Teaching Disabilities And Academic Learning Disabilities

The Diagnostic Criteria for learning disabilities (according to the DSM V) is a specific learning disorder which is diagnosed through an examination of the child’s developmental, educational, medical and responses of various interventions that have been tried. The diagnosis is a constant difficulty in reading, writing, and arithmetic during the years of schooling. Symptoms can include imprecise or slow reading, writing that lacks clarity and content, and difficulty remembering mathematical reason and number facts. The academic level must be significantly below average in all areas; and the child’s difficulties cannot be explained by any other disorders and it has to interfere greatly with academic achievement, performance and daily living.

Learning disabilities (LD), or in some clinical cases called specific learning disorder, is a neurodevelopmental disorder which the individual is experiencing difficulties in learning and using academic skills (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Person with LD usually shows at least one difficulty in literacy (i.e.: inaccurate or slow and takes effort to read, difficult to understand the meaning of what he/she reads, difficult to spell words, or difficult with written expression) or in numerical reasoning (i.e.: number sense, calculation, or mathematical reasoning). Dyslexia and dyscalculia are the examples of specific cases in LD. The prevalence of school-age children with LD is 5%-15% of the population across different language and cultures with males have higher risk than females (2:1 to 3:1); while the prevalence of adults with LD is approximately 4%. The prognostic factors of LD might because of genetic factors or environmental factors (i.e.: premature, low birth weight, or nicotine exposure during prenatal).

A learning disability is a condition that may cause you to have difficulty with listening, thinking, speaking, reading, writing, spelling, or doing math. A learning disability can also affect your attention span, memory, muscle coordination, and behavior. Attention span problems, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), often happen with learning disabilities.

Specific learning disability is defined by Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) as “disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or using language, spoken or written [that] may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations”

Learning disabilities are defined as disorders that affect the ability to comprehend and use spoken or written language, understand mathematical calculations, synchronize movements, or direct attention (NINDS, 2015). These disorders are usually not recognized until a child reaches school age, although they do occur in very young children (NINDS, 2015). Fortunately, there is an abundance of information and research on specific learning disorders, and there are detailed assessment techniques, and occupational therapy focused treatments associated with this disorders.

Children Act (EAHCA) changed the name to the Individual with Disabilities Education Act, 9 of the 13 eligible categories for special education did not include cognitive or intellectual impairment. Based on the 2000 -2001 date 85% of disabled students who qualify for special education under IDEA criteria were cognitively impaired. Savich’s research states that critics alleged that students with disabilities hold school districts back unfairly. They also stated that new legislation is required to remedy this problem. When IDEA was revised in 1997, the states were required to make available alternate assessments. Under the new legislation the states have greater accountability. The year 2003 resulted in re-evaluation and re-assessment of the successes and failures of IDEA. There have been policy shifts with regard to the treatment of children with vision or seeing impairments going from full inclusion to lessening services, specialized services, special school placements, an expanded core curriculum. In the past 25 years IDEA has ensured that students with disabilities received full services. At the center of these findings, educators who are critical of inclusion argued that placing special education students in the general education classroom may not be beneficial. Teachers maintained that full time placements in the general education classrooms will prevent some disabled students from obtaining intensive and individualized attention and teaching (Andrews, Carnine, Edgar

People with Specific Learning Disabilities have difficulties in basic learning skills due to their unique ways of brain function. According to Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Specific Learning Disabilities are defined as a disorder of one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using languages (Turnbull, Turnbull, Wehmeyer, & Shogren, 2016). People with Specific Learning Disabilities have a difficulty with short-term memory, long-term memory, and/or working memory: receive, process, and recall information (The National Center for Learning Disabilities, 2012, April 27). It is influenced by genes, brain development, environmental factors of during pregnancy or at birth, or brain injury (Turnbull, Turnbull, Wehmeyer, & Shogren, 2016).

The first of the ten articles to be discussed examined a training program that consisted of an individualized, classroom-based social skills intervention. In the study, there were 45 children with learning disabilities 9-12 years old. These children were in self-contained special education classrooms. Thirteen children received intervention for 6 weeks and 7 children received intervention for 12 weeks. The remaining 25 children were in the control group, which received no intervention. The intervention consisted of the SST and AST programs. These programs were designed to facilitate social problem solving, role-playing, and modeling of appropriate social behavior. The children were given the

Students with specific learning disabilities usually have challenges in acquiring reading and language skills. According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), a child may be determined to have specific learning disability only if he/she is found to have a discrepancy in oral expression, listening comprehension, written expression, basic reading skill, reading comprehension, and reading fluency skills (Kranzler, & Floyd, 2013). Therefore, according to the IDEA (2004), it is important for special education teachers and administrators, as well as regular

These processes are involved in understanding or using language (spoken or written) and affect the ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell or do math. Scientists at the National Institute of Health theorize that learning disabilities stem from subtle disturbances in the brain's structures and functions. Learning disabilities do not include children who experience learning problems as a result of visual, hearing or motor handicaps. It also does not include children affected by mental retardation, or by environmental, cultural or economic disadvantages. Students with learning disabilities can learn, but they learn differently. It is up to the general education teachers to find a meaningful way of teaching these students.

In the classroom, the student with learning disabilities, notably struggles with pronouncing simple words, reading, or solving math problems as their peers. The major ramification of learning disabilities is the underachievement in one or more academic skills that are shared by most students with LD, with reading as the most difficult area for students. Later, their struggling might reach a point of dropping out of school, which rate is 8% (one out five students with LD). Often, students with LD seem confused and unable to focus on what they are doing or learning (Rosenberg et al., 2010).

“We must understand that inclusion is first and foremost a philosophy. It is a mindset and a belief that everyone has value and something to contribute. It is a willingness to see the ability in everyone and match skill with challenge. It is an understanding that what our programs really provide at their heart is the opportunity to build relationships, learn who we are, and develop skills…” (Friedman, 2014)

There is a wide debate about whether workers with certain learning disabilities should be allowed to work in “regular jobs”. Some argue that only certain workers with learning disabilities may be allowed, so as they are self-regulated, meaning they are able to regulate their own behavior. Metacognition, understanding the strategies available for learning a task and what is needed to complete said task, is also recommended for the worker. It is agreed upon that a Specific Learning Disability is a disorder in one of the psychological processes involved with understanding/using language, spoken or written. However, the definition of a learning disability is argued amongst the special education community. Employers usually avoid those who have learned helplessness, a motivational term referring to a condition in which a condition believes that no matter how hard he/she tries, failure will result. There are many reasons why this topic is important to me. The biggest reason why I explored this topic is because there are so many people in the world that misunderstand people with learning disabilities, and they end up making fun of something because they do not understand. There are many challenges those with learning disabilities face in their adult years. The most common challenges those with learning disabilities face include employment, receiving higher education, and the trouble of early intervention.

A learning disability is a neurological disorder that makes it difficult for people to acquire knowledge and skills to the level expected of those of the same age. This does not mean that children with learning disabilities can be as smart as another kind. In fact, children with learning disabilities are just as smart or smarter than their peers. But kids with learning disabilities may have a trouble reading, writing, spelling, reasoning, recalling and/or organizing information if left to figure things out by themselves or if taught in conventional ways. Some of the types of learning disabilities are dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, and dyspraxia.

There have been various studies performed on students and their abilities to learn information in school settings. While there are some students that excel in academic settings, other students can face difficulty learning the material. Students who have some type of problem when it comes to learning are usually classified as having a learning disability. According to the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (2011), a learning disability is described as “ A general term that describes specific kinds of learning problems” ("Learning disabilities," 2011). Many times students, who have a learning disability, have some type of high intelligence in a specialized area that may not reflect on a standardized test or other assessments. Galen Alessi, a professor at Western Michigan University, performed an experiment, which studies who is at fault for the student’s disability. His research looks at the educator, parents/guardians, environment, and the student as factors. In the interest of understanding how educators, parents, the school system, and even the student may be accountable for this issue, all four categories must be examined. This paper studies the role of the educator, parents or guardians, school system, and the student as to why they may play a role in a student having a learning disability.