Learning Disabilities
Eleven-year-old Anna is outgoing and bright. She attempts to work hard, but her progress in school has always been slow. She is a year behind her peers, particularly in her English class and her teachers have slowly begun to reduce their expectations of her. Her parents are worried because her confidence for learning is decreasing, and there is less motivation for her to do homework and class assignments. A psychologist found that her intelligence is in the gifted range, but she has difficulty in making out written symbols. It is easy to make the assumption that Anna seems merely as a child who is slow intellectually, but when taking a closer look, it shows that she is just as intelligent but happens to suffer
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With this mandate, came the difficulty of defining what exactly a learning disability constitutes. Learning Disabilities generally is viewed as a “category in federal legislation referring to disorders involved in understanding or using language, manifested in imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations (EBSCO, 2005, p.1).” Students with learning disabilities have average or above-average intelligence but suffer from impaired brain functions or also known as neurological handicaps. This impairment makes it difficult for them to acquire skills and knowledge accurately and fast enough to keep pace with average academic progress. Once believed to be rare, learning disabilities are now believed to affect approximately 5 percent of the population (Encarta, 2003, p.1); many experts believe the percentage to be actually higher. Learning disabilities do not refer to a single disorder, but to a wider range of problems, which can include language, memory, attention, and organization; that can affect any area of academic performance.
Causes of Learning Disorders
“…Students with learning disabilities are by far the largest and the fastest growing special needs group in the American school population” (Smith & Strick, 1997, p. 11). With this being the case, urgent
Adults with learning disabilities can be very vulnerable and when they are accommodated in supported living, it is possible that they become exposed to further difficulties. Although the principles of the MCA set out to promote the independence of adults with learning disability whom obtain capacity, as outlined earlier, whilst they are living within supported accommodation they may have a loss of freedom and/or a reduction in choices and decisions, because although an individual may have the capacity to identify their needs and establish what they would ‘like’ to do, it is not always possible, again because of austerity measures and cut-backs which effectively impact staffing levels.
The Diagnostic Criteria for learning disabilities (according to the DSM V) is a specific learning disorder which is diagnosed through an examination of the child’s developmental, educational, medical and responses of various interventions that have been tried. The diagnosis is a constant difficulty in reading, writing, and arithmetic during the years of schooling. Symptoms can include imprecise or slow reading, writing that lacks clarity and content, and difficulty remembering mathematical reason and number facts. The academic level must be significantly below average in all areas; and the child’s difficulties cannot be explained by any other disorders and it has to interfere greatly with academic achievement, performance and daily living.
In the United States today, there are over fifty-one million disabled adults and children. Throughout our nation’s history, we have not allowed the best treatment and care for these numerous citizens. But, in the recent past, the government has passed laws, made exceptions, and thoroughly tried to provide accommodations to these people with special needs. While this is true, America, as a whole, still views this group as strange or different. Even though this is exceptionally normal, it is not correct. The United States needs to be opened up to the truth about their fellow American citizens. The people of America ought to understand that these disabilities affect not only those who are disabled, but that it affects the family and friends
There are many different types of learning disabilities; the most common ones are dyslexia and attention deficit disorder. (Jerome Rosner. –third ed. 1)
Approximately 5% of all public school students are identified as having a learning disability this is not a single disorder, but includes disabilities in any of seven areas, these relate to reading, language, and mathematics. These separate types of learning
A learning disability is a general term that refers to a heterogenous group of disorders that influence a student’s ability to perform tasks. Persons with learning disabilities may often have difficulties in understanding or using spoken or written language. This condition may manifest itself as a difficulty in listening, thinking, speaking, reading, writing, spelling or performing mathematical calculations (IDEAI, 2004). Learning disability has an impact on the students academic and work performance . Research has documented challenges faced by both Latino with learning disability and other disabilities in both education and in their capacity to remain employed and complete college..
IDEA defines a learning disability as a disorder in understanding or using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell or do mathematical calculations. Learning disabilities are a life-long issue. Language problems that go untreated in the early years of school can continue into high school and adulthood. As a child who suffered with an Auditory Processing Disorder (APD), early intervention was very important for me to progress in school. I continue to this day, to utilize and build on compensatory techniques taught by my grade school Speech Pathologist. Henceforth, I have been able to succeed in school, social settings and now in college.
Learning disabilities occur in more than 2.9 million children across the United States. Out of students
The Equality Act 2010 requires equal treatment regardless of disability to employment as well as private and public service. Therefore employers and service providers must make reasonable adjustments to their workplaces in order to make it suitable and easily accessible for those with disabilities. Learning disability may at times be referred to as learning disorder or learning difficulty. This is when a person's brain is affected by factors that make it difficult for them to receive or process information in the typical manner. This prevents the individual from learning as quickly as someone without the disorder. Those with learning disabilities tend to find it difficult completing tasks when left to their own accord. A person's intellectual impairment can be categorised using their IQ. With an IQ between 50-70 is considered a mild disability, 35-50 is moderate, 20-35 is severe while below 20 is Learning disability occurs when a person's brain development is affected. According to http://www.nhs.uk there are particular situations that affect the development of a person's brain, these includes; 'the mother becoming ill in pregnancy problems during the birth that stop enough oxygen getting to the brain the unborn baby developing certain genes the parents passing certain genes to the unborn baby that make
Learning disabilities are becoming more and more common as the years go on. According to the life span development book “of all the children in the United States, thirteen percent from three to twenty-one years of age in the United States received special education or related servers in 2011-2012.” That is three percent higher than the amount of people with learning disabilities from 1980-1981. Studies have been and continue to be conducted to determine why learning disabilities are becoming more prevalent in American in recent years.
Living with disabilities on a daily basis can be more difficult then some realize. Many people who are born with developmental disabilities start their education and therapy at a very young age and there are also those people who have been diagnosed with a disability sometime during their lifetime. But what is there for them to do once they have graduated from high school or are told they are too old to continue in a regular school or they are simply told they aren’t accepted in the “normal” community? In all reality there really
Growing, developing and learning are the facts of life for all children. Each day children are faced with many new concepts and various challenges. Can you imagine how it feels for a child to face not only new challenges life has, but to face these challenges while living with a learning disability? These challenges are met not just when they begin school either. Students suffer from learning disabilities from the moment they begin learning, not when they start school. Learning disabilities are real and they affect millions of people. “One such disability that affects over approximately 15 percent of the total American population is dyslexia” ( Nosek 5).
ICF stands for International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. It views disability in terms of body functions and structures, activities, participation and important contextual factors, as stated in the ICF PowerPoint presentation (Francaviglia). At the top of the diagram, shown in the ICF PowerPoint presentation, the health condition is described as any disability, disorder, injury, or trauma, but also includes important conditions such as pregnancy or aging (Francaviglia). Moving to the next level of the diagram, the body structures may include the specific limb or organ deficiency, functioning defect, or impairment from the health condition. These body structures effect “the execution of a task or action by individual”
Do you know anyone who suffers from a learning disability? There are several disabilities out there, so chances are you must know someone who battles with the day-to-day hassles. But, are learning disabilities really a hassle? More often than not, this can be considered a misconception. Learning disabilities (LD) affect the way a person “of at least average intelligence receives, stores, and processes information” (NCLD 2001). This neurological disorder prevents children especially from being able to perform well academically. Therefore more time and special programs are fostered to them. Once one is educated about what the disability means, the causes of LD, what programs are available to
The key to any successful school district is the administration. Teachers essentially provide structure, organization, and the background of a child’s future. To educate students with learning disabilities, it is essential that the staff has the training and resources needed for the appropriate people, place, and time (Lazarus) (What is Inclusion, 2001, n.p). It is unrealistic to expect that regular education teachers will always be aware of the latest research or be able to readily adapt the school's