1. Holistic Management of Children with Learning Disabilities
S. Panda
Date:
ZIET, Bhubaneswar

2. Learning Outcomes Understanding about Learning Disabilities.
Identify the children with Learning Disabilities in the school and classroom
Learn the techniques of holistic management of children with Learning Disabilities
Helping the teachers to adopt need based strategies for addressing children with Learning Disabilities.

3. Child-1
Chinmaya is 8 years old. When he was younger, his parents thought he was very clever. So they were anxious to send him school. Later they were disappointed with Chinmay’s performance.
His teacher often reports though Chinmaya is very clever but he is very lazy and careless in his tasks. He only concentrates when he likes the subject (Maths).
The teacher often gets angry with Chinmay. He is not able to understand why the child is good at Maths but not at other subjects. He has difficulty in writing some letters.

4. Child- 2
Shivani is a five year old girl in pre-primary stage. Her class teacher says Shivani is inattentive. She talks when other children are busy in working. She does not look at the teacher when she talks. She does not raise her hand to answer question. She has difficulty in following direction. Many times she is not able to follow the instructions given to the whole class.

5. Child-3
Mihir is in class five. His class teacher reports that despite differentiated approach adopted within classroom, Mihir’s progress is less than expected.
Mihir’s reading ability is very poor and writing is disorganised. He is poor in handwriting and spelling. Despite of these difficulties, he follows overall instructions of the classroom. He does well in Maths and socio-personal skills.
He shows some escaping behaviour while doing writing task. Once he threw his language copy in the corner of the shelve and his mother could not trace it.

6. Understanding Children with L D
Usually having average to above average intellectual abilities
Is a psychological processing disorder which affects the ability to understand or use language
Difficulties in Listening, Thinking, Speaking, Reading, Writing, Spelling and Mathematics without sensory or physical disabilities.
Difficulties in motor skills (poor eye-hand coordination)
Gap between the student’s ability and actual achievement (Both academic and functional skills)

7. Characteristics of L D Secondary Primary Characteristics
Poor social skills
Inattention
Hyperactivity (Impulsive)
Behavioural problems
(anxiety, moodiness)
Primary
Characteristics
Reading problems
(Dyslexia)
Difficulty in written
language
(Dysgraphia)
Underachievement in
Mathematics
(Dyscalculia)

8. Difficulties in Reading (Dyslexia) (signs and symptoms)
Inability to discriminate between letters, numerals or sounds
Difficulties in blend sounds to form words
Mispronounce the words or use a wrong word that sounds similar
Difficulties with word recognition, poor spelling and decoding abilities (mistakes when reading aloud )

9. May not be able to retell the story in proper order
Slow in learning rhymes, numbers, letters, colours and shapes
Difficulties in reading comprehension
Struggle for summering what he/she has just read
Trouble in understanding jokes, comics

12. Difficulties in Writing (Dysgraphia) (Signs and symptoms)
Dislikes writing tasks
Problem in eye-hand coordination (holding writing objects, forming letters and words)
Can not copy accurately from board or textbook
Perform poorly in written tasks (vocabulary, punctuation and spelling, grammar)

13. Write reverse letters
Have messy handwriting (poor handwriting)
May have trouble in organizing thoughts when writing or speaking

14. Difficulties in Mathematics (Dyscalculia) (Signs and symptoms)
Difficulty in number concepts
Difficulty in comparing things/classifying/ sorting items
Difficulty with time concepts
Confuse with operational symbols and misread numbers (reversal of numbers)

15. Does not make connection between two or more ideas
Difficulties in memorizing number facts and solving word problems
Struggle to solve multi-step problems
Problems with arithmetic and math concepts

16. Difficulties in Speaking (Signs and symptoms)
Difficulty in memorising basic facts.
Fumbles with words while speaking (fluency errors)
Difficulty in expressing ideas orally
Use grammar with errors
Problems in retelling a story or describing stories in proper sequence.
Understand the meaning of words and say

17. Difficulties in Study skills
Difficulties in following directions
Poor organisation in preparing notes and other writing materials
Needs more time to complete the tasks

18. Difficulties in Socialization
Struggle in interpreting non-verbal cues (facial expressions, body language)
May have low social status, few positive interactions at school, difficulty in making friends and seem lonely
Might misunderstands jokes, idioms
May not follow social rules of conversation

19. Factor responsible for Learning Disabilities
Genetic factors
Physiological Factors
Environmental factors
improper medical care
Poor nutritional care
Insufficient early experiences in language
Inadequate exposure for learning from environment

20. Screening and Diagnosis
Informal Assessment
Systematic Observation
Interview
Profiling child’s data
Teacher-made tests
Formal Assessment
Psychological and other clinical assessments (Audiological, speech, vision, educational)
Achievement tests

21. Intervention Strategies
Classroom modifications
Multi-sensory approach in teaching
Adapted strategies for examination, note-taker and reducing writing task
Individualised educational programme
Transition planning
Special therapeutic programme, if required.
(Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy)

22. Counselling ( vocational guidance for adolescents and adults)
ADHD requires associated treatment and medication
Eating well, sleeping well and regular exercises,
yoga, music as therapeutic measures

23. Classroom Strategies Visual techniques Use of multisensory aids
Use of computer for drills and practice
Flexibility in Classroom
Correction of task and instant verbal feedback

24. “Say aloud while writing”
Use of memory games
Use of technology for teaching and learning
Quiet learning environment for tests, silent reading and tasks that require concentration
Alerting the student in advance while doing tasks

25. THANK YOU ALL