ERIC Identifier: ED462808
Publication Date: 2002-01-00
Author: Boudah, Daniel J. - Weiss, Margaret P.
Source: ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education
Arlington VA.
Learning Disabilities Overview: Update 2002. ERIC Digest.
THIS DIGEST WAS CREATED BY ERIC, THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ERIC, CONTACT ACCESS ERIC 1-800-LET-ERIC
He lets out a sigh and slouches in his chair. Arms folded, he glares
at the book with a furrowed brow. After a moment, the boy glances at
his friend sitting across the aisle, leans forward to the book once
more, and runs his index finger along the lines of text. His lips
contort in an attempt to silently sound out the words that stare
back at him. He stops again, purses his lips, looks to the front of
the room, and raises his hand. When the boy's history teacher walks
over to the side of his desk, the boy quietly asks, "What does
fed-er-al-ism mean?"
This boy is one example of a student with
learning disabilities (LD). Individuals with LD typically look like
their peers, but differ from them as well as others with LD in many
ways. For example, one person with learning disabilities may have
strengths in math and reasoning, yet weaknesses in understanding and
communicating what he or she hears or reads. Another person with LD
may demonstrate very different strengths and
weaknesses.
Individuals with LD generally have average or above
average intelligence, yet they often do not achieve at the same
academic level as their peers. Their weaker academic achievement,
particularly in reading, written language, and math, is perhaps the
most fundamental characteristic of individuals with LD. Significant
deficits often exist in memory, metacognition, and social skills as
well. Let's look a bit more closely at each of these
areas.
READING
Individuals who have LD in reading have
difficulties decoding or recognizing words (e.g., letter/sound
omissions, insertions, substitutions, reversals) or comprehending
them (e.g., recalling or discerning basic facts, main ideas,
sequences, or themes). They also may display other difficulties such
as losing their places while reading or reading in a choppy manner.
Some researchers argue that a difficulty with phonological awareness
or phonological processing-recognizing sound segments in the spoken
word-underlies reading disabilities, and this capability is
requisite for understanding the relationship between written letters
and sounds (Torgesen & Wagner, 1998). Another term sometimes used
in conjunction with reading disabilities is dyslexia. Dyslexia may
be best understood as a type of reading disability. During early
childhood, children with dyslexia have difficulties learning spoken
language. Later in their school years, children with dyslexia have
trouble decoding and spelling words and, consequently, are likely to
experience comprehension problems also.
A reading disability
affects every aspect of an individual's life, from the early years
of school when children learn to read, to later years when students
are expected to read in order to learn specific content, and into
the community, home, and workplace where every person needs to
acquire and understand written information.
WRITTEN
LANGUAGE
For students with LD, problems in written language can
occur in handwriting, spelling, sentence structure, vocabulary
usage, volume of information produced, and organization of written
ideas. Moreover, individuals who have difficulties in one area may
demonstrate strengths in others. Many students with LD in reading
also have difficulty writing, since both areas are
language-based (receptive and expressive). Difficulties with writing
affect a student's achievement in virtually every content area. For
example, students with writing difficulties may understand concepts
in science or social studies, but be unable to express their
understanding on an essay exam or in a lab report. They may also
demonstrate considerable understanding in group or class
discussions, but later turn in a homework assignment on the same
material that lacks clarity or organization. MATH
Poor math
achievement may appear in difficulties differentiating numbers and
copying shapes (poor visual perception), recalling math
facts (memory problems), writing numbers legibly or in small
spaces (weak motor functions), and relating math terms to
meaning (poor understanding of math-related vocabulary). Other weak
areas may include abstract reasoning (solving word problems and
making comparisons) and metacognition (including identifying, using,
and monitoring the use of algorithms to solve math
problems). MEMORY
Some people with LD have weaknesses in
working memory also. They have a difficult time processing
information so that it can be stored in long-term memory. For
example, some students with learning disabilities will "study" by
staring at notes or reading vocabulary words over and over again,
which are ineffective learning strategies. Consequently,
difficulties in working memory can lead to difficulties in long-term
memory when a person needs to search for and retrieve knowledge in a
timely, organized manner. METACOGNITION
Individuals with LD may
also have deficits in metacognition, the awareness of how one thinks
and the monitoring of one's thinking. Research suggests that many
individuals with LD do not know many effective cognitive strategies
for acquiring, processing, storing, and demonstrating understanding
of information. Weaknesses in metacognition then affect their
understanding of when, where, and why their known strategies are
important, as well as their proficiency in selecting and monitoring
the use of strategies (Mercer, 1997). SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL
CHARACTERISTICS
Students with LD may demonstrate social or
behavioral challenges as well. Some exhibit fewer socially
acceptable behaviors than peers, are unable to predict consequences
for behaviors, misinterpret social cues, or are less likely to adapt
their behavior to different social situations They are sometimes
neglected or rejected by peers. Coupled with academic weaknesses,
this experience can lead to lowered self-perceptions of competence
or worth among older individuals with LD. Others who have LD have
difficulty sitting at a desk for long periods of time in order to
attend to classroom tasks and may develop social or behavioral
problems in response to their frustration with learning
tasks. PREVALENCE
More than 50 percent of the students
receiving special education services in the United States have LD.
The number of students identified as having LD and receiving special
education services has more than doubled since the original passage
of IDEA in 1975. Some educators estimate that between 5 and 10
percent of children between ages 6 and 17 have LD. CAUSES
No
one is quite sure what causes LD. Some evidence indicates that LD
may "run in families," but that is not always the case.
Environmental factors, from inadequate learning environments to
exposure to harmful substances, may lead to LD. Recent studies using
imaging technology have found differences in brain structure between
students who have reading disabilities with oral language
difficulties and those without disabilities. BEST
PRACTICES
Research indicates that the best instructional
practices for students with LD include direct instruction of
specific skills and learning strategy instruction (Swanson & Hoskyn,
1998). Students with LD should be explicitly taught to complete a
variety of academic tasks in a step-by-step fashion. When taught
correctly, learning strategy interventions and direct instruction
provide students with appropriate modeling, practice, and feedback
to master skills and cognitive strategies for independent use in a
variety of situations in and outside of school. Successful strategy
and direct instruction programs include Self-Regulated Strategy
Development for writing, learning strategies curriculum in reading,
writing, and memory from the Strategic Instruction Model, Direct
Instruction programs in reading and math, mnemonic strategies for
all content areas, and self-monitoring strategies. PROGRAM
OPTIONS
Most students with LD receive the majority of their
education in the general education classroom. However, a continuum
of school services should be available to meet each individual
student's needs. Support in the general education classroom can
exist in the form of a special educator co-teaching with or serving
as a consultant to the general educator. Students may also receive
services in a resource room or a special classroom. In addition,
special schools are available for students whose needs cannot be met
in the regular school. The Individualized Education Program team
determines where a student with learning disabilities will receive
special education services. RESOURCES
Adams, G. L., &
Engelmann, S. (1996). Research on direct instruction: 25 years
beyond DISTAR. Seattle, WA: Educational Achievement Systems. (ED 413
575) Hagborg, W. J. (1999). Scholastic competence subgroups among
high school students with learning disabilities. Learning Disability
Quarterly, 22(1), 3-10.
Hallahan, D. P., & Kauffman, J. M. (2000).
Exceptional learners: Introduction to special education. Boston:
Allyn & Bacon.
Harris, K. R., & Graham, S., (1999). Programmatic
intervention research: Illustrations from the evolution of
self-regulated strategy development. Learning Disability Quarterly,
22(4), 251-262.
Leonard, C. M. (2001). Imaging brain structure in
children: Differentiating language disability and reading
disability. Learning Disability Quarterly, 24, 158-176.
Lloyd, J.
W., Landrum, T. J., & Hallahan, D. P. (1991). Self-monitoring
applications for classroom interventions. In G. Stoner, M. R.
Shinn, & H. M. Walker (Eds.), Interventions for behavior and
academic problems in regular classroom settings. Bethesda, MD:
National Association of School Psychologists.
Mercer, C.
D. (1997). Students with learning disabilities (5th ed.). Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall/Merrill.
Raskind, W. H. (2001).
Current understanding of the genetic basis of reading and spelling
disability. Learning Disability Quarterly, 24, 141-157.
Schumaker,
J. B., & Deshler, D. D. (1992). Validation of learning strategy
interventions for students with LD: Results of a programmatic
research effort. In Y. L. Wong (Ed.), Contemporary intervention
research in learning disabilities: An international perspective. New
York: Springer-Verlag.
Scruggs, T. E., & Mastropieri, M.
A. (1992). Classroom applications of mnemonic instruction:
Acquisition, maintenance, and generalization. Exceptional Children,
58(3), 219-229.
Swanson, H. L., & Hoskyn, M. (1998). Experimental
intervention research on students with learning disabilities: A
meta-analysis of treatment outcomes. Review of Educational Research,
68(3), 277-321.
Torgesen, J. K., & Wagner, R. K., (1998).
Alternative diagnostic approaches for specific developmental reading
disabilities. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 13(4),
220-232.
Council for Learning Disabilities
http://cld.cuesta.com/cld
Division for Learning Disabilities,
Council for Exceptional Children http:// www.dldcec.org
LD Online
http://www.ldonline.org
Learning Disabilities Association
http://www.ldanatl.org
National Center for Learning Disabilities
http:// www.ncld.org
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the positions of OERI or the Department of Education.
Title: Learning Disabilities Overview: Update 2002. ERIC Digest.
Note: Digest number E624.
Document Type: Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs) (071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073);
Available From: ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education, Council for
Exceptional Children, 1110 North Glebe Rd., Arlington, VA
22201-5709. Tel: 800-328-0272 (Toll Free); Fax: 703-620-2521;
e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: http://www.ericec.org.
Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Educational Practices, Elementary Secondary
Education, Incidence, Instructional Effectiveness, Interpersonal
Competence, Learning Disabilities, Mathematics, Memory,
Metacognition, Reading, Student Characteristics, Underachievement,
Written Language
Identifiers: ERIC Digests, Related Services
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