“Life is not so much a matter of holding good cards but of playing a

poor hand well ”

Robert Louis Stevenson

How many teachers in this room have classified learning

disabled students in their classrooms?

Raise your hand!

How many teachers in this room , whom in your opinion, have non classified learning

disabled students in their classrooms?

!Raise your other hand

How many teachers in this room have classified or non classified learning

disabled students in their classrooms who are being given remedial intervention after

school?

!Lower one finger

How many teachers in this room have classified or non classified learning

disabled students in their classrooms who are being given remedial intervention in school?

!Lower one finger

How many teachers in this room find this scenario familiar?

First they push the parents to do a diagnostic test.

Then they say……Oh, he/she is diagnosed!

Discussion ends…cause he/she is diagnosed.

The discussion shouldn’t end…it should start!

A learning disability interferes with someone’s ability to store, process or

produce informationSuch disabilities affect both children

and adults

Its not always immediately obvious that a person has a learning disability

They can be quite subtle and go undetected throughout life

The most straightforward indication is academic

failure or underachievement by someone who seems capable of more

Levine 1984

For the students we see in our classrooms, learning disabilities create a gap between a students true capacity and his or her day to

day performance

While they will always have a learning disability, they can be taught strategies to compensate. We, as classroom teachers, can

help in this process

Five Areas of Agreement

1.The learning disabled have difficulties with academic achievement and progress,

discrepancies exist between a person's potential for learning and what he actually

learns2.The learning disabled show an uneven pattern

of language development, and/or motor-development, academic development and/or

perceptual development

3 .All learning originates within the brain and, consequently, a disorder in learning can be caused by a dysfunction in the

central nervous system

4 .Learning problems are not due to an environmental disadvantage

5 .Learning problems are not due to intellectual disabilities or

emotional disturbances

In Other WordsThe term learning disabilities refers to a

neurobiological disorder in one or more of the basic processes involved in understanding

spoken or written language.

It may influence an individual’s ability to speak, listen, read, write spell, reason,

organize information or do mathematical calculations.

Reading

Disability

(Dyslexia)

Written

Expression

Disorder

(Dysgraphia)

Math

Disorder

(Dyscalculia)

Nonverbal

Learning

Disability

Reading

Difficulties

Spelling

Difficulties

Handwriting

Difficulties

Math

Difficulties

Visual-Spatial

& Social

Difficulties

Writing

Difficulties

Skill Areas That May Be Affected By Learning

DisabilitiesReceptive & Expressive Language

Auditory/Phonological Processing

Visual-Motor Processing

Visual Processing

Attention / Concentration

Memory

Metacognition

Organizational/Study SkillsSocial Skills

Does not focus when a lesson is presented; short

attention span, easily distracted, poor

concentration; may display hyperactivity

Problems in processing auditory or visual

information

( difficulty interpreting visual or auditory stimuli)

Underlying language disorders; problems in

language development, listening, speaking, and

vocabulary

Poor at recognizing sounds of language; cannot identify phoneme sounds in spoken

language, and cannot manipulate these sounds

Does not know how to go about the task of learning

and studying; lacks organizational skills; passive

learning style, does not direct his own learning

Difficulty with gross motor abilities and fine motor

coordination

(exhibits general awkwardness and

clumsiness)

Poor in tasks requiring written expression, spelling,

and handwriting

Does not know how to act and talk in social situations; difficulty with establishing

satisfying social relationships and friendships

Difficulty with quantitative thinking, arithmetic, time,

space, and calculation facts

About 80% of students with learning disabilities

have disabilities in reading; problems in

learning to decode words, basic word recognition skills, or reading comprehension

Looking just at the learning disability is too limiting!

Students with learning disabilities manifest

strengths and weaknesses in !different

mental processes

Teachers need to look at students’ islands of

competence!

Four Classifications in Practical Terms

1.The student who had no trouble acquiring reading in his L1 in the first and

second grades

2.The student who had no trouble acquiring reading in his L1 in first and

second grades but in the third and fourth grades had reading comprehension

difficulties

4.The student who still has trouble reading Hebrew

3.The student who had trouble acquiring reading in Hebrew but with

learning strategies was able to overcome his difficulties and now reads relatively

fluently in Hebrew

Moreover, there is little understanding of the fact that it is not a matter of having students

with learning difficulties do a class or activity over again; it is a matter of having them do it

differently Vulnerabilities in language skills are

exacerbated for ELL students, especially those with learning

disabilities, because those students are trying to learn not only

language, but a new language!

These researchers believe that if the learning style of the student is at odds with the

style required to succeed in the classroom, serious learning

problems can occur

Although the research is not clear, all students

do not learn in the same way

We as teachers should focus on the students’ diverse strengths and help them approach learning from their

strengths .

Learning StylesAll learners have preferred ways of receiving

new and sometimes difficult information .

Awareness of these modalities for language teachers are important so that they can

accommodate to the individual differences and learning styles .

When we teach using the students' different sensory modalities the class

as a whole receives information in one or several channels

This Multisensory approach can also reinforce a learner's use of their less

developed senses

Grinder, 1989

Sensory Modalities

Howard Gardner’s work on multiple intelligences and the different ways that we

each learn, remember, perform, and understand may be helpful

Of similar importance is Betty Edwards work on the roles that the left-brain and the right-

brain play in our thinking, reasoning and complex mental functions

Teachers can improve the learning climate for many students and most assuredly for those with a learning disability by planning

tasks so that differing intelligences are called upon and by balancing the

involvement required of each hemisphere of the brain

Researchers believe that students with stronger visual processing skills may learn better through

sight word or language experience methods and that

students with stronger auditory processing skills may learn best

through phonics methods

Lerner, 2006

Beginning learners of a second language do not have native speaker competence

in English phonology

Thus, their language and literacy development must take a somewhat

different path than from a native speaker's development

Many believe their path takes on qualities

of a L1 learning disabled student, demanding a highly individualized

approach with linguistic instruction and remediation (Jannuzi, 1998)

I Teach Everyone Like They Are LD!

Here are some suggestions that are easy to incorporate

into classroom routine; naturally, different strategies

will be of more or less value to different students, particularly

with a culturally and linguistically diverse class

Reduce the level of distraction in the room

Always write the page number and exercise number on the board so that the LD student can always find his

place without asking

Whenever appropriate, present material using graphic and/or

sensory media

Combine both auditory and visual stimuli, say it and write it on the

board whenever possible

Use videos, demonstrations, and concrete materials

Give the gift of time whenever it is at all

possible

Students with learning disabilities may

require extra time to complete in-class and

homework assignments as well as

tests

Consider administering tests in alternative

formats such as orally or on computer

Have students use a word processor to whatever extent is

possible

Word processing makes rewriting and revising so much less laborious, its value is immeasurable for those students with fine-motor, sequencing,

spelling and other language manipulation

problems

Make it easy for students to ask for

repetition; bear in mind that it is important to

use the same language when you do repeat so that you do not change

the construct and defeat the purpose of the

repetition; Frame material by relating it to past

classroom or personal experience and

highlighting new material;

Whenever possible, cluster material so that

it is organized by category ;

Don’t issue too many instructions at the same time. Break tasks

down into their component parts and issue the instructions for

each part one at a time

Allow time in advance for students to think about items to be covered in class. Provide plenty of

pre-discussion, pre-writing, pre-reading lead

time and other pre-teaching activities

Begin each lesson with a review of what has been

learnedTell students the goal of the

lesson

Reorganize the seating to help students by placing

students with special needs near the teacher

Set up expectations for behavior. Give positive

feedback when behavior is satisfactory

“I like it when you”..……

Give feedback when behavior is not

satisfactory“I want you to”..……

Counsel student so your expectations are clearly

understood

Assure him that you care how she/he feels!

Really get to know the student. Target his strengths and help him shine in these

areas

Use an assignment calendar to give student a clear idea of due dates

If student cannot read text, use tape-recorded

books in a listening center or assign a peer to

read to the student

Upload a “Read Aloud” program so your student can hear the digital text

read aloud from the computer by an automated

voice

Allow student extra time on timed tests if they are

not standardized tests

Provide student a quiet setting free of

distractions in which to take testsTalk with student to

determine prior knowledge and begin

instruction at the appropriate level of

understanding

Use multiple-choice or matching tests instead of

full recall tests

Give open-book study sheets to student and to parent two weeks before major test so parent can

review information several times with the

student.

Keep daily parent-teacher notes

Allow student to use larger print books

Give parent a set of texts and papers to use at

home with child if homework is not taken home or because it gets lost on during its journey

Use special materials:, computer, spell check,

tape recorder, electronic dictionary

Use rewards to stimulate work completion

Use high-interest material of student’s

choosing when possible

Assign peer tutor or cross-aged tutor to help

child

Enroll students in a remedial program in

school

Encourage remedial program outside of

school

Allow student choice of assignments

Provide alternative assignment, at a lower

levelIncrease student-teacher time

Increase student-aide time

Sit with child to initiate work

Prioritize tasks to be done

Shorten assignments

Give extra time at recess, at lunch, or after school

for completion of assignments

Furnish written directions to the student

at his desk

Assign student buddy to help with directions

Provide immediate feedback of results

Work with special education teachers to

help all studentsUse differentiated

instruction to take into account the learning

styles and learning needs of all students in the

classSummarize what has

been learned at the end of each lesson

Provide positive support for all students

Teach all students study skills

Allow sufficient practice of the concepts or skills

for all students

Use colored markers on the whiteboard to differentiate and

emphasize

1 Have students number with 2 a pencil the lines

in a storyHave students use a

“Window Tracker” for reading if they

continuously lose the line they are reading in texts

“Life is not so much a matter of holding good cards but of playing a

poor hand well ”

Robert Louis Stevenson

How to Play a Poor Hand Well?

If provided with the right support, a teacher of a student with learning

disabilities can help the student succeed in school by both fostering the student’s

strengths and recognizing his weaknesses