1. Learning Disabilities - Intervention Dr. Rick McCendie April 19 th, 2010

2. General Intervention Steps Psycho-educational assessment (determine learning profile, possible diagnosis & recommendations) Feedback meeting (parents, school & youth) Student meets with guidance department Education Self-advocacy remediation accommodation

3. Learning Profile – Reading & Written Expression Disorder John is 17 yrs old and is about to begin College. At the age of 9 years, he was diagnosed with a reading disorder. Throughout high school he has found reading slow and difficult for him. He coped with high school by listening to audiotaped versions of books and his mother would read text to him. Otherwise it would take him 5 hours to read one chapter.

4. Learning profile (cont’d) John has memorized a number of words and reads them automatically (sight word vocabulary) When he reaches a low frequency word, he struggles and stumbles through decoding it. Consequently, reading text is cumbersome and takes a long time.

5. Learning Profile (cont’d) When he finishes reading several paragraphs, John has put so much effort and concentration into decoding the individual words, that he does not remember or understand what he has read. To read for comprehension, he must read the same text 3-4 times.

6. Learning Profile (cont’d) In addition to reading difficulties, John has great difficulty getting his ideas down on paper (written expression). Sentence structure is weak and words are out of order. Vocabulary is ordinary and immature. Spelling mistakes are frequent. He rarely uses capitalization, commas & periods. He has no difficulty expressing his ideas in orally.

7. Psycho-educational testing results WAIS-IIIVerbal Comp.75 th %ile Perceptual Org.63 rd %ile WRAML -2Verbal Memory 72 nd %ile Visual Memory 58 th %ile Att/Conc Memory 4 th %ile

8. WIAT-2 (academic scores) Word Reading 6 th %ileGE 7:3 Pseudoword Dec.3 rd %ileGE 3:6 Reading Comp.79 th %ileGE >12:9 Spelling 21 st %ile GE 9:2 Written Exp. 9 th %ile GE 8:3

9. Is John on a level-playing field compared to other students who enter college? What would you do for John?

10. Strengths & Weaknesses Learning will be easy when: -Discussion format -Small group work (e.g. study groups) -Watching media (e.g. movies, TV programs, internet) -Lecture format

11. Strengths and Weaknesses (cont’d) Learning will be difficult when: -Require to read text -Require to write -Taking notes in class

12. Intervention Remediation of word reading, reading comprehension & written expression skills. Resource assistance and tutoring.

13. Accommodations Reduced work load Short work periods with frequent breaks Additional time to complete textual & written assignments Additional time to complete tests & exams Oral testing as an alternative method Read and explain questions to student during tests/exams

14. Accommodations (cont’d) Provide photocopied notes or use of a scribe Assistance /support to ensure that John understands written material presented during exams, tests, lectures & classroom work periods. Audiotape lectures and playback later.

15. Assistive Technology Text-to-voice software Learn keyboarding Written expression software

16. Study & organizational skills Assistance in developing study and organizational skills to be successful in college

17. Self-advocacy Key that John understands his learning profile Self-advocate to ensure that he receives adaptations/modifications to ensure success Meet with college advisor to discuss assessment results and needed accommodations Communicate this to each professor at the start of each semester

18. Self-advocacy (cont’d) Regular meeting with guidance department to track progress and to provide support during high stress periods of the semester. Know your rights (what are the institutions policies around supporting students with LD?) Who should John go to when he begins to feel overwhelmed?