SCIENCE FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN:

Learning Disabilities

Learning Disabilities

Learning Disabilities affect 1 in 5 children Learning Disabilities are not outgrown or go away as you get older. A Learning Disability is a specific problem children might have that affects the way they interpret what they see and hear or how they connect ideas within their brains. Often it is called a specific learning disability because the problem is not a broad developmental disability, but occurs specifically to early reading skills or simple math skills. Learning disabilities are not limited to skills having to do with written material. Sometimes they have to do with speaking, listening, or reasoning. Common learning disabilities are dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia. Dyslexia and dysgraphia has to do with the way a child sees words and numbers on the page and includes problems in reading, writing, and spelling. Often the child will reverse or transpose the written characters as he or she sees. Dyscalculia is a problem doing simple addition, subtraction and multiplication. Individuals with a specific learning disability are no less intelligent than other people their age. As a matter of fact, there are many who are classified as twice exceptional, which means they are quite gifted, but have a learning disability that can hinder the expression of their giftedness.

Learning Disabilities

Learning disabilities are the result of a different kind of processing that happens in the brain. It is as if something gets lost in the translation from page to brain. It is not something the child can control, nor is it a child being lazy or dumb. It is just part of the way the child is wired. The causes for specific disabilities are mostly unknown, although for dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia, there is a definite genetic link. Some theories assume that learning disabilities may come from a specific area of the brain, but new research is showing that it has more to do with how areas of the brain communicate with each other. Most learning disabilities develop before birth while the brain is forming. During pregnancy, many things can affect a developing brain such as drug and alcohol use, complications, infections, and exposures to environmental toxins. Some learning disabilities are a result of complications during delivery. Sometimes brain injury, infection, or poisoning during childhood could result in a disability. Learning disabilities are often noticed when a child enters school because schoolwork deals with the sorts of activities where the problems occur. Learning disabilities are not something that will go away but that does not mean the disability cannot be overcome.

DEFINITION

LEARNING DISABILITY

A learning disability is a neurological condition that interferes with a persons ability to store, process, or produce information. Learning disabilities can affect ones ability to read, write, speak, spell, compute math, reason and also affect a persons attention, memory, coordination, social skills and emotional maturity. Individuals with LD are generally of average or above average intelligence, but the disability creates a gap between ability and performance.

CAUSES OF LD

GENETIC DEFECTS PRENATAL MALNUTRITION MATERNAL SUBSTANCE ABUSE BIRTH TRAUMA CHRONIC ILLNESS(EAR INFECTION,, ETC..) EARLY CHILDHOOD HIGH FEVERS LEAD POISONING ACCIDENTS TOXINS DIET OXYGEN DEPRIVATION ENDOCRINE GLAND DYSFUNCTION

TYPES OF LEARNING DISABILITIES by Larry Silver, M.D. Input The first major type of problem at the input stage is a visual perception disability. Some students have difficulty in recognizing the position and shape of what they see. Letters may be reversed, rotated or overlapping: for example the letters d, b, p, q, and g might be confused. The child might also have difficulty distinguishing a significant form from its background. People with this disability often have reading problems. They may jump over words, read the same line twice, or skip lines. Other students have poor depth perception or poor distance judgment. They might bump into things, fall over chairs, or knock over drinks. The other major input disability is in auditory perception. Students may have difficulty understanding because they do not distinguish subtle differences in sounds. They confuse words and phrases that sound like - for example, "blue" with "blow" or "ball" with "bell." Some children find it hard to pick out an auditory figure from its background; they may not respond to the sound of a parents or teachers voice, and it may seem that they are not listening or paying attention. Others process sound slowly and therefore cannot keep up with the flow of conversation, inside or outside the classroom. Suppose a parent says, "Its getting late. Go upstairs, wash your face, and get into your pajamas. Then come back down for a snack" A child with this disability might hear only the first part and stay upstairs.

HOW LEARNING DISABILITIES MAY PRESENT

READING

WRITING

May have poor reading ability or comprehension.

May have difficulty writing ideas and/or organizing thoughts on paper.

May have problems with sentence structure, writing mechanics, and organization.
May frequently spell the same word differently in the same document. May read well but not write well (or vise versa).

MATH

May have difficulty with arithmetic, math language, and math concepts.
May reverse numbers May have difficulty with time, sequencing, and problem solving.

HOW THEY PRESENT (CONTINUED)

Language May be able to explain things orally but not in writing. May have difficulty telling or understanding jokes and stories. May misinterpret language or have poor comprehension of what was said. May respond in an inappropriate manner, unrelated to what is said, or only respond partially to what is said. Attention May have a short attention span or be impulsive. May have difficulty conforming to routines. May be easily distracted. May exhibit high risk/adrenaline seeking behavior to help focus.

AUDITORY

May not respond to sounds of spoken language, or may consistently misunderstand what is being said. May be bothered by different frequencies of sound (i.e. music, vacuums, loud noises) or be overly sensitive to sound. May have difficulty differentiating sounds that occur simultaneously. Cognitive May acquire new skills slowly. May have difficulty following directions, especially multiple directions. May experience visual spatial confusion (up/down, right/left, under/over, behind/between. May seem unaware of time of sequence of events.

HOW THEY PRESENT (CONTINUED)

Motor

May perform similar tasks differently from day to day. May have trouble dialing phone numbers or holding a pen or pencil. May have poor coordination, be clumsy, unaware of physical surroundings, or have a tendency to accidentally hurt him/her self.

ORGANIZATION May have trouble following a schedule or being on time. May have trouble learning about time. May have trouble organizing belongings. May have trouble remembering appointment times.

Memory

Social

May be able to learn information presented in one way, but not another. May find it difficult to memorize information (i.e. phone numbers, days of the week, months of the year). May be unable to repeat what was has just been said.

May have difficulty with social skills. May misinterpret non-verbal social cues. May experience social isolation. May not use appropriate eye contact. May have trouble with inappropriate, unprovoked anger. May have difficulty making and sustaining appropriate pro-social relationships.

Accommodations, Strategies and Techniques

You can start by finding out what their learning style is. Keep it simple. Ask the client how they learn something new. For example: What did you recently learn. How to run a computer, how to put something together, how to get someplace new, etc. You may need to also ask, Do you learn best by reading about it, by someone telling you, by someone showing you, or by you doing it. When you know this information you will get a better understanding of how you can best work with the client. When you can, present in a multi-sensory way: visually - written orally - say it symbols/pictures demonstrations - do it Break things into small sequential steps - even if it seems redundant to you. Break it down step by step with all the details. Help in filling out forms: clarify important information explain unknown words read information or forms aloud fill it out for them while asking them the information

Cont

Use print not cursive writing - it is sometimes very hard deciphering cursive handwriting. Suggest the client write down important details, or you can write them down for the client. Paraphrase information for them - visual or oral. A good phrase is, in other words. Speak clearly, slowly and at a level of understanding. Keep information simple and structured. Remember people with LD are not stupid or dumb however some do have a problem processing and need extra time. If you think you are loosing a persons attention - stop and bring them back getting their attention possible by saying their name. Be prepared for repeating questions you have already answered. It is another way of orally processing information. Remember extremely late, early or missed appointments may be due to the time orientation and spatial difficulties. You can suggest a client use a watch with an alarm on it for appointments and other time issues. Beeper also works well. Having someone call to remind them of an appointment. Directions need to be clear, simple and in order. This is for anything. Directions on how to get to an office, where to park, where to find you in a building, filling out forms, etc.

Cont.

If the client is all over the place mentally during an interview gently, but firmly, bring them back to the issue at hand and let them know you can discuss other issues later. This is a way of keeping structured. You will need to let them know how much time you have for their appointment at the beginning. Throughout the interview say, we have 20 minutes leftWe have 5 minutes left. If a client has trouble writing, taking notes or remembering provide or suggest a tape recorder. Have everything you talked about printed out before or take notes for them. When explaining something give visual clues (as much as possible). Encourage clients to use mental pictures, especially if they are visual learners Be aware of demanding oral reports. You might say instead, tell me how you see/saw it, let the client explain how they see it in the minds eye. Be careful about using spontaneous and demand language. People can have trouble with this. Demand language is asking a direct question - why did you do that? Spontaneous language is engaging a person in a conversation - lets sit down and figure out what happened When you demand by using a direct question some people shut down, I dont know. If you use the more casual spontaneous language, they are more apt to give you information. Printed materials should be clear, not faded or blurred. Spelling may be poor so tell them spelling does not count. Encourage spellcheckers (example: Franklin Speller) and computers. It not only checks

Cont.

Encourage association for memory recall - also songs, rhymes, acronyms, chants. Reading italic print or an unusual font can be hard for some people to read. Use bold, underlining or highlighting instead. Suggest using a ruler or a cardboard cutout if they have trouble tracking when reading. Moving, walking, rocking, pacing and/or tactile toys will be helpful for the client to pay attention and learn. Reduce visual and auditory distractions in areas where the clients are working/interviewing. Encourage client to use a day planner, PDA (personal digital assistant), calendar or note pad . Post-it notes are great because of the ability to stick almost anywhere. For some, if notes are put away, for example in a notebook they can be easily forgotten. They may have a lot of information tucked away in their brain, but are not always able to access it, to retrieve it. Post-it notes can be their paper brain. Some are not good at linear thinking. Some have to be able to see it lined out on paper (written). Thoughts are likely to skip all over, if they start by writing thoughts down they may not lose them. Then later they can go back and organize or ask someone to help. (mind mapping) A digital recorder is another great tool. Suggest organizational skills. Classes, books or finding someone to help, maybe a friend, who is good at organizing.

Dyslexia

Dyslexia is an impairment in the brain's ability to translate written images received from the eyes into meaningful language. Also called specific reading disability, dyslexia is the most common learning disability in children. A learning disability is a condition that produces a gap between someone's ability and his or her performance. Most people with dyslexia are of average or above-average intelligence, but read at levels significantly lower than expected. Other types of learning disabilities include attention difficulties, an

Dyslexia

Dyslexia occurs in Individuals with normal vision and normal intelligence. Such individuals usually have normal speech but often have difficulty interpreting spoken language and writing.

Dyslexia seems to be caused by a malfunction in certain areas of the brain concerned with language. The condition frequently runs in families. Treatment may involve a multisensory education program. Emotional support of your child on your part also plays an important role.

Dyslexia
Signs and Symptoms of Dyslexia Dyslexia can be difficult to recognize, but some early clues may indicate a problem.

If you have a problem with new words, and add them slowly and have difficulty rhyming, you may be at increased risk of dyslexia.

signs and symptoms of dyslexia may become more apparent as children go through school, including:

The inability to recognize words and letters on a printed page A reading ability level much below the expected level for the age of your child

Dyslexia

Individuals with dyslexia commonly have problems

Processing and understanding what they hear. They may have difficulty comprehending rapid instructions, following more than one command at a time or Remembering the sequence of things. Reversals of letters (b for d) and a Reversal of words (saw for was) are typical among individuals who have dyslexia. Individuals with dyslexia may also try to read from right to left, May fail to see (and occasionally to hear) similarities and differences in letters and words, may not recognize the spacing that organizes letters into separate words, and may be unable to sound out the pronunciation of an unfamiliar word.

Dyslexia
Treatment

There's no known way to correct the underlying brain malfunction that causes dyslexia. Treatment is by remedial education. Psychological testing will help you identify the areas you need to work on.

You may use techniques involving hearing, vision and touch to improve reading skills. Helping an individual to use several senses to learn for example, by listening to a taped lesson and tracing with a finger the shape of the words spoken can help you process the information. The most important teaching approach may be frequent instruction by a reading specialist who uses these multisensory methods of teaching. If you have a severe reading disability, tutoring may involve several individual or small-group sessions each week, and progress may be slow. An individual with severe dyslexia may never be able to read well and may need training for vocations that don't require strong reading skills.

People with milder forms of dyslexia often eventually learn to read well enough to succeed in school.

Dysgraphia

"Dysgraphia" is a learning disability resulting from the difficulty in expressing thoughts in writing and graphing. It generally refers to extremely poor handwriting. Each State has its own criteria which determine if a student has a learning disability as it is defined by special education guidelines. When a student's writing or graphing difficulties are severe enough to meet these criteria, special education services are indicated. Problems arise because "dysgraphia" has no clearly defined criteria. A student with any degree of handwriting difficulty may be labeled "dysgraphic" by some educational specialists, but may or may not need special education services. Most learning disabled students experience difficulty with handwriting and probably could be considered "dysgraphic". However, the term is seldom used within public schools because of the lack of any generally recognized or measurable criteria.

Dysgraphia
Underlying Causes Students with dysgraphia often have sequencing problems.

Studies indicate that what usually appears to be a perceptual problem (reversing letters/numbers, writing words backwards, writing letters out of order, and very sloppy handwriting) usually seems to be directly related to sequential/rational information processing. These students often have difficulty with the sequence of letters and words as they write. As a result, the student either needs to slow down in order to write accurately, or experiences extreme difficulty with the "mechanics" of writing (spelling, punctuation, etc.).

They also tend to intermix letters and numbers in formulas. Usually they have difficulty even when they do their work more slowly. And by slowing down or getting "stuck" with the details of writing they often lose the thoughts that they are trying to write about.

Dysgraphia
STRATEGIES

Encourage students to outline their thoughts. It is important to get the main ideas down on paper without having to struggle with the details of spelling, punctuation, etc Have students draw a picture of a thought for each paragraph. Have students dictate their ideas into a tape recorder and then listen and write them down later. Have them practice keyboarding skills. It may be difficult at first, but after they have learned the pattern of the keys, typing will be faster and clearer than handwriting. Have a computer available for them to organize information and check spelling. Even if their keyboarding skills aren't great, a computer can help with the details. Have them continue practicing handwriting. There will be times throughout a student's life that they will need to be able to write things down and maybe even share their handwriting with others. It will continue to improve as long as the student keeps working at it. Encourage student to talk aloud as they write. This may provide valuable auditory feedback. Allow more time for written tasks including note-taking, copying, and tests. Outline the particular demands of the course assignments/continuous assessment; exams, computer literacy etc. so that likely problems can be