Martha Van Leeuwen

Resources for Paraeducators Website

Learning Disabilities
Learning Disabilities
What is a learning disability?

IDEA defines learning disabilities as the following

Part A defines the terms used in the law.
"Specific learning disability" is defined as follows:
The term "specific learning disability" means a
disorder in one or more of the basic psychological
processes involved in understanding or in using
language, spoken or written, which disorder may
manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think,
speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical
calculations.


What are the laws about students
with learning disabilities?
Students with learning disabilities have specific rights
to special education under The Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act 2004 (IDEA), Section 504 of
the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA). Students with dyslexia and
other specific learning disabilities are legally entitled
to special services to help them overcome and
accommodate their learning problems. Such services
include education programs designed to meet the
needs of these students. The Acts also protect people
with dyslexia against unfair and illegal discrimination.



Reading Disabilities
Dyslexia is a common reading disability that
affects some students in the areas of decoding
and automatic word recognition. Dyslexia can
refer to a variety of different symptoms. Many
students with dyslexia also have difficulties with
language skills, specifically reading. Students
with dyslexia can also have other difficulties with
skills such as spelling, writing, and pronouncing
words.



Reading Disability
A student may have a Fluency Disability in
which the student has difficulty reading fluently.
Students with a fluency disability ready with a lot
of effort and with little expression. They are also
inconsistent (usually slow) in their reading speed
and use inappropriate pauses. Lastly, a student
may be able to read words in isolation but
struggle when reading the same words in a text.


Reading Disability
Students may also struggle with Comprehension
Difficulties after reading a text. The student may
be able to recall specific facts of the story but will
have difficulty understanding and identifying main
themes or conclusions of the text. Students with
comprehension difficulties have a limited
vocabulary and may have difficulty using various
strategies to help them understand what they are
reading.


Interventions
Use already acquired knowledge
Try bringing to the students attention similar words they are able to
pronounce. This can help them recognize how a letter or letter pattern
sounds and should be spoken.
Example: If a student is able the say the /o/ in sock, you can then apply this to
working on learning the word clock.
Use music and rhythms in language instruction
The majority of students enjoy music and rhyme and this can help
reinforce word and sounds meanings.
Example: When studying vowel sounds, work with songs that reinforce the
long and short vowel sounds.
Provide visual cues and tools to help reinforce language
instruction
Try posting new or difficult words in a place in the classroom the student
will look at often.
Example: If working on /-at/ words, create a bulletin board display that
specifically has those words and can be accompanied by pictures to go along
with the words.
Interventions
Pair reading and vocabulary instruction with images
Provide pictures from books, magazines, and other sources to
help the student have a concrete image to associate the word
Example: Ask student to visualize a word as you provide them with a
visual representation
Provide repeated practice in oral reading and unison
reading.
Having the student repeat the same text multiple times will
increase their fluently especially when given feedback.
Example: Use a test that contains words the student knows so that word
recognition problems arent interfering
Model Fluent Reading Practices
Read aloud frequently to students and encourage student to
practice reading out loud with an adult.
Example: Specifically teach student how to read smoothly and with
expression such as raising your voice at the end of a question or when
there is a question mark.
Use kinesthetic learning methods
Incorporate multiple sense can help in memorization
Example: Ask a student to say a new word and trace it using your fingers
on your arm or desk.
Writing Disability
Students with writing disabilities may have a
combination of various problems and usually do
not enjoy writing. Students with writing disabilities
not only suffer from the act of writing, but can also
struggle when they are required to elaborate on
content in essays or compositions. Due to their
disability, the student takes so much time
concentrating on how to write, it is difficult to take
the time for focusing on the content.



Writing Disability
Dysgraphia is a writing disability that causes
children to have difficulty with legibility of
handwriting. Students with dysgraphia have
illegible or very poor writing and have an awkward
pencil grip or wrist position. Students may also
suffer from hand fatigue and form their letters and
punctuation very slowly, with great effort.





Writing Disability
Disorder of Written Expression is when
students have difficulty expressing their ideas.
Students may have poor grammar, spelling
difficulty, and unable to use punctuation correctly.
Also students may omit letters from various words
or entire words from sentences. Sentences will be
incomplete or be written as a run on sentence
using minimal punctuation. Lastly, students will
have difficulty organizing their thoughts into
paragraphs or writing compositions.
Interventions
Model and Reinforce proper pencil grips and positions when students are
learning to write
Use multi-sensory techniques to teach letters and numbers
Allow students to show what they know in ways they work best - allow them to
demonstrate their knowledge without having to write
Avoid criticizing a students written language skills
Be cautious when asking students to write on the board or in front of other
students
Allow the students to have a copy of the notes rather than copying from the
board
Encourage print rather than cursive
Trying using various types of paper
Encourage to use different types of technology such as typing and using spelling
and grammar checks.
Break down the writing process into one or two step processes
Allow students to have extended time on written assignments
Teach strategies for pre-writing to help courage ideas for writing
Use and teach how to use diagrams as strategies or other visual tools to
encourage students to organize their thoughts and information
Math Disability
Students with math disabilities can have a variety
of difficulties ranging from being unable to
recognize numbers to having difficulties with word
problems and understanding patterns or
relationships. Math disabilities are usually seen to
be caused by a variety of cognitive difficulties.
These may be memory, attention, and visual-
spatial abilities. Math also relies on language
such as reading and writing, which causes child
with difficulties in reading to also struggle with
math.




Writing Disability
Students struggling with math can have a problem
with memory. When trying to memorize math facts,
students need to learn them and store in their
memory or they will not be able to recall. Memory may
look different such as being able to learn and store
the facts initially, but struggle when they must retrieve
the facts quickly. Another area of memory that can be
affected is remembering sequences for solving
calculation problems. This is called working memory
which is the ability to hold information in the memory
while performing a different task. If a student has
difficulty with their working memory or any other area
of memory, it will affect their ability to solve math
problems successfully.


Writing Disability
There are other factors that can cause a student
to struggle with math. Organization is one of them
as it can interfere with the students ability to
solve a problem on paper in a way that the
teacher and the student can understand.
Students who have attention issues or are
impulsive will struggle with accuracy of math it will
lead to hurried responses or not taking the time to
solve a problem accurately. Lastly, student who
exhibits a very slow pace in retrieving facts or
procedures will struggle with math as they will
have difficulty completing work in a timely
manner.
Interventions
Model step-by-step problem solving methods for students
Teach students to estimate answers prior to answering
Use real-world problems to demonstrate math concepts
Ask students to teach the solution to you
Monitor students progress on math assignments
Use concrete examples to introduce new skills
Allow students to quietly self-verbalize at their desks
Give students extra time for tests and assignments
Encourage students to check answers
Teach students to use graph paper
Allow students to arrive at the answers using alternate
methods
Break up the problems into smaller parts
Emphasize the importance of sequence

References
LD Online
Cooley, M. L., (2007). Teaching Kids with Mental
Health and Learning Disorders in the Regular
Classroom. Minneapolis; Free Spirit Publishing
Inc.