Lapbooking has great benefits for many children, and I fully believe nearly every special needs child can greatly benefit too. Reasons it can help special needs children are:

• engages both side of the brain while, coloring, folding, cutting and gluing.
• less writing then typical worksheets
• much more engaging then worksheet, as there is short written answers, cutting, pasting and more involved.
• able to be used more interactively for review

Lapbooking also increases the parent/child interaction.  Sometimes with special needs children, we need positive ways to interact together.  Lapbooking can create these opportunities. Below you can see what friends from Facebook had to say about using lapbooks in their homeschool with their special needs children.

Stephanie says: “I have a son with SPD and Reflex non-integration disorder. Fine motor skills are really tough. Often I have the whole lapbook assembled before we start the unit. From there he can glue in answers where appropriate whether they are supplied or I type them up. He feels very proud of his lapbooks because they express his knowledge without stressing the fine motor issues he faces.”

Heather  says: My slower learner and my child with memory problems are better able to remember and tell others about information we have learned by lapbooking. The act of crafting while learning and remembering gets both sides of the brain working! :) Love lapbooks!

Carol says: My son learns information so much more quickly when putting together a lapbook because it isn't just something I am telling him to remember, but it is something he can see and feel and interact with. And, if he needs a quick refresher, he can go back and look at it again. We just started using them over the summer and I am looking forward to incorporating them into school this year.  

Jen says: Lapbooks are perfect for the tactile learner, totally hands on and the children feel ownership of their learning when they put the items on the folders in such an artistic way using them over the summer and I am looking forward to incorporating them into school this year. Nicole wrote: "Yes! My children require repetition, different presentation of materials, as well as hands-on experience for a full learning experience. Using lap books helps us achieve this."   Jennifer wrote: "My children love it. It gives them something to do with their hands while I read to them. Plus they love going through them again and they need that repetition."

Are you using lapbooks with your special needs children?  What are the benefits you have seen?