understanding learning disabilities

not mental retardation/intellectual impairment, not emotional disturbance, not a lack of opportunity to learn, not modality-inspired

frustrationanxietytension

often the pace of the class is too fastthey are often still processing the question while typical children are already processing the answer

talk to child privately and agree to use a "secret signal" to help him or her know what to expect

pays attention to everything vs.

paying attention to nothingLD children are typically this

pay attention to nothing

people with LD do not like surprises won't volunteer to answer questions

LD kids can see, but not always perceive (bring meaning to something)

"look at it harder"bribe take away somethingblaming the victim

only enables us to do what we are already capable of doing to the best of our abilities

95% of textbooks and 93% of teachers teach comprehension through vocabulary has much more to do with background than vocabularyit is a very complicated task and many children need direct instruction

often, LD kids truly don't know/understand what they did wrong

visual-motor integration problemhands and eyes are getting mixed messages/contradictory informationthink of mirror writing activity from the video

dysnomia everything you do in life is either an associative (can do multiple things at one time) task or a cognitive (can only do one thing at a time) task for many LD kids listening/talking is a cognitive experience LD kids identify other people's mistakesthe greatest gift we can give LD kids is time

word-finding problem, happens to LD kids hundreds of times per daya problem between storage and retrieval

if a child is having difficulty doing a task, don't tell the child the task is easyif decoding requires extensive energy/effort, then learning is compromised

fairnesssome children learn better if they hear information first

does not mean that everyone gets the same rather it means that everyone gets what he/she needs

here and nowhear, touch, taste, smell, see itconversation languagecontains 5 levels:selfother things/peoplerelations (agent-action object)symbols logic

talking about stuff that isn't present L4L stage literate language

children move from learning to talk TO talking to learn and from learning to read TO reading to learn narrative skills are very important because they form a bridge between familiar, contextualized language of conversation and abstract, decontextualized style of literate language important goal is to develop a literate language style

curriculum-based instructionintegration of oral and written language focus on "meta" skillspreventative intervention

synthesize language intervention with the demands students face in the classroom every dayuse their academic work and give meaning to it

provide both oral and written opportunities for students to practice the forms and functions targeted in intervention

direct conscious attention to the language and cognitive skills a student uses in the curriculum talk about talking, think about thinking

use other 3 principles in primary grades to attempt to ward of LLD's in vulnerable children

clinician-directed interventionchild-centered intervention hybrid intervention

1- computer software programs using drill play contexts to work on phonological awareness, morphological markers, vocabulary, and sentence structure 2- cognitive behavior model (CBM) follows 3 basic steps:-tells client strategy that will be developed, why it's important, and what procedures will be used -> clinician will model the strategy and the client will follow the model-"think out loud" (self-talk) to demonstrate how strategy is accomplished -has client model the thinking out loud process

1- whole language approach, creates a theme to follow such as "4 food groups"2- scaffolding- has 3 forms:-creation of optimal task conditions, reduce amount of stress and undue effort student needs to complete task-guidance of selective attention, highlight important information using visual, verbal, and intonational cues-provision of external support, "prime" students to succeed in classroom activities -> read the question first

1. semantics-vocabulary enrichment -> give them words to fill language-word finding -> dysnomia/anomia, "tip of the tongue"-integration and inferencing -> deductive reasoning (story about fire without saying "fire"), combine school info and background info 2. syntax & morphology-integrating expression and comprehension -> help them speak as they understand-advanced morphology -> figuring out words on prefixes and suffixes-complex sentences (understanding and using) -> speak in simple sentences-noun phrase elaboration -> use expansion "the dog barks" -> "the big brown dog was barking"-verb phrase elaboration -> add adverbs 3. pragmatics-conversational discourse -> who you're talking to (unwritten rules); talking to parent vs.

talking to boyfriend-classroom discourse -> "no talking while the teacher is talking"-narrative skills (comprehending and producing) -> telling story of what happened this weekend -cohesion -> making things fit; 3 main markers- pronouns, conjunctions, articles

word meaning word structure word finding phrase and sentence structure oral and written discourse

1. multiple meanings; lack of flexibility -> "branch"2. mismatches -> hear one word but match it to the wrong thing; "WHERE did Columbus sail?" "1492!"3. definitions -> ask them to define word for you; "define cow" "it gives milk", answers are non-specific4.

figurative language -> idioms, metaphors, similes; using language very abstractly; "it weighs a ton"; "cat got your tongue"

1. morphological markers -> -ly ending, using tense; "yesterday he ____" "skated"2. segmentation -> prefix, root word, suffix, syllable

dysnomiaanomiaword retrieval problems circumlocution

talking/going around the word

refer to pg. 53 1.

comprehension of phrases and clauses -> spatial (show where things are) markers and temporal (show time) markers 2. paraphrasing -> put into own words; word differently but still mean the same thing

refer to pg. 53 1. conversation is better than narrative/expository -> cocktail party speech2.

attends to details not main idea -> don't know the big picture3. poor topic maintenance/closure -> can't stay on topic, or can't close topic - keeps on talking 4. inadequate information to listener/reader -> "you know sally"; or on book report says "it was real good"5. literal interpretations/lack of inferential skills -> "jack of all trades" thinks its about cards

negative attitude about learning in schooldoesn't seem to follow directionsasks irrelevant questionsdoesn't organize work space, materials, desk, locker, binder, etc. uses gestures instead of words mispronounces words -> "presbyterians" "laser blades"doesn't follow classroom rules

same neural pathways or connections over and overquiz and drill goal - complete the homework or pass the exam

trying to change the brainnew neural connections that have never been there before re-route neural pathways "go around pothole"goal - child will learn about how he/she works