Identify the definition for a 'learning disability' Distinguish a learning disability from other types of disabilities Identify strategies to help a student with a learning disability

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We are able to:
o Identify the definition for a 'learning disability'
o Distinguish a learning disability from other types of disabilities
o Identify strategies to help a student w ith a learning disability
INTRODUCTION
 A learning disability is a specific impairment of academic learning that interferes with a specific aspect of schoolwork and that reduces a
student’s academic performance significantly.
 A learning disability show s itself as a major discrepancy betw een a student’s ability and some feature of achievement.
The student may be delayed in reading, w riting, listening, speaking or doing mathematics, but not in all of these at once.
A learning problem is not considered a learning disability if it stems from physical, sensory or motor handicaps or from generalized intellectual
impairment (or mental retardation).
It is also not a learning disability if the learning problem really reflects the challenges of learning English as a second language.
Genuine learning disabilities are the learning problems left over after these other possibilities are accounted for or excluded.
Typically, a student w ith a learning disability has not been helped by teachers’ ordinary efforts to assist the student when he or she falls behind
academically.
What counts as an ‘ordinary effort’, of course, differsamong teachers, schools and students. Most importantly, though, a learning disability relates to
a fairly specific area of academic learning, e.g. a student may be able to read and compute w ell enough but not be able to w rite.
Learning disabilities are by far the most common form of special educational need.
Example:
In the United States, learning disabilities account for half of allstudents with specialeducationalneeds and anyw here from 5% to 20% of all students,
depending on how the numbers are estimated (United States Department of Education, 2005; Ysseldyke & Bielinski, 2002).
Students w ith learning disabilities are so common, in fact, that most teachers regularly encounter at least one per class in any given school year,
regardless of the class level they teach.
Defining Learning Disabilities Clearly - With so many students defined as having learning disabilities, it is not surprising that the term itself becomes
ambiguous in the truest sense of ‘having many meanings’. Specific features of learning disabilities vary considerably as outlined in the examples
below .
Examples:
The follow ing students qualifyas having a learning disability, assuming that they have no other disease, condition or circumstance to account for their
behavior:
Albert has trouble solving w ord problems that he reads, but can solve them easily if he hears them orally.
Bill has the reverse problem; he can solve w ord problems only w hen he can read them, not w hen he hears them.
Emily has terrible handw riting; her letters vary in size and w obble all over the page, much like a first or second grader.
Sarah adds multiple-digit numbers as if they w ere single-digit numbers stucktogether: 42 + 59 equals 911 rather than 101, though 23 + 54 correctly
equals 77.
With so many expressions of learning disabilities, it is not surprising that educators sometimes disagree about their nature and about the kind of help
students need as a consequence.
Such controversy may be inevitable because learning disabilities by definition are learning problems w ith no obvious origin.
Common to all educators though is a belief that a variety of strategies for helping students w ith learning disabilities should be experimented w ith.

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Introduction
There are various w ays to assist students with learning disabilities, depending not only on the nature of the disability, of course, but also on the
concepts or theory of learning being used.
CASE STUDY Assisting a Student with a Learning Disability
 This case study looks at a girl w ith a learning disability called Sarah. She adds tw o-digit numbers as if they w ere one digit numbers.
Stated more formally, Sarah adds tw o-digit numbers w ithout carrying digits forward fromthe ones column to the tens column, or fromthe tens
to the hundreds column.
 Example of Sarah's Homework
This is an example of Sarah’s math homework involving two-digit addition.
Three out of the six problems are done correctly, even though Sarah seems to use an incorrect strategy systematically on all six problems.
Behaviorism and Reinforcement
One possible approach to assist Sarah is based on the behaviorist theory. It seems that Sarah w as rewarded so much for adding single-digit numbers
(3+5, 7+8 etc.) correctly that she generalized this skill to adding tw o-digit problems.
Changing Sarah’s behavior is tricky since the desired behavior (borrowing correctly) rarelyhappens and therefore cannot be reinforced veryoften. It
might help for the teacher to rew ard behaviors that compete directly w ith Sarah’s inappropriate strategy.
The teacher might reduce credit for simply finding the correct answerand increase credit fora student showing her the w orkof carrying digits forward
correctly. Or the teacher might discuss Sarah’s math’s w ork with Sarah frequently, so as to create more occasions when she can praise Sarah for
w orking problems correctly.
Reflective Learning
Part of Sarah’s problem may be that she is thoughtless about doing her math’s. The minute she sees numbers on a w orksheet, she stuffstheminto
the first arithmetic procedure that comes to mind. Her learning style seems too impulsive and not reflective enough.
As a solution, the teacher could encourage Sarah to think out loud w hen she completes tw o-digit problems-literally get her to ‘talk her w ay through’
each problem.
Constructivism and the Zone of Proximal Development
Perhaps Sarah has in fact learned how to carry digits forw ard, but not learned the procedure w ell enough to use it reliably on her ow n.
In that case her problem can be seen in the constructivist terms. Sarah has lacked appropriate mentoring from someone more expert than herself,
someone w ho can create a ‘zone of proximal development’ in w hich she can display and consolidate her skills more successfully.
She still needs mentoring or ‘assisted coaching’ more than independent practice. The teacher can arrange some of this in much the w ay she
encourages to be more reflective, either by w orking w ith Sarah herself or by arranging for a classmate or even a parent volunteer to do so.
Assisting a Student with a Learning Disability

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The main points:
A learning disability is a specific impairment of academic learning that interferes with a specific aspect of schoolwork and that reduces a student’s
academic performance significantly.
Learning disabilities are by far the most common form of special educational need.
There are various w ays to assist students with learning disabilities, depending not only on the nature of the disability, of course, but also on the
concepts or theory of learning being used:
- Behaviourism and reinforcement for w rong strategies
- Metacognition and responding reflectively
- Constructivism, mentoring and the zone of proximal development
o
o Identify the correct definition for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
o List some behavioural signs of ADHD
o Name the drug that students w ith ADHD take to reduce their symptoms
o List tw o practical problems associated w ith students taking a drug to reduce their symptoms
o Identify three strategies that a teacher can use to teach students w ith ADHD
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a problem w ith sustaining attention and controlling impulses.
Almost all students have these problems at one time or another, but a student w ith ADHD show sthemmuch more frequently than usualand often at
home as w ell as at school.
 In the classroom, a student w ith ADHD may:
- Fidget and squirm a lot
- Have trouble remaining seated
- Continually get distracted and go off task
- Have trouble w aiting for a turn
- Blurt out answ ers and comments
- Shift continually from one activity to another
- Have trouble playing quietly
- Talk excessively w ithout listening to others
- Misplace things and seem generally disorganized
- Be inclined to try risky activities w ithout giving enough thought to the consequences
 Although the list of problem behaviors is obviously quite extensive, keep in mind that the student w ill not do all of these things.
 It is just that over time, the student w ith ADHD is likely to do severalof them chronically or repeatedly and in more than one setting (American
Psychiatric Association, 2000).
 In the classroom, of course, these types of behaviors can annoy classmates and frustrate teachers.
Differences in perceptions: ADHD versus high activity
It is important to note that classrooms are places that make heavy demands on not show ing ADHD-like behaviours.
In classrooms, students are often supposed to:
- Sit for long periods
- Avoid interrupting others
- Finish tasks after beginning them
- Keep their minds (and materials) organized
 Ironically, classroom life may sometimes aggravate ADHD w ithout the teacher intending for it to do so.
ADHD: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

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 A student w ith only a mild or occasional tendency to be restless, for example, may fit in w ell outdoors playing soccer, but feel unusually
restless indoors during class.
It also should not be surprising that teachers sometimes mistake a student w ho is merely rather active for a student with hav ing ADHD, since any
tendency to be physically active may contribute to problems w ith classroom management.
The tendency to ‘over-diagnose’is more likely for boys than for girls (Maniadaki et al., 2003), presumably because gender role expectations cause
teachers to be especially alert to high activity in boys.
 Over-diagnosis is also especially likely in students w ho are culturally or linguistically non-Anglo (Chamberlain, 2005), presumably because
cultural and language differences may lead teachers to misinterpret students’ behaviour.
 To avoid making such mistakes, it is important to keep in mind that in true ADHD, restlessness, activity and distractibility are widespread and
sustained.
Example:
A student w ho shows such problems at school but never at home may not have ADHD. He may simply not be getting along w ith his teacher or
classmates.
Causes of ADHD
Most psychologists and medical specialists agree that true ADHD, as opposed to mere intermittent distractibility or high activity, reflects a problemin
how the nervous system functions. They do not know the exact nature or causes of the problem though (Rutter, 2004, 2005).
Research show sthat ADHD tends to run in families. Children (especially boys) of parents w ho had ADHD, are somew hat more likely to experience
the condition themselves.
The association does not necessarily mean, though, that ADHD is genetic. It seems that parents w ho formerly had ADHD may raise their children
more strictly in an effort to prevent their ow n condition in their children.
Their strictness, ironically, may trigger a bit more tendency, rather than less, tow ards the restless distractibility characteristic of ADHD. The parents’
strictness may also be a result, as w ell as a cause of, a child’s restlessness.
The bottom line for teachers is that sorting out causes from effects is confusing, if not impossible.
Secondly, sorting out causes fromeffects may not help much in determining actual teaching strategies to help the students learn more effectively.
Teaching Students with ADHD
Research shows that Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) can be reduced for many students if they take certain medications, of w hich the
most common is methylphenidate, commonly know n by the name Ritalin (Wilens, 2005; Olfson, 2003).
This drug and others like it act by stimulating the nervous system, w hich reduces symptoms by helping a student pay better attention to the choices
he or she makes and to the impact of actions on others.
Unfortunately the medications do not w ork on all students w ith ADHD, especially after they reach adolescence. Its long-term effects are uncertain
also (Breggin, 1999).
In any case Ritalin and similar drugs have certain practical problems:
- Drugs cost money w hich is a problem for a family w ithout much money to begin w ith, or for a family lacking medical insurance that pays for
medications.
- Drugs must be taken regularly in order to be effective, including on w eekends. Keeping a regular schedule can be difficult if parents’own schedules
are irregular or simply differ from the child’s, e.g. due to night shifts at w ork or if parents are separated and share custody of the child.
In any case, since teachersare not doctorsand medications are not under teachers’control, it may be more important simply to provide an environment
w here a student w ith ADHD can organise choices and actions easily and successfully.
Strategies for teaching students with ADHD include:

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Strategy 1 - Providing clear rules and procedures
Strategy 2 - Breaking dow n tasks into manageable chunks
Strategy 3 - Modelling suitable behaviour
Strategy 1: Providing clear rules and procedures
Clear rules and procedures can reduce the ‘noise’ or chaotic quality in the child’s classroom life significantly.
The rules and procedures can be generated jointly w ith the child; they do not have to be imposed arbitrarily, as if the student w ere incapable of
thinking about them reasonably.
Any strategy that a teacher uses should be consistent, predictable and generated by the student as much as possible. By having these qualities, the
strategies can strengthen the student’s self-direction and ability to screen out the distractions of classroom life.
The goal for teachers, in essence, is to build the student’s metacognitive capacity, while at the same time, of course, treating the student with respect.
The main points from this module are as follows:
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a problem w ith sustaining attention and controlling impulses.
Classrooms are places that make heavy demands on not show ing ADHD-like behaviours. How ever, classroomlife may sometimes aggravate ADHD
w ithout the teacher intending for it to do so.
Most psychologists and medical specialists agree that true ADHD, as opposed to mere intermittent distractibility or high activity, reflects a problemin
how the nervous system functions, but they do not know the exact nature or causes of the problem (Rutter, 2004, 2005).
Research show s that ADHD can be reduced for many students if they take certain medications, of w hich the most common is methy lphenidate,
commonly know n by the name Ritalin (Wilens, 2005; Olfson, 2003).
Strategies that a teacher can use w hen dealing w ith students w ith ADHD include:
- Providing clear rules and procedures
- Breaking dow n tasks into manageable chunks
- Modelling suitable behaviour