Module 2 LEARNING DISABILITIES

Dyscalculia

*Dys- a Greek word which means "badly" *Calculare- from the Latin word which means "to count" - means to count badly. It is the inability to calculate. - most widely used term for disabilities in arithmetic and mathematics. - has received little attention and the familiarity of it as a problem is relatively low. - usually refers to a specific developmental problem, while a related deficit is acquired later in life as a result of neurological damage caused.

Diagnosis

- A diagnosis can be made by a clinical psychologist or pediatrician - During assessment, details are required regarding the child's development history, and intellectual ability -- fine motor skills and gross motor skills. - Diagnosis can occur at any age, depending on the individual. A professional, such as a doctor, will assess factors such as: 1. medical history 2. fine motor skills 3. gross motor skills 4. developmental milestones 5. mental abilities

Dyslexia

- A language-based learning disability. - common learning disability that interferes with the acquisition of reading skills. - It causes children to struggle with decoding, word recognition, and spelling. - It is now technically part of the diagnosis "specific learning disorder", which groups together reading, writing, and math disorders under the same umbrella.

Orthographic Coding

- If dysgraphia appears in childhood, it's usually the result of a problem with what?

Causes of Dyspraxia

- It is believed that the nervous cells do not progress maturely and properly. _________ do not have a cure, but with help and treatment, an individual with ________ can improve. - Although DCD does not affect how intelligent a child is, it can make it more difficult for them to learn and they may need extra help to keep up at school. - Treatment for DCD will be tailored to your child and usually involves a number of different healthcare professionals working together. - Although the physical co-ordination of a child with DCD will remain below average, this often becomes less of a problem as they get older. - However, difficulties in school - particularly producing written work - can become much more prominent and require extra help from parents and teachers.

Teaching Strategies of Dysgraphia

- Management strategies for learning - involving classroom materials - giving instructions - completing assignments

Intervention for Dyspraxia

- There is no cure for this learning disability. However, therapy can be conducted to manage symptoms and improve their abilities. - Treatment plans depend on the severity of the learning disability. - Healthcare workers that can conduct the intervention/treatment are behavioral analysts, occupational therapists, pediatric specialists, physical therapists, psychologists and speech and language therapists.

Stroke or other brain injury

- When dysgraphia develops in adults, the cause is usually a?

Dyslexia Dysgraphia

- With this form of dysgraphia, written words that a person has not copied from another source are illegible, particularly as the writing goes on. - Copied writing or drawings, on the other hand, may be clear. Spelling is poor even though an individual's fine motor skills are normal. - Despite the name, a person with dyslexia dysgraphia does not necessarily have dyslexia.

Motor Dysgraphia

- a person has poor fine motor skills. - have poor dexterity. - Written work, including copied work and drawings, tend to be poor or illegible. - With extreme effort from the student, short writing samples may be somewhat legible. - Spelling abilities are usually within the normal range.

Dysgraphia

- affects writing abilities. - difficulties with spelling, poor handwriting and trouble putting thoughts on paper. Because writing requires a complex set of motor and information processing skills, saying a student has dysgraphia is not sufficient.

IEA, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

- define the rights of students with dyslexia and other specific learning disabilities.

Dyspraxia

- is known as Developmental co-ordinations Disorder. - It is said by the National Center for Learning Disabilities that persons with __________ tend to have difficulty in planning and completing fine motor tasks. - Individuals with _________ tend to have language difficulty with thought and perception. - ___________, however, does not affect the individual's intelligence.

Colored Overlays

- plastic reading sheets tinted with color and placed over a text to filter the light. - can help in a wide range of difficulties arising when reading. Dyslexia can often be the key, not any color will do For each individual: • Specific hue (tint) • Saturation (depth of color) An insufficient choice of colors reduces the effectiveness of the intervention as measured by the increased reading speed in a significant number of cases.

Visual Stress

- refers to the inability to see comfortably and without distortion. - result of the relation between the visual features of black ink writing on white paper

Spatial Dysgraphia

- results from issues with spatial awareness. - difficulty staying within the lines on a piece of paper or using a correct amount of spacing between words. - All forms of handwriting and drawings, from individuals with this type of dysgraphia, are usually illegible. - Spelling skills are not typically impaired.

Treatments of Dyslexia

1. .Educational techniques - Teachers may use techniques involving hearing, vision, and touch to improve reading skills. a. phonemes b. phonics c. fluency

Overlapping Symptoms of Dyspraxia

1. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) 2. Autism Spectrum Disorder 3. Childhood Apraxia of Speech 4. Dyscalculia 5. Dyslexia

Types of Dysgraphia

1. Dyslexia Dysgraphia 2. Motor Dysgraphia 3. Spatial Dysgraphia

Causes for Dyscalculia

1. Genes and Heredity - Research shows that genetics may also play a part in problems with math. 2. Brain Development - The differences have to do with how the brain is structured and how it functions in areas that are linked to learning skills.

Causes of Dyslexia

1. Genes and heredity - 2.Complications - Trouble learning - Social Problems - Problems as adults *Brain anatomy and activity: brain imaging studies have shown brain differences between people with and without dyslexia. It shows differences in the way the brain of a person with dyslexia develops and functions

Teaching Strategies for Dyspraxia

1. Pay attention to the writing utensils and paper 2. Consider alternatives to activities that require writing. 3. Teach students with dyspraxia touch-typing. 4. Adjust Seating Plans 5. Provide breaks in the schedules 6. Give plenty of extra time 7. Emphasize information in step-by-step form. 8. Provide written, recorded and visual reports 9. Help with tasks that require fine motor skills.

Classroom Interventions

1. Using Other Communication Methods 2. Use of a Computer 3. Stages of Writing - Encourage students with dysgraphia to talk as they write

Symptoms of Dyspraxia

1. poor balance 2. poor posture 3. fatigue 4. clumsiness 5. differences in speech 6. poor hand-eye coordination 7. perception

Teens and Adults Symptoms of Dyslexia

• Difficulty reading, including reading aloud • Slow and labor-intensive reading and writing • Problems spelling • Avoiding activities that involve reading • Mispronouncing names or words, or problems retrieving words • Trouble understanding jokes or expressions that have a meaning not easily understood from the specific words (idioms), such as "piece of cake" meaning "easy" • Spending an unusually long time completing tasks that involve reading and writing • Difficulty summarizing a story • Trouble learning a foreign language • Difficulty memorizing and difficulty doing math problems See an expert if the child's reading level is below what's expected for his/h

Home Intervention (Dyscalculia)

• Emotional and mental support • Learn with objects • Push for hobbies and extracurricular activities • Yoga and meditation • Practice with assistive devices for self-correction

Before School Symptoms of Dyslexia

• Late talking • Learning new words slowly • Problems forming words correctly, such as reversing sounds in words or confusing words that sound alike • Problems remembering or naming letters, numbers, and colors • Difficulty learning nursery rhymes or playing rhyming games

School Age Symptoms of Dyslexia

• Reading well below the expected level for age • Problems processing and understanding what he or she hears • Difficulty finding the right word or forming answers to questions • Problems remembering the sequence of things • Difficulty seeing (and occasionally hearing) similarities and differences in letters and words

School Intervention (Dyscalculia)

• Relate concepts to real-life situations • Focus on visualization • Explore interests • Stepwise instructions • WR (write and revise) • Push classroom engagement

Teaching Strategies for Dyscalculia

▪ Help students to become aware of their strengths and weaknesses ▪ Help students to focus on specific learning difficulties by offering extra math support in school and tutors outside the classroom ▪ Giving extra time to work on math-related assignments ▪ Using graph paper for students who have difficulty organizing problems on paper ▪ Planning and organizing students' approach to math problems ▪ Using objects and visuals to help solve problems ▪ Starting with concrete examples before moving to harder, more abstract concepts ▪ Explaining math concepts and terms clearly and encouraging students to ask questions ▪ Providing a quiet place to work with few distractions

Symptoms of Dysgraphia

● Tight, awkward pencil grip and body position ● Illegible handwriting ● Avoiding writing or drawing tasks ● Tiring quickly while writing ● Saying words out loud while writing ● Unfinished or omitted words in sentences ● Difficulty organizing thoughts on paper ● Difficulty with syntax structure and grammar ● Large gap between written ideas and understanding demonstrated through speech.