LEARNING DISABILITIESBy: Andrea Nyquist

THE DEFINITION The Individuals with Disabilities Education

Improvement Act (IDEA-2004) defines learning disabilities as:

“A disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which disorder may manifest itself in imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations. Such term includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia and developmental aphasia. Such term does not include a learning problem, that is primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities; of mental retardation; of emotional disturbance; or of environmental, cultural, or economic advantage” (Lerner 2006, 7).

TYPES OF LEARNING DISABILITIES Dyslexia

Dyscalculia

Dysgraphia

Dyspraxia (Sensory Integration Disorder)

Auditory Processing Disorder

Visual Processing Disorder

(Kemp, Gina & Segal, Jeanne & Cutter, Deborah, 2009).

DYSLEXIA

The International Dyslexia Association described this type of disability as (Lyon et al., 2003b): It is a specific learning disability that is

neurobiological in origin. There are difficulties with fluent word recognition that include poor spelling and decoding abilities. There is a shortage in the phonological component of language that is unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the condition of effective classroom instruction. Future results may lead to problems with reading comprehension and reduced reading experiences that can delay development in vocabulary and background knowledge (Fletcher, Jack & Lyon, Reid & Fuchs, Lynn & Barnes Marcia, 2007 ).

.

DYSCALCULIA

This type of disability has to do with a disturbance in learning mathematical concepts and calculation associated with a neurological, central nervous system dysfunction.

Dyscalculia should have direct intervention, without this it will persevere.

“Almost one half of the children who were identified with dyscalculia in the fourth grade were still classified as having dyscalculia 3 years later.”

(Shalev et al., 1998).

DYSGRAPHIA

This can be characterized as extremely poor handwriting, which can reflect other neurological conditions.

Fine-motor skills can be related to poor handwriting because it is difficult for the student to perform the motor movements (required to write or to copy written letters or forms) in an efficient way.

Some students exhibit dystrophic problems when they cannot go from a far-point visual task to a near-point visual task, for example seeing a letter or word on the board and then writing it down on a piece of paper (Lerner, 2006).

DYSPRAXIA (SENSORY INTEGRATION DISORDER)

Children with this type of disability tend to be slow in learning to dress themselves, in learning eating skills, using button and zippers, and using crayons and pencils.

Children have trouble participating in puzzles, playing building games, accomplishing art projects, and also using scissors for cutting exercises.

(Lerner, 2006)

AUDITORY PROCESSING DISORDER

The ability to construe what is heard is very important in the learning process.

Children who have problems learning to read also show signs in the auditory process as well.

Children can hear, but they have trouble hearing the dimensions of auditory processing, which include, phonological awareness, auditory discrimination, auditory memory, and auditory sequencing and blending.

(Lerner, 2006)

VISUAL PROCESSING DISORDER

Reading is very important to sustain while learning in school, so it is quite difficult for those students who have problems in the visual processing stage.

Students with this type of disability can see, but they encounter problems in visual discrimination of letters and words, visual memory, or visual closure. This can lead to later reading difficulties as well.

(Lerner, 2006)

CHARACTERISTICS (LEARNER, 2007)

Characteristic DescriptionDisorders of attention Does not focus when a lesson is

presented; short attention span, easily distracted, poor concentration; may display hyperactivity

Poor motor abilities Difficulty with gross motor abilities and fine motor coordination (exhibits general awkwardness and clumsiness)

Psychological processing deficits Problems in processing auditory or visual information (difficulty interpreting visual or auditory stimuli)

Lack of phonological awareness Poor at recognizing sounds of language (cannot identify phoneme sounds in spoken language)

Poor cognitive strategies for learning

Does not know how to go about the task of learning and studying; lacks organizational skills; passive learning style (do not direct their own learning)

CHARACTERISTICS CONTINUED….

Characteristic Description

Oral language difficulties Underlying language disorders (problems in language development, listening, speak, and vocabulary)

Reading difficulties About 80% of students with learning disabilities have disabilities in reading (problems in learning to decode words, basic word-recognition skills, or reading comprehension)

Writing difficulties Poor in tasks requiring written expression, spelling, and handwriting

Mathematics Difficulty with quantitative thinking, arithmetic, time, space, and calculation facts

Social skills Does not know how to act and talk in social situations; difficulty with establishing satisfying social relationships and friendships

PREVALENCE- WHAT PERCENTAGE OF CHILDREN IN OUR SCHOOLS HAVE LEARNING DISABILITIES?

Learning disabilities range widely from 1% to 30% of the school population, with about 5% receiving services in schools.

The percentage of students with LD’s depends entirely on the criteria used to determine eligibility.

The more rigorous the identification criteria, the lower prevalence rate, due to the fact that only a select number of students are identified.

Same goes with the other hand, the more lenient the criteria, the higher the prevalence rate.

Depending on how schools identify LD students, if both mild and severe cases are admitted for services, the percentage will rise.

(Lerner, 2006)

STRATEGIES TO USE IN THE CLASSROOM

Dyslexia Increase the amount of

repetition and review Provide more examples and

activities Play word and rhyming games Help students recognize sight

words Use read-along methods Find opportunities for

students to reread passages aloud

Use word webs to study vocabulary words

The K-W-L chart (what I know, what I want to find out, and what I’ve learned)

Text-to-Speech Programs

Dyscalculia Determine the student’s basic

computational skills in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division

Use manipulatives Teach students mathematics

vocabulary Use visuals and graphics to

illustrate concepts Have students create their own

word story problems Teach mathematical skills on the

calculator Teach money and time concepts Provide many opportunities for

practice and review.

(Lerner, 2006)

STRATEGIES CONTINUED… Dysgraphia

Provide opportunities for extensive writing

Establish a writing environment

Allow students to select their own topics

Avoid punitive grading Schedule frequent writing Expanding vocabulary Learning story sequence Writing a class newsletter Using graphics Expanding the writing process

to the web Stencils and templates Lined paper Verbal cues

Dyspraxia Walking activities Throwing and catching

activities Tracing Cutting with scissors Stencils or templates Paper-and-pencil activities Clipping clothespins Pointing to body parts Games Following instructions Twister Water activities

(Lerner, 2006)

STRATEGIES CONTINUED… Auditory Processing

Listening to sounds Listening for sound

patterns Sounds made by the

teacher Food sounds Auditory discrimination

(near or far, loud or soft) Auditory memory

(nursery rhymes, television programs)

(Lerner, 2006)

Visual Processing Pegboard designs Blocks Finding shapes in

pictures Puzzles Classification Matching geometric

shapes Playing cards Letters and numbers Identifying missing

objects Ordering from memory Stories for pictures

UNIVERSAL DESIGN OF LEARNING (UDL)

UDI guarantees that all students have access to instruction through the followingprinciples:

Equitable Use means that ALL students within the classroom can use equipment, materials, and technology.

Flexibility in Use means that activities and instruction accommodates a large variety of abilities and choices.

Simple and Intuitive means that lessons are easily understood, no matter how much experience, language, or knowledge a student has.

UDL CONTINUED….

Perceptible Information means that regardless of skill or ability the information will be perceived to all students.

Tolerance for Error means that students have the opportunity to employ in ongoing assignments and projects.

Low Physical Effort means that students have access to all materials and activities without great physical effort.

Size and Space for Approach and Use means that all students can participate, there will be enough space for all to successfully learn.

(Flores, 2008).

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION (D.I)

Psychological Processing refers to the mental processes of perception, memory, and attention. This will help disorders such as visual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic learning (Lerner, 2006).

Cognitive Strategies teach students the appropriate use of organization skills, planning, asking themselves questions, and monitoring their own performance (Meltzer & Montague, 2001).

Direct Instruction contains procedures that include breaking tasks into small steps, administering probes, supplying feedback, providing diagrams and pictures to enhance comprehension, and providing ample independent practice (Lerner, 2006).

D.I CONTINUED….

Mastery Learning is a future result of direct instruction. Students must learn a set of skills in order to succeed at the final task. There are many sub skills involved in reading, but if a student masters the sub skills, this will result in the skill of reading.

Special Teaching Techniques are used for one-to-one interactions and corrective methods as well.

Psychotherapeutic Teaching concentrates on building a relationship with the teacher. This has to do with the student’s feelings and helps them to rebuild self-concept.

(Lerner, 2006)

INTERESTING FACTS (OTHER)

Dyslexia is the most common form of learning disability (Lerner, 2007).

“ADD/ADHD is a common co-occurring condition for children with learning disabilities. Research indicates that between 25% and 40% of children with learning disabilities have co-occurring ADD/ADHD and that between 30% and 65% of children with ADD/ADHD have co-occurring learning disabilities” (Fletcher, Aram, Shaywitz, & Shaywitz, 2000; Mayers, Calhoun, & Crowell, 2000; Silver, 1998).

SOURCESFletcher, Jack, & Lyon, Reid, & Fuchs, Lynn, & Barnes, Marcia (2007).

Learning disabilities from identification to intervention. New York:

The Guilford Press.

Flores, Margaret M. (2008). Universal design in elementary

and middle school: Designing classrooms and instructional practices to

ensure access to learning for all students Childhood Education, Vol. 84 (4),

224-229.

Kemp, Gina, & Segal, Jeanne, & Cutter, Deborah (2009). Learning

disabilities in children. Retrieved from:

http://helpguide.org/mental/learning_disabilities.htm

Lerner, Janet W., & Kline, Frank (2006). Learning disabilities and related

disorders: Characteristics and teaching strategies. New York: Houghton

Mifflin Company. (THIS TEXT PROVIDES GREAT INFORMATION)!!!!!