Neville and potions - an unpopular opinion

[Irene]

No: HPFGUIDX 107638

If we allow that at least some of the Hogwarts pupils represent some 
features from the real world education, then Neville has the most 
obvious parallel - he is the special needs child.
Now, I maintain another unpopular opinion - that Snape's teaching method 
is not criminal and not even outside of the range of valid methods, and 
works perfectly well for average and above students. It might even be 
one of the more efficient methods for gifted students. But that's not 
the point I want to argue today.
But even I agree wholeheartedly that Snape's methods and special needs 
children should not mix. Ever. But Neville is stuck in the tough 
wizarding world, and Potions is a mandatory subject for 5 miserable 
years. He can't escape potions, he can't escape this particular potions 
master. That much is given. What I'm trying to ask is: could he, in this 
reality, do something to make his experience less miserable? Could his 
friends do something to the same affect? Again, I'm interested in 
actions within the given reality, not the wishful thinking to the lines 
of "let's send Snape to modern teaching training".
My opinion is that yes, he could. And he should. And I'm upset that he 
does not.
Neville is not a stupid boy. He should be able to analyse his own 
limitations and find some workarounds. I had several dyslexic friends, 
who went to school before schools were really accommodating about this 
sort of thing, and they all told me how they found some coping 
techniques by the age of 13-14.
Neville obviously has some problems following spoken instructions. 
Again, he is not stupid, so it must be some problem with auditory 
processing. Why does not he have them written down, in front of him? 
That's where his friends could help. Snape follows some sort of 
organised curriculum and a textbook, how difficult is it to figure out 
what's going to be the next week's potion? They could even ask Snape at 
the end of each lesson - some Gryffindor that doesn't trigger his 
temper, like Dean or Seamus, or Lavender. If that's too much, they have 
Potions on Friday, right? Presumably, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs have 
the same lesson earlier in the week, why can't Parvati ask Padma?
The only person that tries to give Neville some practical help is 
Hermione, but that's a very limited kind of help. She just helps him to 
survive the current lesson, which does nothing to his potions skills or 
knowledge. What he really needs is some help before the lesson, maybe 
just go through the instructions several times, maybe practice some 
cutting techniques. "Teach him fishing" kind of help, not give him just 
  enough fish to survive the day. Not to mention that this constant 
whispering does nothing to improve Hermione's standing with Snape - does 
anyone really believes he does not know what's going on?

Irene