Sld pd

Specific Learning

DisabilitiesCharacteristics, Strategies, and Accommodations

Valerie Chow

April 22, 2014

Objective

To bring awareness of specific learning

disabilities, how they impact the

acquisition of academic skills, and to

provide strategies and accommodations

that can be used in the classroom to

support student learning

Psychological Processing

Areas•Attention

•Visual Processing

•Auditory Processing

•Sensory Motor Skills

•Cognitive abilities including

association,

conceptualization, and

expression

SLD

Certification

Present

Levels of

Performanc

e

AttentionEstablishing and maintaining attention to

tasks, short-term memory, self-monitoring,

and the shifting of mental operations.

Students with a psychological processing disorder

in attention may demonstrate difficulties

in one or more of the following areas:

• Making careless

mistakes

• Organizing tasks

• Completing tasks or

homework due to poor

recall and/or follow

through

• Easily distracted by

irrelevant stimuli

• Demonstrates main

ideas but misses details

or may attend to minor

information with

difficulty in seeing

entire picture

• Rushes through work

and/or gives up quickly

• Uses skills

inconsistently

• Frequently shifts tasks

Attention

Strategies and Accommodations• Physically active students

should be allowed to stand by

their desk (or in the back of the

classroom, as long as they are

not disrupting others)

• Use low-level music or

environmental sounds during

independent work time (whole

class or with headphones)

• Student should not be seated

near the door, as he/she may

constantly be distracted by

who comes and goes

• Use visual aids

• Break long presentations into

"chunks"/small steps

• Give frequent checks for

understanding

• Use highlighters/underlining

• Check student understanding

of directions by having the

student restate

• Turn paper so lines go

vertically and can line up

problems in math

• If there are many items on a

page, fold the paper so only a

small amount shows at a time

• Provide “stretch time” and

allow for time out of seat

• Use cueing techniques to keep

the student on task

Visual ProcessingThe ability to make sense of information taken

in through the eyes and affects how the

information is interpreted or processed by the

brain. It is the ability to recognize, track,

remember, and interpret visual information.


in visual processing may demonstrate difficulties


• Noting differences and

similarities among

geometric forms, letters and

words

• Confusion of letters with

similar configurations (h-n,

i-j,v-w) or similar words (lap,

lip)

• Confused if too much

information is presented in

a small space

• Keeping place while reading

and copying materials

• Remembering the order in

which information was

• Displaying more difficulty in

spelling and writing than in

reading

• Not remembering the order

of letters in words (e.g.,

"the" may be spelled "het"

or "teh")

• Reversing letters or

symbols

• Locating/copying

information from the board

• Limited word attack skills;

trouble blending letters in

words visually

• Task completion

Visual Processing

Strategies and Accommodations

• Use cue card for

multistep-step processes

• Use color coding,

highlighting, and/or

underlining to differentiate

important parts of a

presentation

• Provide books on tape

• Teach color coding,

highlighting, and or

underlining

• Allow 3 x 5 card (i.e.

index card) to assist in

tracking when reading

• Fold paper to provide

boxes for work

• Provide calendars and

checklists

Auditory Processing

The ability to analyze or make sense of

information taken in through the ears. It is the

perception and use of auditory information

including auditory discrimination, memory,

sequencing, and integration.


in auditory processing may demonstrate

difficulties

in one or more of the following areas:• Learning sound symbol

relationships

• Following complex verbal

directions

• Attending to lectures/verbal

presentations

• Hearing the letter sound in the

beginning, middle, or end of a

word

• Recognizing rhyming words

• Spelling

• Reading comprehension due

to decoding and low fluency

• Recalling numbers

• Recalling information in a

systematic, sequential order

• Hearing a series of sounds

and blending them

• Retelling stories - describing

events

• Remembering what teacher

says

• Seems to be “lost” about what

is being discussed or

presented, may seem to

daydream or become restless

when listening is required

• Easily distracted by

background noise

Auditory Processing


• Minimize auditory

distractions

• Ask student to repeat or

summarize directions

• Use flash cards for

vocabulary and spelling

words

• Use a high degree of

visual cues and examples

along with auditory

information

• Keep directions brief

• Highlight important

information using colored

highlighters

• Present only one or two

tasks/directions at one

time

• Use books on tape when

reading

Sensory Motor Skills

Difficulty with perceptual-motor integration, motor

proficiency/speed, and perceptual organization.


in sensory motor skills may demonstrate difficulties


• Performing tasks that

require eye-hand

coordination such as

copying from the board;

catching a ball;

reproducing shapes and

figures; drawing and art

projects; and handwriting

• Pencil control and

handwriting

• Awkward pencil grip

• Switching from far vision

to near vision, such as

losing place when

copying from the board

• Writing is cramped, too

close together, too far

apart, or goes

uphill/downhill

• Resistant to do written

work

• Does not edit or re-check

work

Sensory Motor Skills


• Seating the student near

the board/point of

presentation

• Use of visual aids with

auditory cues

• Shorten large tasks into a

series of smaller tasks

• Allow use of a pencil grip,

large pencils, or large

lined paper for writing

tasks

• May need reading

material held at a slant

Cognitive Abilities: Association

The ability to acquire and store basic units of

information in memory (long-term) and to

relate these units to one another; and/or

register and immediately use information

(short-term).


in association may demonstrate difficulties


Long-term memory

• After exposure and apparently learning the skill or information, unable to remember information or demonstrate skill

• Recalling of facts, details, procedures, skills, methods, and/or events in life

• Recalling information quickly, accurately, or easily

Short-term memory

• Understanding complex directions

• Remembering information long enough to process it for comprehension

• Maintaining attention

• Processing information quickly

Cognitive Abilities:

ConceptualizationThe ability to learn new concepts and use

information reason, generalize, problem solve,

and use multi-step directions.


in conceptualization may demonstrate difficulties


• Keeping two or more

ideas in mind

• Applying previously

learned information to

the solution of new

problems

• Selecting and

verbalizing appropriate

relationships between

two objects or concepts

• Verbalizing what has

been learned

• Creative problem

solving, flexibility in

thinking, math problem

solving, and reading

comprehension

Cognitive Abilities: Expression

The process of ordering thought in a form that can

be understood by others and to effectively

communicate ideas through language.


in expression may demonstrate difficulties


• Word retrieval when

speaking or writing

• Listening

comprehension

• Verbally recalling

information/facts

• Expressing ideas

verbally

Association, Conceptualization, and Expression


• Label areas of room used for

specific items or tasks

• Use a multi-sensory

approach to learning (visual,

auditory, hands-on)

• Use cooperative learning

strategies

• Give ample time for

responses or preparation

• Give written questions to

think about before answering

oral questions

• Offer story starters to

promote creative writing

• Use verbal enrichment

activities including Scrabble,

analogy, and other word

games

• Allow the student to use cue

cards, manipulatives, number

lines, or math fact charts

• Use verbal rehearsal

(Mnemonics) to retrieve

information

Activity

1. Form 4 groups of 3 to 4 people.

2. Get to know your hypothetical student.

3. Determine appropriate strategies and

accommodations that can be used in the

classroom to support your student’s

needs.

4. Share back with the rest of the group.

Sld pd

Education

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