Characteristics of Students with Learning Disabilities

1. Characteristics of Students with Learning Disabilities ESE 380 February 12, 2009

2. Dyslexia • Poor ability to discriminate visual likenesses or differences in words even though vision is normal • Confusion in orientation of letters (p, d, b) or number (6, 9) • Reversals of: concept (top for bottom), geographical orientations (west for east; up for down), or time (first for last; yesterday for tomorrow) • Poor ability to copy, particularly from the blackboard or from the book to paper • Omissions, insertions or substitutions in reading • Poor ability to recall whole words or sounds within words • Speech and language disorders such as delayed speech and poor sentence construction • Difficulty with word retrieval, as in recall of people's names or objects • Difficulty in following directions • May work slowly and/or fail to finish their work • Writing vocabulary may be meager because of difficulty in producing the letters or recall of correct spelling, or in organization of thoughts • Delay in adequate use of arithmetic • Organization is often a problem. Paperwork will often appear messy • Inconsistency. The most consistent aspect of dyslexia is its inconsistency. • http://www.slingerland.org/organization/classroom.htm    

3. Dysgraphia • Problems involving the steps of putting together a written document (such as difficulty with using an outline) • Bad or illegible handwriting • Awkward or cramped pencil grip • Avoidance of tasks that involve writing • Difficulty fleshing out ideas on paper (may write the minimum-or less-that the assignment requires) that is in contrast to their ability to discuss such ideas verbally • Inconsistent in the way letters and words look (may print a certain letter different ways within the same document) • Difficulty writing within the margins or line spacing and inconsistent spacing between words  http://www.ld.org/info/indepth/dysgraphia.cfm    • Home • Back • Next

4. Dyscalculia • Difficulty with number sense Recognizing numbers and matching numbers with amounts) • Difficulty with sorting and classifying (size, shape, color, etc.) • Recognizing groups and patterns • Comparing and contrasting • Difficulty with basic arithmetic operations • Difficulty with basic math facts • Difficulty with metacognition • Challenges with visual-spatial skills • http://schwablearning.org/articles.asp?r=769&g=1  

5. General Cognitive Characteristics • Average or above average intelligence • Problems when attempting to process information • Manipulating verbal skills, i.e., the ability to think and reason with words and/or nonverbal skills, the ability to think and reason with visual/manipulative data • Difficulty in organizing and interpreting visual and auditory stimuli • Distractibility/inattentiveness, impulsivity, and/or hyperactivity** • **Does not equate with attention deficit disorder

6. General Academic Characteristics • Significant discrepancy between ability and performance in the areas of reading, writing, spelling, mathematical calculations and reasoning, as well as listening, speaking, and language comprehension • Lack of generalization skills • Working slowly on tasks, especially paper and pencil assignments • Lacks short and/or long - term memory • Inconsistent performance

7. General Adaptive Behavioral Characteristics • An inability to utilize compensatory strategies due to a learned helplessness  

8. General Social Characteristics • Poor self-esteem and reduced feelings of self-confidence • Inability to read to feelings, emotions, interests, Inability to identify social space (stand too close or far away) • Feelings of inferiority but desire acceptance of others  

9. General Physical Characteristics • Difficulty with organization and orientation skills • Difficulty with eye-hand coordination (perceptual-motor integration) • Incorrect pencil grip • Awkwardness • Fine motor difficulties, i.e., handwriting, working with manipulatives, puzzles, etc. • Gross motor difficulties, i.e., running, jumping, skipping, hopping, etc.)

10. General Communication Characteristics • Problems with expressive and receptive language • Difficulty with processing language • Problems with the mechanics of language • Weakness in written and oral language • Weakness in conversational skills