Republic of the Philippines

Benguet State University

COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION
La Trinidad, Benguet

Name: Liezel Mae Delacruz Andres Course/year: BEED 1B

FTC 106 (3-4 PM)

Learning Disability

A learning disability is an area of weakness or inefficiency in brain

function that significantly hinders our ability to learn. It is a pattern of
neurological dysfunction in the brain that causes a person to have difficulty
correctly receiving information (perception), correctly processing information
(cognition/thinking), or satisfactorily responding to information (written and
verbal expression, visual-motor coordination, memory, etc.).
People with learning disabilities have average to superior intelligence. Many
are gifted in math, science, fine arts, journalism, and other creative fields. A
list of such people would include Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Leonardo
da Vinci, Winston Churchill, and many others who have changed the course
of our world.
However, their tremendous strengths are offset by noticeable weaknesses –
an inability to read or write, memory problems, and difficulty understanding
what is heard or seen. These difficulties stem, not from a physical problem
with the eyes or ears, but rather from the basic neurological functioning of the
brain.

Classification of Learning Disabilities

 Dyslexia. Difficulty spelling, recognizing words and making connections

between letters and sounds may signal dyslexia. Challenges or delays in
speaking, learning songs or rhymes, remembering numbers in
sequence and discerning left from right can be symptoms.
 Dysgraphia. Writing is the challenge here. Students may have distorted
handwriting, omit words and struggle to put thoughts to paper.
 Dyscalculia. Difficulty with numbers, fractions, math concepts, making
change and telling time all can be markers of dyscalculia.
 ADHD and Related Disorders. Difficulty paying attention, organizing
thoughts and with executive function may signal attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder. The Learning Disabilities Association of America
groups ADHD with related conditions, such as attention deficit disorder,
anxiety and depression.
 Characteristics of students with Learning Disability

The following is a list of common characteristics of an LD student.

Conditions must be persistent over a long period of time. Presence of these
conditions does not necessarily mean a person is learning disabled.

Reading Skills

 Poor decoding skills

 Poor reading fluency
 Slow reading rate
 Lack of self-monitoring reading skills
 Poor comprehension and/or retention
 Difficulty identifying important ideas in context
 Extreme difficulty building ideas and images
 Difficulty integrating new ideas to existing knowledge
 Weak vocabulary skills
 Extreme difficulty understanding words or grammar
 Difficulty recognizing high frequency words
 Oral comprehension is noticeably stronger than reading comprehension
 Extreme difficulty focusing attention on the printed marks
 Difficulty controlling eye movements across the page
 Wavy or shimmering pages not attributable to poor vision

Spelling Skills

 Phonological awareness is noticeably stronger than spelling ability

 Frequent spelling errors of high frequency words
 Extreme difficulty with homonyms and/or regular spelling patterns
 No understanding of the relationship of phonics to written language 
 No understanding of common spelling rules
 Inadequate understanding of phonics even with instruction

Written Expression Skills

 Poor writing fluency

 Unable to compose complete, grammatical sentences
 Difficulty organizing written information
  Poor  handwriting
 Extremely poor alignment
 Inability to take notes or copy information from a book or the board
 Oral expression is noticeably stronger than written expression
 Extremely weak proofreading skills

Oral Language Skills

 Inability to hear small differences between sounds, not attributable to a

hearing loss, particularly vowel sounds
 Difficulty articulating thoughts or ideas orally
 Difficulty pronouncing words
 Inability to blend sounds together to form words
 Difficulty listening and responding to a series of directions
 Disorganized recall of facts or details

Mathematical Skills

 Poor mathematical fluency

 Difficulty memorizing multiplication tables
 Difficulty identifying multiples and/or factors
 Poor basic calculation skills
 Difficulty understanding word or application problems
 Poor understanding of mathematical concepts
 Difficulty sorting out irrelevant information
 Lower visual perceptual and visual-spatial ability
 Inability to transfer basic mathematical concepts to solve problems with
unpredictable information
 Inability to use basic facts within more complex calculations

Memory Skills

 Extremely weak ability to store and retrieve information efficiently

Extremely weak ability to hold information for immediate use

Teaching Strategies for students with learning disability

1. Break tasks into smaller steps
Don’t try to teach everything at once. That doesn’t work right for
anyone at all. Especially those with learning disabilities have a lesser attention
span, hence you have to make it both short and captivating. Thus, breaking
the information into smaller bite-sized chunks is an effective teaching strategy.

2. Present information in ways they can best adapt

Each one has a different learning style. Especially those with learning
difficulties have certain senses that are stronger than the others for them. And
as a teacher, you should work on identifying those and tutor your students via
the same.

These can be through 3 major learning styles that are, visual, auditory or
kinesthetic. And as per their stronger traits, you can alter your teaching
strategies, like helping them via graphics and videos, podcasts, or by giving
them small tasks and helping them with hands-on experience.

3. Probe regularly to ensure understanding

Once you have covered the topic do not leave it at that, get back to it
and check whether or not they remember it correctly. Revisions and
reminders are important for each one, and in this case too only practice will
make perfect. Many make it a strategy to revise with an online class every
other day after they take an offline session. This way they would be in touch
with the topic and also get familiar with different learning platforms. (So make
sure to invest in a good online teaching app).

4. Encourage independent practice

Allow them to experiment and learn on their own. Do not spoon-feed
everything. Once you familiarize them with certain topics or techniques, give
them some time and space to try them out on their own. Experimentation will
make things more interesting for them, and inculcate the trait of patience.

5. Model what you want students to do

Remember that influence outweighs everything else. What you do and
show them will stay with them for longer than what you instruct them to do.
Like it's rightly said, actions speak louder than words. Do things with them.
Have them contribute while showing them that you are with them on this ride.

6. Incorporate mnemonics
Another effective teaching strategy is to do it via mnemonics. This
learning method increases retention and retrieval with the help of varied cues
to make it easy. Though, as an educator, you have to make sure that the
memory tricks that you choose are actually easy for them to remember.

What strategies might help students with learning disabilities to develop

a more positive sense of self?

A few other things that you need to remember to help them be more
positive and confident is to give timely and quality feedback, to both them and
their parents about the progress you notice. Next, make it a point to
encourage and appreciate every progressive thing they do. Make them feel
special but be realistic. And the most important step is to reinforce their
confidence that they can do anything and are smart.