Learning Disabilities: An Overview
Individuals that find it challenging to acquire basic academic skills despite their average or above average intelligence level have a learning disability. Academic skills include: reading, writing, listening, speaking, and/or math. IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) is a federal law that defines a learning disability as a condition when a child’s achievement is significantly lower than what one might expect for that child. They do not problems that are initially the outcome of intellectual disabilities, emotional disturbance, or visual, hearing, emotional or intellectual disabilities. While there are many learning disabilities, most of them fall into three categories: reading disabilities or dyslexia, written language disabilities or dysgraphia, and math disabilities or dyscalculia. A child with a learning disability usually struggles with reading. Other categories include disabilities that affect memory, social skills, and executive functions such as deciding to begin a task. A description of the more common learning disabilities, how to identify them, and effective instruction are as follows.
Difficulty reading or dyslexia affects two to eight percent of elementary school children. It is characterized by individuals who have difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. Successful reading requires one to: focus attention on the printed symbols, Recognize the sounds associated with letters, understand words and grammar, build ideas and images, compare new ideas to what you already know, and to store ideas in memory. A person with dyslexia can have a problem in any of those tasks when it comes to reading. Scientists have found that those with dyslexia struggle to separate sounds and also with sounding out words that rhyme such as “cat” and “bat.” Luckily, remedial reading specials have developed techniques in order to conquer these challenges. Dysgraphia or difficulty writing, like reading, involves lots of brain functioning. The brain connections for vocabulary, grammar, hand movement, and memory must all be in good working order. Therefore, a child with a writing disability could be able to create complete and grammatically correct sentences. The third of the main learning disabilities, dyscalculia or difficulty in mathematics, involves recognizing numbers and symbols, memorizing facts, aligning numbers, and understanding abstract concepts. Those with challenges in this area most likely show them early in age. Disabilities that show up in the higher grades are more linked to problems in reasoning. Another disability related to these is ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). ADHD makes it difficult for children to have their behavior under control and to pay attention. Autism, another disability, is often confused as being a learning disability. It is a developmental disability that usually appears during the first three years of life and affects a person's ability to communicate and interact with others. Usually a teacher or parent notices that a child is struggling to learn or is behind in class. Then, an evaluation can be requested and tests can be given to that child. In order to combat these learning disabilities, there must be ways to effectively instruct the students. Students with learning disabilities benefit from explicit and well sequenced instruction. Teachers often provide accommodations for those students as well. With new procedures and strategies in today’s schools, children with learning disabilities can benefit greatly!
LD Online. (2008). Learning Disabilities:An Overview.
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