Learning Disabilities

Learning Disability

A specific learning disability is a disorder in one or more of the central nervous system processes involved in perceiving, understanding and/or using concepts through verbal (spoken or written) language or nonverbal means. This disorder manifests itself with a deficit in one or more of the following areas: attention, reasoning, processing, memory, communication, reading, writing, spelling, calculation, coordination, social competence and emotional maturity. The federal definition of specific learning disability is a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which may manifest in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or perform mathematical calculations.
Do not look at LD as a disability but as a different way of learning. Ld students have to learn a coping strategy to compensate for their methods of learning. Students have frustration at not understanding what they are trying to learn. They turn this upon themselves saying they are dumb, and this affects their self –esteem.

Implifications of Teaching

What I’m dealing with most as a paraprofessional in the classroom is reading comprehension. All of my students have IEP’s. I try hard to watch the certified teacher in the class to see how she handles certain situations. This activity works well with the younger students as well as the fifth graders. They are all on the same level. The teacher will use these strategies for a lesson and most of them will be used everyday. I would also get a student that is reading well some what better than the other student and pair them up and make them reading buddies. Students have a tendency to learn from other students. It would make a difference in a struggling reader
1. Use simultaneous, multisensory instruction for teaching the name, formation, and sound of letters: vision, hearing, and touch simultaneously to promote higher retention.
2. Teach phonics skills one at a time in building block fashion.
3. Use a sequence that minimizes confusion (systematic).
4. Teach decoding (reading) and encoding (spelling) skills using the 42 basic sounds of the English language---helping those who cannot memorize words by sight, and helping all students to read larger words independently.
5. Review DAILY the vowel, phonogram, and digraph sounds until mastered.
6. Provide integrated materials that give substantial decoding and encoding practice to achieve mastery.
7. Make the practice FUN--transforming it into a magical experience by using games, songs, and activities that support the instruction.
8. Give students preparation before reading a story by playing a game and doing worksheets related to the new sound, and reading and language arts skills that will be in the story.
9. Provide decodable stories with controlled vocabulary that builds on the skills taught to date---eliminating the tendency to guess.
10. Teach comprehension and language arts skills within the context of the stories (to give the skills meaning and purpose

Specific Technology:

Reading machines- This is for students who have a problem reading. The machine will read the story or lesson for them.
Highlighters- To focus on things that are important in the text.
Read Aloud – It will read to the students. Students can comprehend better when they don’t have to read the lesson themselves.
Textbooks- that comes with the CD or audio tapes
Calculators- They can be used in math

References

http://www.abcteach.com This site has grade levels that you want and it consist of stories and questions.
www.readwritethink.org- Studies has shown that the think out loud strategy improves reading comprehension on tests. The teacher will model the think aloud strategy for students

Heward, William L. (2006) Exceptional Children An introduction to Special Education. Chapter 5 Learning Disabilities (pg 170-209). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey; Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.

http://www.ncld.org I think this website is good for parents as well as for teachers

Handbook of Learning Disabilities H. Lee Swanson, Karen R. Harris, and Steve Graham
Causes and Behavioral Manifestations and it also teaches Effective Instructions