Classroom And Student Implications : Students With Learning Disabilities

In the United States today, 38% of children in the fourth grade have been recognized as reading way below the level of their peers. Many of these children are identified with a learning disability and receive remedial instruction in the resource rooms. (Aaron, P. G., Joshi, R., Gooden, R., & Rentum, K. E.)

According to “Learning Disabilities Fast Facts” by the National Center for Learning Disabilities, “Close to half of secondary students with learning disabilities perform more than three grade levels below their enrolled grade in essential academic skills (45% in reading, 44% in math).” This fact proves that when disabled students are in a classroom that contains both disabled students as well as nondisabled students, disabled students are not learning to their full potential or may not be learning at all (Learning Disability Fast

     When a child doesn’t seem to be learning, some teachers and parents in his/her life might criticize the child and think of them as stupid, or maybe just too lazy to want to learn. What they don’t realize is that the child might have a learning disability. But how are these children being helped? There are many programs, special schools and facilities, home teaching methods and many other ways in which children with Learning Disabilities are being helped.

Students with learning disabilities struggling with so many things and in so many ways. Problems with listening, reasoning, memory, attention, selecting and focusing on relevant stimuli, and the perception and processing of visual and/or auditory information are experienced by students with learning disabilities (Heward, 2010). These difficulties and struggles with learning may grow more apparent by middle school and will often continue for a life time. Not learning to read,

School can be a terrifying place for children with learning disabilities. Richard Lavoie in his video How Hard Can It Be, demonstrates how difficult school can be for these children. He demonstrates the anxiety that students with learning disabilities suffer and gives many ideas on techniques that work to make classrooms comfortable places for students with learning disabilities. Through creating a positive atmosphere, giving students the tools they need, and setting appropriate expectations, teachers can create classrooms that are comfortable and productive for all students. Teachers need to create a classroom atmosphere that reduces anxiety.

When working with students with learning disabilities, I often rely on initial/diagnostic assessment to ensure I can provide the correct support for that student. Using formative assessment can also motivate my students, ‘Most student’s with learning disabilities respond favorably too seeing their academic progress charted, and this can become…a very motivational tool.’ Bender, 2002,

Reading, writing, and speaking is difficult for many people. In honest opinion, these subjects are hard for me. So, imagine the struggles for those students that have a learning disability and those who are learning English. Luckily, I attended a session at the LDA conference that promoted tips and strategies to help students with these subjects. Moreover, how to help both ELL students and students with learning disabilities access these curriculums. Session W32 by Linda Tilton showed me how to help students get organized and become active learners. Not only that, but how to give high interest review strategies to reinforce vocabulary, reading, and writing. As Linda stated, “These are the nuts and bolts to take back and use!” For example, she

There are numerous children across the world who battle with learning deficits or a struggling learners (Turnbull et al., 2007). These deficits prevent them from progressing the same academically as their peers. With the

I interviewed Andrea Erickson who teaches reading, writing, and pre-algebra at Central High school to students who have mild and moderate disabilities. Her students have varying abilities and she makes many accommodations in order to ensure her student’s success. The varying learning problems Andrea has encountered within the reading and writing realm include reading difficulties, reading comprehension, problems with inferencing plots, problems with predicting plots, and connecting sentences improperly. In pre-algebra Andrea expressed problems with students connecting the dots. For example, a student would understand one concept, but would be incapable of connecting that concept to the next. From my experience at the Boys and Girls Club, I

Learning disabilities are disorders which affect the function of the mind like the acquisition, reception, understanding, and processing of information. [1;2] Children who have learning disabilities may have problems with reading, writing, doing math, understanding directions, trouble memorizing things, or trouble staying focused. [1] It can be hard to discover learning disabilities

Typically, if a person does not learn how to read by a young age they have a difficult chance of being successful academically. A student diagnosed with dyslexia can receive additional help; “accommodations must be provided to ensure that the student’s ability, not his or her disability, is being assessed.” In the classroom the teacher can provide audio tapes of books, provide a copy of the lecture notes, repeat directions, and maintain daily routines. Students can also receive help involving student performance.

Growing, developing and learning are the facts of life for all children. Each day children are faced with many new concepts and various challenges. Can you imagine how it feels for a child to face not only new challenges life has, but to face these challenges while living with a learning disability? These challenges are met not just when they begin school either. Students suffer from learning disabilities from the moment they begin learning, not when they start school. Learning disabilities are real and they affect millions of people. “One such disability that affects over approximately 15 percent of the total American population is dyslexia” ( Nosek 5).

On the other study conducted by Waldron, the results show that children with learning disabilities did poor on math compared to children without learning disabilities. Programs to help children with learning disabilities improve in math should be enforce in every school to help these children succeed. The dropout rate on children with learning disabilities was 14.1 percent on a longitudinal study conducted by Doren. The reason for dropouts was that children with learning disabilities felt they were not compatible academically as children without learning disabilities. They felt disadvantaged compared to the other children. This shows that children with learning disabilities are in greater danger to dropping out of school. Programs designated for children with learning disabilities to help them on their reading, math, and writing would drop the rate and help those students graduate

Learning to read is one of the most foundational skills needed for educational success. As children learn to read they develop the ability to decode, interpret, and store information from what they are reading. Reading comprehension allows a child to gain meaning from text and decoding allows a child to process sounds into words. Reading is vital to educational success because it allows a student to learn new information and build upon their prior knowledge. Students who attain reading skills are more likely to achieve academic success while students who have reading difficulties are likely to struggle academically and fall behind their peers. Reading difficulties have been prominent within the US for years. For example, the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress statistics shows that only about 33% of fourth graders are at or above proficient at reading (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2011). Studies show that the cause of reading difficulties is based primarily on genes, environment, and instructional experience (Vellutino, Fletcher, Snowling, Scanlon, 2004). Students with a language learning disorder have difficulty comprehending spoken and written language thus making it difficult to learn new information. Children with reading disabilities are more likely to struggle during elementary school years as students are asked to think about what they read more critically. Speech language pathologists and teachers can help

While observing the student with learning disabilities I observed a few interesting qualities that this student had that stood out from the other students. One of the qualities that I observed was that he was quiet. Unlike the rest of his class who would turn around and talk with the kids behind them, he would just sit there and wait for further instructions. Another interesting observation that I made was that my student would be interested in his work, but as time went on he began to loose interest in his work and would need someone to remind him to stay on task which was one of his accommodations. I found that his ability to become unmotivated was more prevalent when he was taking notes with the class off the smart board compared to when the class was in a group discussion and the teacher was asking open ended questions.