Transcript Learning Disabilities in the Classroom: What does it mean

“Life is not so much a
matter of holding good
cards but of playing a poor
hand well”
Robert Louis Stevenson
A Few Questions….
How many teachers in this room have classified
learning
disabled students in their classrooms?
Raise your hand!
How many teachers in this room , whom in your
opinion, have non classified learning disabled
students in their classrooms?
Raise your other hand!
How many teachers in this room have classified
or non classified learning disabled students in
their classrooms who are being given remedial
intervention in school?
Lower one finger!
How many teachers in this room have classified
or non classified learning disabled students in
their classrooms who are being given remedial
intervention after school?
Lower one finger!
How many teachers in this room find
this scenario familiar?
First they push the parents to do a
diagnostic test.
Then they say……Oh, he/she is diagnosed!
Discussion ends…cause he/she is
diagnosed.
The discussion shouldn’t end…it should
start!
Let’s Define a
Learning Disability
A learning disability interferes with someone’s
ability to store, process or produce information
Such disabilities affect both children and
adults
Its not always immediately obvious that a
person has a learning disability
They can be quite subtle and go
undetected throughout life
For the students we see in our classrooms,
learning disabilities create a gap between a
students true capacity and his or her day to day
performance
The most straightforward indication is academic
failure or underachievement by someone who
seems capable of more
Levine 1984
A learning disability is not indicative of lower intelligence. In
fact, people who have a learning disability are often very
intelligent
It is true, however, that their difficulty to process or store
information then causes them to see things differently and
sometimes obscures their intelligence
While they will always have a learning disability,
they can be taught strategies to compensate. We,
as classroom teachers, can help in this process
What is a Learning Disability?
There is no clear and widely accepted definition
of "learning disabilities"
There are currently at least 12 definitions that
appear in the professional literature!
Five Areas of Agreement
1.The learning disabled have difficulties with academic
achievement and progress, discrepancies exist
between a person's potential for learning and what he
actually learns
2.The learning disabled show an uneven pattern of
language development, and/or motor-development,
academic development and/or perceptual
development
3. All learning originates within the brain
and, consequently, a disorder in learning can
be caused by a dysfunction in the central
nervous system
4. Learning problems are not due to an
environmental disadvantage
5. Learning problems are not due
to intellectual disabilities or
emotional disturbances
In Other Words
The term learning disabilities refers to a
neurobiological disorder in one or more of the
basic processes involved in understanding spoken
or written language.
It may influence an individual’s ability to speak,
listen, read, write spell, reason, organize
information or do mathematical calculations.
Written
Reading
Expression
Disability
Disorder
(Dyslexia)
Math
Nonverbal
Disorder
Learning
(Dyscalculia)
Disability
(Dysgraphia)
Reading
Writing
Spelling
Handwriting
Math
Difficulties
Difficulties
Difficulties
Difficulties
Difficulties
VisualSpatial
& Social
Difficulties
Skill Areas That May Be
Affected By Learning Disabilities
Receptive & Expressive
Language
Attention / Concentration
Auditory/Phonological
Processing
Memory
Visual-Motor
Processing
Visual Processing
Metacognition
Organizational/Study Skills
Social Skills
Disorders of Attention
Does not focus when a lesson is
presented; short attention
span, easily distracted, poor
concentration; may display
hyperactivity
Psychological
Processing Deficits
Problems in processing auditory
or visual information
(difficulty interpreting visual
or auditory stimuli)
Oral Language
Difficulties
Underlying language disorders;
problems in language
development, listening,
speaking, and vocabulary
Lacks Phonological
Awareness
Poor at recognizing sounds of
language; cannot identify
phoneme sounds in spoken
language, and cannot
manipulate these sounds
Poor Cognitive
Strategies for Learning
Does not know how to go about
the task of learning and
studying; lacks organizational
skills; passive learning style,
does not direct his own
learning
Poor Motor Abilities
Difficulty with gross motor
abilities and fine motor
coordination
(exhibits general awkwardness
and clumsiness)
Writing Difficulties
Poor in tasks requiring written
expression, spelling, and
handwriting
Social Skills
Does not know how to act and
talk in social situations;
difficulty with establishing
satisfying social relationships
and friendships
Mathematics
Difficulty with quantitative
thinking, arithmetic, time,
space, and calculation facts
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
Each Student is Unique!
Looking just at the learning
disability is too limiting!
Students with learning
disabilities manifest
strengths and weaknesses in
different mental processes!
Teachers need to look at
students’ islands of
competence!
Who are the Students in our
Classrooms?
Four Classifications in Practical Terms
1.The student who had no trouble acquiring
reading in his L1 in the first and second
grades
2.The student who had no trouble acquiring
reading in his L1 in first and second grades
but in the third and fourth grades had reading
comprehension difficulties
3.The student who had trouble acquiring
reading in Hebrew but with learning
strategies was able to overcome his
difficulties and now reads relatively fluently
in Hebrew
4.The student who still has trouble
reading Hebrew
We all know the student who constantly fidgets,
who doesn’t finish his/her work, never knows
what page we are on, or doesn’t hear the
assignment
It may be true in some cases that people
displaying these and other behaviors are simply
unfocused or even lazy; learning disabled people
are often termed lazy
They are always being told to try harder!
Moreover, there is little
understanding of the fact that it is
not a matter of having students with
learning difficulties do a class or
activity over again; it is a matter
of having them do it differently
Vulnerabilities in language skills are
exacerbated for ELL students,
especially those with learning
disabilities, because those students
are trying to learn not only language,
but a new language!
These researchers believe that if
the learning style of the student
is at odds with the style required
to succeed in the classroom,
serious learning problems can
occur
We as teachers should
focus on the students’
diverse strengths and
help them approach
learning from their
strengths.
Although the research is
not clear, all students do
not learn in the same way
Learning Styles
All learners have preferred ways of receiving new
and sometimes difficult information.
Awareness of these modalities for language
teachers are important so that they can
accommodate to the individual differences and
learning styles.
Sensory Modalities
When we teach using the students'
different sensory modalities the class
as a whole receives information in one or
several channels
This Multisensory approach can also
reinforce a learner's use of their less
developed senses
Grinder, 1989
Howard Gardner’s work on multiple
intelligences and the different ways that we
each learn, remember, perform, and understand
may be helpful
Of similar importance is Betty Edwards work on
the roles that the left-brain and the rightbrain play in our thinking, reasoning and
complex mental functions
Teachers can improve the learning climate for
many students and most assuredly for those
with a learning disability by planning tasks so
that differing intelligences are called upon and
by balancing the involvement required of each
hemisphere of the brain
Researchers believe that students
with stronger visual processing skills
may learn better through sight word
or language experience methods and
that students with stronger auditory
processing skills may learn best
through phonics methods
Lerner, 2006
I Teach Everyone Like They
Are LD!
Beginning learners of a second language do not
have native speaker competence in English
phonology
Thus, their language and literacy development
must take a somewhat different path than
from a native speaker's development
Many believe their path takes on qualities of a L1
learning disabled student, demanding a highly
individualized approach with linguistic
instruction and remediation (Jannuzi, 1998)
The burden is on us as teachers to ensure that the
classroom environment does not perpetuate learning
failure.
Students who encounter reading problems suffer from
many consequences of a reading disability. In school these
students are forced to see day after day, that they use
textbooks they cannot read and homework they cannot
do.
In response, they may turn to misbehavior or simply give
up, displaying what is called learned helplessness.
Here are some suggestions that
are easy to incorporate into
classroom routine; naturally,
different strategies will be of
more or less value to different
students, particularly with a
culturally and linguistically
diverse class
Reduce the level of distraction in the room
Explicitly state the topic at hand and proceed in a
structured, concrete manner; progress from the
obvious to the concrete to the abstract; don’t jump
without warning from one topic to another
Always write the page number and
exercise number on the board so
that the LD student can always
find his place without asking
Whenever appropriate, present material
using graphic and/or sensory media
Combine both auditory and visual
stimuli, say it and write it on the board
whenever possible
Use videos, demonstrations,
and concrete materials
Give the gift of time
whenever it is at all
possible
Students with learning
disabilities may require
extra time to complete
in-class and homework
assignments as well as
tests
Consider administering tests
in alternative formats such
as orally or on computer
Have students use a word
processor to whatever
extent is possible
Word processing makes
rewriting and revising so
much less laborious, its value
is immeasurable for those
students with fine-motor,
sequencing, spelling and
other language manipulation
problems
Make it easy for students to
ask for repetition; bear in
mind that it is important to
use the same language when
you do repeat so that you do
not change the construct and
defeat the purpose of the
repetition;
.
Frame material by relating it
to past classroom or personal
experience and highlighting
new material;
Whenever possible, cluster
material so that it is
organized by category;
Don’t issue too many instructions at
the same time. Break tasks down into
their component parts and issue the
instructions for each part one at a
time
.
Allow time in advance for
students to think about
items to be covered in class.
Provide plenty of prediscussion, pre-writing, prereading lead time and other
pre-teaching activities
Begin each lesson with a review
of what has been learned
Tell students the goal of the
lesson
Reorganize the seating to help
students by placing students
with special needs near the
teacher
Counsel student so your
expectations are clearly
understood
Set up expectations for
behavior. Give positive
feedback when behavior is
satisfactory
“I like it when you……..”
Give feedback when behavior
is not satisfactory
“I want you to……..”
Really get to know the student.
Target his strengths and help
shine in these areas him
Assure him that you care how
she/he feels!
Use an assignment calendar
to give student a clear idea
of due dates
If student cannot read text,
use tape-recorded books in a
listening center or assign a
peer to read to the student
Upload a “Read Aloud” program
so your student can hear the
digital text read aloud from the
computer by an automated voice
Allow student extra time on
timed tests if they are not
standardized tests
Provide student a quiet
setting free of distractions
in which to take tests
Talk with student to
determine prior knowledge
and begin instruction at the
appropriate level of
understanding
Use multiple-choice or
matching tests instead of full
recall tests
Give open-book study sheets
to student and to parent two
weeks before major test so
parent can review information
several times with the
student.
Keep daily parent-teacher
notes
Allow student to use larger
print books
Give parent a set of texts
and papers to use at home
with child if homework is not
taken home or because it
gets lost on during its
journey
Use special materials:,
computer, spell check, tape
recorder, electronic
dictionary
Use rewards to stimulate
work completion
Use high-interest material of
student’s choosing when
possible
Assign peer tutor or crossaged tutor to help child
Enroll students in a remedial
program in school
Encourage remedial program
outside of school
Allow student choice of
assignments
Provide alternative
assignment, at a lower level
Increase student-teacher
time
Increase student-aide time
Sit with child to initiate work
Prioritize tasks to be done
Shorten assignments
Give extra time at recess, at
lunch, or after school for
completion of assignments
Furnish written directions to
the student at his desk
Assign student buddy to help
with directions
Provide immediate feedback
of results
Work with special education
teachers to help all students
Use differentiated
instruction to take into
account the learning styles
and learning needs of all
students in the class
Summarize what has been
learned at the end of each
lesson
Provide positive support for
all students
Teach all students study
skills
Allow sufficient practice of
the concepts or skills for all
students
Use colored markers on the
whiteboard to differentiate
and emphasize
1 Have students number with
2 a pencil the lines in a story
Have students use a “Window
Tracker” for reading if they
continuously lose the line
they are reading in texts
“Life is not so much a
matter of holding good
cards but of playing a poor
hand well”
Robert Louis Stevenson
How to Play a Poor Hand Well?
If provided with the right
support, a teacher of a student
with learning disabilities can help
the student succeed in school by
both fostering the student’s
strengths and recognizing his
weaknesses