Chart-At-A-Glance Disability: Specific Learning Disabilities

Name of Student: Erica Hefner

Category of Disability: Specific Learning Disabilities

Federal (IDEA) definition on this disability: Specific Learning Disability (SLD) is a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using spoken or written language. The disability may be exhibited as an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations. SLD also includes conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. Prevalence:

5% of the nation’s school population, has been diagnosed, 47% of all disabilities

Causes: Genetic Factors – 35-45% of first degree relatives with reading, spelling, language,

and speech disabilities have children displaying like characteristics Toxins – agents causing malformations in the fetus, unintentional exposure to lead Medical factors – premature birth, pediatric AIDS, structural and functional

differences in and around the left temporal lobe.

Characteristics: 1. Oral Expression – use of words and ability to formulate and produce words and sentences with appropriate vocabulary and grammar and application of conversational rules Students will display difficulty with the grammatical processes of inflection, marking categories like person, tense, and case (e.g., the -s- in jumps marks the third-person singular in the present tense), and derivation, the formation of new words from existing words (e.g. acceptable from accept), learning vocabulary, formulating complete, semantically and grammatically correct sentences either spoken or written, explaining word associations, antonyms/synonyms, retelling, making inferences, and predictions2. Listening Comprehension - the understanding of the implications and explicit meanings of words and sentences of spoken language.Students will display difficulty with following directions for seatwork and projects, remembering homework assignments, understanding oral narratives and text, answering questions about the content of the information given, critical thinking to arrive at logical answers, word associations, antonyms/synonyms, categorizing and classifying, note-taking or dictation3. Written ExpressionDysgraphia is a neurological disorder characterized by poor handwriting, with poor spelling as a secondary characteristic. People with dysgraphia often have fine-motor problems that specifically affect written language-Difficulty recalling the sequence of strokes needed to form a specific letter; -Use of the larger muscles of the wrist and forearm rather than small muscles of the fingers to form letters -Finger agnosia, in which a student has to visually monitor the location of the writing instrument because the fingers do not report their location to the brain. A person with

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agnosia may have an awkward, fist-like pencil grip, placing the thumb over the fingers and thus preventing the fingers from moving the pencil easily4. Basic Reading Skill - struggle to identify individual sounds and manipulate them; to identify printed letters and the sounds associated with those letters, or to decode written language. It is also typical for these students to struggle with spelling, or encoding. This is frequently termed as dyslexia. 5. Reading Fluency Skills - the ability to read words accurately, quickly and effortlessly. Additionally, fluency skills include the ability to read with appropriate expression and intonation or prosody. Fluency therefore relies on three key skills: accuracy, rate, and prosody.- Students will struggle with any rapid automatic naming tasks such as identifying colors, letter names, numbers, and names of familiar items and so on. Students who are struggling to read are less motivated to read, reducing exposure to vocabulary, a critical element of reading comprehension. As a student progresses through school, a breakdown in fluency can make it extraordinarily difficult to keep up with the intensity and high volume of reading required for secondary and post-secondary education.6. Reading Comprehension - ability to understand and make meaning of text. Students who are poor readers do not stop when they are confused by text and will not check for understanding during the reading process7. Mathematical Calculation - the knowledge and retrieval of facts and the application of procedural knowledge in calculation. Typically, students with a mathematical calculation disability struggle in the area number and operations of the content strand.8. Problem Solving - Mathematical problem solving involves using mathematical computation skills, language, and reasoning, reading, and visual spatial skills in solving ‐problems; essentially it is applying mathematical knowledge at the conceptual level. Students with a mathematical problem solving disability will often have problems within the category of mathematical processes.Educational Considerations:

Cognitive Training-Self Instruction problem solving while performing tasks to bring behavior under verbal control-Self Monitoring - students track their own and record if behavior is occurring over several days-Scaffolded Instruction – provides instruction and gradually reduces assistance-Reciprocal Teaching - allows the student to assume role of co-teacher

Instructional Approaches for Academics-Reading – teaching students to manipulate phonemes in words-Writing – explicit instruction for planning revising and editing compositions through self regulation strategy development. -Math – Instruction is explicit, high structure, teacher directed and sequenced lessons-Science and Social Studies –Activities based curriculum in a highly structured, sequenced planned environment. Textbook content enhancement with graphic organizers and mnemonics

Direct instruction – highly structured teacher directed method of instruction, rapid paced, teacher questioning, achievement grouping. -Task Analysis – breaking down academic problems into component parts to teach separately and then put back together to demonstrate large skill

Peer Tutoring/PALS pairs higher performing student with lower in structured tutoring session, taking turns being coach and reader.

Service Delivery Models – Inclusion with cooperative instruction2

Assessment of Progress Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) Informal Assessment

-Informal reading inventory (IRI) – reading from a list that gets progressively harder-Mathematics dynamics assessments (MDA) 1. Examine understanding, 2. Assess interest 3. Examine prior patterns 4. Use flexible interviews

Testing Accommodations – extended time and small group settingEarly Intervention Prediction and assessment of SLD in preschool years is difficult because of access and exposure to academics in addition to developmental delays compounding the approach to identifying SLD. Listed are screening tools for identifying children in grades K-8.

Letter Naming Fluency/Letter Sound Fluency/Phoneme Segmentation Fluency: AIMSweb, DIBELS, WirelessGeneration, MClass, Vital Indicators of ProgressE I Screening: Hammill Multiability Achievement Tests / Wide Range Achievement Test-Expanded (WRAT-Expanded) /Young Children’s Achievement Test (YCAT)

Oral Reading Fluency: Texas Primary Reading Inventory TPRI /Gray Diagnostic Reading Inventory /Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE) /Marie Clay’s Observation Survey (research indicates this tool may underestimate students at-risk due to low ceilings) /Measures of Academic Progress (Northwest Evaluation Association)

Written Expression and Spelling: Individual Growth and Development Indicator (similar to DIBELS)—IDGIs may be completed to monitor students not receiving specialized intervention, to identify students who might benefit from such interventions and to monitor the effects of intervention.

Math Computation/Facts/Concepts/Application: E I Screening: Young Children’s Achievement Test (Y-CAT) / Early Childhood Outcomes Center University of North Carolina. Tools—instrument crosswalks. /Individual Growth & Development Indicator (IDGI - similar to DIBELS)—IDGI’s may be completed to monitor students not receiving specialized intervention, to identify students who might benefit from such interventions and to monitor the effects of intervention.

Transition to Adulthood Factors Related to Successful Transition include goal setting, vocational training,

and a supportive work environment. Secondary Programming involves basic academics, functional skills, and supervised

work experiences. Postsecondary Programming will need to involve SOP with assessment reports,

accommodations, recommendations, assistive technology and support services.

References

Center for parent information and resources. (2016). Retrieved from

http://www.parentcenterhub.org/repository/

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Hallahan, D., Kauffman, J., & Pullen, P. (2013). Exceptional learners: An introduction to special

education (13th ed.). United States: Pearson.

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