Learning

Disabilities

Approximately 2.6 million students

between the ages of six and twenty-one
have learning disabilities.
(Friend, 2011, p. 129)

Federal Definition of Learning Disabilities:

Specific learning disability
means a disorder in one or
more of the basic
psychological processes
involved in understanding or
in using language, spoken or
written, that may manifest
itself in imperfect ability to
listen, think, speak, read,
write, spell, or do
mathematical calculation,
including conditions such as
perceptual disabilities, brain
injury, minimal brain

Subgroups of
Learning
Disabilities:

dysfunction, dyslexia, and

developmental aphasia.
Specific learning disability
does not include a learning
problem that arises primarily
as the result of visual, hearing,
or motor disabilities, of mental
retardation, of emotional
disturbance, or of
environmental, cultural, or
economic disadvantage.

Inside This Newsletter:

Cognitive Characteristics
Academic Characteristics
Oral Language
Recommended Teaching Strategies

Written Language
Social & Emotional Characteristics

Behavioral Characteristics
Additional Resources

(Friend, 2011, p. 127)

Works Cited

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Dyslexia (significant reading problems)

Dyscalculia (difficulty in mathematics)
Dysgraphia (disorder related to written language)
Image: Apple Pages Template

Researchers have found that

the ratio of boys to girls
having learning disabilities is
at least 2:1, if not more.

Although students
with learning
disabilities
typically have
average or aboveaverage
intelligence, they
usually display
weaknesses in one
or more areas of

Cognitive Characteristics
Students with learning
disabilities may have poor
selective attention (Friend,
2011, p. 133). These students
may have extraordinary
difficulty paying attention to
only the important stimuli in
their present environments.
Students with learning
disabilities may have
perceptual problems. Examples
of this would be a student
skipping over words while
reading but still being able to
see them, and the ability to
distinguish right from left.
Memory can also be
related to learning disabilities.
Students may have trouble with
either short-term memory, longterm memory, or both.
Students with learning
disabilities may have difficulty
with metacognition, or thinking

about thinking. The ability to

consider how new information
theyre learning relates to
previous information learned
or how to apply that
knowledge is also a struggle.

cognition,
including attention,
perception,
memory, and
thinking/

Academic Characteristics
Reading: Most students with
learning disabilities experience
significant problems in reading
(Friend, 2011, p. 134). Many
students struggle with
phonological awareness,
which is the ability to make the
connection between letters and
the sounds they stand for, and
is essential for developing
reading proficiency. Other
students may struggle with oral
fluency, which is reading aloud
in a word-by-word manner
without appropriate inflection
or rhythm. Another typical
reading problem for students

processing.
(Friend, 2011, p. 133)

By far the most

commonly noted
characteristic of
students with learning
disabilities is their
struggle with school
learning.
(Friend, 2011, p. 134)
Image: Apple Pages Template

Recommended
Teaching
Strategies
with learning disabilities is
comprehension, having no
understanding of words read.

Oral Language: Oral
language problems usually fall
into the areas phonology,
morphology, syntax,
semantics, and pragmatics.
Phonology - using the
correct sounds to form words
Morphology - the study of
the smallest meaningful units
of language
Syntax - the rules of
grammar
Semantics - the meanings of
words or phrases
Pragmatics - the ability to
successfully participate in
interactions with others

Inclusive Practices

Transition/Adulthood

Inclusion is about how the

adults and students in any
particular school think about
teaching and learning for all
the students who go there.
Being inclusive does not
mean that students never
leave the general education
setting. Instead, it means
that consideration is given
on how a students needs
can be met within the
classroom context before
resorting to instruction in a
separate setting.

Transition planning begins at

age sixteen and is updated
annually with measurable
goals. Students and parents
should be actively involved
in transition planning. Selfadvocacy usually relates to
the transition from high
school to college, starting
with students being able to
identify themselves as having
a disability. In addition,
students need to research
and access the supports
available to them.

Written Language: For some

students, the motor
coordination for handwriting
can be overwhelming, for
others, it may be a spelling
deficiency. These students may
be unable to distinguish
between homonyms (ex: theretheir) or they may not be able
to recognize when theyve
misspelled a word. Students
also may have difficulty
knowing when and how to
punctuate and be uncertain
about capitalizing words.
In an era when spelling, punctuation, and many other
conventions of written language can be corrected with computer
software and other electronic tools, perhaps the most serious issue
for students with learning disabilities in written expression is
composition skill.
(Friend, 2011, p. 135)
Image: Apple Pages Template

Additional Resources
http://www.ldanatl.org/
The Learning Disabilities Association
has many resources available for parents
and teachers. The basics of learning
disabilities are provided in detail and
there are many suggestions on how to
assist children with learning disabilities.
This website also provides parents with
resources on how to get special education
services for their child.

Mathematics: When students

with learning disabilities
experience difficulty in
mathematics it is a disorder
sometimes referred to as
dyscalculia. Some students are
not able to learn basic math
facts or fundamentals, while
others cannot grasp the
principles of estimation,
mental calculation, and
probability. Most students are
not able to sort relevant
information, recognize the
correct computational
procedure, or determine
whether the answer they
obtain is reasonable.

Social & Emotional

Characteristics
Social Perception and Social
Competence: Many students
with learning disabilities may
have some type of deficit in
the area of social skills. When
compared to peers without
disabilities, these students tend
to have lower self-esteem.
They are often less accepted
and are more likely than

The Dont Give Up Kid

By: Jeanne Gehret
This book is about a child with
learning disabilities that children
with learning disabilities can
relate to. The book presents
struggles positively and tells
children to keep trying. It also
comes with discussions and
resources for parents.

typical peers to be rejected by

classmates. Studies also
suggest that students with
learning disabilities have
lower social status than other
students, which may be
related to their social
competence, the ability to
accurately receive, interpret,
and respond to the subtleties
of interpersonal interactions.
Students with nonverbal
learning disabilities read and
speak fluently but are unable
to interpret nonverbal
communication.

Motivation: Motivation
is the desire to engage in an
activity. Many children with
learning disabilities are not
motivated to learn which could
be due to their locus of
control, which is their belief on
whether their life experiences
are determined by internal or
external factors.

Behavioral
Characteristics
The behavioral
characteristics of students with

http://www.ldonline.org/kids
LD Online is a website for
children with learning disabilities.
Teachers can use this website in
the classroom or tell parents
about it for students to go on it at
home. This website lets students
share art and stories with other
children with learning disabilities.

learning disabilities usually

correlate with ADHD, raising
the possibility that the
behavior problems of some
students with learning
disabilities are symptoms of a
second disorder.

Works Cited
Marilyn Friend,
(2011). Special
Education. 3rd ed.
New Jersey: Pearson
Education, Inc..
The Don't Give Up Kid:
and Learning
Disabilities, (2009).
Jeanne Gehret. 4th ed.
New York: Verbal
Images Press.
(2012). . [ONLINE]
Available at: http://
www.ldanatl.org/.
[Last Accessed 25
September 2012].
(2010). . [ONLINE]
Available at: http://
www.ldonline.org/.
[Last Accessed 25
September 2012].