There are predominant characteristics that are evident when describing learning disabilities. Fundamentally there is a significant difference in the person's achievement in some areas as compared to the person's overall intelligence creating what is known as a discrepancy factor. Students who have learning disabilities may exhibit a wide range of traits, with problems ranging from difficulties with reading comprehension, spoken language, writing, reasoning ability, motor coordination and inattention.
LD Characteristics Checklist
Just as there are many interpretations of learning disabilities, so are there a large number of possible causes. It is believed that the disabilities occur because there is difficulty coordinating information from several parts of the brain. There can be possible prenatal, perinatal or postnatal causes.
National Institute of Mental Health: Causes
Identifying children early on can be of great importance although it is not an easy task. After a child is born, doctors and parents can look for signs of developmental milestones such as when a child begins to talk, sit up, and walk. Learning disorders may be informally indicated by observation. Actual diagnosis is usually made using certain standardized tests. The different diagnosing methods may involve a variety of professionals. When all of the information is collected, the child study team reviews the data and makes a determination of whether the discrepancy and learning problems are indicative of a learning disability.
National Institute of Mental Health: First Signs
National Institute of Mental Health: Formal Diagnosis>
After a child is diagnosed with learning disabilities, there are important educational implications. Placement into a program which will meet the needs of the child is decided at the classification meeting and an IEP (Individualized Educational Program) is developed. The IEP is designed with great care in order to address the accommodations and modifications needed for the child's educational experience.
U.S. Department of Education: A Guide to IEPs
Assessing Children for the Presence of a Disability Once an IEP is written, certain accommodations and modifications must be clearly spelled out in the IEP and communicated to the teachers of the child. There is a virtual "Chinese menu" of accommodations from which to choose and they should be tailored to the individual student to meet his or her needs during the school day. Of primary importance is to capitalize on the student's strengths.Some accommodations may be general, such as setting clear expectations, while others are more specific, i.e. provide a tape recorded version of a reading assignment. Strategy intervention is an important part of instruction for the learning disabled. Metacognition, self-talk, memory strategies and verbal rehearsal are examples of learning strategies that can be taught directly to the student and will help the student become a more strategic learner.
Compensatory Techniques and Curriculum Adaptations
Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities With all the supports in place, the learning disabled child has a good chance of "surviving" school, both positively and productively. The learning disabled child is not alone. Many learning disabled individuals have led fruitful and successful lives. Some of them received the appropriate assistance and some did not. Many have managed to rise above or compensate for their disabilities and did not let it stand in their way to achieve their goals.
Click on the links below to see some of these traits.
Click on these links to view some of the possible causes.
You can click on the links below for more information on diagnosing learning disabilities.
If you'd like to read up on some of the latest in educational programming, click on the links below.
Check out the links below to get an idea of some of the modifications and adaptations that can be made.
Click on the links below and see how many famous people had or have a learning disability!
