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LEARNING DISABILITIES. KNR 270. Learning Disabilities. Individuals with learning disabilities have above average, average, or near average intelligence They experience academic and social difficulties Have highly variable characteristics or needs Range from mild to severe.
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LEARNING DISABILITIES KNR 270
Learning Disabilities • Individuals with learning disabilities have above average, average, or near average intelligence • They experience academic and social difficulties • Have highly variable characteristics or needs • Range from mild to severe
What is a Learning Disability? • Neurological disorders • Interferes with a person’s ability to store, process, or produce information • Creates a “gap” between ability and performance • Tests • Difference between ability & performance
Is this a Disability of Kids? • Often first recognized during childhood or school • LD is not cured and doesn’t go away • People learn to compensate • Famous people • Bruce Jenner • Greg Louganis • Whoopee • Others?
Problems • Reading • Writing • Speaking • Computing math • Coordination • Attention • Social skills
Social Skills • Language skills • Choose right time to speak, find right words, understand what is said • Reading non-verbal information • Understanding different situations • Impulsivity • Segregated classes deprive opportunities to learn social skills
Types of Learning Disabilities • Dyslexia • Language processing and its impact on reading, writing, and spelling • Dysgraphia • Writing, motor patterns in writing, spelling • Dyscalculia • Math, memory of math facts, concepts of time, money
Types of Learning Disabilities • Dyspraxia • Motor planning, coordination of body movements • Auditory discrimination • Differences in speech sounds • Visual perception • Notice details and assign meaning to what was seen • And many other types
Dyslexia • Most common learning disability • 80% of LD = dyslexia • 1/5 students have dyslexia • May have with other LD • Developmental coordination disorder • Awkward • Clumsy • Waugh & Sherrill, 2004
Learning Disabilities Co-occur with • Attention deficits • Hyperactivity • 12-14 %
Prevalence • 2.7% to 30% • 15 million children, adolescents, & adults in US • 5-10% of school-age children • 2.8 million children served under IDEA • 51% of entire identified special education population • 27-46% of students in college have a learning disability
Without Help • 27-35% do not finish high school • 62% were not fully employed 1 year after graduating from high school
Causes • Frequently no apparent cause • Heredity • Disturbances of central nervous system • Problems during pregnancy and childbirth • Incidents after birth • Head injuries, nutritional deprivation, exposure to toxic substances
Signs of LD • Often spelling the same word differently in a single document • Reluctance to take on reading or writing tasks • Weak memory skills • Slow work pace • Inattention to details or excessive focus on them • Frequent misreading of information • Easily confused by instructions
Dyslexia ConcernsWaugh & Sherrill, 2004 • Vision & reading • Confuses letters, numbers, verbal explanations • Needs time to process • Reads & rereads with little comprehension • Lacks depth perception & peripheral vision
Dyslexia ConcernsWaugh & Sherrill, 2004 • Hearing & speech • Distracted by extraneous sounds • Hard time putting thoughts into words • Leave sentences incomplete • Writing • Trouble writing or copying information • Handwriting is varied or illegible
Dyslexia ConcernsWaugh & Sherrill, 2004 • Motor skills • Clumsiness or lack of coordination • Difficulty with fine &/or gross motor skills • Confuses left/right, up/down • Math • Dependence on finger counting
Dyslexia ConcernsWaugh & Sherrill, 2004 • Time management • Difficulty telling & managing time • Difficulty being on time • Problems learning in sequence • Memory & cognition • Excellent LTM for experiences, locations & faces • Thinks with images & feelings , not sounds or words (little internal dialogue)
Dyslexia ConcernsWaugh & Sherrill, 2004 • Behavior, health, personality • Keeps items in disorderly manner or compulsively orderly • Class clown, trouble maker, recluse • High or low tolerance for pain • Strives for perfection • Mistakes increase with time pressure, emotional stress, poor health • Zones out, day dreams
Important to Know • Strengths & challenges • Tests • Results • Employers & schools will need • Description of learning disability • Accommodations
Legislation • Children & youth – IDEA • College – ADA & Rehab Act of 1973 • Must self-identify and provide documentation of disability to receive accommodations • Extra time to complete exams • Exams read orally, dictated • Quiet place to take exam • Using a computer • Others? • ADA
Considerations/Accommodations • 4 strategies • Learning environment • Learning style based instruction • Visual imagery • Self-esteem • Waugh & Sherrill, 2004
Learning Styles • Different approaches or ways of learning • Everybody has a preferred style • Knowing that style can help a person learn more effectively • Lots of self assessments
Learning Styles • Visual learners learn through seeing • Need to see body language & facial expression • Prefer to sit in front of class • Think in pictures • Learn best from visual displays (overheads, PowerPoint, videos, etc.) • May take detailed notes to help absorb information
Learning Styles • Auditory learners learn through listening • Verbal lectures • Discussions • Talking things out and hearing what others say • Reading text aloud • Written information will have little meaning until it is heard
Learning Styles • Tactile/kinesthetic learners learn through moving, doing, touching…. • Hands-on • Hard to sit still for long periods • May become distracted and need activity or exploration
Pair & Share • Identify group’s learning styles • Lesson plan for your group • Teach card game
Considerations/Accommodations • Provide objectives for learning & practice • Behavior expectations • On poster (visual) • Repeat frequently (auditory) • Give minutes on task, remind of remaining minutes • Allow extra time for reading
Considerations/Accommodations • Use multisensory approaches • Visual • Diagrams, handouts, demonstrations, observations • Hands on • Auditory • Clear verbal instructions • Tape instructions
Reference • Lorraine C. Peniston • Developing recreation skills in persons with learning disabilities • Champaign, IL: Sagamore Publishing • 1998