LEARNING DISABILIT Y KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN
INTRODUCTION Learning disability is the most recent classification to be included in the category of disability. since the term was introduced ,its use has become widespread in education. But many educators still remain unsure about the category .currently the learning disability field includes concept such as perceptual motor problem , hyperactivity ,minimal brain damage & psychoneurological disorders that have their roots in origin of this field.
KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN
History of learning disability SAMUEL KIRK was the first to propose the term learning disability in the year 1963.he introduced the term at a meeting of parents advocating special educational services, who were not considered disabled by mental retardation or emotional disturbances. In earlier decades ,these children’s difficulty had been variously categorized as exogenous mental retardation ,minimal brain dysfunction , perceptual impairment, hyperactivity & slow learning. The difficulties designated by these & other terms were eventually amalgamated into the concept of learning disabilities. KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN
DEFINITIONS • KIRK’S DEFINITION[1962] A Learning disability refers to a retardation, disorder,or delayed development in one or more process of speech ,language,reading,writing,arithmetic or other school subject resulting from a psychological handicap caused by a possible cerebral dysfunction &/or emotional or behavioral disturbances.it is not the result of mental retardation,sensory deprivation or cultural & instructional factors.
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DEFINITIONS… “A Disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using the language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, Dyslexia, and Developmental Aphasia the term does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of Mental Retardation, of Emotional Disturbance, or of Environmental, Cultural, or Economic Disadvantage”
(US Office of Education, as an Individuals with Disabilities Education Act,IDEA ) KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN
DEFINITIONS BATEMANS DEFINITION[1965]. Children who have learning disorders are those who manifest an educationally significant discrepancy between their estimated intellectual potential and actual level of performance related to basic disorders in learning process ,which may or may not be accompanied by demonstrable central nervous system dysfunction , & which are not secondary to generalized mental retardation , educational or cultural deprivation ,severe emotional disturbance or sensory loss. KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN
Definition NATIONAL JOINT COMMITTEE (revised definition)[1988] learning disability is a general term that refers to a heterogeneous group of disorders manifested by significant difficulties in acquisition and use of listening, speaking, reading, writing, reasoning, or mathematical abilities. These disorders are intrinsic to the individual, presumed to be due to central nervous system dysfunction, & may also occur across the life span. Problems in self regulatory behaviors, social perception, and social interaction may exist with learning disabilities but do not by themselves constitute a learning disability, although learning disabilities may occur concomitantly with other handicapping conditions such [e.g., sensory impairment, MR, serious emotional disturbances] or with extrinsic influences [e.g., cultural differences, insufficient/inappropriate instruction], they are not the result of those condition or influences. KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN
Causes Etiology of LD is unknown Central Auditory Processing Disorder Minimal Brain Dysfunction (MBD) Developmental Apraxia of speech Mixed dominance of cerebral hemisphere KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN Environmental factors
Prevalence Prevalence is 4.09% among the age range of 6-21 years(According to the federal government of US, 1976) Increasing prevalence There is a rapid growth in number of Learning disabled children: ď ś Misdiagnosis ď ś Lack of knowledge about LD (Hallahan) Sex Ratio: KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN 3/4:1, Male : Female.
Characteristics Hyperactivity: Inappropriate excessive motor activity such as tapping the foot, jumping out of seat, skipping from task to task. Attention deficits: Distracted by irrelevant stimuli or perseveration, or behavior is repeated over and over Motor Deficits: General co-ordination problem resulting in awkward or clumsy movements KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN
Characteristics… Perceptual motor deficits: Difficulty in integrating visual or auditory stimuli with a motor response Language deficits: Delay in speech and difficulty in understanding and comprehending spoken language. Impulsivity: lack of reflective behavior Cognitive defects: deficits in memory and concept formation KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN
Characteristics… Orientation Deficits:Have poorly developed spatial and temporal concepts Specific learning deficits: Problem in acquiring, reading, writing and arithmetic skills. Learning disabled children have IQ’s in the low to mid 90’s or slightly below the average 0f 100. Learning Disabled students tend to have lower self concept than normal students. KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN
Speech & Language Characteristics Spoken Language:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Both Expressive and Receptive Language skills are affected in learning disabled population but some studies have shown that they have greater difficulty using spoken language to express themselves than they do understanding the spoken language of others. (Hessler & Kitchen 1980; Noel, 1980) Some of the specific areas that may cause difficulty are Phonology Syntax Morphology Semantics Pragmatics KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN
1.Phonology Problems with phonological production of speech are referred to as articulation problems. Auditory Discrimination Phonemic Segmentation. E.g, Rhyming Sound Blending. E.g, Mmmiiiiiisssst can be blended into “mist” Statement Repetition KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN
2.Syntax Problem seen: Selecting Appropriate picture to a referred sentence Difficulty in understanding a pronoun Grammatically incorrect sentences KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN
3.Morphology Problem seen: Difficulty in using Morphological rules Forming Plurals Creating Adjective form of word
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4.Semantics Problems Seen: • Impoverished vocabularies • Labeling pictures • Difficulty in completing orally presented sentence that has a common word missing • Difficulties in understanding sentences in which ambiguous word is used • Errors in defining common words KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN
5.Pragmatics Problems seen : In using more complicated and longer communication pattern Inability to provide descriptive information about an object
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Reading Problems Dyslexia: The term dyslexia is used to refer to� an impairment in the ability to read�. It also suggests severe reading disability, perhaps because of students with quite serious deficits are more likely to be taken to clinics than the students with less severe problems.
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Reading Problems Reading is often broken into 2 major stages: 1.Decoding: Refers to the aspects of reading that happens as the reader converts the printed letters and words on the page into more familiar spoken or heard language 2. Comprehending: Involves grasping like significance meaning of the words, once decoding has accomplished.
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Reading Problems The deficits seen are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Reversals Phonology Syntax Semantics Gist Comprehension
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1.Reversals
Students sometimes read or write a letter,letters or word “BACKWARD”.a student may look at a written word WAS as SAW or may write dog as bog.similar mistakes can be made with numerals,writing 3as E or 6 as 9.
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2.Phonology
Fluent decoding requires phonological competence,without it reading problems abound. many difficulties with reading comprehension can be attributed to poor decoding skills.
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3.Syntax [It is grammatical structure of a language] • Students who have decoding problem have difficulty with certain aspects of syntax , particularly morphology. • Problems with understanding the syntax of written sentences probably involved in students problem with reading comprehension.
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4.Semantics [refers to meaning of a language] • reading comprehension is greatly influenced by decoding skills.many children with comprehension deficits have inferior performance on task requiring simple reading of words. • Slower in reading unfamiliar words. • Hampered in reasoning out by their inaccurate decoding & impoverished vocabularies[kavale 1980]. • Deficits in vocabulary & general word knowledge. KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN
5.Gist Comprehension – Understanding the theme of narrativeis that their background knowledge intrudes too much into their interpretation of what they read.
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WRITING PROBLEMS Writing problems consist of; 1. handwriting problems. 2. Spelling problems. 3. Composition problems.
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1.HAND-WRITING It is the development of a stylish & uniform ‘hand’.it is a tool skill which has to become routine as rapidly & efficiently as possible[herricle 61] Problems with handwriting are known as ‘DYSGRAPHIA’ which refers to partial ability\inability to remember how to make certain alphabet or arithmetic symbols in handwriting. [jordon 1977] KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN
• HANDWRITING PROBLEMS IN LD’s INCLUDE; 1. Misformation of letters[o for a]. 2. Poor spacing both vertically & horizontally[o j for g]. 3. Extremely slow writing. 4. Reversals [b for d(vice versa),mirror writing.
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2.SPELLING • The formal name for the system of representing spoken language in written form is ‘ORTHOGRAPHY’. In greek, ortho-correct , graphy-writing. This requires a person to produce in a written or oral form the correct sequence of letters that form a particular word .To do this ,a person must convert phonemes into graphemes
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Spelling probs seen in LD’s • LD’s have poor spellings & particularly show difficulty with morphological structures.
Problems in spelling cause; • • • •
Hampered handwriting. Delay of motor activity involved in writing the word. Composition difficulties. Reading problems.
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3.COMPOSITION. • Composition is orderly prose that is consistent with grammatical conventions.
STUDENTS WITH LD; • Score lower in vocabulary & thematic maturity as well as in word usage,style & overall writing skill. • Use less sentence structure & include fewer type of words
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• Write paragraphs that are less well organized. • Include fewer ideas in writing products . • Write stories which have fewer important components,such as introducing main characters, setting scenes,describing a conflict to be resolved & so forth.
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ARITHMETIC & MATHEMATICS PROBS. • ‘DYSCALCULIA’ is the most widely used term for disabilities in arithmetic & mathe matics.dyscalculia means inability to calculate.
LD’s have problem in arithmetic calculation that is; • Problem in naming the number of things. • Problem in reading mathematical symbols.
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• Problem in the concept of borrowing or carrying over system in subtraction. • Problems in understanding mathematical concepts & relationships • Problems in performing arithmetic operations.
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COGNITIVE PROBLEMS. •
Cognition is the ability to think,is primarily unobservable.
COGNITIVE PROBS FACED BY LD’S; 1. Field independence vs field dependence. children with Ld are field dependent. 2. Reflectivity vs impulsivity children with LD are more impulsive
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MEMORY. • Short term memory ability to remember information over a relatively short period of time.
• Long term memory the ability for retention for several hours,days or so longer
• Working memory it is ability to keep a small amount of information in mind while carrying out further operation. • LD’s have prob in short term memory - in retention of auditory &visual info.
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METACOGNITIVE PROBS • • • • • • •
Metamemory probs. Meta listening probs. Meta comprehension probs in reading. Motivational probs. Negative attribution about self. Learned helplessness. Inactive learners.
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ATTENTION PROBS. PROBLEMS SEEN IN; • Selective attention -ability to focus on relevant features of a task, without being distracted by its irrelevant aspects. • Decision making ability to choose the first relevant alternative for decision making. • Maintaining attention sticking to one task, once they begin KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN
with it ,till it ends.
EMOTIONAL & BEHAVIOURAL PROBS. PROBS SEEN ARE; • Inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual,sensory or health factors. • Inability to build or maintain inter-person relationships with peers & teachers • In appropriate type of behavior or feelings under normal condition e.g., tempertantrums,hyperactivity KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN
•
A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression. • Tendency to develop physical symptoms , pains or fears associated with personal or school problems.
The problems fall under 2 category; 1. Externalizing behavior; uncontrollable,
conduct disorder consisting of anger, agression, disruption. 2. Internalizing behavior; overcontrolled withdrawal consisting of anxiety & feelings of inadequacy & depression. KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN
Thank You KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN
TREATMENT FOR LEARNING DISABILITY
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Introduction:
Treatment of LD is an elaborative process which has to be dealt keeping in mind the various aspects of impairment. It comprises various professionals and also deals with different areas of deficits. THE DIFFERENT PROFESSIONALS ARE: Classroom teacher School psychologist Resource teacher SLP Social worker
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The different areas of deficits are: •Spoken language •Reading •Writing •Spelling •Composition •Arithmetical and mathematical skills •Cognitive , meta cognitive and attention deficits and social and emotional problems KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN
Importance of early intervention Children with language impairment identified before school age may receive intervention before they enter the school, and intervention may continue during school years. In contrast children identified as LD may not have been identified until school years, when the intervention may begin. In these cases it is possible that a large focus of intervention for these children will be on academic manifestation of the learning disabilities rather than on their language difficulties. So intervention should begin as early as possible so as to lessen the types of LD’s KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN
As children move from grade to grade, the structure of their formal education changes; the amount of play time decreases, and number of subjects and teachers increases. So, children with learning disabilities will require special attention as they make major grade transitions, such as from elementary to junior high school. The class room teachers will need assistance from the professionals in observing and identifying children who reveal new learning problems. KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN
Intervention :
For problems in spoken language: Consists of two approaches: •Behavioral approach •Nativist approach Behavioral approach [ Skinner, 1957] •Language skills are taught by environment •Modeling and reinforcement influences the performance •Differential reinforcement is used so as to stabilize certain target response. KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN
Specific language deficits are identified and activities are designed to get the students use those skills E.g. : If the student does not know the plural form of man, i.e; if the student says man’s instead of men, the teacher can model and say: “Listen to me and say it ‘men’”, provide the student to repeat it correctly and reinforce the usage and further provide opportunity to generalize .
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Nativist approach : • Stresses on the environment and its influences on the behavior o the speaker. • Emphasizes on the importance of the innate abilities and interpretation of the listener •De-emphasizes the importance of direct teaching. •Main means used to encourage the acquisition of language is Expansion.
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SPECIFIC TECHNIQUES: • Psycholinguistic Intervention: Focuses on the pupil’s strengths and weaknesses. Specific language abilities are processed and isolated and each skills are trained using educational technique. • Cognitive psycholinguistic Intervention: Are very similar to the process of expansion. Here the teacher presents the stories and ask questions in order to get the students to answer in sentences. Based on the answer got teacher employs one of the several technique and teach the child to use more grammatically acceptable sentence. KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN
For problems in reading: This addresses thraee major topics: •Contemporary issues in reading problems •Teaching beginning reading •Correcting reading problems Contemporary issues in reading problems : Different approaches are: •Teaching phonological awareness •Learning styles KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN
Teaching beginning reading: Different approaches are: •Whole word approach •Linguistic approach, [decoding necessary ,not only meaning sufficient] E.g. Nat the fat cat sat on a mat. •Language experience approach[LEA] Learning to read is a natural part of the language development. •Code emphasis approach KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN
Correcting reading problems Different approaches are: •Fernald approach [FERNALD 1943] A visual Auditory Kinesthetic Tactile approach •Orton-Gillingham approach [GILLINGHAM, STILMAN ’65] Orton [neurologist] said the information is stored in both the hemispheres and they mirror each other, so when the dominance is not achieved confusion occurs, and reversals are present.They are taught to study the relations between letter and the sounds.
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窶｢Hegge-Kirk 窶適irk approach Designed to help the students remember phoneme- grapheme relationship by providing extensive practice and by simplifying relationship between letters and their sounds. 窶｢Reading recovery program [CLAY 1985]
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For problems in writing: Intervention
Task Writing letters
Stimuli Blank lined paper
Copying letters
Alphabet letters randomly presented
Copy these letters
Copying letters in sequence, near point
Words and sentence with space to copy below each other
Copy these words in space below
Far point copy
Ten words in sentence Copy these words onto written on board and your paper three yards away from the student GEJO JOHN KUNNAMPALLIL
Write the alphabet
For problems in spelling: • It involves a memorization approach
• presenting words in sentences or paragraphs •Ignoring the errors. • presenting extensive lists of words to be learned each week. • having individual’s devise their own methods of studying. • Using the phoneme grapheme correspondences. •Presenting the word lists. •Practice writing words in the air. • Practicing lists of only three words per day • Practice writing words on paper, teaching letter titles, or typing words on a computer •Rewarding achievement •Using spelling games KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN
For problems in composition The primary steps include: •Have students plan what they will write •Translate their plans into written product •Edit I.e; having to read the data and identify the errors The specific techniques are: •Sentence combining •Reinforcement •Story grammar •Cognitive behavioral technique KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN
FOR PROBLEMS IN ARITHEMATIC AND MATHEMATICAL SKLLS.: The different techniques recommended for teaching arithmetic and mathematics includes: • Modeling • Reinforcing the responses • Strategy training •Self instruction training. KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN
FOR PROBLEMS IN COGNITIVE AND METACOGNITIVE AND ATTENTION PROBLEMS: Cognitive problems : Auditory information: • Auditory short term memory task. Visual information: • Visual short term memory task Memory strategies: • Rehearsals • Organizations
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Meta cognitive problems: • Mnemonic key word methods • Meta comprehension training. • Self monitoring of academics. Attention problems: Treatment intervention for attention problems can be categorized into four general readings • Stimulus reduction and structure •Behavior modifications • Cognitive training
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FOR PROBLEMS IN SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS: • Teaching appropriate behavior • Positive reinforcement. • Parental counseling.
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