Many children with LD have struggle with reading.

The difficulties  Other related categories

often begin with individual sounds, or phonemes. Students may Many aspects of speaking, listening, reading, writing, and arithmetic
have problems with rhyming, and pulling words apart into overlap and build on the same brain capabilities. It is not surprising
their individual sounds (segmenting) and putting individual sounds that people can be diagnosed with more than one learning disability.
together to form words (blending). This makes it difficult to decode For example, the ability to understand language underlies learning
words accurately, which can lead to trouble with fluency and to speak. Therefore, any disorder that hinders the ability to
comprehension. As students move through the grades, more and understand language will also interfere with the development of
more of the information they need to learn is presented in written speech, which in turn hinders learning to read and write.
(through textbooks) or oral (through lecture) form. This exacerbates There are many disabilities that are related to learning disabilities
the difficulties they have succeeding in school. such as ADHD and autism.

Types of Learning Disabilities Identification of LD

LD is a broad term. There are many different kinds of learning Traditionally, evaluators used the results from the assessments to
disabilities. Most often they fall into three broad categories: determine if there was a discrepancy between the child’s ability and
achievement. In practice, this often meant waiting for the child to fail
Reading disabilities (often referred to as dyslexia) before a child was eligible for special education services. Today a
Dyslexia is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent greater effort is being made to respond to a child's special learning
word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. A needs before he or she falls too far behind. This effort is called
person with dyslexia can have problems in any of the tasks involved Response to Intervention.
in reading. However, scientists found that a significant number of
people with dyslexia share an inability to distinguish or separate the
sounds in spoken words.  Response to Intervention (RTI)
Response to Intervention uses a tiered approach to assist students
 Written language disabilities (often referred to as dysgraphia) struggling in school.
Writing involves several brain areas and functions. The brain In Tier 1, scientific, research-based instruction is provided to all
networks for vocabulary, grammar, hand movement, and memory students.
must all be in good working order. A developmental writing disorder In Tier 2, a student whose performance is below that of his peers
may result from problems in any of these areas. For example, a receives more intensive instruction from a trained specialist in a
child with a writing disability, particularly an expressive language small-group setting, usually while the child stays in class. In addition,
disorder, might be unable to compose complete and grammatically the student participates in a carefully designed intervention.
correct sentences. In Tier 3, students who continue to have difficulty, despite the Tier 2
intervention, undergo a comprehensive evaluation. The results of
 Math disabilities (often called dyscalculia) the evaluation help determine whether the student is eligible to
Arithmetic involves recognizing numbers and symbols, memorizing receive special education services. Each tier includes careful and
facts, aligning numbers, and understanding abstract concepts like consistent progress monitoring.
place value and fractions. Any of these may be difficult for children
with developmental arithmetic disorders, also called dyscalculia.
Problems with number or basic concepts are likely to show up early.
Disabilities that appear in the later grades are more often tied to
problems in reasoning.
Teaching Strategies for Students with LD Addressing the Needs of Students with LD
Students with learning disabilities benefit from instruction that is There are many ways to look at the consequences of a learning
explicit and well sequenced. disability, but the best way for educators to support learning needs is
Effective teachers help students with LD learn how to use strategies to look for ways to help students succeed.
for managing their assignments. For example, a teacher might teach
students to use a graphic organizer that outlines the important  Supporting Student Learning through Collaboration
information from a text. A different type of organizer might be used No single individual can gather all of the information necessary to
to help students remember to bring home the right supplies for a identify, understand, and plan for a student with a learning disability.
homework assignment. Planning for a student with specific learning needs is a collaborative
Teachers often need to provide accommodations to help children effort that involves a core team: parent(s), educators, and student.
learn in class. These are changes in how tasks are presented or If learning difficulties persist, the team may be expanded to include
responses are received that allow the child to do the same other members of the school staff as well as clinicians and/or
work as their fellow students. Students might receive the assignment consultants.
in larger print or be allowed to take a spelling test by reciting the
words instead of writing them. They might be given more time to  Universal Design
complete an assignment. Universal design is the process of creating systems, environments,
materials, and devices that are directly and repeatedly usable by
The following are recommended teaching strategies for students people with the widest range of abilities operating within the largest
with LD: variety of situations. Planning from a universal design perspective
 Provide high structure and clear expectations begins with getting to know students in the classroom through the
 Allow flexibility in classroom procedures development of a class profile. A class profile is based on
 Learning materials should easily accessible, well organized and information gathered about students’ learning styles, multiple
stored in the same place intelligences, interests, strengths, and needs. The class profile can
each day help educators strive to eliminate learning barriers and build
 All assignments should be presented on the blackboard as well as flexibility into course plans so that classroom instruction is usable by
orally presented all Students.
 Make sure that the child's desk is free from all unnecessary
materials  Differentiated Instruction
 Correct the student's work as soon as possible to allow for Differentiated instruction is a method of instruction and assessment
immediate gratification and that alters the presentation of the curriculum for the purpose of
feedback responding to learner diversity, as well as interests and strengths of
 Try to separate the student with LD from other students who may students.
be distracting him/her
 Use multi-sensory teaching methods whenever possible  Adaptations
 Respond to the child’s comments praising whenever possible An adaptation is a change in the teaching process, materials,
 Give constant feedback assignments, or student products to assist a pupil in achieving the
expected learning outcomes.
 Compensation versus Skill Development
One of the challenges in supporting students with a diagnosed
learning disability is finding the right balance between providing
direct instruction to improve areas of weakness and providing
adaptations to compensate for the identified learning difficulties. It is
important that members of the school support team recognize the
difference between these two kinds of support.

 Assistive Technology
Assistive Technology (AT) is a term that refers to any piece of
equipment or software that can be used to increase a student’s
efficiency with learning, to maintain function or to improve capability.
AT is one of many possible adaptations that can be used to support
student learning.

Accommodations remove learning barriers in the classroom to

provide every child with equal access to learning. An example is
offering an audio version of classroom text for a student with
dyslexia or visual supports for children with autism.

Modifications are changes to what a child is taught and expected to

do in class. For example, a student who struggles with spelling may
be tested on a different set of words than his peers.