learning disabilities

1. DEALING WITH
LEARNING
DISABILITIES
Prepared by
Iram Shehzadi
Educator
Govt. Institute for Slow
Learners, Chakwal. 1

2. 2

3. Every child has a
different learning style
and pace. Each child is
unique, not only capable
of learning but also
capable of succeeding.
-Robert John
Meehan
3

4. LEARNING DISABILITIES
A BRIEF INTRODUCTION
4

5. Introduction to
Learning Disabilities
 The term learning disabilities was only
founded in 1963 by Samuel Kirk. At that
time, children with LD were referred to by
such terms as:
 “perceptually handicapped,”
 “brain-injured,” and
 “neurologically impaired”
 were served in classrooms for students
with MC or in most cases, were not
receiving any specialized services in the
public schools. 5

6. Let’s Define a Learning
Disability
A learning disability interferes with
someone’s ability to receive, process or
produce information
Or
A disorder in the processing of
information involved in understanding and
using language (spoken or written)
Or
Difficulties in learning, particularly
reading, writing, mathematics, and/or
spelling
6

7. Such disabilities affect both children and
adults
Its not always immediately obvious that a
person has a learning disability
They can be quite subtle and go undetected
throughout life
For the students we see in our classrooms,
learning disabilities create a gap between a
students true capacity and his or her day to
day performance
7

8. .
 A learning disability is not indicative
of lower intelligence. In fact, people
who have a learning disability are
often very intelligent
 It is true, however, that their
difficulty to process or store
information then causes them to see
things differently and sometimes
obscures their intelligence
8

9. In Other Words
The term learning disabilities refers to a
neurobiological disorder in one or more
of the basic processes involved in
understanding spoken or written
language.
It may influence an individual’s ability to
speak, listen, read, write spell,
reason, organize information or do
mathematical calculations.
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10. 10

11. Questions11

12. A Few Questions….
How many
teachers in this
room have
IDENTIFIED
learning disabled
students in their
classrooms?
12

13.  What sort of learning difficulties you
have found???
LETS HAVE A LOOK AT SOME
COMMONLY FOUND
DISABILITIES!!!
A Few Questions….
13

14. Difficulties in Learning
.
 Dyslexia
 Dyscalculia
 Dysgraphia
 Dysphasia/Aphasia (Language Processing
Disorder)
 Dysorthographia
 Non Verbal Learning Disabilities
 Auditory Processing Disorder
 Visual Perceptual/Visual Motor Deficit
14

15. Dyslexia
 A specific learning disability that
affects reading and related language-
based processing skills. The severity
can differ in each individual but can
affect reading fluency, decoding,
reading comprehension, recall,
writing, spelling, and sometimes
speech and can exist along with other
related disorders. Dyslexia is
sometimes referred to as a Language-
Based Learning Disability. 15

16. 16

17. Object Orientation and
Object Identification
p
d
b
q
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18. Object Orientation and
Object Identification
M
W
E
3
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19. Famous People with Dyslexia
 Whoopi Goldberg
 Tom Cruise
 Henry Winkler
 George Patton
 Winston Churchill
 Bruce Jenner
 Nelson Rockefeller
19

20. Dyscalculia
 A specific learning disability that
affects a person’s ability to
understand numbers and learn math
facts. Individuals with this type of
LD may also have poor comprehension
of math symbols, may struggle with
memorizing and organizing numbers,
have difficulty telling time, or have
trouble with counting. 20

21. Dysgraphia
 A specific learning disability that
affects a person’s handwriting ability
and fine motor skills. Problems may
include illegible handwriting,
inconsistent spacing, poor spatial
planning on paper, poor spelling, and
difficulty composing writing as well as
thinking and writing at the same time.
21

22. Language
Processing Disorder
(Aphasia/Dysphasia)
 A specific type of Auditory Processing
Disorder (APD) in which there is
difficulty attaching meaning to sound
groups that form words, sentences and
stories. While an APD affects the
interpretation of all sounds coming into
the brain, a Language Processing Disorder
(LPD) relates only to the processing of
language. LPD can affect expressive
language and/or receptive language. 22

23. Non-Verbal
Learning Disabilities
 A disorder which is usually
characterized by a significant
discrepancy between higher verbal
skills and weaker motor, visual-spatial
and social skills. Typically, an individual
with NLD (or NVLD) has trouble
interpreting nonverbal cues like facial
expressions or body language, and may
have poor coordination
23

24. Visual Perceptual/Visual
Motor Deficit
(Dyspraxia)
 A Disorder that affects the
understanding of information that a
person sees, or the ability to draw or
copy. A characteristic seen in people with
learning disabilities such as Dysgraphia or
Non-verbal LD, it can result in missing
subtle differences in shapes or printed
letters, losing place frequently, struggles
with cutting, holding pencil too tightly, or
poor eye/hand coordination. 24

25. Auditory Processing
Disorder
 Also known as Central
Auditory Processing
Disorder, individuals with Auditory
Processing Disorder (APD) do not recognize
subtle differences between sounds in words,
even when the sounds are loud and clear
enough to be heard. They can also find it
difficult to tell where sounds are coming
from, to make sense of the order of sounds,
or to block out competing background noises.
25

26. Skill Areas That May Be
Affected By Learning
Disabilities & associated
conditions
 Receptive &
Expressive
Language
 Auditory/Phonolog
ical Processing
 Visual-Motor
Processing
 Visual Processing
 Attention /
Concentration
 Memory
 Metacognition
 Organizational/Study
Skills
 Social Skills 26

27. Disorders of
Attention
 Widely prevail among our kids
 Does not focus when a lesson is
presented; short attention span,
easily distracted, poor
concentration; may display
hyperactivity
27

28. Oral Language
Difficulties
Underlying language disorders;
problems in language development,
listening, speaking, and vocabulary
and may learn language late and
have a limited vocabulary and
may not follow the social rules of
conversation, such as taking turns,
and may stand too close to the
listener 28

29. Lacks Phonological
Awareness
Poor at recognizing sounds of language; cannot
identify phoneme sounds in spoken language, and
cannot manipulate these sounds and may have
trouble remembering the sounds that letters make
or hearing slight differences between words and
also may have trouble following directions along
with inability to retell a story in order (what
happened first, second, third)
may mispronounce words or use a wrong word that
sounds similar
may have trouble organizing what he or she wants
to say or not be able to think of the word he or she
needs for writing or conversation
29

30. Poor Cognitive
Strategies for Learning
Does not know how to go about the
task of learning and studying; lacks
organizational skills; passive
learning style, does not direct his
own learning
30

31. Poor Motor Abilities
Difficulty with gross motor abilities
and fine motor coordination
(exhibits general awkwardness and
clumsiness)
31

32. Writing Difficulties
Poor in tasks requiring written
expression, spelling, and
handwriting and may have very
messy handwriting or hold a pencil
awkwardly; and struggle to
express ideas in writing
32

33. Social Skills
Does not know how to act and talk in
social situations; difficulty with
establishing satisfying social
relationships and friendships
33

34. Mathematics
Difficulty with quantitative thinking,
arithmetic, time, space, and
calculation facts and children with
disability may confuse math symbols
and misread numbers
34

35. Reading Difficulties
About 80% of students with learning
disabilities have disabilities in reading;
problems in learning to decode words, basic
word recognition skills, or reading
comprehension
They may have trouble learning the
alphabet, or connecting letters to their
sounds
They may make many mistakes when reading
aloud, and repeat and pause often
may not understand what he or she reads
35

36. Looking just at the learning disability is
too limiting!
Students with learning disabilities
manifest strengths and weaknesses in
different mental processes!
Teachers need to look at students’
islands of competence!
Each Student is
Unique!
36

37. Although the research
is not clear, all
students do not learn
in the same way
We as teachers should
focus on the students’
diverse strengths and
help them approach
learning from their
strengths.
37

38. 38

39. 39

40. Albert Einstein
Could not talk at the age of four
Did not learn to read till nine
Teachers thought of him as slow learner, unsociable
and a dreamer
Failed the entrance examinations to college in his
first attempt
Lost three teaching positions
Worked as a patent clerk
Today, Albert Einstein
is synonymous
with genius 40

41. Prevalence of learning
Disabilities
41

42. Prevalence of Learning
Disabilities
 Almost 3 million children (ages 6
through 21) have some form of a
learning disability and are eligible to
receive special education in school.
 In fact, approximately 50% of all
children who receive special education
have a learning disability
 3:1 ratio males to females
42

43. A Few Questions….
 How many teachers in this room have
who have identified learning disabled
students in their classrooms are
giving remedial intervention in school?
 What interventions are being
offered?
43

44. Remedial interventions /
Dealing with Learning
Disabilities 44

45. Dyslexia
 Provide a quiet area for activities like
reading, answering comprehension
questions
 Use books with large print and big spaces
 Don’t count spelling on maths, science or
other similar tests
 Use multi-sensory teaching methods
 Teach students to use logic rather than
rote memory
 Present material in small units 45

46. Dyscalculia
• Allow use of fingers and scratch paper
• Use diagrams and draw math concepts
• Provide peer assistance
• Suggest use of colored pencils to
differentiate problems
• Draw pictures of word problems
• Use mnemonic devices to learn steps of a
math concept 46

47. Dysgraphia
 Use oral exams
 Avoid chastising student for sloppy,
careless work
 Provide notes or outlines to reduce the
amount of writing required
 Reduce copying aspects of work (pre-
printed math problems)
 Suggest use of pencil grips and /or specially
designed writing aids
 Provide alternatives to written assignments
47

48. Language
Processing Disorder
 Speak slowly and clearly and use simple
sentences to convey information
 Refer to a speech pathologist
 Write main concepts on board
 Use visualization techniques to enhance
listening and comprehension
 Use story starters for creative writing
assignments
 Practice story mapping 48

49. Non-Verbal
Learning Disabilities
 Avoid assuming the student will automatically
generalize instructions or concepts
 Verbally point out similarities, differences and
connections; number and present instructions in
sequence; simplify and break down abstract
concepts
 Never assume child understands something
because he or she can “parrot back” what you’ve
just said
 Offer added verbal explanations when the child
seems lost or registers confusion 49

50. Visual Perceptual/Visual
Motor Deficit
 Avoid grading handwriting
 Provide alternative for written assignments
 Suggest use of pencil grips and specially
designed pencils and pens
 Restrict copying tasks
 Provide tracking tools: ruler, text windows
 Use large print books
50

51. Auditory Processing
Disorder
 Show rather than explain
 Supplement with more intact senses (use visual cues,
signals)
 Reduce or space directions, give cues such as “ready?”
 Reword or rephrase for confusing oral directions
 Vary pitch and tone of voice, alter pace, stress key words
 Ask specific questions as you teach to find out if they do
understand
 Allow them 5-6 seconds to respond (“think time”)
 Have the student constantly verbalize concepts,
vocabulary words, rules, etc.
51

52. General Teaching
Strategies
 Provide highly structured and clear
expectations.
Children who are LD tend to have
difficulty focusing, getting started and
setting priorities. Creating a clear
structured program allows the student
to be exposed to fewer distractions
and possible avoidance and allow for
greater focus on work related tasks.
52

53. General Teaching
Strategies
 Allow flexibility in classroom
procedures
Keep in mind that the greater the
number of options in responding to a
task, the greater chance that a
particular student’s learning style will
be useful and successful.
53

54. General Teaching
Strategies
 All tasks should be presented on the
whiteboard as well as orally presented.
This multilevel sensory approach will only
enhance the chances of the child being
able to bring home the correct
assignment. This will also cut down on
parent child frustration which often
occurs when the child with learning
disabilities brings home part of the
assignment or and assumption of what
needs to be done due to a lack of ability in
copying quickly. 54

55. General Teaching
Strategies
 Make sure that the child's desk is
free from all unnecessary materials.
Children with learning disabilities tend
to have organizational problems as well.
The less chaos, the better the focus.
Keep the desk free of most materials.
55

56. General Teaching
Strategies
 Correct the student's work as soon
as possible to allow for immediate
gratification and feedback.
Students with learning disabilities do
not often have foundations of success
when it comes to schoolwork.
Therefore, when they hand in work
they begin to worry about how they did.
If they do not receive it back quickly,
some children may use a great deal of
energy worrying about the reactions of
others if they did not do well. 56

57. General Teaching
Strategies
 Try to separate a LD Child from
students who may be distracting.
Some children with learning disabilities
are very distractible, while others may
use any external situation to avoid a
potential failure situation. Sitting a
child with learning disabilities next to
students who are self-motivated and
internally controlled will provide extra
structure and controls.
57

58. General Teaching
Strategies
 Use multi-sensory teaching methods
whenever possible.
This is a common sense issue since all
the research indicates that the greater
number of sense utilized to learn
something, the greater chance for the
information to be understood and
retained. Using visual, auditory,
kinesthetic or tactile input together is
highly recommended for children with
learning disabilities. 58

59. General Teaching
Strategies
 Respond to the child’s comments
praising whenever possible.
Many children with learning disabilities
tend to have secondary emotional
issues as a result of frustration and
lower sense of self worth due to
academic failure and stress.
Consequently, when he responds or
initiates conversation, that initiation of
communication should be praised.
59

60. General Teaching
Strategies
 Give constant feedback.
Many children with learning disabilities
tend to write negative scripts about
their ability and their performance.
Feedback in any form reduces this
negative energy pattern and offers
reality, the only thing that breaks down
fear.
60

61.  Encouraging, supportive classroom
 Student made to feel a valued
member of class
 Recognize efforts, improvement and
task completion
 Opportunities for positive self-
expression, beginning first in a small
group setting
Other strategies for
students with Learning
Disabilities
61

62. students with Learning
Disabilities
 Attach daily schedules or home
assignments etc to student notebook
 Have a buddy/group system
 Allow more time on assignments
 Encourage alternate forms of
presentation, e.g. spoken instead of
written
 Provide positive support for all
students without any discrimination
62

63. Other strategies for students
with Learning Disabilities
 Always write the page number and
exercise number on the board so
that the LD student can always find
his place without asking
 Reduce the level of distraction in the
room
 Combine both auditory and visual
stimuli, say it and write it on the
board whenever possible
63

64. Other strategies for students
with Learning Disabilities
 Give the gift of time whenever it is at
all possible… Students with learning
disabilities may require extra time to
complete in-class and homework
assignments as well as tests
 Consider administering tests in
alternative formats such as orally or
on notebooks, worksheets,
whiteboard etc.
64

65. Other strategies for students
with Learning Disabilities
 Frame material by relating it to past
classroom or personal experience and
highlighting new material;
Whenever possible, cluster material
so that it is organized by category
 Don’t issue too many instructions at
the same time. Break tasks down into
their component parts and issue the
instructions for each part one at a
time 65

66. students with Learning
Disabilities
 Set specific goals
 Know individual strengths to select
and modify strategies
 Know what motivates students
 Explain and demonstrate
 Provide opportunities for continued
practice and guided instruction
66

67. Other strategies for students
with Learning Disabilities
 Reorganize the seating to help students by
placing students with special needs near
the teacher
 Begin each lesson with a review of what has
been learned
 Use multiple-choice or matching tests
instead of full recall tests
 Give exam/test material to student and to
parent two weeks before major test so
parent can review information several
times with the student 67

68. students with Learning
Disabilities
 Increase student-teacher time
 Assign student buddy to help with
directions
 Work with Psychologist of your
institute and teachers of other
subjects of a said child to help
him/her
 Summarize what has been learned at
the end of each lesson
68

69. students with Learning
Disabilities
 Use colored markers on the
whiteboard to differentiate and
emphasize
 Have students use a “Window
Tracker” or “Pencil following” for
reading if they continuously lose the
line they are reading in texts
69

70. Learning Modalities
All learners have preferred ways of
receiving new and sometimes difficult
information.
Awareness of these modalities for
language teachers are important so that
they can accommodate to the individual
differences and learning styles.
70

71. When we teach using the students'
different sensory modalities the class
as a whole receives information in one or
several channels
This Multisensory approach can also
reinforce a learner's use of their less
developed senses
Grinder, 1989
Sensory Modalities
71

72. Howard Gardner’s work on multiple intelligences
and the different ways that we each learn,
remember, perform, and understand may be helpful
Of similar importance is Betty Edwards work on the
roles that the left-brain and the right-brain play in
our thinking, reasoning and complex mental
functions
Teachers can improve the learning climate for
many students and most assuredly for those with a
learning disability by planning tasks so that
differing intelligences are called upon and by
balancing the involvement required of each
hemisphere of the brain
72

73. Researchers believe that
students with stronger visual
processing skills may learn better
through sight word or language
experience methods and that
students with stronger auditory
processing skills may learn best
through phonics methods
Lerner, 2006
73

74. GISL
Chakwal at a
Glance!!!!
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86. “Life is not so much a
matter of holding good
cards but of playing a
poor hand well”
Robert Louis Stevenson
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87. How to Play a Poor Hand Well?
If provided with the right support, a
teacher of a student with learning
disabilities can help the student
succeed in school by both fostering
the student’s strengths and
recognizing his weaknesses
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