Possible Characteristics of Students with Learning Disabilities Reading

Possible Characteristics of Students with Learning Disabilities

Reading • • • Difficulty learning the alphabet and/or connecting letters to their sounds (phonemic awareness) Trouble decoding single words Mixes similarly sounding words up May have trouble retelling a story Trouble understanding jokes, comic strips, and sarcasm Mispronounces words that sound similar to others Difficulty with rhyming Loses their place when reading Difficulty distinguishing left from right

Written Language • • Holds the pencil awkwardly Letter reversals that continue after age 8 Difficulty with planning/organizational strategies in writing Messy handwriting Eye-hand coordination Far point or near point copy problems Eyes hurt or itch Poor performance across most written tasks, especially vocabulary, grammar, punctuation, and spelling • Motor skills develop more slowly

Mathematics • • • Difficulty memorizing facts Doesn’t make connections (such as 1+5=6 and 5+1=6) Difficulty with time concepts Confuses math symbols Difficulty extracting and applying information in word problems Difficulty with multi-step problems

Socialization • Difficulty reading non-verbal cues (body language and facial expressions) • May not utilize appropriate verbal and non-verbal cues in interactions • • Difficulty understanding jokes, puns, sarcasm, idioms Difficulty with rules of conversation (such as turn taking) Difficulty with physical space May not follow instructions appropriately and get in to trouble but not understand why

Attention and Behavior • • Highly distractible Lots of movement Disorganized Short attention span Difficulty following directions Has difficulty responding quickly Comments might seem off topic Trouble with open ended tasks

Other • • Difficulty determining the main idea (affects reading and note taking) Difficulty summarizing Difficulty adjusting to new settings and routines May pay too little attention or too much attention to details Task avoidance Performance is affected by emotions, health, and environment Could have word finding problems when speaking Sensitivity to loud noises, touch, light

Fairness Doesn’t mean that everyone gets the same treatment. It means that everyone gets what he or she needs.

Individuals with Learning Disabilities Can Still Do Well • Alexander Graham Bell – Bell invented the telephone, but struggled with traditional schooling. It’s believed that he had some form of learning disability, possibly dyslexia. • Cher –She has dyscalculia that makes it difficult to remember numbers or to perform basic mathematics. • Agatha Christie –Christie had dysgraphia. • Thomas Jefferson – Although testing didn’t exist in Jefferson’s time, the founding father had great difficulties as a student. According to modern biographers and psychologists, Jefferson may have been dyslexic. • George Patton –It is widely held that he had some form of dyslexia or a related learning disability. • Nelson Rockefeller – He was severely dyslexic. • George Washington – Despite his education, Washington was unable to spell properly and may have had a severe learning disorder. It’s likely that he was dyslexic. • William Shakespeare – Many believe that he had a learning disability.