knowing more about learning disability

Today, many children are diagnosed with learning disabilities at school when it is discovered that they are having difficulty in some part of their education.

It is essential to know about Learning Disabilities as sometimes, what is brushed aside as a childhood tantrum or simply as a child being “slow”, may be due to a learning disability.

Focusing on the unfocused & invisibleLearning disability (LD) is a processing disability.It has nothing to do with sensory impairment (Children with LD have no hearing or visual difficulty)It has nothing to do with less IQ. CWLD are NOT mentally retarded.It has nothing to do with culture and environment in early childhood.

Yet children have difficulties in:

Various Types of Learning Disabilities

• Dyslexia • Dyscalculia • Dysgraphia• Developmental Dyspraxia

DyslexiaDyslexia, or developmental reading disorder, is characterized by difficulty with learning to read fluently and with accurate comprehension despite normal or above-average intelligence. Dyslexia is the most common learning difficulty and most recognized reading disorder.

Types of Dyslexia

1. Visual Dyslexia: It is marked by: • Reversal of whole word / syllable / letters (e.g.

now / won, was / saw, b / d). • Substitution (e.g. house / home) • Addition of sounds (e.g. ischool / school) • Omission of letters, syllables, words or word

endings (e.g. sed / said). It arises due to a child’s short memory span and difficulty in interpreting and recalling visual images.

Types of Dyslexia

2. Auditory Dyslexia: It is characterized by the child • having difficulty in processing and understanding

what has been said to him. • not being able to distinguish subtle differences in

sound (e.g. bit/bet, pig/peg). • having difficulty in filtering out the extraneous

sound. It is quite likely that a child with auditory dyslexia becomes very tense or hyper-active in a noisy room.

DyscalculiaDyscalculia is difficulty in learning or comprehending arithmetic, such as

• difficulty in understanding numbers• learning how to manipulate numbers • and learning facts in Mathematics

DysgraphiaThis is a disorder which expresses itself primarily through writing or typing, although in some cases it may also affect hand–eye coordination, direction or sequence-oriented processes such as tying knots or carrying out a repetitive task.

Developmental DyspraxiaThis is a neurological condition characterized by a marked difficulty in carrying out routine tasks involving balance, fine-motor control and kinesthetic coordination. Difficulty in the use of speech sounds, problems with short-term memory and organization are typical of persons with dyspraxia.

StereotypesSince Learning Disabilities have only recently been classified as a type of disability, there are several misconceptions about them which several of us believe.

In the following slides, we shall try and break some of these myths.

MYTHLearning Disabilities can be cured.

REALITYLearning disabilities cannot be cured. However, with proper intervention and support, persons living with learning disabilities can succeed in school, work and life.

Corrective eyewear is an effective treatment for Learning Disabilities.

REALITYLearning disabilities are a disorder of the brain wherein there is problem with language processing. It is not a disorder of the eye.

MYTH

Watching too much television causes Learning Disabilities

REALITYWhile there are harmful effects of watching too much television, Learning Disabilities are not among them.

MYTH

Vaccinations cause Learning Disabilities.

REALITYWhile the exact causes of Learning Disabilities are still unknown, there is no evidence that vaccinations have caused Learning Disabilities.

MYTH

Learning Disabilities are a measurement for a person’s intelligence.

REALITYThere is no correlation between Learning Disabilities and IQ. In fact, there are many men and women who have Learning Disabilities who have achieved greatness in their fields .

MYTH

Some Greats who had Learning Disabilities

Albert Einstein

George Washington

Agatha Christie

Leonard Da Vinci

Services needed / available for children with Learning Disabilities and their families are:

• assessment, • certification, • family counseling, • teacher training, • short term courses, • remedial coaching, • exemption/ concessions, • teaching learning material etc.

.All Remedial Services today are however available

only for English medium / speaking population.

So, there is a gap in services deserved by rural, lower socio economic and non English speaking population.

The hopeful fact is that The Right to Education Act seeks to enroll and sustain all children between 6 to 14 in nearby mainstream (regular)schools.

What we need is...

• Inclusive Education: This means School Education which is in tune with diverse needs of ALL children including Children with Disabilities, ALL under one roof for diverse needs.

• Greater awareness about LDs: If more people, especially teachers, are made aware of Learning Disabilities, proper steps can be taken to make education more inclusive.

For Inclusive Education to be possible, teachers need to be aware of Learning Disabilities (LD) and how to best teach students who have LD.

Some Tips for Teachers

When teaching students who have Dyslexia:

• Adding new words, word definitions and practicing to use those words appropriately should be built into reading programs.

• Encourage your child to write stories about events using new words he/she has learnt.

• Regular testing, monthly or quarterly, using informal measures will determine progress in reading and spelling.

Use “The Cloze Technique” when teaching students who have

Dyslexia:

The child uses the context of the sentence to understand the unknown words. This strategy can also be used as a test of comprehension of the text being read.

It is basically a fill in the blank activity. This technique should be encouraged by teachers.

When teaching students who have Dyscalculia

• It is important to introduce concepts systematically and logically.

• The topics and presentation should begin from simple concepts and progress to difficult things.

• The lessons must be such that they draw upon the student’s concepts and experiences and then gradually help him towards abstract mathematical thinking.

Some more tips for students with Dyscalculia

• Each topic should be taught with the help of familiar objects and situations. The pictures and stories you use must kindle the young student’s imagination, interest and reading level.

• Provide him with opportunities to practice so that he not only gains important skills but also masters an understanding of concepts and becomes confident.

For students with Dysgraphia.

Encourage the child to practice:• forming both capital and small cursive letters, • then, forming both the capital and small

cursive letters in words,• using the capital and small cursive letters in a

phrase,• then, using cursive writing in a variety of

creative writing situations.

When teaching students who have Dyspraxia:

• Seat the child away from the doors and windows and let him have a clear view of the blackboard.

• Do not ask him to copy from the blackboard. Provide him with printed matter instead.

• Write the day’s timetable on a strip of chart paper using different columns and place/stick it on his desk. (For young children, you can make a visual agenda)

To teach students with Dyspraxia:

• Each topic should be taught with the help of familiar objects and situations. The pictures and stories you use must kindle the young student’s imagination, interest and reading level.

• Provide him with opportunities to practice so that he not only gains important skills but also masters an understanding of concepts and becomes confident.

Remember...

We would like to thank

• Dr. Asmita Huddar, Principal of Hashu Advani College of Special Education for providing us with the necessary information and expertise to complete this presentation.

• Our other sources were:1. National Centre for Learning Disabilities (

http://ncld.org/types-learning-disabilities/what-is-ld/top-10-ld-myths-misconceptions )

2. Wikipedia (https://www.wikipedia.org/)

A Presentation by Trinayani

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