Essay about The Struggles Facing LD Students

In today’s world there are more and more children coming into the general education classes having a disability. More general education teachers have to take on a bigger responsibility than what they signed up for, but that is part of being a teacher. I feel as long as the teachers collaborate with each other they will be putting the student’s needs first.

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

Disabilities; these may include a physical or learning disability. Children with a learning disability may not be capable of holding their attention for an extended period or pay close attention in class. A learning disability is not a problem with intelligence, disorders are caused by a difference in how information is received, processed and communicated in the brain.

According to the latest figures available from Data Accountability Center, U.S. Department of Education, 2,415,564 students were identified as having a Specific Learning Disability in the Fall of 2010 (“Full Inclusion”). With the severity of the number of individuals with disabilities in the school system, the controversy of the best way to support them arises. One of the solutions of this controversy is the issue of full inclusion. Those opposed to the idea of full inclusion fear that the approach may impede on the children without disabilities and put a strain on the students with disabilities. The major stakeholders against full inclusion also fear that the process will negatively affect the teachers, as well as, the atmosphere of the classrooms. Many of these parties and individuals are not fully against inclusion all together, but do not support the idea of full inclusion.

The main problem that I perceive from the Case of Leigh Scott is that both Dale and Aaron are doing the same work, with the same grades yet one has an explicit learning disability who receives lots of support and the other is not receiving enough support. Dale has a clear learning disability and thus receives not only support from Meg, the resource room teacher, who “helped Dale prepare for Leigh’s class” (Leigh Scott: Case Study, p. 29), he also receives support and encouragement from Leigh even though he does not do much work. Aaron on the other hand receives little to no support from Leigh even though he has constantly not come to class prepared, puts his head down during discussions and has done poorly on his assignments.

Learning disabilities are defined as the inability to process information and the inability to communicate effectively. This can cause problems during the child’s years in school. It is often characterized by as having a below average intellectual functioning level as well as below average adaptational skills.

These students have normal and sometimes above normal intelligence but they struggling with problems that hinder them from learning and progressing like other students. More recently it is thought that a student with learning disability could show one of more than 500,000 combinations of cognitive or socioemotional problems (Heward, 2010). Learning disabilities cause students to struggle with so many things in school such as academics, emotions, and socializing and learning disabilities also cause students to have problems away from school. Students with learning disabilities may experience problems with learning to read or comprehend what they read, learning to do math or develop mathematical reasoning, learning vocabulary, spelling or the written language, and learning to get along with others and exhibit appropriate social skills. They may also have problems with paying attention, hyperactivity, and sometimes behavior,

As such, the importance of further research is to determine if these students are actually being placed there due to the inexperience of teachers’ knowledge regarding ELL students. In addition, the ethical implications of this topic is, these students then become further behind from obtaining the necessary English skills in speaking and writing required to be successful academically in school and in the future workplace. Indeed, it is essential that administrators and teachers in our school system correctly identify a student with ELL difficulties versus a true learning disability and thus, decrease the number of ELL students dropping out of school. In particular, this topic is very relevant in my future role as a new special education teacher, as I will potentially be evaluating ELL students’ academic progress and their possible need for special education services. The current trend is that ELL students are being disproportionately placed in special education services and, as a result, fall further behind in acquiring English, are subjected to bias and inaccurate assessment, and have higher drop-out rates when inexperienced teachers are in charge of their

Individuals with Disability Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) of 2004 defines a disability as being “one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which the disorder may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to speak, listen, think, read, write, spell or do mathematical calculations.” This is saying that if there is something mentally preventing someone from progressing in language learning within various subject matters they might qualify as having a learning disability if evidence supports these findings and none or limited progress is made over time. Disabilities that are caused or affected by motor disabilities, mental retardation, emotions, environment, economics, vision, or hearing do not fall under the IDEIA definition of a specific

Children with learning disabilities are a population who are inherently at risk. They are at risk of not being able to utilize the presented curriculum, as their non-disabled peers do. They are also at risk of suffering from emotional stress and or low self-efficacy as they negotiate classrooms assignments and expectations. Our Exceptional Children text states that children with learning disabilities, “… often struggle with reasoning, attention, memory, selecting and focusing on relevant stimuli and the perception and processing of visual or auditory stimuli (p162 Heward)”. It also says that “Seventy-Five percent of children with learning disabilities exhibit deficits in social skills… and have a higher incidence of behavioral problems (p.169 Heward).” The effects of one or multiple deficits, of those stated above, have the potential to steer, even a willing child, away from academic and or social success.

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).

In today’s educational environment, all students expect to receive the same level of instruction from schools and all students must meet the same set of standards. Expectations for students with learning disabilities are the same as students without any learning difficulties. It is now unacceptable for schools or teachers to expect less from one segment of students because they have physical disabilities, learning disabilities, discipline problems, or come from poor backgrounds. Standardize testing has resulted in making every student count as much as their peers and the most positive impact has been seen with the lowest ability students. Schools have developed new approaches to reach these previously underserved students while

The key to any successful school district is the administration. Teachers essentially provide structure, organization, and the background of a child’s future. To educate students with learning disabilities, it is essential that the staff has the training and resources needed for the appropriate people, place, and time (Lazarus) (What is Inclusion, 2001, n.p). It is unrealistic to expect that regular education teachers will always be aware of the latest research or be able to readily adapt the school's

According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, students with disabilities should be placed in a “least restrictive environment.” One of the main ideas of this act was to improve the learning experiences of students with disabilities by giving them learning opportunities outside of a special education classroom. The number of students with disabilities being placed in their general education classrooms is increasing more and more each year. The U.S Department of Education’s 27th annual report to Congress on the implementation of The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2005) indicates that the number of students with disabilities in general education classrooms has risen to almost 50 percent. This is about a 17 percent increase from the 1997 U.S

Every person deserves an education. It is what shapes us, allows us to grow. As future and current educators or parents, understanding the perspective of persons with disabilities in the classroom is important. Being confident in your own abilities and not being afraid to use the resources available to you.