Types of Learning Disabilities Essay

“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, that may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. Specific learning disability 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 disadvantage” (Special Education Guide, 2017).

If parents, teachers, and other professionals discover a child's learning disability early and provide the right kind of help, it can give the child a chance to develop skills needed to lead a successful and productive life. The LD online website provides a long list of characteristics that might indicate a learning disability between the ages of Kindergarten and high school. Some common signs of a learning disability that as a teacher we can look for in the classroom would be, a student speaks later than most children, pronunciation problems, slow vocabulary growth, student is often unable to find the right word, difficulty rhyming words, trouble learning numbers, alphabet, colors, and shapes, extremely restless and easily distracted, trouble interacting with peers, difficulty following directions or routines, and lastly the fine motor skills are slow to develop. Once the teacher or parents can understand what type of learning disability a child has they can help them succeed academically by providing instruction better and understanding the person

There are many different types of learning disabilities; the most common ones are dyslexia and attention deficit disorder. (Jerome Rosner. –third ed. 1)

For learners with a lower academic ability you may need to adapt recourses bearing this in mind for example having a lower expectation of their achievements, but without making this obvious to other class members, and even having additional support such as a teaching assistant who can work closely with those who are struggling, is extremely useful and helps the student to feel more supported.

A.About five to six percent of American public school children have been diagnosed with a learning disability; eighty percent of the diagnoses are dyslexia-related. But some studies indicate that up to twenty percent of the population may have some degree of dyslexia.

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.

According to Hull Learning Services (2013), dyslexia continues to be a subject of great debate. The word dyslexia is originated from the Greek dys- meaning ‘difficult’ and -lexia meaning to do with language. There are multiple definitions of dyslexia, because the matter in which in manifest in children and adults vary greatly. Definitions of dyslexia often focus on difficulties with the processes of writing, reading, spelling and general organization of everyday tasks. Dyslexia has been defined as the inability to acquire literacy despite normal intelligence. Other definitions have described dyslexia in terms of a list of symptoms. The symptoms often included are laterality problems; reversals in numbers, letters and/or words; reading

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,

While perceptions of learning disabilities (LD) may vary according to country, culture, and teachers, it is often necessary to diagnose students in order to receive funding for services. It can be helpful to recognize those learning disabilities that students may have in order to provide extra assistance when necessary. It would be advantageous, too, if wide recognition of LD could take away the stigma that is often present. However, since LD is a multi-faceted topic, labeling often carries a negative connotation and can lead to ostracizing of students. It is beneficial for a student if the classification of a student with LD results in an enhanced educational experience.

The LDA organization offers specific information on a number of disabilities that children are afflicted with, including dyslexia, dyscalculia, central auditory processing disorder, non-verbal learning disorders, language disorders and writing disorders (dysgraphia). The LDA site notes that "learning disabilities" is actually an "umbrella" term alluding to a number of disabilities.

Whenever you think of dyslexia, you may think of people confusing their left from their right or mixing run with fun or the number six with nine, but dyslexia is more than that.

With every classroom you are able to see a dynamic between students and their teacher. It takes a strong teacher to really make everything accessible to all students including student with learning disabilities. The class that I watched was Christina Hilliker’s second grade. The disabilities that were part of this great dynamic were Downs, Autism, ADHD, auditory processing and behavior issues that cause learning difficulties.

The National Centre for Learning Disabilities says that dyslexia is a neurological and often genetic condition, and not the result of poor teaching, instruction or upbringing. Dyslexia is a specific reading disability due to a defect in the brain's processing of graphic symbols according to the MNT Knowledge Centre. It is a learning disability that alters the way the brain processes written material. It is typically characterized by difficulties in word recognition, spelling and decoding. People with dyslexia have problems with reading comprehension.

The characteristics of a dyslexic person can be very different from one person to the other, just as the characteristics of students without disabilities are different. These students show a different combination of learning problems. “Such characteristics are learning style, motor dexterity, time/math, memory/cognition, language/reading skills, behavior and vision. Sometimes the dyslexic youngster has early or late developmental stages, such as crawling, walking or talking” (Grolier’s).

Understanding a foreign language is also not one of their strong points. A child with a learning disability does not perform well on tests, especially when they are timed, often refuses to do written work, and has trouble decoding words. This usually means that they have trouble hearing and understanding a person’s directions since they cannot decode the message properly. (Silverman)