Problems faced in spoken English among learning disabilities students 1.

English speaking difficulty Listening Remember that when youre having a conversation, youre only talking about 50% the time the other 50% is spent listening to the other person speak. If you dont understand what the other person is saying, its difficult to reply. Here are two simple solutions to this problem: First, practice some listening EVERY DAY. All you need is 10-15 minutes per day to develop your listening skills. You can get free English podcasts on websites like ESLpod.com and listen to them while driving, taking public transportation, exercising, or doing housework. Next, memorize these phrases that you can use in conversation when you dont understand something:

I beg your pardon? Im sorry, I didnt understand that. Could you repeat that, please? Could you say that again, please?

2. English Speaking Difficulty Vocabulary Sometimes when youre speaking English, you have a sentence in mind, but youre missing two or three important vocabulary words and then it becomes difficult to say what youre thinking. The solution is learn more vocabulary words! But theres a good way and a not so-good way to learn new words. The not-so-good way is to read lists of words and definitions and try to memorize them.

A good way is to learn words in families. For example, imagine youre in an airport. Do you know the words for everything you see? (luggage, check-in desk, travel agency, flight attendant, boarding pass) If not, look for the words you dont know in a dictionary. Now think about what kind of conversations you might have in an airport. How would you ask for help if you cant find the gate? What would you say if you missed your flight? How about going through immigration? Create conversations and write them down in your vocabulary notebook. This will help you learn useful words that are all related to each other, so the next time youre in an airport; you wont have problems with missing vocabulary. 3. English Speaking Difficulty Pronunciation English words can be difficult to pronounce and when speaking English, you have to consider not only the pronunciation of the individual words, but also the connection between the words in the sentence. Theres also the rhythm and intonation of the sentence to consider and sometimes your mouth gets confused! There are two things that can help you improve your English pronunciation. One way is to take a pronunciation course. Another way to improve your pronunciation is to keep practicing your listening. The more you listen to English, the more your pronunciation will naturally get closer and closer to native pronunciation. A good way to practice is to get an audio sample with transcript. Listen to one or two sentences (while reading the transcript), then pause the audio and try to repeat the sentences exactly as the person said them. Practicing pronunciation like this will help you improve very fast.

4. English Speaking Difficulty Confidence If you feel nervous and are afraid of making a mistake while speaking English, then your problem is confidence. There are three things that can help increase your confidence: First, dont worry too much about grammar! Just do your best to communicate, and youll often be successful even if you do mak e a small grammar mistake. Also, remember that the grammar of spoken English is often more flexible than the grammar of written English. Second, keep a positive attitude. Think of yourself as an English speaker (because you are!) and focus on celebrating what you know, not being frustrated about what you dont know. Third, practice speaking English as much as possible in low-pressure situations. Here are two examples of low-pressure situations: Talk to yourself! It might feel ridiculous, but it really helps! Talk to your teacher and your friends in English class. If you make a mistake, they can correct you. Its extremely important to practice in low-pressure situations as much as possible to build your confidence so that you will be comfortable speaking English in a more high-pressure situation (like a teleconference, presentation, or job interview). These are the examples of speech disorder among disabilities students:
1.

Childhood Apraxia of Speech What are some signs or symptoms of childhood apraxia of speech?

Not all children with CAS are the same. All of the signs and symptoms listed below may not be present in every child. It is important to have your child evaluated by a speech-language pathologist (SLP) who has knowledge of CAS to rule out other causes of speech problems. General things to look for include the following:

a. A Very Young Child

Does not coo or babble as an infant First words are late, and they may be missing sounds Only a few different consonant and vowel sounds Problems combining sounds; may show long pauses between sounds Simplifies words by replacing difficult sounds with easier ones or by deleting difficult sounds (although all children do this, the child with apraxia of speech does so more often)

May have problems eating

b. An Older Child

Makes inconsistent sound errors that are not the result of immaturity Can understand language much better than he or she can talk Has difficulty imitating speech, but imitated speech is more clear than spontaneous speech

May appear to be groping when attempting to produce sounds or to coordinate the lips, tongue, and jaw for purposeful movement

Has more difficulty saying longer words or phrases clearly than shorter ones Appears to have more difficulty when he or she is anxious Is hard to understand, especially for an unfamiliar listener Sounds choppy, monotonous, or stresses the wrong syllable or word

c. Potential Other Problems

Delayed language development Other expressive language problems like word order confusions and word recall

Difficulties with fine motor movement/coordination Over sensitive (hypersensitive) or under sensitive (hyposensitive) in their mouths (e.g., may not like toothbrushing or crunchy foods, may not be able to identify an object in their mouth through touch)

Children with CAS or other speech problems may have problems when learning to read, spell, and write

2.

Dysarthria

What are some signs or symptoms of dysarthria? A person with dysarthria may experience any of the following symptoms, depending on the extent and location of damage to the nervous system:

"Slurred" speech Speaking softly or barely able to whisper Slow rate of speech Rapid rate of speech with a "mumbling" quality Limited tongue, lip, and jaw movement Abnormal intonation (rhythm) when speaking Changes in vocal quality ("nasal" speech or sounding "stuffy") Hoarseness Breathiness Drooling or poor control of saliva Chewing and swallowing difficulty Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders

3.

a. What are some signs or symptoms of OMD? Although a "tongue thrust" swallow is normal in infancy, it usually decreases and disappears as a child grows. If the tongue thrust continues, a child may look, speak, and swallow differently than other children of the same age. Older children may become self-conscious about their appearance. b. What effect does OMD have on speech? Some children produce sounds incorrectly as a result of OMD. OMD most often causes sounds like /s/,/z/, "sh", "zh", "ch" and "j" to sound differently. For example,

the child may say "thumb" instead of "some" if they produce an /s/ like a "th". Also, the sounds /t/, /d/, /n/, and /l/ may be produced incorrectly because of weak tongue tip muscles. Sometimes speech may not be affected at all.
4.

Speech Sound Disorders: Articulation and Phonological Processes

a. What are some signs of an articulation disorder? An articulation disorder involves problems making sounds. Sounds can be substituted, left off, added or changed. These errors may make it hard for people to understand you. Young children often make speech errors. For instance, many young children sound like they are making a "w" sound for an "r" sound (e.g., "wabbit" for "rabbit") or may leave sounds out of words, such as "nana" for "banana." The child may have an articulation disorder if these errors continue past the expected age. Not all sound substitutions and omissions are speech errors. Instead, they may be related to a feature of a dialect or accent. For example, speakers of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) may use a "d" sound for a "th" sound (e.g., "dis" for "this"). This is not a speech sound disorder, but rather one of the phonological features of AAVE. b. What are some signs of a phonological disorder? A phonological process disorder involves patterns of sound errors. For example, substituting all sounds made in the back of the mouth like "k" and "g" for those in the front of the mouth like "t" and "d" (e.g., saying "tup" for "cup" or "das" for "gas"). Another rule of speech is that some words start with two consonants, such as broken or spoon. When children don't follow this rule and say only one of the sounds ("boken" for broken or "poon" for spoon), it is more difficult for the listener to

understand the child. While it is common for young children learning speech to leave one of the sounds out of the word, it is not expected as a child gets older. If a child continues to demonstrate such cluster reduction, he or she may have a phonological process disorder.

5.

Stuttering

a. What are signs and symptoms of stuttering? Stuttered speech often includes repetitions of words or parts of words, as well as prolongations of speech sounds. These disfluencies occur more often in persons who stutter than they do in the general population. Some people who stutter appear very tense or "out of breath" when talking. Speech may become completely stopped or blocked. Blocked is when the mouth is positioned to say a sound, sometimes for several seconds, with little or no sound forthcoming. After some effort, the person may complete the word. Interjections such as "um" or "like" can occur, as well, particularly when they contain repeated ("u- um- um") or prolonged ("uuuum") speech sounds or when they are used intentionally to delay the initiation of a word the speaker expects to "get stuck on." b. Some examples of stuttering include:

"W- W- W- Where are you going?" (Part-word repetition: The person is having difficulty moving from the "w" in "where" to the remaining sounds in the word. On the fourth attempt, he successfully completes the word.)

"SSSS ave me a seat." (Sound prolongation: The person is having difficulty moving from the "s" in "save" to the remaining sounds in the word. He continues to say the "s" sound until he is able to complete the word.)

"I'll meet you - um um you know like - around six o'clock." (A series of interjections: The person expects to have difficulty smoothly joining the word "you" with the word "around." In response to the anticipated difficulty, he produces several interjections until he is able to say the word "around" smoothly.)

6.

Voice

a. What are signs and symptoms of vocal cord nodules or polyps? Nodules and polyps cause similar symptoms:

hoarseness breathiness a "rough" voice a "scratchy" voice harshness shooting pain from ear to ear a "lump in the throat" sensation neck pain decreased pitch range voice and body fatigue

b. What are the signs and symptoms of vocal cord paralysis? The severity of voice and swallowing problems depends on where the nerve damage occurs. Typical symptoms include:

hoarseness breathy voice inability to speak loudly limited pitch and loudness variations voicing that lasts only for a very short time (around 1 second) choking or coughing while eating possible pneumonia due to food and liquid being aspirated into the lungs (the vocal cords cannot close adequately to protect the airway while swallowing)

Students Disorder

with

Learning

Disabilities

and

Attention

Deficit/Hyperactivity

Often called "hidden disabilities", students with Learning Disabilities (LD's) and/or Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) make up the majority of students registered with DS. Examples of LDs include Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, Math Disorders, and Nonverbal Learning Disorders. Students are diagnosed after a battery of testing with results that indicate lack of achievement at age and ability level and a severe discrepancy between achievement and intelligence. Examples of limitations faced by these students are:

Inability to change from one task to another

Difficulty scheduling time to complete short and long-term assignments Difficulty completing tests without additional time Difficulty following directions Difficulty concentrating in lectures Problems with grammar Impulsiveness Difficulty delaying resolution to a problem Poor self-esteem Difficulty taking notes Slow reading rate Poor comprehension and retention of material read Difficulty with basic math operations Difficulty with reasoning

When preparing your lectures, and then presenting the materials, consider the following:

Link previous lecture to current lecture Outline main points on overhead State class objective Write key terms on overhead Leave overheads up longer than you think necessary for you to copy Identify patterns of organization Make lectures interactive Make notes available on the internet Maintain student attention by varying delivery approach Move around the room Summarize or draw conclusions at the end of the lecture

Commonly used accommodations for students with LDs:

Use of a dictionary Use of a computer with a spell-checking program Writing on the test, rather than using Scantrons Use of a calculator Copies of overheads, handouts, lecture notes Readers for exams Preferential seating

Accommodations for students with ADHD may include:

Reduced distraction environment for testing Extended time for testing Preferential seating near the front of the class