Chapter%205%20Learning%20Disabilities

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Chapter 5Learning Disabilities
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Brief History

• Foundation Phase (1800-1930) basic scientific
  research related to the brain damage to
  specific areas and corresponding losses.
• Transition Phase (1930-1960) application of
  brain research to children. Similarities between
  characteristic of children with learning problems
  and adults who have suffered brain injury
• Integration Phase (1960-1974) term LD was
  coined and emphasized perceptual skills

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Learning Disabilities

• Term coined in 1963
• Children who were having serious difficulties in
  learning to read, were hyperactive, or could not
  solve math problems.
• Parents liked the term and formed the Association
  for Children with Learning Disabilities (now
  ACALD).
• In 1975 LD was included as a special ed category
  in IDEA.
• Largest category in special ed.

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IDEA Definition of Learning Disabilities (LD)

• A disorder in one or more of the basic
  psychological processes involved in understanding
  or using language
• May manifest itself in an imperfect ability to
• Listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do
  math
• Does not include learning problem that is the
  result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities,
  of MR, emotional disturbance, or environmental,
  cultural, economical disadvantage.

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The NJCLD Definition of LD

• A general term that refers to a group of
  disorders manifested by significant difficulties
  in the acquisition and use of listening,
  speaking, reading, writing, reasoning, or math
  abilities
• Problems with self-regulatory behaviors, social
  perception, and social interaction may coexist
  but do not themselves constitute a learning
  disability
• Although learning disabilities may occur with
  other handicapping conditions or with extrinsic
  influences they are not the result of those
  influences
• Why has the concept of LD proven so difficult to
  define?

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Why so difficult?

• Different kinds of academic skills student are
  expected to learn
• Wide-range of differences among learners
• No large group of children are expected to learn
  at the same rate
• Definition provides no info on how to teach a
  particular student
• Better to spend time developing and delivering
  effective instruction than debating over a
  definition

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Operationalizing the Definition

• Most states require three criteria be met to
  receive services
• Discrepancy between intelligence and achievement
• An unexpected difference between general
  ability and achievement
• Exclusion criterion
• LD can occur with other disabilities but the
  learning problems must not be primarily the
  result of the other disability or other
  condition (e.g., low SES)
• A need for special education services
• The student shows specific and severe learning
  problems despite normal educational efforts

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Identifying Students

• Response to Intervention (RTI) Process to
  determine learning disabilities based on the
  students response to scientific, research-based
  interventions.
• Standardized Testing Intelligence and
  achievement tests.
• Associated with problems in listening, reasoning,
  memory, attention, selecting and focusing on
  relevant stimuli, and perception and processing
  of specific information.

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Characteristics

• Students with LD experience one or more of the
  following difficulties
• Reading problems - 90 of all children identified
• Deficits in written language - Perform lower
  across most written expression tasks
• Underachievement in math - 50 have math IEP
  goals
• Poor social skills - 75 have social skills
  deficits
• Behavioral problems
• Defining Characteristic
• Specific and significant achievement deficits in
  the presence of adequate overall intelligence

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Prevalence

• LD is by far the largest of all special education
  categories
• 51 of all children with disabilities receive
  services under the LD category
• 5 out of every 100 students in the U.S. is
  diagnosed with LD
• Males with LD outnumber females by 3-to-1
• The number of children identified is growing

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Question

• Do most students who are identified as learning
  disabled have a true disability? Or are they just
  poor achievers or victims of poor instruction?

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Answer

• Probably both
• School defined phenomenon
• The process of learning academic skills is not
  fundamentally different from learning other
  skills so while LR as specific to certain
  skills, individuals may have difficulties in
  learning across a variety of settings and
  situations.
• Difficulties in school will not magically
  disappear after graduation

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Causes

• In almost every case the cause is unknown
• Brain damage or dysfunction (CNS)
• In most cases there is no evidence of brain
  damage
• Heredity
• There is growing evidence that genetics may
  account for at least some family linkage with
  dyslexia
• Biochemical imbalance
• Flavorings/colors
• Synthesize vitamins
• Most professionals give little credence to
  biochemical imbalance as a cause
• Environmental factors
• Impoverished living conditions early in a childs
  life and poor instruction probably contribute to
  achievement deficits
• Many students learning problems can be
  remediated by direct, intensive, and systematic
  instruction

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Problem

• What is the problem of placing too much emphasis
  on theories linking LD to brain damage
  dysfunction?

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Problem

• Not all children with LD display clinical
  evidence of brain damage and not all children
  with LD have brain damage
• Built-in excuse for ineffective instruction
• Etiology will not alter the methods of teaching
  the student

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Assessment

• Five forms of assessment are frequently used
• Standardized tests
• Used to measure achievement and IQ
• Criterion-referenced tests
• Students score compared to a mastery criterion
  to identify specific skills in need of
  instruction
• Informal reading inventories
• Used to determine students reading level
• Curriculum-based measurement
• Frequent assessment of a students progress in
  learning the objectives of the curriculum
• Direct daily measurement
• Observing and recording a childs performance on
  a specific skill each day it is taught

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Educational Approaches

• Difficulty organizing information of their own
• Limited background knowledge to many academic
  activities
• Do not approach learning tasks in effective and
  efficient way

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Educational Approaches

• Explicit/Direct instruction
• Provide a sufficient range of examples to
  illustrate a concept
• Provide models of proficient performance
• Have students explain how and why they make
  decisions
• Provide frequent, positive feedback for student
  performance
• Provide adequate practice opportunities
• Content enhancements (organization, comprehension
  and retention)
• Guided notes
• Graphic organizers and visual displays
• Mnemonics
• Learning strategies
• Students use task-specific strategies to guide
  themselves successfully through a learning task
  or problem

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Educational Placement Alternatives

• Regular classroom
• During the 99-00 school year, 45 of students
  with LD were educated in regular classrooms
• Some school districts employ a collaborative
  teaching model to support the full inclusion of
  students with LD
• Consultant teacher
• Provides support to regular classroom teachers
  who work directly with students with learning
  disabilities
• Resource room
• A resource room is a specially staffed and
  equipped classroom where students with LD come
  for one or several periods during the school day
  to receive individualized instruction

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Current Issues and Future Trends

• The discussion and debate over what constitutes a
  true learning disability are likely to continue
• Most professionals and advocates for students
  with LD do not support full inclusion
• Students with LD possess positive attributes and
  interests that teachers should identify and try
  to strengthen

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Eckert et al. (2002)

• Purpose Whether the effectiveness of an
  antecedent intervention could be enhanced by
  combining with either of two consequences
  reinforcement and feedback.
• Participants 6 elementary school students.
  Experienced reading difficulties.
• Dependent measure Number of words read correctly
  per minute

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Eckert et al. (2002)

• Independent Variables
• Antecedent intervention Listening passage
  preview and repeated readings
• AI and Contingent reinforcement Preferred item
  delivered contingent upon accuracy (improvement)
• AI and Performance feedback Setting goals,
  information about performance, and graphing
• Results
• Combination of AI CR or PF was more effective
  than AI alone.