their advise as well. Learn about this disibility!! Bottom line is that it'll be your decision in the end.

Aside from not remembering all of the required Hyung's; is this student black belt material in YOUR eyes? I'd seriously consider the learning disability, then, I'd come to my final decision off that.

Good luck!

[joesteph]

Have you been in contact with his previous instructor, who had to make decisions regarding testing that brought him to 1st gup?

It does not lower your standards to recognize a problem that is mental rather than the obvious physical and permit advancement.

[bushido_man96]

Good advise from sensei8.

This would be a tough decision to make. Try taking some different approaches to learning, and see if it changes things for him. Also, try providing some resources of the previous material that he can review or keep on hand to jog his memory. That is one option.

On a side note, Albert Einstein was once quoted as saying, "don't memorize anything that you can look up." I look up forms all the time. Just a thought.

[sensei8]

Good advise from sensei8.

This would be a tough decision to make. Try taking some different approaches to learning, and see if it changes things for him. Also, try providing some resources of the previous material that he can review or keep on hand to jog his memory. That is one option.

On a side note, Albert Einstein was once quoted as saying, "don't memorize anything that you can look up." I look up forms all the time. Just a thought.

Solid post!!

[etali]

Is this the first person with a disability to pass through your dojo?

Within my organization there are a couple of people with minor physical disabilities, and allowances are made for them. I'm sure the same thing would happen with a learning disability too.

Personally, If you think more time would help him learn what he needs to know to pass the normal standard, then I'd hold him back. But, if he really is doing everything he can, and he'd pass everything else and it's just one problem that he can't help, then perhaps that's a case for making allowances?

[Kruczek]

If I were in your shoes, I would be asking myself if the student was able to explain the application of moves. Kata are patterns and the student is unable to remember those, but how about their ability to teach people to use these katas effectively?

If another student approached this potential black belt and said "sensei can you explain what I am supposed to be doing here" could they do that?

The other thing I would be consider is how I differentiate between black belts and sensei status. Of your current black belts, if one wanted to branch out and start their own dojo (in good standing with you) what would be the requirements? It used to be a Shihan no Menjo (like a 5th or 6th Dan equivalent) when students could teach on behalf of the master rather than assist them. If this student is simply going to be assisting you teach - then I wouldn't be overly concerned if they can explain things. If you let any black belt teach on their own on your behalf (at their own dojo for example) - then this is highly problematic and I would either get them on the same page about teaching independently or keep them at 1st Gup.

Again - If I were you.

[still kicking]

My 2 cents worth and my humble opinion -- it seems to me that 6 months from 1st kyu/gup to 1st dan would be the minimum for even a particularly able and talented student who has trained in the same school all along. If he just transferred into your school 6 months ago, and has some learning issues, I say, what's the big hurry? Perhaps with more time reviewing the forms he will be able to remember them. In any case, I would want more time to work with him before deciding that he really couldn't remember, and whether or not to promote him anyway. We have a very learning disabled student who has been at 8th kyu for a very long time. She said she wanted to be mainstreamed, so she is held to almost the same expectation as everyone else. Keep in mind... once they are a black belt you can't take it back, and waiting a little longer never killed anyone.