Transcript Learning disabilities - Michigan Crossroads Council

LEARNING DISABILITIES
By: Andrea Nyquist
THE DEFINITION
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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
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Dyslexia
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Dyscalculia
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Dysgraphia
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Dyspraxia (Sensory Integration Disorder)
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Auditory Processing Disorder
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Visual Processing Disorder
(Kemp, Gina & Segal, Jeanne & Cutter, Deborah,
2009).
DYSLEXIA
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The International Dyslexia Association described
this type of disability as (Lyon et al., 2003b):
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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
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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).
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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)
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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)
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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.
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(Lerner, 2006)
CHARACTERISTICS (LEARNER, 2007)
Characteristic
Description
Disorders 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)
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STRATEGIES TO USE IN THE
CLASSROOM
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Dyslexia
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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
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Dyscalculia
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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…
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Dysgraphia
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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
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Dyspraxia
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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…
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Auditory Processing
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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)
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Visual Processing
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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 following
principles:
 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.
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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).
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DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION (D.I)
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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-toone 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)
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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).
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SOURCES
Fletcher, 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)!!!!!