Learning disabilities By: Colleen Langlands

Learning disabilities Learning Disability: - A classification that includes several areas of functioning in which a person has difficulty learning in a typical manner, usually caused by an unknown factor or factors. - Often used interchangeably with the terms learning disorder and learning difficulty

Learning disabilities What are they?

Types of learning disabilities Dyslexia – Reading based Inability to work with, notice, or think about individual sounds in words Detecting and discriminating differences in speech sounds Difficulty with fluency, rate of reading, decoding, rhyming, spelling, vocabulary, comprehension, and written expression. Dyscalculia – Math based Difficulty with counting, learning number facts, and doing math calculations Difficulty with measurement, telling time, counting money, and estimating number quantities. Trouble with mental-math and problem solving abilities. Dysgraphia – Writing based, often crosses with Dyslexia and Dyscalculia Tight, awkward pencil grip and body position Tiring quickly while writing, and avoiding writing or drawing tasks Trouble forming letters as well as inconsistent space between letters Difficulty with syntax structure and grammar Trouble keeping track of thoughts already written down Auditory Processing Deficit – Weakness in the ability to process and use auditory information Ability to notice, compare, and distinguish separate sounds Ability to pick out distinct sounds from a noisy background Ability to understand and recall the order of sounds and words Ability to take what they hear and put it on paper

Types of learning disabilities Visual Processing Deficit – Weakness in the ability to understand and use visual information Ability to notice and compare the difference between items and distinguish them from each other Ability to distinguish a shape or drawing from it’s background Ability to see and distinguish the order of words, symbols, or images Ability to know what an object is while only seeing parts of it Non-Verbal Learning Disabilities Math computation and problem solving Visual-Spatial tasks and motor coordination Reading body language and seeing social cues Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder A brain-based disorder that results in significant inattention, hyperactivity, distractibility or any combination thereof. Estimated that up to 1/3 of people who have LD also have ADHD The disorder is linked to genetics and brain structure/function Executive Functioning Deficits Weakness in the ability ro plan, organize, strategize, remember details and manage time and space efficiently .

Diagnosing learning disabilities

Getting the student help As a teacher, you cannot officially diagnose a child who is exhibiting exceptional difficulty with anything talked about thus far. This is for those with specific training in these areas, such as a speech and language pathologist, therapist, etc. Using regular formatives designed to specifically find those students who may have LD issues is a very good way to get a foot in the door of helping your students These formative can show the progress or lackthereof in specific content areas, such as letter formation, retention, recall, and various other issues. By taking track and keeping these formatives, or in the case of language issues, writing everything down for later use, you as a teacher are setting up a first-hand testimony towards the student actually needing help or being behind.

Creating an LD friendly teaching and learning enviroment

As we all know, the setup and inclusivity of your classroom greatly affects your students learning, retention, and focus. This is especially the case for students who suffer from learning disabilities. -Decorate in some capacity. Often, bare walls are more distracting than a flurry of posters. Blank rooms remind people of doctors offices or other unpleasant places. They’re boring, and often too bright. By decorating with a few posters or pictures or bookcases, students have something to focus on if they become nervous or anxious. Colors like blue and green will calm anxious or fidgety students, while red, yellow, and orange will energize those more lethargic Explain things in as many different ways as you can think up. Everyone learns differently. One o the easiest ways to be inclusive of kids with learning disabilities,, especially is dyslexia, is as simple as changing your font: Comic sans is a font that is known as the most dyslexic friendly font there is. The letters are not direct mirrors, which lessens the tendency to flip them by the brain. For example: q p l I d b

Works cited Bucholz, J. L., & Sheffler, J. L. (2009). Creating a Warm and Inclusive Environment: Planning for All Children to Feel Welcome. National Center for Learning Disabilities. (2014). The State of Learning Disabilities. (Third Edition). New York, NY, USA. Retrieved from https://www.ncld.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2014-State-of-LD.pdf Ormrod, J. E., & Jones, B. D. (2015). Essentials of Educational Psychology. Pearson Education, Inc.