Done by:

Isabella Yonathan

EWRT 97

Fall 2006

A learning disability (LD) is a problem in the way that a person's brain processes information. Simply stated, a learning disability is an information processing problem. LDs are considered "non-apparent disabilities" because a person with a learning disability shows no signs of being disabled. LD is a condition to be understood and managed. The most common learning disabilities include: dyslexia -- a severe difficulty with reading dyscalculia -- a severe difficulty with math dysgraphia -- a severe difficulty with written expression.

• Low reading comprehension. • Poor phonological processing. • Misshapen, cramped, laborious handwriting. • Extreme spelling difficulties. • Poor written composition. • Disorganization. • Difficulties in sequencing and following directions. • Difficulties in recalling names or people, places, and/or events. • Poor performance on standardized and/or classroom tests. • Extreme strengths and Weaknesses

How many children have learning disabilities?

Authorities’ estimates range from 0.5% to 30%. Various studies have put the prevalence around 6-8% percent of the school-age population. Each year, the U.S. Department of Education reports the number and percentage of school-age children receiving special education for learning disabilities in public schools. For the school year 1998-1999, just under 4.5% of 6- to 21-year olds (2.8 million) in US schools had been identified as having learning disabilities.

Students with learning disabilities has a weakness in one or more of the following:

-Understanding what is read

- listening effectively because there is difficulty

-Distinguishing among similar sounds symbols or objects

- expressing thoughts to speaking and writing

-Spelling correctly

- retaining information

Students with sequencing problems may have difficulty with:• the order and arrangement of letters and numbers (spelling and mathematics)• following step-by-step outlining, choosing priorities, organizing notes, and keeping track of important materials.• understanding the structure of a lecture or a reading passage or in seeing the relationship of main ideas to subordinate ideas. Some students with sequencing problems find their own method of organization. Solutions:• Their minds may work better when they are free to think non-sequentially or to follow the flow of their own thoughts. • Some develop original ways of arriving at conclusions. •Others benefit greatly from learning how to structure tasks and how to set up orderly systems of self-management.

Even with normal hearing, students with learning disabilities may :• have difficulty differentiating between familiar sounds (hear "crashed the car" for "washed the car" or "ninety minutes" for "nineteen minutes")• may be acutely sensitive to background noises and unable to screen out traffic, rustling of paper, whispers, etc., when listening to a lecture or conversation or taking an exam• or may be unable to catch the subtleties in different tones of voice (e.g., with anger, sarcasm, questioning). Solutions:• always speak slowly and clearly• confirm with the student whether he/she understood what you said• Ask students to repeat instructions to ensure that there is no misunderstanding

Though students with these problems may have perfect eyesight, they may:

• see letters incorrectly or in reverse order• may fail to see some letters, words, or even whole paragraphs• may confuse letters and symbols that are similar (b and d, g and q)• may omit ends of words• may jumble spaces between words • may misinterpret facial expressions that convey boredom, approval,

skepticism, or the end of a conversation. Solutions:• be very patient• Use a ruler / finger to guide reading to prevent from skipping words or

whole paragraphs• Do not use facial expressions to communicate, voice them out instead

• Ask process-centered questions. (How many pages? When is the paper due?) • Ask students to write down two subject-centered questions about their topic (What do I already know? What do I need to find out?) • Create a time line for each step in the writing process • Ask questions to make sure reading material is understood • Give simplified handouts of documentation style (APA, MLA) and explain it using signs and showing examples.

• Use pre-writing techniques (brainstorming, mapping, outlining, jotting notes)

• Formulate a thesis statement by asking questions that will refine the statement

• Remind students to follow their pre-writing outline or map

• Keep one page for each supporting topic

• Ask students to read/sign paper and make changes they see necessary

• Ask students to sign problem areas

POWER is an acronym for Plan, Organize, Write, Edit, and Revise/rewrite. The POWER plan provides students with LDs specific steps that, when combined with techniques previously outlined, can guide them along the road of composition. The POWER plan allows students to "ascertain for themselves their purpose in writing, and to search their long-term memories for ideas or topics to write about" (Wong 202). The POWER plan breaks down as follows:

Plan Why am I writing this? Who am I writing for? What do I know? (brainstorm)

Organize How can I organize my ideas into categories? How can I organize my categories?

Write (rough draft)

Edit Reread and think .Did I do the following:

Stick to the topic? Support the thesis? Talk about each category clearly? Give details in each category? Use active words?

Revise/rewrite Use a ruler to isolate sentences Read out loud Use a dictionary and a thesaurus Reread and revise as many times as needed

The POWER plan is an excellent checklist for students with LDs to use to build self-help composition skills

Mnemonics provide useful strategies for the task of proofreading. It is valuable for students, especially those with some struggles, to proofread in stages, focusing on one component at a time. Strategies are critical because they encourage the student to stop periodically and check the work in a step-by-step fashion. COPS and C-SOOPS are strategies that encourage focus on primary subskills. STOPS is a slightly more advanced proofing strategy.10 Selection of a particular strategy will depend upon the focus for that given lesson and the age of the students.

STOPS S entence Structure

T enses

O rganization

P unctuation

S pelling

COPS

C apitalization

O rganization

P unctuation

S pelling

C-SOOPS

C apitalization

S entence Structure

O rganization

O verall format

P unctuation

S pelling

Coordinating Conjunctions:

For

And

Nor

But

Or

Yet

So

Coordinating Adverbs:

So

However

In conclusion

Nevertheless

Therefore

Afterward

For example

Subjunctive conjunctions:

Provided that

As long as

When

Because

Although

Though

Students with learning disabilities tend to create simple subject-predicate sentences without variation. These simple sentences lead to monotony in their writing. Therefore, the use of highlighters might be useful to identify sentence patterns or break down parts of a sentence like indicating the subject, verbs, prepositions, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, etc.

Example:

Alicia goes to the library and studies every day.

Alejandro played football, for Maria went shopping.

Juan and Maria went to the movies after they finished studying.

Helping students with reading• Discuss unfamiliar vocabulary before they appear in instructional material.

• Use highlighter to call attention to key words or phrases.

• Read/sign aloud.

• Provide outlines for lessons on new material.

• Have student scan book, chapters, bold print, pictures to come up with an idea of what the authorís will talk about.

• Discuss review questions, teacherís questions. • Have student take notes while reading. • Have open discussion about material on hand. • Probe for information by asking questions. Try to elicit responses that elaborate what the student knows about material. (Avoid "yes/no" questions.) • Use sketches, maps, webs, flow chart.

•Say the word to yourself. • Trace it in the first column, saying the letters as you trace, and say the word again. • Go to the second column, say the word, and write it the same way. • Then, while the rhythm and the sound and the feeling are fresh in your mind, flip the paper over and say the word and spell it out -- the same way, saying each letter.• If it's a hard word, put it on the list more than once. • After you've gone through all the words this way a few times, start doing them two or three at a time, and when you feel like you know them, go through the list again. However, skip the tracing, or, when you're feeling VERY confident, skip both the tracing and the copying.

. Highlighting the hard parts:

Some words, are only hard in some parts. This exercise should help focus on the troublesome part of the word.This is also helpful for learning rules and patterns. If you want to learn to spell IE words -- that "I before E" rule that so many people find so hard to use -- this is a good way to do it.Get different color pens or pencils or markers, and index cards. Write the words boldly on the cards -- and make the difficult part of the word a different color than the rest. Make a mental picture of that card, read the word aloud and spell it aloudWhen you write the whole word, think about how the difficult part looks or sounds.

It is not uncommon to find LD students who are very creative or talented in music, poetry, art, dance, athletics, mechanics, computer programming, or other subjects. Too often, however, their special skills and talents are overshadowed by their struggle with traditional academics. When their special abilities are recognized and encouraged, the satisfaction derived from these skills may ease their frustration with academics and motivate them to capitalize on their strengths instead of focusing on their deficits.

Therefore, give praise when

merited; it builds confidence.

Works Cited• Harris, Muriel. Teaching One-to-One: The Writing Conference. Urbana: NCT, 1986.• Mangrum, Charles and Stephen Strichart. College and the Learning Disabled Student. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: HBJ, 1988.• Murphy, Christina and Steve Sherwood. The St. Martin's Sourcebook for Writing Tutors. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995.• Ryan, Leigh. The Bedford Guide for Writing Tutors. Boston: Bedford Books, 1998. • Vogel, Susan and Pamela Adelman. Success for College Students with Learning Disabilities. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1993.• Wong, Bernice. The ABCs of Learning Disabilities. San Diego: Academic Press, 1996. • Five Guidelines for Learning to Spell and Six Ways to Practice Spelling By: Susan Jones (1999)• Richards,Regina G. LEARN: Playful Strategies for All Students, 2001, page 91.