Why Do Children With Language-Based Learning Disabilities?

One of the biggest errors made in schooling today is placing a student who is an English Language Learner into special education because of errors made in interpreting language acquisition as a learning or language disability. There has been no single method that has proven to be fully effective when distinguishing between English language learning students and students with a learning disability. As a result, students can end up in classrooms or programs that are not suited for their needs and can hinder their educational achievement. It is important for teachers and schools to understand the process of acquiring a second language and to be able to recognize whether the student is really receiving an adequate opportunity to learn.

With this definition in mind, we can start to see the hardships and difficulties experienced by the Dyslexic individual in a society so dependent on written language.

Based on evaluation findings from an interdisciplinary team including a Speech-Language Pathologist, a school Psychologist, classroom teachers, and Mary Lou’s parents, Mary Lou has been diagnosed with dyslexia characterized under Language-Based Learning Disability (LLD) as she exhibits difficulty with both spoken and written words (ASHA, 2016). Based on below average score in following directions on the CELF-5, and Mary Lou’s self report of difficulties in comprehending verbal instructions from classroom teachers Mary Lou was diagnosed with a mild receptive language disorder. Mary Lou’s diagnosis of a receptive language disorder is then further impacted by her reduced processing speed as noted in standardized assessment using the WISC.

The support system and people interacting with an individual with a learning or language disability play key roles not only in the individual's ability to learn but also in the outlook on life and self-image. This can be seen in Pat Schmatz novel Blue Fish, through two of the main characters, Mr. McQueen and Velveeta, and their important relationship they have with the protagonist Travis who has Dyslexia. Language and learning disabilities can be seen affecting more than just how a student learns, in the case study “Life on a Tricycle” it can be seen that language disabilities can result in problems in the formulation of speech that are “immature, labored, disfluent” along with “word-finding problems.”(339) In another case study “Language disabilities are Learning Disorders,” the authors discuss some of the behavioral problems children can face such as “playing appropriately and using non-verbal communication to make needs known”(25) These are just some of many problems students face when they are diagnosed with language and learning disabilities. In the case of Travis, he experienced troubles with communication with others, making relationships and being lonely, luckily though with the support of his peers, he was able to overcome these issues.

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.

In the article “Over the Brink of the Millennium”, the author discussed language-based learning disabilities. While I did learn a lot about the disorder, I was familiar with how the disorder causes problems attention, memory, comprehension, literacy, writing, and spelling, to name a few. Persons with language-based learning disabilities often struggle with school, fear reading, and writing. I knew some of the symptoms and signs of someone with a language-based learning disability.

In this article, the authors examine the challenges of working with English Language learners with learning disabilities. The article begins with a dilemma that many educators face daily, being able to meet the needs of all students in a classroom. The article identifies the characteristics of LD students, issues ELL students face learning a second language and the cultural context for teaching and learning. The next part of the article offers a framework that addresses the educational needs of students based on their language, disability and culture. It focuses on how general and special educators along with the ELL teacher can effectively collaborate together to meet the needs of all learners.

In the United States, there has been an increase in in the number of children from Spanish speaking backgrounds. The English Language Learners, commonly known as ELL’s, are being placed in Special Education without being properly tested for a learning disability. However there are a large number of ELL’s with learning disabilities in elementary grades that truly have a learning disability and are over looked. Many school districts have problems placing ELL’s. As a result these students end up in special education whether they have a learning disability or language impairment. Teachers are also indecisive when dealing with ELL’s. Most teachers recommend that ELL’s

English Language Learners face a variety of unique challenges when compared to their non-ELL peers. For example, when assessing new English Language Learners, once such challenge is the lack of effective assessment tools. Many of the available instruments are not culturally relevant to the ELL student’s background, nor created at an appropriate level for their developing English language skills. Another challenge is the lack of availability of qualified education professionals, who are equipped to meet their specific needs linguistically. Language and cultural differences may serve to put ELL students at an academic disadvantage, regardless of whether they possess normal cognitive skills. For the educator and student alike, this matter is further complicated when an ELL is affected by a learning disability. In this essay, I will discuss some special factors and issues that an ELL professional may encounter when assessing an ELL student, and attempting to determine the cause of a language difficulty; whether it occurs because of normal language acquisition issues, or because of an underlying learning disability that calls for special education intervention and support.

Emotionally, a child may constantly cry and fear the person who is committing these acts of violence. Some children may have a difficult time learning inside and outside of a classroom setting because of not getting enough rest at home, not being in a stable home, and worriedness. Most children have difficulties being socially active with others. They may not know how to talk or socialize with other children due to the fact that they might fear that they will say something wrong or do something wrong and be punished for it. Mentally, they may suffer from depression and/or anxiety, and maybe even exhibit the behavior that they have been observing (McGee, 2005).

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).

There are around 7,000 languages found in the 192 countries in the world (Grosjean 2010). The humans’ different way to communicate with each other according to the environment setting is called a language. The U.S is a diverse country and people who live in the U.S speaks many different languages. “Even with its large immigrant population and a long history of immigration, the general public in the united states does not support the use of multiple languages” (Freeman and Freeman 142). When immigrants come to the Unites States with different first language, the teachers provide them instruction in English which they don’t know. When they don’t understand anything in English, they start failing their classes. Their teachers put them into special needs program because they think that they need special and disability services.

There are many different types of learning disabilities; the most common ones are dyslexia and attention deficit disorder. (Jerome Rosner. –third ed. 1)

Discussions of dyslexia require a definition of the term, and this is where we can come into some confusion if we are not careful. In fact, the “problem” itself exists in the defining of the word, and thus the labeling of those to whom the definition applies. However, with some knowledge of the etiology of “dyslexia” we can begin to ply our beliefs off the population of “dyslexics” and start to gain some understanding of their experiences with language learning. This is, after all, the intention of this research. Guardiola (2001) also assisted in redirecting the academic focus in this direction, towards the etiology of the term and how its history has shaped current social work, education, neurobiology, and psychology perspectives.

According to Daniel P. Hallahan (2005), the term Learning Disabilities consists of 13 specific categories such as retardation, disorder, or delayed development in one or more of the process of speech, language, reading, writing, arithmetic, or other school subject resulting from a psychological handicap caused by a possible cerebral dysfunction and or emotional or behavioral disturbances (p.13). Additionally, the term learning disability is an umbrella term conceived by white middle-class parents to differentiate their children from low- achieving, minority students (Sleeter, 2010). In recent years there has been an increase of African Americans, and Hispanics students labeled as learning disabled.