Learning Disabilities
Learning disabilities are problems that affect the brain's ability to receive, process, analyze, or store information. These problems can make it difficult fora student to learn as quickly as someone who isn't affected by learning disabilities. There are many kinds of learning disabilities. Most students affected by learning disabilities have more than one kind.Certain kinds of learning disabilities can interfere with a person's ability to concentrate or focus and can cause someone's mind to wander too much.Other learning disabilities can make it difficult for a student to read, write, spell, or solve math problems.
- Impaired academic performance
- People with learning disabilities have average or near average intelligence
- 50% of all classified students with disabilities are classified with learning disabilities
Types of Learning Disabilities
Dysgraphia
- Person has average to above, average intelligence
- letter reversals
- letter transposition
- omission of letters or words
- poor spelling
- illegible handwriting
Dyscalcula
- Person has average to above average intelligence
- difficulty with numbers
- spatial problems
- difficulty placing numbers into vertical columns
- difficulty performingcalculations
Criteria Identifying a Learning Disability
Discrepancy approaches to classification are based on the notion that there is an identifiable gap between intelligence and achievement in particular areas:
Discrepancy approaches to classification are based on the notion that there is an identifiable gap between intelligence and achievement in particular areas:
- Oral expression
- Listening comprehension
- Written expression
- Basic reading skills
- Reading comprehension
- Mathematical calculation
- Mathematical reasoning
The team may NOT identify a child as having a disability if the lack of achievement is the result of:
- Visual, hearing, or motor
- Intellectual disabilities
- Limited English proficiency
- Emotional disturbance
- Environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage
- Lack of instruction
What are the Signs of a Learning Disability?
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What Causes them?
No one's exactly sure what causes learning disabilities. But researchers do have some theories as to why they develop. They include:
No one's exactly sure what causes learning disabilities. But researchers do have some theories as to why they develop. They include:
- Genetic influences. Experts have noticed that learning disabilities tend to run in families and they think that heredity may play a role. However, researchers are still debating whether learning disabilities are, in fact, genetic, or if they show up in families because kids learn and model what their parents do.
- Brain development. Some experts think that learning disabilities can be
traced to brain development, both before and after birth. For this reason,problems such as low birth weight, lack of oxygen, or premature birth may have something to do with learning disabilities. Young children who receive head injuries may also be at risk of developing learning disabilities. - Environmental impacts. Infants and young children are susceptible to
environmental toxins (poisons). For example, you may have heard how lead(which may be found in some old homes in the form of lead paint or lead water pipes) is sometimes thought to contribute to learning disabilities. Poor nutrition early in life may also lead to learning disabilities later in life. - Neurological Influences: Damage may be inflicted on the neurological system at birth by conditions likelow oxygen, low birth weight, and possibly someinfections
- Maturational Delay: slower development of language skills, problems in visual – motor area & academic areas
Learning Involves Four Stages of Process:
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People with learning disabilities have trouble with one or more of these steps; they have difficulty taking in,organizing, and/or acting on information their brains receive through the senses. That information can be nonverbal, but more commonly, the difficulty has to do with understanding or using written or spoken language. The problems are based on brain structure and function: a case of poor wiring in one or more areas of the brain.
Learning Disability Symptoms that appear in Elementary & Secondary schools
Grades K-5:
Grades K-5:
- Has difficulty pronouncing words, reversing letters or transposing syllables
- Has difficulty carrying out a sequence of directions
Doesn't hear fine differences in words; e.g., writes "pin" for "pen" - Has problems stating thoughts in an organized way or describing math problems in words
- Confuses the order of letters in words or numbers in a math problem
- Doesn't recognize words previously learned
- Spells a word several different ways; doesn't recognize the correct version
Grades 6 to adulthood:
- Has difficulty remembering something just read
- Has difficulty concentrating when reading or writing
- Is unable to tell important information from unimportant details
- Spells poorly; misspelling is not phonetic
- Has great difficulty with the mechanics of writing
- Has problems taking notes or copying math problems accurately
- Has difficulty organizing and completing written project
Tips for General Education Teachers
- Keep verbal instructions brief and simple.
- Have the student with a learning disability repeat directions to you, to ensure understanding.
- Use mnemonics in instruction to aid memory.
- Intensify instruction by repeating same points several times.
- Provide additional time to learn material
- Collaborate, communicate, and coordinate various services that a student with learning disabilities might be receiving, be an active participant in the student’s IEP.
Organizational/Tech:
- Color-coded notebooks
- Folders with pockets kept in class
- Assignment pads or planners
- Supplies •Computers with spell-check
- Franklin speller
- Calculator
- Copy machine
- Tape recorder
- Books on tape
- Check backpack
Typical Accommodations
Classroom: Seating arrangement, removing distracting bulletin boards, placing students near the teacher or the board Materials: Books with lower grade level vocabulary, pencil grips, computers, calculators, study guides, using graph paper for math, rulers for writing Instruction: Peer tutoring, cooperative groups, multi-modal instruction, direct instruction, advanced organizers Curriculum: Emphasizing the major points, emphasizing concepts over rote memorization Homework: Alternative or shorter assignments, allowing more time, different criteria Evaluation: Giving oral tests, accepting taped answers, allowing more time, portfolio assessment Grading: Altering criteria for grading, giving effort grades, certificates of completion |
Technology/Environmental resources
Introduce parts of your courses/modules that use assessments/activities that assess these skills. Poster displays, problem solving, creative activities.
Provide tasks in which students can express creativity in their thinking and award this thinking e.g. original comments on material, original interpretation of ideas, ability to reach new conclusions.
- Reading pens
- Bug eye magnifier
- Indicator dots
- Touch screen
- Electronic or talking dictionary
Introduce parts of your courses/modules that use assessments/activities that assess these skills. Poster displays, problem solving, creative activities.
Provide tasks in which students can express creativity in their thinking and award this thinking e.g. original comments on material, original interpretation of ideas, ability to reach new conclusions.