LEARNING DISABILITIES

The term “LD” does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing or motor disabilities, of
mental retardation, of emotional disturbance or of environmental, cultural or economic disadvantages.

“LD’s” are characterized by intra- individual differences, usually in the form of discrepancy between a student’s ability and his/her
achievement in are as such as reading, writing, mathematics or speaking. Some students with LD also have difficulties with social
relations.

 These processing difficulties might involve understanding or using language, spoken or written, resulting in an imperfect
ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations.

 Individuals with learning disorders are of at least average intellectual ability or higher. They struggle in school because of
these processing problems.

 Learning disorders might impact learning to read, write, or do basic math or reading comprehension, written language, or
more complex math.

 Learning disorders might impact the student’s ability to organize materials and thoughts or to plan a task and carry out that
plan.

Federal definition:

• The term “specific learning disability” means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in
understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which disorder may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen,
think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations.

Minimal brain injury a term used to describe a child who shows behavioural but not neurological signs of brain injury; the term is
now out of favour, primarily because of its lack of diagnostic utility.

History of Learning Disability

This timeline tracks the History of Learning disabilities from its discovery to its recent laws and findings

1877 - A German neurologist, Adolf Kussamaul, coined the term “word blindness” in describing a person with complete text
blindness though he has the power of sight and his intellectual and speech powers are intact.

1887 - A German physician, Rudolf Berlin, used the term “dyslexia” to describe a very great difficulty in interpreting written and or
printed symbols

1895 - Ophthalmologist James Hinshelwood describes in medical journal, The Lancet, a case of a 58 year old man who acquired
word blindness when he woke up one morning.

1896 - Dr. W. Pringle Morgan writes in a British Medical Journal a case about a 14 year old boy who seemed to have a word
blindness since birth.

1905 - The first U.S. report of childhood reading difficulties is published by Cleveland ophthalmologist Dr. W.E . Burner

1987 - A report released by the Interagency Committee on Learning Disabilities calls for the establishment of Centers for the
Study of Learning and Attention, whose sole purpose is to expand research and understanding of this issue.

1990 - The IDEA renames and changes PL94-142. The term disability replaces handicap and the new law requires transition
services for students.

1991 - Dr. Guinevere Eden and her research team at the National Institute of Mental Health used MRI (functional magnetic
resonance imaging)

1992 - IDEA is reauthorized. Regular teachers are included in the IEP process, students have more access in the general
curriculum and included in state wide assessments, ADHD is added to the list of conditions that could make a child eligible for
services under the category “other health impairment”

1993 - IDEA is authorized again. School personnel now have more authority in special education placement decisions and the
new law is better aligned with NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT

2005 - Dr. Jeffrey Gruen and his research team at Yale University identified a gene that had patterns and variations that were
strongly associated with dyslexia
Basic concepts on learning, mental ability, and learning disabilities

Main concepts in learning abilities

– Describes the learning process

– Explains the phenomenon about children who have average or even above average ability to learn but who
experience difficulties in learning

What is Learning?

 Is the process by which experience and practice result in a stable change in the learner’s behavior.

 Results from the efficient teaching that develops the learner’s genetic capacity to learn to the maximum in an environment
that is conductive to an effective teaching – learning process

The stages of learning

The “Knowing” Stage of Learning

1. Acquisition and Reversion

Acquisition of knowledge and skills takes place when the instructional goals and objectives , skills and competencies,
strategies and materials match and learning ability of the student.

Reversion the content and skills learned earlier are further strengthened to increase accuracy and mastery.

2. Proficiency and Automaticity

- are determined by the strength of prior learning. When mastery of a skill or concept is attained, the learner moves on to
the substages of proficiency and automaticity.

The “Using” Stage of learning

3. Maintenance

When the student continues to use the skills thus acquired with proficiency and automaticity over time without explicit
instruction, coaching, prompt, help or reinforcement, then maintenance is achieved.

4. Generalization

Once a skill is learned proficiently, it should be available for use in any appropriate situation.

The goals of generalization are:

a) for the learner to recognize a new or different stimulus as a prompt to apply the learned skills.

b) to use the acquired skills in various situation, behaviors, settings and time. The ability to apply generalization is a major
indicator of learning.
The “Inventing” Stage of Learning

5. Adaption

In the last stage of learning, the students organizes the need to apply learned skills in situations outside the school. He or she
introduces changes or modifications in the skills and applies them to meet the new situation without help or prompts.

Measures of Mental Ability

Another significant concept to understand in teaching children with learning disabilities is the level of the learner’s
intellectual functioning or mental ability.

Concept 1. Standardized tests of mental ability measure intellectual functioning.

Concept 2. IQ scores seem to be distributed the population according to the normal curve.

Concept 3. There are children whose IQ scores fall within the fall within the average as well as the above average areas of the
normal curve who experience learning difficulties.

Three Criteria in Determining the Presence of Learning Disabilities

1.Severe discrepancy between the child’s potential and actual achievement.

2.Exclusion or absence of mental retardation, sensory impairment and other disabilities.

3.Need for special education services.

The Body’s Control Systems: Brain and Nerves

The Brain

The brain and nervous system control our perceptions, thoughts and voluntary actions, and also most of the body’s internal
processes. The brain is contained within the hard bones of the skull and cushioned against injury by surrounding membranes, while
the spinal cord – the central pathway of the nervous system – runs through a channel within the tough vertebrae of the spine.

There are three major areas in the brain:

1. Cerebrum 2. Cerebellum 3. Brain stem

The cerebrum

Is the largest part of the brain, and is associated with conscious activities and intelligence. It is divided into two
hemispheres, and consist of grey matter or neuron cells and white matter or nerve fibers.

The corpus callosum joins the two hemispheres of the cerebrum together.

The cerebral cortex is the outer surface of the cerebrum. It processes information from and for different parts of the body.

The somatosensory strip process sensations, while the motor strip controls the muscles.

The cerebellum

Coordinates movement and balance.

The thalamus acts as sort of junction box, sending incoming nerve impulses to different areas of the brain.
 The medulla oblongata controls heart rate and breathing.

The brain stem

Connects the brain to the spinal cord.

The Nervous System

A network of nerves extends throughout our bodies, carrying sensory information to the brain and instructions from it. The
brain and the spinal cord together from the central nervous system (CNS). The rest of the network is known as the peripheral
nervous systems (PNS).

The Genetic Factors in Learning Disabilities

Learning disabilities constitutes a heterogeneous set of conditions with no single cause or etiology. Thus far, research
findings cite two genetic causes of learning disabilities.

These are:

1. Brain damage 2. Biochemical imbalance

Brain Damage

An increasing consensus attributes learning disabilities to neurological dysfunction or central nervous system pathology.

The models on the causes of learning disabilities state that the condition can be.

A. Hereditary - indicating the presence in the genetic make up of certain inherited diseases or disorders that damage the
brain.

B. Innate - resulting from biological influences during the period of conception or pregnancy.

C. Congenital or constitutional - indicating that biological influences may have originated during the process of gestation or
development in the prenatal (before birth), perinatal (during birth), or postnatal (after birth) periods of development.

3 Categories of Neurological Dysfunction

1. Genetic factors 2. Teratogenic factors 3. Medical factors

Genetic Factors

Common types of studies used to look at the genetic factors:

1. Familiality studies - a method of determining the degree to which a given condition is inherited; looks at the prevalence
of the condition in relatives of the person with the condition.

2. Heritability studies - a method of determining the degree to which a condition is inherited; a comparison of the
prevalence of a condition in identical.
Teratogenic Factors

• Teratogens - agents such as chemicals, that can disrupt the normal development of the fetus; a possible cause of learning
disabilities and other learning and behavioral problems.

• Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) - abnormalities associated with the mother’s drinking alcohol during pregnancy; defects
range from mild to severe.

• Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders - a range of disorders whose mothers consumed large quantities of alcohol during
pregnancy.

Medical Factors

There are several medical conditions that can cause learning disabilities, depending on the severity of the condition.

For example, premature birth places children at risk for neurological dysfunction ,and pediatric AIDS can result in
neurological damage such that learning disabilities result.

Neurologist and other professionals use advance technology to assess brain activities more accurately.

Some of the new procedures/technologies are:

1. Electroencephalogram or EEG. This is a graphic measure and recording of the brain’s electrical impulses. The EEG is a
digitally computerized recording and analysis of the brain waves.

2. Computerized tomographic scans or CT. This is an neuroimaging technique whereby X-rays of the brain are compiled by a
computer to produce an overall picture of the brain. The CT scans enable the neurologist to look at the underlying
physiology or physical condition of the brain.

3. Magnetic resonance imaging or MRI. This is a neuroimaging technique whereby radio waves are used to produce cross-
sectional images of the brain.

4. 4. Functional magnetic resonance spectroscopy (fMRS) – an adaptation of the MRI used to detect changes in the brain
while it is in an active state; unlike a PET scan, it does not involve using radioactive materials.

5. 5. Positron emission tomography (PET) scans – a computerized method for measuring bloodflow in the brain; during a
cognitive task, a low amount of radioactive dye s injected in the brain; the dye collects in active neurons, indicating which
areas of the brain are active.

Biochemical Imbalance

Some researchers claim that biochemical disturbances in a child’s body cause learning disabilities.

Environment Factors

The environment factors are difficult to study. There are pieces of evidence that show poverty, malnutrition and inadequate
learning experiences that include poor teaching and lack of instructional materials as causes of environmental disadvantage that
make children prone to learning problems

TYPES OF LEARNING DISORDERS

• Dyslexia - difficulties processing language; difficulties with reading

• Dyscalculia - difficulties with math concepts and numerical operations; difficulty learning to count by 2’s, 3’s, 4’s

• Dysgraphia - difficulties with handwriting; written expression

• Dyspraxia - difficulties with motor coordination; fine motor skills

• Auditory Processing Disorder - difficulties interpreting auditory information; may impact both language development and
reading

• Nonverbal Learning Disorder - difficulties with nonverbal cues; social skill deficits; visual-spatial difficulties

• Visual Processing Disorder - difficulties interpreting visual information; difficulties with copying

• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - difficulties with concentration and focus; impulsivity
Dyslexia

Signs and Symptoms of Dyslexia

Dyslexia can be difficult to recognize, but some early clues may indicate a problem

 If you have a problem with new words, and add them slowly
 and have difficulty rhyming, you may be at increased risk of dyslexia.

Signs and symptoms of dyslexia may become more apparent as children go through school, including:

 The inability to recognize words and letters on a printed page

 A reading ability level much below the expected level for the age of your child

Dysgraphia

Symptoms

• Students may exhibit strong verbal but particularly poor writing skills.

• Random (or non-existent) punctuation. Spelling errors (sometimes same word spelled differently); reversals; phonic
approximations; syllable omissions; errors in common suffixes. Clumsiness and disordering of syntax; an impression of
illiteracy. Misinterpretation of questions and questionnaire items. Disordered numbering and written number reversals.

• Generally illegible writing (despite appropriate time and attention given the task).

• Cramped or unusual grip, especially holding the writing instrument very close to the paper, or holding thumb over two
fingers and writing from the wrist.

• Talking to self while writing, or carefully watching the hand that is writing.

• Slow or labored copying or writing - even if it is neat and legible

Dyscalculia

Strategies for students with dyscalculia:

• Work extra hard to "visualize" math problems. Maybe even draw yourself a picture to help understand the problem.

• Take extra time to look at any visual information that may be provided (picture, chart, graph, etc.).

• Read the problem out loud and listen very carefully. This allows you to use your auditory skills (which may be a strength).

The Nature of Intellectual Disability

• An intellectual disability, formerly referred to as “mental retardation” is characterized by a combination of deficits in both
cognitive functioning and adaptive behavior.

• The severity of the intellectual disability is determined by the discrepancy between the individual's capabilities in learning
and in and the expectations of the social environment.

• Mental retardation / intellectual disability is a term used when a person has certain limitations in mental functioning and
skills such as communicating, taking care of himself/herself and social skills.

• These limitations cause a child to learn and develop more slowly than a typical child.

Etiology and Classifications of Intellectual Disability

Learning and Behavior Characteristics of Children with Disabilities

• Reading - poses the most difficulty among all the subjects in the curriculum. Problems with syntax or grammar; poor
reading ability or poor comprehension; difficulties with phonics

Dyslexia refers to a disturbance in the ability to learn in general and the ability to learn to read in particular.

• Written language - problems with sentence structure, writing mechanics and organization; may spell the same word
differently in the same paper

• Spoken language - poses problems on the mechanical uses of language in syntax or grammar, semantics or word meanings
and phonology or the breakdown of words into their component sounds and blending individual sounds to compose words.

Developmental aphasia is a condition characterized by loss of speech functions, often, but not always due to brain
injury.

• Pragmatics or social uses of language - poses problems on the ability to carry on a engage in the mutual give-give-take in
carrying on a conversation.

• Mathematics - problems with numerical operations, math facts, or concepts; may reverse numbers.

• These children tend to fail and be retained in a grade level - The level, in the community achievement tends to decrease
progressively as the grade level increases.

• Behavior problems - remain consist across grade levels both in school, in the community and at home. The
common behavior problems are inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity.

• Auditory - may be bothered by different frequencies of sound; may consistently misunderstand what is being said

• Cognitive - may acquire new skills slowly; may have difficulties following directions, especially multiple directions

• Motor - may have problems with fine motor skills, such as holding a pencil; may have poor coordination; not good in sports

• Memory - may be able to learn information presented in one way, but not in another; may have difficulties memorizing

• Organization - may have difficulties following a schedule or being on time; may have trouble learning about time

• Social - may have difficulties with social skills; may misinterpret non-verbal social cues; may experience social isolation

• Attention - may have short attention span or be impulsive; may be easily distracted; may experience stress on extended
mental effort

• In general, social acceptance is low, but some can be popular.

Academic Achievement Problems

Reading:

• Decoding - the ability to convert print to spoken language; dependent on phonetic awareness and understanding of the
alphabetic principles; a significant problem for many people with the reading disabilities.

• Phonological awareness - the ability to understand that speech flow can be broken into smaller sound units such as words,
syllables, and phonemes; generally thought to be the reason for the reading problems of many students with learning
disabilities.

• Phonemic awareness - one’s ability to understand that words are made up of sounds, or phonemes.

• Reading fluency - the ability to read effortlessly and smoothly; consists of the ability to read at a normal rate and with
appropriate expression; influences one’s reading comprehension.

• Reading comprehension - the ability to understand what one has read.

Spoken language:

• Syntax - the way words are joined together to structure meaningful sentences.

• Semantics - the study of the meanings attached to words.

• Phonology - the study of how individual sounds made up words.

Written language:

People with learning disabilities often have problems in more of the following areas: handwriting, spelling, and
composition.

Educational Considerations

4 Instructional approaches to alleviate academic problems:

1. Cognitive training 3. Direct instruction

2. Content enhancement 4. Peer tutoring

Cognitive Training

Is a group of training procedures designed to change thoughts or thought patterns.

Involves three (3) components:

1. Changing thought processes 2. Providing strategies for learning 3. Teaching self-initiative

There are at least two reasons why cognitive training is particularly appropriate for students with learning disabilities –
namely; it aims at helping them overcome

1. Metacognition problems, by providing them with specific strategies for solving problems; and

2. Motivational problems of passivity and learned helplessness, by stressing self-initiative and involving them as much as
possible in their own treatment

Techniques of cognitive training:

• Self-instruction - a type of cognitive training technique that requires individuals to talk aloud and then to themselves as
they solve problems.

• Self-monitoring - a type of cognitive training technique that requires individuals to keep track of their own behavior.

• Scaffolded instruction - a cognitive approach to instruction in which the teacher provides temporary structure or support
while students are learning a task; the support is gradually removed as the students are able to perform the task
independently.

• Reciprocal teaching - a cognitive teaching strategy whereby the student gradually assumes the role of co-instructor for brief
periods; the teacher models four strategies for the students to use:

1. Predicting 3. Summarizing

2. Questioning 4. Clarifying

Content Enhancement - Is the modification of curriculum materials to make them more salient or prominent.

2 ways of content enhancement:

1. Graphic organizers 2. Mnemonics

• Graphic organizers – a way of enhancing content visual displays using lines, circles, and boxes to organize information.

• Mnemonics – the use of memory-enhancing cues to help one remember something.

Direct Instruction (DI) - is a method of teaching academics, especially reading and math; emphasizes drill and practice and
immediate feedback; lessons are precisely sequenced, fast-paced, and well-rehearsed by the teacher.

Task analysis - the procedure of breaking down an academic task into its component parts for the purpose of instruction; a
major feature of Direct Instruction.

Peer Tutoring

Two (2) types of peer tutoring:

1. Classwide peer tutoring (CWPT) 2. Peer-assisted learning strategies (PALS)

Classwide peer tutoring (CWPT) - an instructional procedure in which all students in the class are involved in tutoring and being
tutored by classmates on specific skills as directed by their teacher.

Peer-assisted learning strategies (PALS) - is based on research-proven, best practices in reading, such as phonological awareness,
decoding, and comprehension strategies.

Principles of Instruction for LD Students

• Be highly structured and predictable

• Include opportunities to use several senses and learning strategies

• Provide constant structure and multi-sensory review

• Recognize and build on learner’s strength and prior knowledge

• Simplify knowledge but not content

• Reinforce main ideas and concepts through rephrasing rather than through verbatim repetition

Perceptional, Perceptual-Motor, and General Coordination Problems

1. Children with learning disabilities exhibit visual and/or auditory perceptual disabilities.

2. They have difficulty with physical activities that involve gross and fine motor skills .

3. They have problems with attention and hyperactivity.

Memory, Cognitive, and Metacognitive Problems

The areas in cognitive functioning that are most affected are attention, memory and thinking or the executive functions of
the mind

Attention deficits - Selective attention, or the ability to focus on the relevant details of the lesson is the first requirement for
learning to take place. The deficit in attention results to inefficient learning or no learning at all.

Poor memory - Poor ability to store and retrieve information or previous learning is very evident among children with
learning disabilities. They find difficulty in remembering mathematics facts, spelling words, vocabulary meaning, content
knowledge and information.

Memory

Parents and teachers are well aware that students with learning disabilities have problems remembering such things as
assignments and appointments.

2 types of Memory Problems:

1. Short-term Memory (STM) 2. Working Memory (WM)

Short-term memory (STM) - the ability to recall information after a short period of time.

Working memory (WM) - the ability to remember information which also performing other cognitive operations.

Metacognition - is one’s understanding of the strategies available for learning a task and the regulatory mechanisms needed to
complete the task.

3 Components of Metacognition:

1. recognize task requirements 2. Select and implement 3. Monitor and adjust performance
appropriate strategies

Comprehension monitoring - An example of the third component. It is the ability to keep track of one’s own
comprehension of reading material and to make adjustments to comprehend better while reading; often deficient in
students with learning disabilities.
Social – Emotional Problems

Researchers have noted that problems with social interaction tend to be more evident in children who also have problems
in math, visual – spatial tasks, tactual tasks, and self regulation and organization.

Nonverbal learning disabilities - refers to individuals who have a cluster of disabilities in social interaction, math, visual
spatial tasks, and tactual tasks.

Motivational Problems

Another source of problems fro many people with learning disabilities is their motivation, or feelings about their abilities to
deal with many of life’s challenges and problems

Locus of control - a motivational term referring to how people explain their successes or failures; people with an internal
locus of control believe that outside forces influence how they perform.

Learned helplessness - a motivational term referring to a condition in which a person believes that no matter how hard he
or she tries, failure will result.

Causes of learning disabilities

The causes of learning disabilities are attributed to genetic and environmental factors.

 Learning disabilities arise because of impaired processing of visual information such as images, writing, and numbers; and
auditory information such as language and other sounds.

 They are neurologically based; children with learning disabilities exhibit differences in brain function or structure when
compared with their peers.

 While their causes are not completely understood, there is high heritability for some learning disabilities.

 Other known causes include problems experienced during pregnancy or birth;

 Damage acquired after birth through issues such as malnutrition; exposure to certain chemicals; childhood illness; a major
accident or on-going trauma.

 Three types of environment influences believed to be related to children’s learning problems are:

1. Emotional disturbance 2. Lack of motivation 3. Poor instruction

Assessment of Learning Disabilities

Learning disabilities is a complex condition. Therefore, a battery of three to five tests are used to identify students who may
have learning disabilities.

These are:

1. norm-referenced tests, 4. criterion referenced test,

2. process tests, 5. direct daily measurement of learning

3. informal reading inventories,

Assessment tests - are all designed to measure how many of the skills in each learning area – English, Filipino, Mathematics, Science
and Makabayan.

Criterion referenced tests - Used to determine the mastery level of predetermined criterion that the student should be capable of
achieving

Informal reading inventory - Usually consists of a series of aggressively more difficult sentences and paragraphs for oral reading

Direct daily measurement - A useful method of determining a student’s performance in learning a particular skill

Achievement – Ability Discrepancy

• IQ-achievement discrepancy - Academic performance markedly lower than would be expected on the basis of a
student’s intellectual ability.
 • Response-to-intervention (RTI) or response-to-treatment approach - A way of determining whether a student has a
learning disability; increasingly intensive levels of instructional intervention are delivered, and if the student does not
achieve, at some point, he or she is determined to have a learning disability or is referred for special education evaluation.
An alternative means of identifying students as a learning disabled.

• Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) - a formative evaluation method designed to evaluate performance in the
curriculum to which the students are exposed; usually involves giving students a small sample of items from the
curriculum in use in their schools; proponent argue that CBM is preferable to comparing students with national norms or
using tests that do not reflect the curriculum content learned by the students.

• Progress monitoring - Brief, frequent measures of performance used to determine whether a student is learning as
expected; if student isn’t learning as expected, the teacher can make changes to the instruction.

Teaching students with Learning Disabilities

Special education experts highly recommend the use of the diagnostic - prescriptive – evaluation approach in teaching
children with learning disabilities as well as those with mental retardation.

How are learning disorders identified and diagnosed

If a parent chooses to have their child evaluated outside the schools, by a private, qualified professional, what might they expect?

• Instructional strategies in the classroom that meet the child’s unique learning needs and style

• Accommodations in the classroom, such as preferential seating and extended time for tests

• Interventions, such as 1: 1 instruction outside the classroom

• Parents and teachers need to work together

• Clinicians and teachers/educators need to work together

• Parents and teachers need more education about LD and the short and long term effects of LD in a person’s life

• Parents and teachers need more information about what they can do to help a child with LD

Tips for parents

 Help your child find their strengths and/or passion

 Help your child find their “island of competence”

 Help your child accept both his/her strengths and weaknesses

 Explore and make available opportunities for success

 Be careful with how you criticize your child

 Avoid homework wars

 Set realistic goals

 Accept your child for who they are

 Don’t blame your child for their learning differences. It is not their fault

 Let your child be involved. Listen to your child. Be aware of his/her feelings

 Your child’s self-esteem is very important. Help your child to have a healthy self-esteem