LEARNING DISABILITIES

SPAGHETTI TEST!

WHAT IT IS NOT
! Learning disability is not mental retardation. Thomas Edison, Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein, Walt Disney and Mickey Mantle all manifested learning disabilities. Each at one time or another was labeled a failure because of specic decits in language or mathematical processes. Each had a discrepancy between estimated intellectual potential and actual academic achievement.! ! Claudine
Sherrill

DEFINITION
(as dened by IDEA legislation) ! A disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which disorder may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell or do mathematical calculations. Conditions such as dyslexia (a severe reading disorder) and aphasia (impairment of the ability to communicate, such as writing) are included in this denition.
http://www.kidsource.com/NICHCY/learning_disabilities.html

In schools, students are diagnosed with a learning disability when there is a signicant discrepancy between their IQ and performance on achievement tests.
http://www.ldanatl.org/aboutld/teachers/understanding/adhd.asp

COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN
Impaired ability to process information Breakdown in the information input and retrieval system

LEARNING DISABILITIES MAY OCCUR IN THE FOLLOWING

Spoken language: Delays, disorders, or discrepancies in listening and speaking Written language: Difculties Text with reading, writing, and spelling Arithmetic: Difculty in performing arithmetic functions or in comprehending basic concepts http:// www.ncld.org/learning-disability-resources/videos/ video-what-is-dyscalculia Reasoning: Difculty in organizing and integrating thoughts

FEDERAL LAW
According to the law, learning disabilities do not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities; mental retardation, cultural, or economic disadvantage. Denitions of learning disabilities also vary among states (www.kidsource.com ).

PREVALENCE
In 2010, 5 million children 317 years of age (8%) had a learning disability; 9% of boys had a learning disability compared with 6% of girls. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_250.pdf
Very little reliable data on prevalence within adult population

Four and one-half million children 317 years of age (7%) had Attention Decit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Boys were more than twice as likely as girls to have ADHD (11% and 4%). In families with an income of less than $20,000, the percentage of children with a learning disability was twice that of children in families with an income of $75,000 or more (12% and 6%).

LEARNING DISABILITIES IN COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

Roughly 2% of the college population or 2/100 are currently asking for accommodation Not under IDEA legislation, but Section 504 and ADA legislation Equal access and equal opportunity Controversy regarding reasonable accommodation

IS ADHD A LEARNING DISABILITY?

! ADHD is not considered to be a learning disability. It can be determined to be a disability under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), making a student eligible to receive special education services. However, ADHD falls under the category Other Health Impaired and not under Specic Learning Disabilities. ! Many children with ADHD approximately 20 to 30 percent also have a specic learning disability. ! http://www.ldanatl.org/aboutld/teachers/understanding/
adhd.asp

CHARACTERISTICS OF ADHD
Impulsivity: difculty waiting for turn, talks without thinking beforehand Inattention: difculty in following directions, problems paying attention to detail, difculty sustaining attention Hyperactivity: dgets, squirms in seat

LEARNING DISABILITIES AND THE JUVENILE SYSTEM

Some studies suggest that up to 36 percent of youth in correctional facilities have specic learning disabilities (Rutherford 2002). Between 20 to 50 percent of incarcerated youth are estimated to have ADHD (Rutherford 2002).
Information retrieved from http://www.ldaofmichigan.org/articles/ld.jj.htm / article by Hume

ETIOLOGY
New evidence seems to show that most learning disabilities do not stem from a single, specic area of the brain, but from difculties in bringing together information from various brain regions. Therefore, causes of learning disabilities may be as diverse as the types of learning disabilities. http://www.naset.org/ 2535.0.html

ETIOLOGY, CONT.
Any factor causing dysfunction in one or more of the areas of the brain responsible for processing information. These include Genetic factors Neurological factors Environmental stimulus

SOFT SIGNS RELATED TO SOCIAL ADJUSTMENTS SOMETIMES ACCOMPANY LEARNING DISORDERS

These are dysfunctions that cannot be substantiated through technology (EEG) Some or all may apply to individuals with LD ! -social imperception: inability to recognize meaning and
! signicance of behavior of others -conceptual rigidity: inability to shift, be exible or accept alternative ways of doing things it is needed OR...

! -perseveration: the persistence of a repetitive behavior after

PERSEVERATION
STOP KICKING A DEAD HORSE!

SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT
Two schools of thought: Social decits are the result of the same etiology that cause information processing problems. Caused by chronic failures in the school environment that can lead to social adjustment issues.

PERCEPTUAL MOTOR DIFFERENCES

Immature body perception (difculty telling right from left) Poor spatial orientation (discrimination of shapes, depth perception Motor prociency (balance, coordination, overow movements)