Learning Disabilities

By: Fiona Bridges, Shante Walker, John Hunter, Amanda Spencer

Video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCqeFxDgacQ

What is Learning Disability?According to The Learning Disabilities

Association of America, a learning disability is a neurological condition that interferes with an individual’s ability to store, process, or produce information.

Affects the ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell or mathematical calculations.

Does not include learning problems resulted from visual, hearing or motor disabilities; or intellectual disability, emotional disturbance, environmental cultural, or economic disadvantage

Not a sign of poor intelligence or laziness. Neurological disorder that causes their brains to process and interpret information differently.

Types: Dyslexia: (reading based) life long challenge. Hinders reading, writing,

spelling and sometimes even speaking; difficulty reading letters or words, reversing letters or numbers, difficulty understanding what was read

Dysgraphia: (writing based)affects writing. Lead to problems with spelling, poor handwriting and putting thoughts on paper. Might have trouble organizing letters, numbers and words on a line or page. Struggle with writing complete and grammatically correct sentences

Dyscalculia: (math based)Involving math. Trouble recognizing numbers, symbols and understanding basic math concepts. It affects people differently at different stages of life. Difficulty handling money, cannot retain patterns when adding, subtracting, multiplying or dividing

Expressive Language: (language-based): hard time expressing thoughts verbally(finding the words when trying to express yourself), poor reading comprehension, has trouble labeling objects, talking and writing

Receptive Language: knowing meanings of words or concepts, but difficult to follow conversations,

Visual Processing Disorder (visual-based): cannot receive, process, sequence, recall or express information in an accurate and timely way. Misreads words, mistakes letters and numbers that look similar in shape.

Audio Processing Difficulty: (auditory based) telling the difference between sounds of letters or words, being able to remember what was heard, and having inability to filter out background noises. Misspells or mispronounces similar sounding words

Causes:No proven cause of learning disabilities,

yet there are “related” causes1. Heredity-may often just run in the family2. Problems during pregnancy and

birth Drug, alcohol abuse during pregnancy/ low birth rate/ lack

of oxygen/ premature or prolonged labor

3. Incidents after birth Serious illness, head injuries, poor nutrition, exposure to

toxins such as lead can contribute to LD

Symptoms: Difficulty with reading and/or writing Problems with math skills Difficulty remembering Problems paying attention Trouble following directions Poor coordination Difficulty with concepts related to time Problems staying organizedMay also exhibit one or more of these: Impetuous behavior Inappropriate responses in school or social situations Difficulty staying on task (easily distracted) Difficulty finding the right way to say something Inconsistent school performance Immature way of speaking Difficulty listening well Problems dealing with new things in life Problems understanding words or concepts

Behavioral CharacteristicsWhen students aren’t getting the help and support they need they end up acting out “behaviorally.”

Here are some warning signs:-Poor grades-Physical complaints (headaches, back aches, hand

cramps, etc)-School absences-Getting removed from class or sometimes

suspended from school-Complain about assignments or the school itself-Easily frustrated with assignments-Gets aggravated easily-Gets depressed-When someone calls them “dumb”

This gets the attention away from their actual struggle with academic learning and instead focuses on their behavioral reason for them being singled out.

How it is diagnosed RTI (response to intervention)-

• Monitor students progress• If a child is identified as having problems, provide them with help on different levels• Increase educational assistance if the child isn’t showing progress

Individual Evaluation-• Identify whether a child has a learning disability• Determine a child’s eligibility under federal law for special education services• Help construct an individualized education plan (IEP) that outlines supports for a

youngster who qualifies for special education services• Establish a benchmark for measuring the child’s educational progress

Full Evaluation-• Medical examination(including a neurological exam) to see if there are other possible

causes of the child’s difficulties…including emotional disorders, intellectual and developmental disabilities and brain diseases

• Explore child’s developmental, social and school performance• Discuss family history• Academic achievement testing and psychological assessment

Goes further into determining the different types of learning disabilitieshttp://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/learning/conditioninfo/pages/diagnosed.aspx

Strategies:Since students with LD are often as smart as their peers, but process information differently here are a list of strategies teachers can make to help these students accommodate and be able to keep up and not fall back in class. Direct instruction One on one instruction and help Break learning into small steps Supply regular quality feedback Use diagrams, graphics, and picture to help them understand

the content/topic Model instructional practices you want students to follow Provide prompts of strategies for them to use Engage students in process type questions

◦ For example: “How is the strategy working? Where else might you apply it?”

Success for the student with learning disabilities requires a focus on individual achievement, individual progress, and individual learning. This requires specific, directed, individualized, intensive remedial instruction for students who are struggling.

Services:Speech-sound letters and combinations of letters, working on

words

Alpha Phonics-for dyslexia; phonological awareness (uses good listening skills and verbalizing appropriately), reading (codes, decodes, systematically, maintain proper position during reading activity), spelling (repeat sound and words, unblended, dictates, codes, and proof reads), hand writing (uses proper position, grip and writing procedures), listening, alphabet dictionary (verbalizes appropriately and uses proper procedures)

HOST-one on one assistance; language arts, objective reinforcement, vocabulary development, literature development

Special Education ClassroomThere are services located at college campuses to

accommodate students that have learning disabilities

They are websites that help parents/teachers to help work with students that have disabilities. One being www.ldaamerica.org

Activity

This Message serves to prove how our minds can do amazing things! Impressive things! In the beginning it was hard but now on this line your mind is reading it automatically with out even thinking about it, be proud! Only certain people can read this.

References:www.ldaamerica.org "How Are Learning Disabilities

Diagnosed?" How Are Learning Disabilities Diagnosed? NIH, 30 Nov. 2012. Web. 03 Mar. 2014. http://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/learning/conditioninfo/pages/diagnosed.aspx