Specific Learning Disabilities A Neurological Disorder

A Workshop for

Paraprofessionals

Who am I?

Gale E. Cossette, Ph.D.

Reading interventionist VVCS

LD Specialist/Reading Specialist

Highly Qualified in Elementary Special Education, Reading, Elementary Educator, and Early Childhood

President of the NH Branch of the Learning Disability Association

Develop online professional development courses for OPEN NH and teach them.

AGENDA

Individual activity

The brain and learning

Learning disabilities and causes

NH definition of SLD

Types

What they look like

In class strategies

Resources

The Brain

Frontal Lobe

Behavior, attention,

creativity, intellect,

libido, abstract

thought, reasoning,

non-verbal learning,

speech, and smell

Temporal Lobe

Hearing, memory fear,

some language,

speech and auditory

memories

Occipital Lobe

Reading, vision

Left Side & Right Side

Left

Lots of reading

Writing

Assignments involving reading and analyzing

Attention to detail

Quantitative methods

Organized approach to assignments

Right

New learning

Pictures, diagrams

Video

Talks about feelings

Social Activities

Music

The Big Picture

Creative projects

New Learning

Education favors the left side of the brain – Best to teach to both

How Learning Occurs

Dendrites Axon

The more dendrites the better

Can increase dendrites through active learning

Transmit nerve signals to the brain at 200 mph

Learning

Synapse

Electrical charges – synapses

Dopamine helps electrical charges go to dendrites

Repeated activities strengthen charges

An active and challenged brain creates more dendrites

The Brain and Learning Disabilities

Exposure to toxins

Genetics

Birthing factors

Symmetry of brain

Developmental disruptions

Nutrition

Tobacco/Alcohol/Drugs

Learning Disabilities

Any disability that affects/inhibits a

child to acquire and apply knowledge

Autism

Traumatic Brain Disorder

Mental Retardation

Specific Learning Disability

Specific Learning Disability

It is a lifelong disability.

RTI

Discrepancy Model

Child does not achieve according to age and ability levels in one or more identified criteria and has been provided with the opportunity to achieve.

NH Specific Learning Disability Criteria

Team find a severe discrepancy in:

Oral Expression

Listening Comprehension

Written Expression

Criteria - Continued

Basic Reading Skill

Reading Comprehension

Mathematics Calculation

Mathematics Reasoning

BUT, Not a Learning Disability, If:

Severe discrepancy is a result of

Visual, hearing, or motor impairment

Mental Retardation

Emotional Disturbance

Environmental, Cultural, or Economic Disadvantage

Disclaimer

The following are different types of learning disabilities,

what they might look like in the classroom, and

strategies to use in the classroom.

They do not suggest that a student has a disability

because he/she displays these signs.

To identify a child as having a learning disability entails

a team approach and the following of the special

educational process.

Listening Comprehension Central Auditory Processing Disorder

Difficulty processing information or language, but no problems with remembering non-verbal language or sound

Process sounds slowly, but difficulty in repeating them.

Misspells/mispronounces similar sounding words (celery/salary, three/free)

Often distracted by other noises

Difficulty in staying focused on and remember verbal presentations

Misinterpret or difficulty following verbal directions

Difficulty with rapid speech

“Ignores” people, especially when engrossed

Says “What?” a lot, even when he has just “heard” what was said

Literal, does not get puns or jokes

Listening Comprehension Strategies

Student to constantly verbalize concepts

Allow student 5-10 seconds to respond

Show vs. explaining

Speak slower

Visual cues, manipulatives, handouts

Vary pitch and tone

Reword/help understand confusing oral directions

Avoid child listening and writing at the same time

Ask specific questions to see if student understands

Reduce or space directions – “Ready?”

Provide favorable seating – less distractions

Teachers look at student when speaking

Visual Perceptual/Motor Deficit Affects Reading/Writing/Comprehension

Substitutes small sight words (I/me, he/she)

Letter reversals

Eye itches, blurs, pain

Holds head at odd angles while reading

Holds pencil too tightly/breaks pencils

Cannot copy accurately

Looses place while reading

Struggles to cut and/or paste

Messy papers/misaligned letters

Oral Expression

Difficulty in expressing thoughts verbally

Difficulty labeling objects

Frustrated by having to say a lot and no way to say it

Can describe a word or draw it, but cannot retrieve the word

Difficulty getting jokes

Oral Expression Strategies

Provide alternatives:

Video taping/tape record

Written/visual

Work/practice with a peer

Provide plenty of opportunities to build prior knowledge

Provide classroom discussion topics before hand

Speaking slowly

Practice story mapping

Graphic organizers

Introduce F.A.T. City

Simulation

How children with a learning

disability perceives the classroom

and its daily activities.

Three Dys’s

Bad, impaired

Dyslexia

Dygraphia

Dyscalculia

Dyslexia Reading

Slow, painful reading

Decoding errors/reversals

Encoding problems

May have difficulty w/writing

Difficulty recalling known words

Written language

Math computations

Dyslexia

Quiet areas for reading activities

Books on tape

Large print books/big spaces

Don’t count off for spelling

Laptop for writing

Multi-sensory methods of teaching

Use logic vs. rote memory

Present material in small units

Use different colored chalk on board for each line

Pre-teach in class reading and assign a passage

Paired reading

Dyslexia Strategies, Cont

Spelling Rules

Teach to find errors

Allow students to dictate creative stories

Tracking tools

Experiment with pastel, embossed, or raised line paper

Restrict copying tasks

Dysgraphia

Written Expression

Hard to read writing

Mixture of cursive/printing

Unfinished words/letters or omits words

Odd wrist, body, or paper position

Difficulty pre-visualizing letters

Writing very slow and laborious

Poor spatial planning on paper

Cramped or unusual grip

Difficulty thinking and writing notes at the same time

Dysgraphia

Use a word processor

Corrections about writing privately

Oral testing

Tape recorder

Provide notes/note taker

Pre-printed math problems

Wide rule paper or lines

Pencil grips

Alternatives to writing assignments

Grade content vs. writing

Dyscalculia Math

Difficulty understanding math concepts (place value, quantity, number lines)

Word problems

Sequencing

Steps in solving problems

Understanding fractions

Difficulty recognizing patterns in X, -, +, and /

Challenged when making change

Putting language to math processes

Time, days of the week, keeping numbers lined up

Organization on paper

Dyscalculia

– Allow the use of finger/other devices

– Use diagrams/draw out concepts

– Peer assistance

– Graph paper, colored pencils

Manipulatives

Teach how to draw pictures

Mnemonic devices

Rhythm/Music

Computers

Plenty of scratch paper w/lines

Space

Resources

http://www.ldanh.org/ NH Branch of

LDA

http://www.bookshare.org/web/Welco

me.html Books on tape - free for

schools

http://www.ldanatl.org/aboutld/adults/i

ndex.asp Adults with learning

disabilities