LEARNERS WITH

LEARNING DISABILITY
Balquin | Cabello | Madulid | Villanueva
SAMUEL
KIRK (1963)
He proposed the term "learning disabilities" in the
early 1960s to address confusing labels for children
with normal intelligence, such as minimally brain
injured, slow learner, dyslexic, or perceptually
disabled, due to the confusion in terms of
classification.

Minimal Brain Injury - refers to individuals who show behavioral

He founded the Association for Children with but not neurological signs of brain injury (e.g., distractibility,
Learning Disabilities, now known as the Learning hyperactivity, and perceptual disturbances)
Slow Learner - described the child’s performance in some areas
Disabilities Association of America (LDA) but not in others; and intelligence testing indicated that the ability
to learn existed
The Learning Disabilities Association of America
Dyslexic - it described only reading disabilities, many of these
remains the major parent organization for children also struggled in other academic subjects, such as
mathematics, rendering the term insufficiently comprehensive.
learning disabilities.
Perceptually Disabled - Defining a child as perceptually impaired
might be misleading, as perceptual issues may not be the
primary reason for their difficulty learning
FEDERAL DEFINITION OF

SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITY

A disorder in one or more of the

basic psychological processes
involved in understanding or in
using language, spoken or
written, which disorder may
manifest itself in an imperfect
ability to listen, think, speak, read,
write, spell, or do mathematical
calculations.
THE NATIONAL JOINT COMMITTEE DEFINITION OF

SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITY

The National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities (NJCLD)
presented a definition that differs from the federal
government’s:

1. No reference to psychological processes,

2. Inclusion of intrinsic nature of learning disabilities
3. Inclusion of adults
4. Inclusion of self-regulation and social interaction
problems
5. Omission of terms difficult to define
6. Purportedly less confusion regarding the exclusion clause
7. Omission of spelling.
HOW DO PROFESSIONALS IDENTIFY
STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES?

Since the late 1970s, the major method of

identifying learning disabilities had been to
look for an IQ–achievement discrepancy.

More recently, professionals have proposed

use of a response-to-intervention (RTI)
approach.
RTI is based on a multi-tiered (typically
three tiers) model of prevention.
A variety of RTI models have been
proposed and implemented.
Many questions still remain regarding
large-scale implementation of RTI.
PREVALENCE
Just under 5% of school-age students are identified as learning
disabled, making learning disabilities the largest category of special
education by far.

The prevalence of learning disabilities has more than doubled since the
late 1970s, but it has begun to decline somewhat since the late 1990s.
Some believe the increase reflects poor diagnostic practices.
Some believe that some of the increase may be due to social and
cultural changes as well as reluctance to label students “mentally
retarded.”

Boys with learning disabilities outnumber girls about 3 to 1.

Some believe that this is due to gender bias in referrals.
Some believe that this is partly due to boys being more vulnerable
biologically
CAUSES
With the advance of neuroimaging techniques such as magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI),
functional magnetic resonance spectroscopy (fMRS), and positron-
emission tomography (PET) scans, as well as measuring the brain’s
electrical activity with event-related potentials (ERPs), most authorities now
believe that central nervous system (CNS) dysfunction underlies learning
disabilities

In the case of most children with learning disabilities, however, little

neurological evidence exists of actual damage to brain tissues. Therefore,
today, the term dysfunction has replaced injury or damage. A child with
learning disabilities is now often referred to as having CNS dysfunction
rather than brain injury.

Findings from these neuroimaging studies have been relatively consistent in

identifying structural and/or functional differences in the left temporal lobe
CAUSES
Genetic Factors
a. Familiality studies examine the degree to which a certain condition, such as a
learning disability, occurs in a single family (i.e., the tendency for it to “run in a family”)
b. Environmental factors may contribute significantly to the transmission of learning
disabilities from parents to their children via childrearing practices.

Toxins - Toxins are agents that can cause malformations or defects in the developing fetus.
a. Fetal alcohol syndrome, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, and lead are potential
causes of intellectual disabilities, with authorities suggesting exposure to levels not
causing intellectual disabilities but potentially causing learning disabilities.

Medical Factors - Medical conditions, such as premature birth, can lead to learning
disabilities and intellectual disabilities, depending on the severity of the condition.
 INTERINDIVIDUAL
VARIATION

Heterogeneity is a concept used to describe

interindividual diversity.
Students with learning disabilities exhibit
interindividual variation in reading, math,
spelling, and attention.
heterogeneity is a trademark of children
from all the categories of special education
“No two are exactly alike”
Teachers face challenges in planning
educational programs for diverse
classrooms due to heterogeneity.
 INTRAINDIVIDUAL
VARIATION

Children with learning difficulties

are also more likely to vary in
their individual ability profiles.
For instance, a youngster may
be 2-3 years above grade
level in reading but 2-3 years
behind in math.
ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
PROBLEMS Decoding is the ability to convert print to spoken
language and is largely dependent on
Academic deficits are the hallmark of learning phonological awareness and phonemic awareness.
disabilities. Reading fluency refers to the ability to read
effortlessly and smoothly. Reading rate and the
ability to read with appropriate expression are
Reading disabilities are the most common form components of reading fluency.
of academic disability and can be manifested in Reading comprehension refers to the ability to gain
decoding, fluency, and comprehension problems. meaning from what one has read. In other words,
reading too slowly or in a halting manner interferes
with the ability to comprehend text
Writing disabilities , including handwriting, spelling
and composition, children are sometimes very slow Spoken language disabilities include
writers, their written products are sometimes problems with syntax (grammar), semantics
illegible, and have difficulties in the more creative (word meanings), phonology, and pragmatics
aspects of composition. (social uses of language).
individuals with learning disabilities are not very
Math disabilities include problems with good conversationalists. They cannot engage in
computation and word problems. the mutual give-and-take that conversations
between individuals require.
 A child with auditory
perceptual problems
might have difficulty
discriminating between
two words that sound
PERCEPTUAL, nearly alike (e.g., fit and
PERCEPTUAL-MOTOR, fib) or following orally
presented directions
AND GENERAL
COORDINATION
A child with visual
PROBLEMS perceptual problems
might have trouble solving
puzzles or seeing and
remembering visual
shapes; for example, she
might have a tendency to
reverse letters
DISORDERS OF
ATTENTION &
HYPERACTIVITY
Many students with learning
disabilities have problems with
attention, and there is an
overlap of 10% to 25% between
learning disabilities and
attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder (ADHD)
 METACOGNITION
has at least three components: the ability to

1. Recognize task requirements - students with

learning disabilities frequently have problems judging
how difficult tasks can be.
2. Select and implement appropriate strategies -
students with learning disabilities can’t come up with
as many strategies (e.g., writing a note to yourself,
placing the homework by the front door) as students
without disabilities do.
3. Monitor and adjust performance - comprehension
monitoring
Comprehension monitoring refers to the abilities employed

MEMORY while one reads and attempts to comprehend textual

material.
Students with learning disabilities have at least two types of
memory problems:

1. Short Term Memory (STM) - involve difficulty recalling

information shortly after having seen or heard it.
2. Working Memory (WM) - affect a person’s ability to
keep information in mind while simultaneously doing
another cognitive task.
SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL MOTIVATIONAL
PROBLEMS PROBLEMS

Students with learning disabilities are at a Motivational problems can include having an
greater risk for depression, social rejection, external locus of control and learned
suicidal thoughts, and loneliness helplessness.

Some students with learning disabilities may A student's expectation of failure, based on past
experience social problems due to deficits in experiences, can lead to a vicious cycle where they
social cognition. (e.g. they misread social give up easily when faced with difficult tasks, not
cues and may misinterpret the feelings and only failing to learn new skills but also reinforcing
emotions of others.) feelings of helplessness and worthlessness,
perpetuating the cycle.
INACTIVE LEARNER
WITH STRATEGY DEFICITS
Learning disabilities often result in students
being inactive learners who lack effective
strategies for academic problems. They
often lack self-confidence and poor
metacognition, leading to learned
helplessness and an inadequate
understanding of available problem-solving
strategies.
DSM-5 DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA OF
SPECIFIC LEARNING DISORDER
DSM-5 DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA OF
SPECIFIC LEARNING DISORDER
DYSLEXIA DYSCALCULIA
an alternative term used to refer to a an alternative term used to refer to a
pattern of learning difficulties pattern of difficulties characterized by
characterized by problems with accurate problems processing numerical
or fluent word recognition, poor decoding, information, learning arithmetic facts,
and poor spelling abilities. and performing accurate or fluent
calculations.

If dyslexia is used to specify this If dyscalculia is used to specify this

particular pattern of difficulties, it is particular pattern of mathematic
important also to specify any additional difficulties, it is important also to specify
difficulties that are present, such as any additional difficulties that are
difficulties with reading comprehension present, such as difficulties with math
or math reasoning reasoning or word reasoning accuracy.
 TREATMENT & MEDICATIONS
EDUCATIONAL CONSIDERATIONS

COGNITIVE TRAINING
According to Hallahan et al., (2005) A variety of specific techniques fall under the heading of
Cognitive training involves modifying cognitive training:
unobservable thought processes to lead Self-instruction involves having students say out loud
to observable behavioral changes, what it is they are to do.
effectively improving academic Self-monitoring involves having students self-
problems for students with learning evaluate and self-record while they are doing
disabilities. academic work.
Scaffolded instruction involves providing students
Involves three components: with teacher support while they perform academic
(1) changing thought processes, work.
(2) providing strategies for learning, Reciprocal teaching involves teacher modeling
(3) teaching self-initiative. correct performance and then having the student
assume the role of co-teacher while using four
strategies: predicting, questioning, summarizing, and
clarifying.
 TREATMENT & MEDICATIONS
EDUCATIONAL CONSIDERATIONS

INSTRUCTIONAL APPROACHES
Effective instructional approaches for reading are explicit and phonological awareness involves knowing that speech consists of
systematic and focus on phonological awareness, phonics, small units of sound, such as words, syllables, and phonemes.
Phonemic awareness, a component of phonological awareness,
fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. involves knowing that words are made up of sounds, or phonemes
Phonics instruction involves learning the alphabetic system, that is,
Effective writing instruction is explicit and systematic; an the pairing of letters and words with their sounds
Reading fluency refers to the ability to read effortlessly and
example is the self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) smoothly.
model.
SRSD approaches writing as a problem-solving task that involves
planning, knowledge, and skills. Within SRSD are several strategies
Effective math instruction is explicit, systematic, and sequenced focused on different aspects of writing.

to minimize errors, but with errors immediately rectified.

Graphic Organizers - are Mnemonics involve
visual devices that employ using pictures and/or
Carefully structured and sequenced science and social studies lines, circles, and boxes to
words to help
organize information:
instruction is effective, and content enhancement (e.g., graphic hierarchic, cause/effect,
remember information.

organizers, mnemonics) is a technique that helps make compare/contrast, and

cyclic or linear sequences”
textbook-based instruction more effective.
 TREATMENT & MEDICATIONS
EDUCATIONAL CONSIDERATIONS

DIRECT PEER TUTORING

INSTRUCTION STRATEGY
Pioneered by Sigfried Engelmann and the Students with learning disabilities are tutored by
late Wesley C. Becker classmates without disabilities who are supervised
and trained by the teacher.
DI programs consist of precisely
sequenced, scripted, fast-paced lessons
taught to small groups of 4 to 10 students
with a heavy emphasis on drill and
practice.

Advocates of DI stress a systematic

analysis of the concept to be taught, rather
than analysis of the characteristics of the
student.
 SERVICE DELIVERY
MODEL

Students with learning disabilities, the

largest category of special education
students, are often considered candidates
for full inclusion due to their less severe
academic and behavioral problems.
However, major organizations and
research argue against placing all
students with learning disabilities in full-
inclusion settings, citing the effectiveness
of inclusion methods.
ASSESSMENT OF
PROGRESS
Curriculum-based Informal Assessment Testing Accommodations
measurement (CBM)
A means to monitor academic Informal reading inventories (IRI), a Accommodations for students with
progress and to document series of reading passages or word learning disabilities are similar to those
students’ responsiveness to lists graded in order of difficulty, for students with intellectual
instruction. can be used to assess progress. disabilities.
Mathematics dynamic assessment
In reading, CBM typically focuses (MDA) is another example of an Accommodations on standardized
on correct words read per informal assessment that can tests can include changes in
minute (CWPM). inform instruction. scheduling and presentation and
Using MDA, the teacher integrates response formats.
CBM involves comparing the research-based assessment
techniques including
student’s performance relative to The most common accommodations
i. examining mathematical
a baseline point and an aim line understanding at concrete, semi-
for students with learning disabilities
based on expected growth concrete, and abstract levels, are extended time and small-group
norms to depict where the ii. assessing mathematical interests setting administration.
student should be performing at and experiences,
a given point in time iii. examining error patterns, using
flexible interview
EARLY
INTERVENTIONS
Little preschool programming exists for
children with learning disabilities
because it’s so hard to predict at that
age which children will later develop
academic problems.

Even though prediction is not perfect,

several developmental milestones are
related to comprehension or expression
of spoken language, emergent literacy

Skills, and perceptual skills that indicate

risk for having learning disabilities.
TRANSITION TO
ADULTHOOD
Factors related to successful transition Secondary programming varies Postsecondary programs
include the following: according to whether the goal is include vocational and
Extraordinary perseverance to prepare for work or college technical programs as
Setting goals after graduation. well as community
Acceptance of weaknesses, Those preparing for work colleges and 4-year
combined with building on strengths receive training in basic colleges and universities.
Strong network of social support academic skills, functional
Intensive and long-term educational skills, and supervised work
intervention experiences.
High-quality on-the-job or Those preparing for college
postsecondary vocational training receive further academic
Supportive work environment training with support services
Taking control of one’s life from a special educator.
THANK YOU