Transcript Done by: Isabella Yonathan EWRT 97 Fall 2006 A learning disability (LD) is a problem in the way that a person's brain processes information.

Done by:
Isabella Yonathan
EWRT 97
Fall 2006
A learning disability (LD) is a problem in the way that a
person's brain processes information. Simply stated, a
learning disability is an information processing problem.
LDs are considered "non-apparent disabilities" because
a person with a learning disability shows no signs of
being disabled. LD is a condition to be understood and
managed.
The most common learning disabilities include:
dyslexia -- a severe difficulty with reading
dyscalculia -- a severe difficulty with math
dysgraphia -- a severe difficulty with written expression.
• Low reading comprehension.
• Poor phonological processing.
• Misshapen, cramped, laborious handwriting.
• Extreme spelling difficulties.
• Poor written composition.
• Disorganization.
• Difficulties in sequencing and following directions.
• Difficulties in recalling names or people, places,
and/or events.
• Poor performance on standardized and/or classroom
tests.
• Extreme strengths and Weaknesses
How many children have learning
disabilities?
Authorities’ estimates range from 0.5% to 30%.
Various studies have put the prevalence around
6-8% percent of the school-age population. Each
year, the U.S. Department of Education reports
the number and percentage of school-age
children receiving special education for learning
disabilities in public schools. For the school year
1998-1999, just under 4.5% of 6- to 21-year olds
(2.8 million) in US schools had been identified as
having learning disabilities.
Students with learning disabilities has a weakness in
one or more of the following:
-Understanding what is read
- listening effectively because there is difficulty
-Distinguishing among similar sounds symbols or
objects
- expressing thoughts to speaking and writing
-Spelling correctly
- retaining information
Students with sequencing problems may have difficulty with:
• the order and arrangement of letters and numbers (spelling and
mathematics)
• following step-by-step outlining, choosing priorities, organizing
notes, and keeping track of important materials.
• understanding the structure of a lecture or a reading passage or
in seeing the relationship of main ideas to subordinate ideas.
Some students with sequencing problems find their own method of
organization.
Solutions:
• Their minds may work better when they are free to think nonsequentially or to follow the flow of their own thoughts.
• Some develop original ways of arriving at conclusions.
•Others benefit greatly from learning how to structure tasks and
how to set up orderly systems of self-management.
Even with normal hearing, students with learning disabilities may :
• have difficulty differentiating between familiar sounds (hear "crashed
the car" for "washed the car" or "ninety minutes" for "nineteen minutes")
• may be acutely sensitive to background noises and unable to screen
out traffic, rustling of paper, whispers, etc., when listening to a lecture or
conversation or taking an exam
• or may be unable to catch the subtleties in different tones of voice (e.g.,
with anger, sarcasm, questioning).
Solutions:
• always speak slowly and clearly
• confirm with the student whether he/she understood what you said
• Ask students to repeat instructions to ensure that there is no
misunderstanding
Though students with these problems may have perfect eyesight, they
may:
• see letters incorrectly or in reverse order
• may fail to see some letters, words, or even whole paragraphs
• may confuse letters and symbols that are similar (b and d, g and q)
• may omit ends of words
• may jumble spaces between words
• may misinterpret facial expressions that convey boredom, approval,
skepticism, or the end of a conversation.
Solutions:
• be very patient
• Use a ruler / finger to guide reading to prevent from skipping words or
whole paragraphs
• Do not use facial expressions to communicate, voice them out instead
• Ask process-centered questions. (How many
pages? When is the paper due?)
• Ask students to write down two subject-centered
questions about their topic (What do I already
know? What do I need to find out?)
• Create a time line for each step in the writing
process
• Ask questions to make sure reading material is
understood
• Give simplified handouts of documentation style
(APA, MLA) and explain it using signs and showing
examples.
• Use
pre-writing techniques
(brainstorming, mapping, outlining, jotting
notes)
• Formulate a thesis statement by asking
questions that will refine the statement
• Remind students to follow their prewriting outline or map
• Keep one page for each supporting topic
• Ask students to read/sign paper and
make changes they see necessary
• Ask students to sign problem areas
POWER is an acronym for Plan, Organize, Write,
Edit, and Revise/rewrite. The POWER plan provides
students with LDs specific steps that, when
combined with techniques previously outlined, can
guide them along the road of composition. The
POWER plan allows students to "ascertain for
themselves their purpose in writing, and to search
their long-term memories for ideas or topics to write
about" (Wong 202). The POWER plan breaks down
as follows:
Plan
Why am I writing this? Who am I writing for? What do I know? (brainstorm)
Organize
How can I organize my ideas into categories?
How can I organize my categories?
Write (rough draft)
Edit
Reread and think .Did I do the following:
Stick to the topic?
Support the thesis?
Talk about each category clearly?
Give details in each category?
Use active words?
Revise/rewrite
Use a ruler to isolate sentences
Read out loud
Use a dictionary and a thesaurus
Reread and revise as many times as needed
The POWER plan is an excellent checklist for students with LDs to use
to build self-help composition skills
Mnemonics provide useful strategies for the task
of proofreading. It is valuable for students,
especially those with some struggles, to
proofread in stages, focusing on one component
at a time. Strategies are critical because they
encourage the student to stop periodically and
check the work in a step-by-step fashion. COPS
and C-SOOPS are strategies that encourage
focus on primary subskills. STOPS is a slightly
more advanced proofing strategy.10 Selection of
a particular strategy will depend upon the focus
for that given lesson and the age of the students.
STOPS
S entence Structure
T enses
O rganization
P unctuation
S pelling
COPS
C apitalization
O rganization
P unctuation
S pelling
C-SOOPS
C apitalization
S entence Structure
O rganization
O verall format
P unctuation
S pelling
Coordinating Conjunctions:
For
And
Nor
But
Or
Yet
So
Coordinating Adverbs:
So
However
In conclusion
Nevertheless
Therefore
Afterward
For example
Subjunctive conjunctions:
Provided that
As long as
When
Because
Although
Though
Students with learning disabilities tend to create simple
subject-predicate sentences without variation. These simple
sentences lead to monotony in their writing. Therefore, the
use of highlighters might be useful to identify sentence
patterns or break down parts of a sentence like indicating the
subject, verbs, prepositions, nouns, pronouns, adjectives,
etc.
Example:
Alicia goes to the library and studies every day.
Alejandro played football, for Maria went shopping.
Juan and Maria went to the movies after they finished
studying.
Helping students with reading
• Discuss unfamiliar vocabulary before they appear in instructional material.
• Use highlighter to call attention to key words or phrases.
• Read/sign aloud.
• Provide outlines for lessons on new material.
• Have student scan book, chapters, bold print, pictures to come up with an
idea of what the authorís will talk about.
• Discuss review questions, teacherís questions.
• Have student take notes while reading.
• Have open discussion about material on hand.
• Probe for information by asking questions. Try to elicit responses that
elaborate what the student knows about material. (Avoid "yes/no" questions.)
• Use sketches, maps, webs, flow chart.
•Say the word to yourself.
• Trace it in the first column, saying the letters as you trace,
and say the word again.
• Go to the second column, say the word, and write it the
same way.
• Then, while the rhythm and the sound and the feeling are
fresh in your mind, flip the paper over and say the word and
spell it out -- the same way, saying each letter.
• If it's a hard word, put it on the list more than once.
• After you've gone through all the words this way a few
times, start doing them two or three at a time, and when
you feel like you know them, go through the list again.
However, skip the tracing, or, when you're feeling VERY
confident, skip both the tracing and the copying.
.
Highlighting the hard parts:
Some words, are only hard in some parts. This exercise should help
focus on the troublesome part of the word.
This is also helpful for learning rules and patterns. If you want to learn to
spell IE words -- that "I before E" rule that so many people find so hard
to use -- this is a good way to do it.
Get different color pens or pencils or markers, and index cards. Write the
words boldly on the cards -- and make the difficult part of the word a
different color than the rest. Make a mental picture of that card, read the
word aloud and spell it aloud
When you write the whole word, think about how the difficult part looks
or sounds.
It is not uncommon to find LD students who are very creative
or talented in music, poetry, art, dance, athletics, mechanics,
computer programming, or other subjects. Too often,
however, their special skills and talents are overshadowed
by their struggle with traditional academics. When their
special abilities are recognized and encouraged, the
satisfaction derived from these skills may ease their
frustration with academics and motivate them to capitalize
on their strengths instead of focusing on their deficits.
give praise when
Therefore,
merited; it builds confidence.
Works Cited
• Harris, Muriel. Teaching One-to-One: The Writing Conference. Urbana: NCT,
1986.
• Mangrum, Charles and Stephen Strichart. College and the Learning Disabled
Student. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: HBJ, 1988.
• Murphy, Christina and Steve Sherwood. The St. Martin's Sourcebook for Writing
Tutors. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995.
• Ryan, Leigh. The Bedford Guide for Writing Tutors. Boston: Bedford Books,
1998.
• Vogel, Susan and Pamela Adelman. Success for College Students with
Learning Disabilities. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1993.
• Wong, Bernice. The ABCs of Learning Disabilities. San Diego: Academic Press,
1996.
• Five Guidelines for Learning to Spell and Six Ways to Practice Spelling
By: Susan Jones (1999)
• Richards,Regina G. LEARN: Playful Strategies for All Students, 2001, page 91.