Unit 5- Learning Disabilities

IDEA 2004 regulations made a significant change from the 1997 language in regard to use of the "discrepancy model" in identifying a student as having a learning disability. Which of the following statements correctly identifies that change?

"Discrepancy" may be among a variety of methods used by school districts for determining the presence of a learning disability

Learning disabilities definition

"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, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations. The term includes such conditions as perceptual handicaps, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. The term does not include children who have learning disabilities which are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor handicaps, or mental retardation, or emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage

Characteristics of learning disabilities

-disorders of attention -hyperactivity -info processing problems -lack of cognitive strategies for learning -memory difficulties -oral language difficulties -poor gross & fine motor skills -psychological processing deficits -quantitive disabilities -reading disorders -social/emotional challenges -written language problems

Possible reasons for this decrease include the following:

-students identifying as other disabilities such as ADHD -improvements in the quality of instructions -identification procedures are better -early childhood programs have expanded

The IDEA language contains two central components worthy of additional attention:

1) the notion of a discrepancy between the student's academic performance and his or her estimated or assumed ability or potential, and 2) a passage that has come to be known as the exclusionary clause, which specifies that a learning disability cannot be due primarily to sensory impairments, intellectual disability, emotional problems, or environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage

Recent statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Education (2012b) indicate that only six out of ten students with learning disabilities graduate from high school with a regular diploma, while almost ___% drop out of school—the second highest dropout rate of all pupils with disabilities.

25%

Learning disabilities is the largest category within special education, accounting for about ___% of all individuals receiving services

40%

investigators posit four basic categories for explaining the etiology of learning disabilities:

Acquired trauma Genetic and hereditary influences Biochemical abnormalities Environmental possibilities

13 types of learning disabilities

Autism Deaf-blindness Deafness Emotional disturbance Hearing impairment Intellectual disability Multiple disabilities Orthopedic impairment Other health impairment (includes ADHD) Specific learning disability (includes dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, and other learning differences) Speech or language impairment Traumatic brain injury Visual impairment, including blindnes

3 broad approaches to teaching academic skills:

Cognitive training direct instruction learning strategies

Cognitive training

Cognitive training is an umbrella approach covering a variety of educational procedures. It seeks to manipulate or modify a student's underlying thought patterns to affect observable changes in performance ex: self instruction mnemonics

Bill is failing his American history class because he constantly confuses or forgets important names, dates, and events despite his long hours of study. He will have a test next week on the American Civil War. What instructional technique would help him learn and recall the important facts?

Creating a mnemonic chart of the names of important generals

Genetic/Hereditary Influences

Do learning disabilities run in families? Researchers investigating this question believe that some learning problems are inherited; however, no single gene is believed to cause learning disabilities

Direct Instruction

Drill and practice are stressed. DI lessons, which are teacher-directed, are precisely scripted, fast-paced, and typically presented to small groups of children, usually five to ten. Teachers lead their students using a "script" or precisely worded lesson in an effort to ensure consistency and quality of instruction.

A student is highly intelligent and artistically talented but suffers from dyslexia and dysgraphia. Which of the following conditions would most likely support an LD diagnosis for this student?

Dysfunctional neurological processing

True or false? Under IDEA, all states must use the same severe discrepancy formula as the diagnostic basis for specific learning disabilities.

FALSE; Currently, there is no single, established standard across all 50 states to show a discrepancy between aptitude and achievement for an LD diagnosis. States even vary widely in which tests or discrepancy formula are used by educators. The result is that a student can be diagnosed with LD in one state and not in another

True or false? ADHD is a learning disability.

FALSE; Not all students with learning disabilities will exhibit the characteristics identified. For example, not all students with learning disabilities have ADHD, and vice versa. It is often the frequency, intensity, and duration of the behaviors that lead to problems in school and elsewhere

True or false? Individuals with learning disabilities usually exhibit the same learning, emotional, and social characteristics among them.

FALSE; The IDEA definition calls this disability category "specific learning disabilities" (SLD) because, unlike the other disability categories, it is an "umbrella" category that encompasses many different issues--and many different combinations of those issues. Examples include, but are not limited to reading, writing, spelling, or math problems; processing disorders; organizational difficulties; social skill disorders; and gross motor issues

Learning Strategies

In other words, learning strategies are the tools that individuals use to help themselves learn and recall new material. The goal of this approach is to help students become more actively engaged and involved in their own learning.

Biochemical abnormalities

In the mid-1970s, Feingold (1975, 1976) championed the view that allergic reactions to certain artificial colorings, flavorings, and additives contained in many food products contribute to children's learning problems and hyperactive behavior Another popular theory of this era was megavitamin therapy, whose chief advocate was psychiatrist Alan Cott. Cott (1972) theorized that learning disabilities can be caused by the inability of a person's blood to synthesize a normal amount of vitamins

Common Components of Definitions of Learning Disabilities

Intellectual functioning within normal range Significant gap or disrepancy between a student's assumed potential and actual achievement Cognitive processing deficitsInference that learning disabilities are not primarily caused by other disabilities or extrinsic factors Difficulty in learning in one or more academic areas Presumption of central nervous system dysfunction Lifelong condition

Norm-referenced tests

Measures student ability against mastery level performance by other students

Cognitive training: Mnemonic strategies

Mnemonic strategies are memory tools for helping students recall facts and relationships. Teachers frequently help their students transform abstract material into a more concrete form by constructing personally meaningful representations of the information—that is, a picture or pattern of letters. For example, one popular trick frequently used by beginning music students to help recall the treble staff is the sentence, "Every good boy does fine," which represents the notes e, g, b, d, and f

Which statement below best describes the term "Response to Intervention ( RTI)"?

RTI is a procedure where a student is exposed to increasingly intensive tiers (usually three, and sometimes four) of scientifically validated instructional intervention with ongoing progress monitoring. In addition to its use as a diagnostic tool for students being evaluated for possible special education services

Federal law mandates that an Individual Transition Plan (ITP) be part of every IEP of each student with a disability after age 16.

True PL 108-446 clearly requires that each secondary student with disabilities have an Individual Transition Plan (ITP) as part of his/her IEP.

Direct Instruction qualities

Scripted, fast-paced lessons delivered to small groups of students are a hallmark of this approach. Continuous monitoring of student performance throughout lessons, with immediate feedback, is a hallmark of this approach. Teacher-guided drill and practice is a hallmark of this approach. This approach uses continuous instruction until students' mastery of the content is achieved. This approach is a comprehensive, highly-organized, and teacher-led instructional approach.

If an adult with LD goes to college, he or she can qualify for reasonable accommodations with proper documentation under which laws ?

Section 504 and ADA

Cognitive Training qualities

Self-instruction is one example of this approach Mnemonic strategies are one example of this approach. This is a pedagogical approach concerned with the manipulation or modification of a student's underlying thought patterns.

Based on established definitions, which of the following statements best explains the federal interpretation of a learning disability?

Some people lack information processing skills that are conducive to learning

Assessment strategies

Standardized tests, curriculum-based measurement, portfolio assessment

Learning Strategies qualities

Strategies Intervention Model/Strategic Instruction Model (SIM) is one example of this approach. This approach teaches students how to learn by giving them the techniques, principles and rules they can apply independently to many tasks and learning situations.

True or false? The learning strategies approach differs from other instructional approaches for LD students mainly because it relies on methods of teaching that are effective in traditional classrooms.

TRUE; it teaches students how to learn

Criterion-referenced tests

Teacher-made tests for specific skills

Response to Intervention (RTI)

With the reauthorization of IDEA in 2004, some of the preceding concerns were addressed. States and local school districts now have the option of choosing between the achievement-ability discrepancy model and making eligibility decisions on the basis of how a pupil responds to scientific, research-based educational interventions (1) the use of evidence-based or scientifically validated instructional practices and (2) the frequent and systematic assessment of the individual's performance, known as progress monitoring

Which condition is recognized as a cause of learning disabilities (LD)?

accident related brain injury

Most learning disabilities are identified in_______________.

adolescent males

Environmental possibilities

attributes the etiology of learning disabilities to a host of environmental factors such as low socioeconomic status, malnutrition, lack of access to healthcare, and other variables that may contribute to neurological dysfunction also quality of instruction

calculators can aid students with learning disabilities who struggle in calculation or the processing of

basic mathematical facts

Determining whether the student exhibits a discrepancy between assumed ability and actual educational achievement is at the heart of assessing a student for possible placement in a program for individuals with learning disabilities. This discrepancy is typically established by

comparing a student's performance on a standardized achievement test with a measure of cognitive abilities or intelligence

Over the past few years there has been a gradual, but steady, ______ in the number of students identified as learning disabled

decrease

From 2011 to 2012, ___ out of every ten students who received special education services in the United States had been diagnosed with learning disabilities

four

Most students with learning disabilities do most of their learning in the ______, but it used to be in a ______

general classroom resource room since the 1990s, learning is more inclusive

Most assistive technology for adolescents and adults with learning disabilities are ___-tech devices that may be difficult to obtain due to cost and/or use due to lack of training

high

As opposed to cognitive training, direct instruction is designed to ____________.

improve specific skills rather than correct processing impairments

Acquired trauma

injury or damage to the central nervous system (CNS) that originates outside the person and results in learning disorders that can happen prenatally, perinatally or postnatally

According to the IDEA, a learning disability (LD) diagnosis is typically justified when a student demonstrates a noted discrepancy between________________.

intellectual ability and academic achievement

Learning disabilities is therefore by far the _____ category of special education at 3.5% of the student population

largest

Which of the following best describes the instructional approach that teaches students how to learn by giving them the techniques, principles, and rules they can apply independently to many tasks and learning situations?

learning strategies

Smartphones and other portable, mobile technologies can also help students with

memory problems ex: setting a reminder

mathematical impairments

one in four students w a learning disability

The RTI model represents a significant conceptual shift in thinking from a "wait to fail" approach to

one that emphasizes early identification, intervention, and possible prevention

Aside from content-area support, assistive technology can also help students with learning disabilities with regard to

organization and self management

Audiobooks or text-to-speech can help students compensate for

reading challenges

Cognitive training: Self Instruction

self-instruction is a strategy whereby students initially talk to themselves out loud while performing a task—children verbalize instructions necessary to complete the activity and then verbally reward themselves for success. Self-instruction makes the student aware of the various steps used in problem solving and then gradually brings these strategies under covert verbal control

Deficits in metacognition affect reading because

students cannot set goals for prioritizing information

_____ use text-to-speech software to convert text into spoken voice output. This could compensate for auditory problems as people could hear sounds, words, or phrases repeated with increased volume as needed.

talking computers

Which of the following aspects of learning disability are common to both the federal IDEA legislation and the definition provided by the Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA, formerly known as the Association for Children with Learning Disabilities)?

that LD interferes with an individual's ability in verbal and/or non-verbal communication (i.e., reading, writing, speaking, listening) and in mathematics

metacognition

the ability to evaluate and monitor one's own performance

A team may determine that a child has a specific learning disability if:

the child does not achieve commensurate with his or her age and ability levels in one or more of the areas listed in paragraph (a) (2) of this section, when provided with learning experiences appropriate for the child's age and ability levels; and the team finds that a child has a severe discrepancy between achievement and intellectual ability in one or more of the following areas: oral expression; listening comprehension; written expression; basic reading skill; reading comprehension; mathematics calculation; or mathematics reasoning

IDEA's definition of Learning Disabilities states that the condition " ... does not include children who have learning disabilities which are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor handicaps, or mental retardation, or emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage." This language explaining what LD is not is often referred to as ____________________________.

the exclusionary clause

Livescribe™ smartpens

the pen has the capability of recording the audio of a lecture or discussion while the students simultaneously take notes on its accompanying special paper

Strategies Intervention Model (SIM) or Strategic Instruction Model

this approach is one of the field's most comprehensive models for providing strategy instruction. It can, according to one authority, "be used to teach virtually any strategic intervention" This pedagogical technique emphasizes the cognitive aspects of learning rather than focusing on mastering specific subject content

True or False. Developmentally delayed is a less stigmatizing label for difficulties that preschool age children may exhibit.

true

Generally speaking, in most instances, a discrepancy of ___ years or more below expected performance levels in one academic area is necessary for a designation of learning disabilities.

two years

Dyslexia

type of reading disorder in which the student fails to recognize and comprehend written words—a severe impairment in the ability to read results from difficulties w phonological awareness—a lack of understanding of the rules that govern the correspondence between specific sounds and certain letters that make up words

Reading impairments

well over half of all students with a learning disabilty

computers (word processing programs) and their related software (for example, speech-to-text, word prediction, spell-checkers) can benefit students with

writing challenges