UNIT 5 LEARNING

DISABILITIES
PREPARED BY: OLACO, DAISY R.
PACLEB, REY VINCENT A.
 • A learning disability is a generic term for a
heterogeneous group of disorders that affect how
individuals receive, store, and retrieve
information.

• These problems can make it difficult for a

student to learn as quickly as someone who isn’t
Learning affected by learning disabilities.

Disabilities • Learning disabilities may occur concomitantly

with other disabilities (such as sensory
impairments or psychological disabilities) or
environmental influences (such as cultural
differences or insufficient instructions) but
learning disabilities are not the direct result of
those influences.
 Below grade level achievement in
one or more subjects, slow language
3.1 Possible development, short attention span,
Characteristic of poor memory, hyperactivity, poor
Learning impulse control and aggressiveness,
immaturity, disorganization. Persons
Disabilities with learning disabilities are said to
Include have a “hidden handicap” because
they appear deceptively “normal”.
 1. Development speech and language disorders

3.2 Learning
Disabilities Can 2. Academics skills disorders
Be Divided into
Three Broad
Categories 3. Other certain coordination disorders and learning
handicaps not covered by the other terms.
 Speech and language problems are often the
earliest indicators of a learning disability, people
with development speech and language disorders
3.2 1 have difficulty producing speech sounds, using
spoken language to communicate, or
Development understanding what other people say.
Speech and Depending on the problem, the specific diagnosis
Language may be.
Disorders
i. Development
ii. Articulation disorder
iii. Development expressive language disorders or
iv. Development receptive language disorder.
 • Children with this disorder may have
trouble controlling their rate of speech or
they may lag behind playmates in
3.2.2 learning to make speech sounds.
Developmental • Developmental articulation disorders
Articulation appear in at least 10% of children younger
Disorders than age 8.
• Treatment for the developmental
articulation disorder typically involves
speech therapy.
 • This disorder is known as developmental
expressive language disorder.
• Expressive learning disorder is a condition in
3.2.3
which a child has lower than normal ability in
Expressive vocabulary, saying complex sentences, and
Learning remembering words.
Disorder • An expressive language disorder can take
other forms: a 4- year old who speaks only in
two word phrases and a 6 – years old who can’t
answer simple questions may have
developmental expressive disorders.
 • This is known as a receptive language disorder.
• Receptive language disorder is one in which a
3.2.4 child struggles to understand and process the
Developmental messages and information they receive from
Receptive others.
Language Disorder • Their hearing is fine, but they can’t understand
certain sounds, words, or sentences they hear.
They may even seem inattentive.
 i. Developmental
reading disorder

3.3
Academic Skill ii. Developmental
writing disorder
Disorders

iii. Developmental
arithmetic disorder.
 3.3.1 Developmental Reading Disorder

 This type of disorder, also known as dyslexia is quite widespread. In fact,

reading disabilities affect 2 to 8 percent of elementary school children.
 Some people with dyslexia may not be able to identify words by sounding out
the individual letters. Others may have trouble with rhyming games, such as
rhyming “cat” with “bat”. Fortunately, remedial reading specialists have
developed techniques that can help many children with dyslexia acquire these
skills.
 There is more to reading than recognizing words. If the brain is unable to form
images or relate new ideas to those stored in memory, the reader can’t
understand or remember the new concepts.
 3.3.2 Developmental Writing Disorder

• This is called developmental dysgraphia.

• Dysgraphia is a disorder of writing ability at any stage, including
problems with letter formation/legibility, letter spacing, spelling,
fine motor coordination, rate of writing, grammar, and
composition.
• A developmental writing disorder may result from problems in
any of these areas. A child with a writing disability, particularly
an expressive language disorder might be unable to compose
complete grammatical sentences.
 3.3.3 Developmental Arithmetic Disorder

 Arithmetic involves recognizing numbers and symbols memorizing facts

such as the multiplication table, aligning numbers and understanding
abstract concepts like values and fractions.
 This is also known as Dyscalculia.
 Developmental dyscalculia refers to the severe difficulty in manipulating
numerical information and performing arithmetic operations, which
cannot otherwise be explained by cognitive dysfunctions, such as in
intelligence, reading, or attention (Butterworth, Varma, & Laurillard, 2011).
 3.4 Other “Learning Disabilities”

 These include other “motor” skills disorders” and specific

developmental disorders, such as delays in acquiring
language and academic and motor skills that can affect
the ability to learn but do not meet the criteria for a
learning disability. Also included in this category are
coordination disorders, that can lead to poor writing
skills and certain spelling and memory disorders.
 • Many school aged children have learning disabilities, some of
them have a type of disorders that make them to appear to
daydream excessively and often easily distracted.

• In a large proportion of affected children, the attention deficit

disorder is accompanied by hyperactivity, known as Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD.
3.4.1 • ADHD seems to affect boys more frequently than girls, while girls
Attention are more likely to have attention for deficit disorder without
hyperactivity.
Disorders
• Children with ADHD are hyperactive, impulsive and easily
distracted. They act impulsively, running into traffic or toppling
desk. They blurt out answer and interrupt. In games, they can’t
wait for their turn.
 “Checking closely to detect those children with
conditions that can prevent individuals from performing
an activity within the range considered to be normal for
their age”

3.5 Diagnosis of learning disabilities:

Diagnosis of Learning disabilities (LD) are a significant gap between a
person’s intelligence and the skills the person has
Learning achieved at each age. This means that a severely retarded
10 years old who speaks like a six years old probably does
Disabilities: not have a language or speech disability. He has
Screening for mastered language up to the limits of his intelligence.

Disability is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is

diagnosed by checking for the long term presence of
specific behaviors, such as considerable fidgeting, losing
things, interrupting and talking excessively.
 Since learning disabilities are not of medical nature, but are of
educational concern, the first to identify a learning disability is
usually not the health worker but someone on the educational
staff, such as a teacher or a counsellor.

A school nurse might notice that a child is frequently visiting the

clinic for various vague complaints or missing school days, for
3.5.1 undocumented illnesses, or may be avoiding school. Frequently
children who are having difficulty in school will think of ways to
Identification of avoid being embarrassed in the classroom, and that coping
Learning mechanism is often described as “not feeling well” by the child.
The school nurse should inquire about difficulty with learning
Disabilities when she or he is conducting a health assessment with these
children. If the child describes difficulty with learning, then the
health worker can relay this information to the parent, teacher, or
counsellor.
 Although obtaining a diagnosis is
3.6 important even more important is
creating a plan for getting the right
Education for
help. Because LD can affect the child
Children with and family in so many ways, help may
Learning be needed in a variety of ways:
Disabilities educational, medical, emotional and
practical.
 • Children with learning disabilities and attention disorders
may have trouble making friends with peers.
• For children with ADHD, this may be due to their
impulsive, hostile or withdrawn behavior.
3.7 • Some people with LD seem unable to interpret tone of
Counseling for voice or facial expressions.
• Counselling can help affected children, teenagers and
Children with adults develop greater self- control and a more positive
Learning attitude toward their own abilities.
• Parents and teachers can help by structuring tasks and
Disabilities environments for the child in ways that allow the child to
succeed.
How do you help students with learning disabilities
develop strategies for successful teaching?

 Differentiated Instruction
 Explicit Instruction
 Visual Aids
 Positive Feedback
 Supportive Environment
Specific Strategies to help high school students
with reading and writing disabilities

 Provide Reading Support

 Use Graphic Organizers
 Teach Reading and Writing Strategies
 Provide feedback and support
 Encourage Self-advocacy
 5.0 SUMMARY

 Learning disabilities are a generic term for a heterogeneous group

of disorders that affect how individuals receive, store, and retrieve
information. The possible categories include - below grade level
achievement in one or more subjects, slow language development,
short attention span, poor memory, hyperactivity, poor impulse
control, and aggressiveness, immaturity and disorganization.