Resource for the Identification and Teaching of …...characteristics associated with Specific Learning Disability, and information regarding practical teaching methods and strategies

Department of Education,

Student Services (Anglophone)

P.O. Box 6000, Fredericton, N.B., E3B 5H1

(506) 453-2816 November 1999

Resource for the Identificationand Teaching of Students with SpecificLearning Disability

Acknowledgements

The Department of Education wishes toacknowledge the contribution of the followingpeople toward the development of thisdocument. Their time, effort, and sharing ofexpertise is highly valued.

Kate McLellan (Chair)Consultant for Students with Exceptionalities, Department of Education

Joan HoganAPSEA Supervisor for Hearing Impaired, Department of Education

Ed JonesSupervisor of Student Services, School District 16

Susan McConnellLD Consultant, Resource Teacher,School District 6

Kaye EagenResource Teacher, Magnetic Hill School, School District 2

Mary HooperResource Teacher, St. George Elementary,School District 10

Copyright Ownership

Care has been taken to trace ownership of copyright

material contained in this resource book. Any

information that will allow the New Brunswick

Department of Education to rectify any reference or

credit in subsequent editions would be gratefully

received by the Consultant for Students with

Exceptionalities, New Brunswick Department of

Education, P.O. Box 6000, Fredericton, N.B.

E3B 5H1

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develop their creativity and knowledge to a levelconsistent with the other children in their class,although they will not always be expected toexpress it in the same manner. Methods ofevaluation based on appropriate expectations arekey to addressing the needs of children withSpecific Learning Disability. Remember,“fairness” does not mean that everyone receivesthe same, what “fairness” actually means iseveryone receiving what he or she needs.(Richard Lavoie, “How Difficult Can This Be?”)

In order to accomplish “fair” evaluation, theteacher must embrace the philosophies inherentin the theories of Multiple Intelligences(Howard Gardner), Learning Styles (Dunn &Dunn), Quantum Learning (DePorter, Reardon,Singer-Nourie), and other preference- basedlearning theories, and vary the presentationmethods, activities and evaluations to suit thestrengths of the children in the classroom.

The goal in developing methods and strategiesfor children with processing deficits is to assistthem by circumventing the difficulty throughmethods and presentations that use otherstrength areas. In addition to this, particularly inthe early years, children with learning disabilitiesoften need explicit intervention, depending onthe nature of their processing difficulty.

Teachers who are sensitive to the needs ofchildren with Specific Learning Disability canhave significant impact on these children andgive them a positive life-long effect on theirability to meet their potential.

Definition

Learning disabilities is a general term that refersto a group of disorders which are due toidentifiable or inferred central nervous systemdysfunction, which may be manifested by delaysin early development and/or difficulties in any ofthe following areas: attention, memory,reasoning, co-ordination, communicating,spelling, calculation, social competence, andemotional maturation.

Introduction

Purpose

The Department of Education supports theinclusion of children with exceptional needs intothe regular classroom setting. However, theidentification of specific learning patterns, aswell as specific strengths and needs, is needed inorder to purposefully plan for the variety ofdiverse learners in our classrooms.

Since students with Specific Learning Disabilitymake up approximately five to fifteen percent ofany population, the Department of Educationrecognizes the need to provide practicalinformation for teachers with regard to thecharacteristics associated with Specific LearningDisability, and information regarding practicalteaching methods and strategies for addressingthe needs of these specific learners.

This document has been developed in responseto this need. It provides teachers withbackground information about the characteristicsassociated with various types of SpecificLearning Disability. It suggests methods forinformal and formal assessment of these students.It presents guidelines for the development ofSpecial Education Plans that address the needsof these students and suggests various resourcesappropriate for their learning needs. Thedocument also recommends ways ofincorporating parental involvement in theplanning process.

Ultimately, the teacher of children with SpecificLearning Disability will recognize the uniquenessof the children’s learning needs and will considerhis or her methods of presentation andevaluation, that will allow the children to showknowledge of the content of what is being taughtand its inherent concepts, while continuing tostimulate the children’s average to above-averageintellectual ability. The teacher must rememberthat, although these children have difficulty inspecific areas, if given the opportunity, they can

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Learning disabilities are intrinsic to theindividual and may affect learning and behaviourin any individual of average or above- averageintelligence.

Learning disabilities are not due primarily tovisual, hearing, motor or cognitive impairments,or to emotional disturbance or environmentaldisadvantage. Learning disabilities may arisefrom genetic or bio-chemical factors or eventsresulting in neurological impairment.

(Adapted from Learning Disabilities Association of

Canada definition 1988)

In other words:

A child with learning disabilities is one whopossesses average to above-average ability , andoften displays a discrepancy between academicachievement and intellectual ability.

Learning disabilities are not primarily the resultof

• sensory impairment• physical challenges• developmental delay• emotional disturbance• environmental influences

Learning disabilities, Attention Deficit Disorder,behaviour disorders, etc. can be separate or co-existing conditions. Other behavioural orpersonality disorders can develop as secondarycharacteristics. As such it is essential torecognize these secondary traits as well as addressthe primary difficulties.

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Learning Disabilities Attention Deficit Disorder

Behavioural Disorders

Slow Learner: Note that the profile is relativelyeven and typically does not vary significantlyfrom the below-average range, i.e. below scaledscore of 8.

The graphs on the following pages display typicalprofiles of intellectual function and learningpatterns as seen on the Wechsler Intelligence

Scale for Children-III, for an average learner, aslower learner, and for the child with learningdisabilities.

Average Learner: Note that the profile isrelatively even, and typically does not varysignificantly from the average range, i.e. scaledscore of 8-12.

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Learner with Learning Disability: Twoexamples are given. In the first example, thechild would score within the average rangeoverall, but note that the profile shows manyareas of significant strength and weakness inboth verbal and performance areas. In thesecond example, the profile shows a child withlearning disabilities who also has an overall scorefalling within the average range, but note thesignificant weaknesses in language-related areas,as compared to the non-verbal, performanceareas, which are much stronger.

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Processing Information

What is it we really ask a student to do when weask him or her to follow a direction or processinformation to give us some sort of product?Often we only recognize the output of anyprocessing task, but actually the job of processingis much more complicated than we realize.

Consider a simple task such as asking a studentto write down spelling words as you call themout.

Initially, there are attention factors that we needto consider. In this situation, the student mustfilter out or suppress all the unnecessary visualinformation that he or she doesn’t need in orderto focus on the task. The student must be able tolook at the teacher while he or she is givingdirections, locate a pencil or pen on the deskwith his or her eyes, and find the correct placeon the page to print the spelling words. Thestudent must be able to ignore the colourfulposters and pictures on the wall, the movementof a fellow-student next to him or her, or thetoys that are sitting just within visual range.

The student must also filter out all unnecessaryauditory information that he or she doesn’t needin order to focus on the task. The sound of adesk moving, paper shuffling, air conditionersrattling and the like make it difficult for thestudent to focus his or her attention on thedirections or message the teacher is giving. Thestudent needs to be able to ignore or suppressthis auditory information and focus on theteacher’s words.

The student also has to suppress needless tactileor kinesthetic information . He or she needs tofocus attention on the teacher, rather than onthe itchy sweater being worn or the coldness ofthe room.

Even in this initial stage of informationprocessing, there is more to consider than isapparent.

Comparison: The last chart shows comparisonsamong the different types of learners.

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If the student has had the ability to focus his orher attention on the task at hand, then the brainbegins processing the information. Perception,memory, organization, and comprehension areintrinsic to this process.

The student, apart from visual acuity, must beable to appropriately perceive, withoutdistortion, the visual information that has beenpresented. Often students with a disability willmisperceive the visual information, and theimage becomes distorted or disoriented. Studentswill sometimes describe the words as falling offthe page, or parts of the words as disappearing.Often reversals, inversions and transpositions areevident. Obviously this kind of difficulty wouldsend mixed messages to the brain and makecomprehension difficult.

Visual memor y is also a part of informationprocessing. The student must be able to matchthe word being said to a “picture” of the word inhis or her memory. The task then remains totranslate this “picture” to written form on thepage without additions, distortions, or omissions.

This task also asks the student to perceive thestring of sounds that are being heard, withoutdistortion or disorientation, in the correctsequence, and match those sounds withvocabulary words stored in memory, in order tocomprehend and follow the directions given.

Finally, once the visual and auditory informationhas been processed and the memory accessed,the student needs to match that processing witha motor output by remembering what it feelslike to form specific letters with pencil or pen ona page. This last stage involves visual-motorprocessing.

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Characteristics of Children withSpecific Learning Disability

Areas of specific learning disability can becategorized in many ways, but, for the purposesof this resourcebook, the following categorieswill be used:

• Attention deficit• Auditory-processing deficit• Visual-processing deficit• Visual-Spatial deficit (with or without motor

difficulties)• Written -expression deficit• Language deficit• Mathematics deficit• Organizational deficit• Memory deficit

Once processing is complete, generally werequire some sort of output for evaluation. Thisis usually verbal, as we ask the student torespond by speaking; or, as in the case of thespelling exercise, it is a motor output, in this caseprinting or writing. Often the output reflects thedeficits in the mode of processing, the part wecan’t see.

How Difficult Can This Be?

Learning disabilities are often called the“invisible handicap” because it is difficult forpeople to understand just exactly what a studentwith a learning disability sees, hears, or feels thatis different from what we would experience. It’seasy to recognize a physical handicap, as often anassistive device is evident, but with a learningdisability there is no device present, and childrenwith learning disabilities are often notrecognized as such, but rather are seen as “lazy”or “unmotivated.” The video “How Difficult

Can This Be?,” provided with the resourcebook,attempts to help viewers experience what it islike to have a learning disability and thereforeunderstand the concept at a far deeper level.

(Please take the time to view the video “HowDifficult Can This Be?,” provided to each

district Supervisor of Student Services with this

resourcebook.)

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Example of Difficulty with VisualProcessing when Reading

Try to read the following passage. Note thatletters can be off line, reversed, inverted,transposed, or improperly spaced. What you willexperience is the same frustration a student witha visual-processing deficit experiences when heor she attempts to read. Obviously this type ofdeficit is a detriment to the acquisition ofreading, and why many students with this type ofdeficit have reading disabilities.

See answer key in Resource section

Example of a Language Deficitwhen Reading

Read the following paragraph and answer thequestions. In this case the student’s languagedeficit involves making meaning of words. His orher ability to recognize and process structure isintact. These students are hard to detect in aclassroom, as they may be able to complete afact-finding exercise, as you will see; however,they will not have understood what they readbecause they could not process the language.

Blix and Splox grummed blantily as they brontedalong. The cront was jilp and because of this Blixand Splox were sniped with their bluxy drant.

1. Who were the main characters?2. What did Blix and Splox do as they bronted

along?3. Why were Blix and Splox sniped?4. With what were Blix and Splox sniped?


Example of Difficulty withComprehension of Visual Material

Read the following passage silently, then read italoud and choose the one that makes more senseto you. This example shows the case of studentswho can read, but make no sense of what theyhave read until they hear the passage read aloud.These are the students who need informationread to them or available on tape.

Ladle Rat Rotten Hut

(heresy ladle furry starry toiling udder warts-warts welcher alter girdle defferent fimer onceinner regional verging)

Wants pawn term dare worsted ladle gull hoe liftwetter murder inner ladle cordage honor itchoffer lodge, dock, florist. Disk ladle gull orphanworry putty ladle rat cluck wetter ladle rat hut, anfur disk raisin pimple colder Ladle Rat Rotten Hut.

Wan moaning Ladle Rat Totten Hut’s murdercolder inset “Ladle Rat Rotten Hut, heresy ladlebasking winsome burden barter an shirkercockles. Tick disk ladle basking tutor cordageoffer groin murder hoe lifts honor udder siteoffer…


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D u re e e sto o the t ey o yo m md ert h ry f hr e

d ll b t ruff? h ewa gi ll ydo at, ai oa s b T er sa b di

m bb esizeb gill yg t, ittl ni l oa an b a l e o e.

e teb e egrW eywan so uic ee r ey

h n th m ng ass, thonl wa lk oss e ib ge elb wh

w d acr th dr to a fi eree br swa llan ut buess

th a s s ta bgre en. Boliv eb e g Y t w sa

wh unb rth edri b e? es, i all.

tro

memory-processing difficulties will often displayan inability to recall information (e.g. often notrecalling concepts taught yesterday or notrecalling concepts over long periods of time).

Teachers should also observe the level of socialawareness evident in the children in theirclassroom. Children with learning disabilitiesoften either show very dominant/aggressivecharacteristics with their peers, or they appearpassive/submissive in the school environment.Because these children have difficultyinterpreting their external environment, theymay miss or misperceive the social cues aroundthem. In considering these behaviours, teachersshould be careful not to misinterpret a lack ofsocial skills as immaturity, and vice versa.

The teacher should be aware of the children whohave difficulty finding a way out of difficultsituations to the point that they become angry or“shut down.” Children who display thesebehaviour patterns often have difficulty withlogical processing. This inability to problemsolve will also be evident in their approach to aschool task in that they may be unable to followa step-by-step procedure to reach a workingconclusion.

Use the observation report form in the next

section to assist you with your observations.

Work Samples

The next important step in the assessmentprocess is to consider samples of the children’soutput in response to a given task. This may bepresented orally, in written form, or throughmovement. Children with Specific LearningDisability often display very obviouscharacteristics in their output samples.

General Language Usage

Children with learning disabilities frequentlyhave difficulty with the language in theclassroom. They will not readily follow oraldirections and explanations. The readingrequirements may involve vocabulary too

Assessment

Assessment is an ongoing process involving thecollection of data for the purpose of evaluatingthe performance of a student. The classroomteacher is in the best position to provideinformation on a current basis. Observation,work samples, student portfolios, journal entriesor logs, project work, interview results, daily orweekly tests, criterion-referenced tests such asthe provincial assessments, and standardizedtests, whether group or individual, are all validexamples of assessment, and therefore are allappropriate in assisting the teacher to determinethe best approach to programming for his or herstudents.

Observation

To assist teachers in identifying the children whothey perceive are experiencing learningdifficulties, general observations may be made inthe classroom that are invaluable in helping topinpoint characteristic weaknesses and strengths.Such observation will require the classroomteacher to be on the lookout for commonbehavioural characteristics of children withSpecific Learning Disability. Observation is thefirst step in the assessment process.

Much common behaviour can be observed inchildren with Specific Learning Disability. Theteacher should begin by looking for the studentswho, when attempting to copy or write in class,are often unable to form letters properly, maystart in odd places on the page, may appear tohave difficulty copying from the board, and aregenerally slower than others to complete theirwork. Also, the teacher should look for thestudents who will regularly have difficultyunderstanding what they have read and may beunable to follow directions easily. Also, teachersshould be aware of the students who display aninability to focus their attention for long periodsor may appear to be easily distracted. Teachersshould try to discern those children who havedifficulties related to memory. The students with

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technical and well beyond the children’sreceptive language capabilities. Children withlearning disabilities may have communicationdifficulties related to a weakness in their abilityto express what they feel.

Expressive Language

General language usage can be identified inexpressive-language production. Studentsexperiencing difficulty with expressive languagemay have difficulty with word finding, oftendisplaying a limited oral vocabulary. They maynot be proficient at participating in conversationwith others, and therefore may appear quiet orshy. The children’s language production mayshow a tendency toward fragmented sentences,as well as difficulties with syntax, with pronounsand/or with verb agreement. Languageproduction may often contain omitted ormispronounced words in conversation. They mayhave particular difficulty answering who, what,when, where and why questions, as the languageof questioning and the purpose of these words areconfusing to them.

Written Language

Written language is also a form of expressivelanguage production. Students experiencingdifficulty with written language may havedifficulty with any one of the many facets of thetask. These students will display difficulty withexpression and sequencing of thoughts and ideas,with structure in sentences and paragraphs, andalso with word order and verb agreement.Frequently the students’ written expressivevocabulary will lag behind oral expressivevocabulary. Written responses produced by thesechildren will tend to be very brief. Wordomissions, additions, or substitutions in thewritten product will be frequent. Writtenlanguage mechanics such as capitalization andpunctuation will prove a struggle for the studentswith learning disabilities who have processingdifficulties in this area.

Spelling

Spelling, a specific form of written language, willpoint to other forms of processing difficulties.The phonemic/graphemic association of wordsrequired for spelling frequently causes difficultiesfor students with learning disabilities,particularly those who have auditory- processingweaknesses. The spelling of these students will,on a regular basis, bear no resemblance to thecorrect spelling of a word. Words havingirregular spelling patterns will cause notabledifficulty for children with learning disabilities.Spelling, particularly in daily writing, willevidence omissions, substitutions, additions, andrearrangements of letters or sound units. Thechildren will have distinct difficulty withactivities that ask them to analyse sounds inwords. These children may do well on regularspelling lists, but there is often little or no carry-over to daily work, or over time. Asking thesechildren to write a lengthy, end-of-a-unitspelling test is usually courting disaster, and is,therefore, inappropriate for them.

Math

Characteristic difficulties can also be evident inmath. Although some students with learningdisabilities may display weakness in bothlanguage-related and math areas, some studentswith learning disabilities who are very articulateand whose oral and written language is generallyat a high level may experience processingdifficulty with math concepts. The teachershould be particularly wary of this type of patternand try not to prejudge the children’s mathability, on the basis of their language level.Students experiencing difficulty with math willdisplay the processing weakness in a number ofways. In math computation, weaknesses may beseen in long-term memory for math facts, insequencing the steps in computation problems,in organizing or lining up numbers, inrecognizing place value, in dealing with money,time or measurement, and in estimating.Difficulty in attending to the proper operationalsign is also often a recurring error.

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This option is usually available in the publishedmaterials, but with classroom materials theteacher is responsible for collecting and sortingthe reading material for this purpose.

A published informal reading inventory is a typeof informal assessment designed to provide theteacher or examiner with a variety ofinformation regarding a student’s reading ability.It can be used to determine the approximatereading level at which the child is totallycomfortable; a level at which the child islearning and therefore encounters some, but notinsurmountable, difficulties; and a level that istoo difficult for the child, and at which he or shefinds significant frustration. These levels arereferred to as the Independent Level, theInstructional Level, and the Frustration Level.These levels can be determined for both isolateddecoding skills and for reading in context. SomeIRI’s provide enough alternative forms to allow adetermination of an approximate listening levelas well.

Most IRI’s have a number of graded word lists.The instructional level at which the childoperates with these lists gives an indication tothe examiner as to where to begin whenadministering the graded reading passages.Another important aspect of the graded wordlists is that they allow for an analysis of errors,which then provides diagnostic information tothe teacher or examiner.

Most IRI’s also contain graded passages thatallow for a calculation of word accuracy incontext, for miscue analysis, and for anevaluation of comprehension throughquestioning.

As a general rule of thumb, 3-4 errors out of 20words in a list, or approximately 90-95% wordaccuracy when reading a passage is considered aninstructional level. For comprehension, thegeneral rule of thumb is approximately 70-75%comprehension for an instructional level. Eachtest may differ slightly, but, when using an IRIthat does not state the criterion levels, the abovepercentages are adequate.

In the area of the application of math concepts,children with learning disabilities will oftenchoose an incorrect operation when faced with aproblem, or will often have difficulty solvingmulti-step problems, and, in doing so, omit astep or complete a step out of order.

Visual-Motor Integration/Kinesthetic

Output

Children who experience problems related tovisual-motor integration have gross and finemotor difficulty. They will often display difficultywith simple tasks such as tying their shoes. Thechildren with a weakness in visual-motorintegration will often appear clumsy and willmost likely find copying or writing a chore.Work samples from these children will oftenshow inconsistency in letter formation or size.Copying from near or far point within areasonable amount of time or with satisfactoryaccuracy will often prove an insurmountabletask. Work will not be well organized on thepaper. The teacher will find that the move frommanuscript to cursive writing is not an easytransition for these children.

Use the work sample report form in the next

section to assist you with your evaluation of

work samples.

Assessment Tools

Informal Reading Inventory

One very valuable form of informal assessment,the informal reading inventory (IRI), can bebroken into components that accommodate ateacher’s schedule. Inventories can be teacher-made, using the available reading material or apublished reading series in use in the classroom.Inventories are also available in published form,e.g. Silvaroli.

When an inventory is administered, usually anoral, a silent and a listening comprehensionpassage are presented; however, depending on ateacher’s schedule, these tests may beadministered at different times. An inventorycan give an approximate grade level for reading.

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Graded Word List

Generally, graded word lists as contained in IRI’s,tests such as the Brigance, or published lists suchas the Dolch have a range from kindergartenlevel to grade 12.

Frequently, a significant shift occurs in thedifficulty and types of words encountered afterthe third-grade level. Prior to this level, manychildren rely heavily on their sight wordvocabulary. Generally, from the fourth-gradelevel and on, the students are required to usetheir strategies for decoding unknown words to agreater extent. As such is the case, even thoughchildren may do very well (independent level)on a third-grade reading list, they mayexperience frustration when attempting thefourth-grade level list.

If this happens, the teacher can hypothesize thata basic sight vocabulary has been established, butmore comprehensive word attack strategies havenot been developed to assist the children whenencountering new and more difficult words.

When administering word lists, the teachershould make a check mark next to the wordwhen the child has read the word correctly, andwrite the pronunciation of the word that hasbeen read if the word has been read incorrectly.This can be later used for analysis.

When analysing the errors from a word list, theteacher should make note of any pattern oferrors that are seen. These patterns may include,but are not limited to, some of the following:

• Miscue is visually similar to the stimulusword, indicating that the child is relying onhis visual memory and visual cueing system toattack the word - e.g. “mysterious”pronounced as “mistress.”

• Errors indicate a visual perception weakness -e.g. reversals such as “drink” read as “brink,”transpositions, such as “girl” read as “gril,”inversions such as “want” read as “waut.”

• Errors in medial vowel sounds - e.g. “glimpse”pronounced as “glumpse”, “haunt” pronounced

as “hunt” - may indicate weaknesses inauditory analysis.

• Errors show only parts of the word have beenidentified. Some children identify only thefirst consonant, blend or syllable. Others mayidentify the beginning and end of a word butmiss the medial portion. Be aware of wherethe child is focusing his or her attention in aword.

• Errors show difficulty with auditoryconceptualization . These errors show that thechild has little awareness of soundcorrespondence, and the word produced willhave very little relation to the stimulus word -e.g. “salary” read as “serious.”

• Errors show missing or added prefixes orsuffixes - e.g. “assemble” read as “assembly,”“evaporate” read as “evaporated.”

In general, the teacher should hypothesize as towhat strategy the children are attempting to usewhen they encounter an unknown word inisolation. Word miscues can also be analysed forwords in context. Each of the guidelines orexamples above applies, although addedsemantic, pragmatic and syntactic cueing systemsare also playing a part.

This word list was read by a child in grade 6. Hewas at an independent level on the third-gradereading list and then encountered frustrationwith this fourth-grade reading list. (Burns/Roe

IRI). What can you hypothesize from the patternof errors seen in this list?

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appropriate level for the child, and whether ornot the child is monitoring and self-correcting ashe or she is reading.

A teacher generally sits next to the child withthe reading passage in view. Using a codingsystem, the teacher records everything the childreads. Generally a check mark is used to indicatea word read correctly. Teachers may use theirown marking system or one such as is indicatedin Marie Clay’s book An Observation Survey of

Literacy Achievement.

Running records give an indication of wordaccuracy in the form of a percentage, found bydividing the number of correct words by thetotal number of words and multiplying by 100%.

Number of words correctTotal number of words

A percentage of approximately 90-95% would beconsidered an instructional level.

Analysis of the running record involvesexamining each error or self-correction anddetermining the cause of the error or self-correction. In each case the teacher considerswhether or not the child is using any of the fourcueing systems, i.e. graphophonic, syntactic,pragmatic, or semantic, as he or she is reading.The teacher also considers whether or not thechild is making predictions. (Adapted fromTeacher’s Manual for Early Success Program byHoughton Mifflin)

Miscue Analysis

Miscue analysis is a means by which anexaminer, usually a teacher, marks and thendiagnostically analyses the oral reading of a childon the basis of the pattern of errors. Miscueanalysis allows the teacher to hypothesize thestrategies that a child uses when he or she isreading words in context. A word-accuracy scorecan also be obtained in this manner. Thefollowing is a suggested marking system,although teachers may develop their own:

Stimulus Responsecartridge chart…..disease dizzydisturbance disturbancefoundation foundactiongaze +harpoon +jewel jellonervous +offend oftenprairie pr……..relief +remote +rumor rum orsalary celeryserious sersewilderness winderness

In the previous example, several patterns can benoted. First, it is evident that the child is able toidentify the first few letters if not the firstsyllable of the word he or she is trying toidentify. It is also evident that the child is usingthe visual mode to try to interpret the unknownword. The child identifies the first part of theword, then focuses on one or two key consonantsand then fabricates the rest of the word aroundthese key consonants. This pattern is furthersupported in the errors where the child “reads”the word, but, by the inflection, one can tell thatthe word is not recognized; e.g. rumor…wasread…RUM or, disturbance…..was read…DIStur bance. The reading of the word ”salary” as“celery” shows that the student recognizes theshape and key consonants of the word.

One can hypothesize from the errors on this listthat the child relies on his visual system to helphim unlock unknown words, but he or she hasfew other efficient strategies to assist him or her.

Running Record

A running record is a way of observing, scoringand analysing a child’s reading behaviour. Arunning record can assist the teacher indetermining what strategies the child is using, towhich cueing system(s) the child is attending,whether or not the reading passage is at an

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x 100% =

Marking:

• mispronunciation went The student attempts to pronounce the word but produces a nonsensical word that has no meaning.

• substitution went A real word is substituted incorrectly.

• insertion sent on

to The student inserts a word or a series of words that does not appear in the text.

• omission to school A word or words are omitted from the text.

• repetition in the house A word or words are repeated.

• reversal that he saw The word order is reversed or transposed.

• lengthy pause // The student stops for a second or more.

C in my house• successful correction in the roof The student successfully corrects a miscue.

U in my house• unsuccessful correction on the roof The student attempts a correction but is unsuccessful

in producing the word.

• meaningful substitution T The miscue makes sense within the context of the sentence or story.

• prediction P The miscue indicates that the child is predicting as he or she is reading.

• nonsense word N The miscue does not make sense whether as a prediction or as a meaningful miscue. Usually these arenonsense words.

(Adapted from manual for Burns/Roe Informal Reading Inventory)

The use of the syntactic system is evident insubstitutions that are meaningful within asentence, but not necessarily within the contextof the story. The child bases his or herpredictions on the word order or sentencepattern (syntax). Self-corrections will also beevident in miscues that are not grammaticallycorrect.

The use of the pragmatic system is evident inmiscues where it is evident that the child has orhas not attended to conventions of print, such asdifferent forms of genres, or conventions such ascapital and lower-case letters or punctuation.

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In order to interpret properly the miscueanalysis, teachers must rely on their knowledgeof the reading process to determine whatstrategies the child is attempting to use as he orshe is reading. Initially teachers should look forthe use of the semantic cueing system. In otherwords, teachers should try to determine whetheror not the child is attempting to constructmeaning as he or she is reading. The use of thesemantic system will be evident in the child’s useof meaningful substitution and prediction,particularly when the prediction is self-corrected.

wert

want

Children who grasp quickly the relationshipsbetween letters and word sounds almost alwaysbecome better readers than children who strugglewith these relationships do. Phonologicalawareness is not all that a child needs to learn toread, but it is a necessary and an integral part ofthe process for most children.

Research has shown that children with a weakawareness of sound/letter relationships andphonology are, on average, below their peers inreading ability. That is, those in the bottomtwenty percent of phonological awareness at thebeginning of the first grade are about two and ahalf grade levels or more below their peers inreading by the end of the fifth grade. (Adaptedfrom Fast ForWord – Building a Foundation for

Reading)

Phonemic awareness is not phonics. Phonemicawareness is an understanding about spokenlanguage. Children who are phonemically awarecan tell the teacher that bat is the word theteacher is representing by saying three separatesounds in the word. They can tell the teacher allof the sounds in the spoken word dog. They cantell the teacher that, if the last sound were takenoff the word cart, the word would be car.Phonics, on the other hand, is knowing therelation between specific printed letters(including combinations of letters) and specificspoken sounds. The teacher is asking children toshow their phonics knowledge when asking themwhich letter makes the first sound in bat or dog,or when asking them the last sound in car or cart.The phonemic awareness tasks that havepredicted successful reading are tasks thatdemand that children attend to spoken language,not tasks that simply ask students to name lettersor tasks that ask them to tell which letters makewhich sounds. In fact, if phonemic awareness justmeant knowledge of letter/sound relations, therewould have been no need to coin a new term forit. (From International Reading Association.

Reading Online)

The level of phonemic awareness that a childexhibits on entering school when he or she isfaced with an alphabetic script is widely held to

The use of the graphophonemic system will beevident in miscues that are visually similar orsound similar to the original word, but may notnecessarily make sense.

It is the teacher’s job to determine on which ofthese systems the child is relying most heavily.The teacher should attempt to determine if thechild is using good reading strategies, or if he orshe is a word-by- word reader who is notattending to the context of the story.

Reading Starts with UnderstandingPhonemes

Reading starts with phonemic awareness – theability to notice, think about and manipulate theindividual sounds in words or phonemes.Phonemes are the smallest units of sound in ourlanguage that can make a difference in themeaning of a word (like cat vs. rat). From justforty- four of these speech sounds, we create allthe words of the English language.

Phonemic awareness is an auditory skill. A childmay have satisfactory hearing but still not beable to recognize phonemes in context.Phonemes are much harder to interpret in noisysituations, when they blend with other sounds,or when they occur in a series of rapid successivespeech sounds.

Phonemic awareness is part of a broader skill setcalled phonological awareness , which is theability to recognize and use all sizes of soundunits, such as words, syllables and phonemes.Phonological processing, and particularlyphonemic awareness, is the primary area wherechildren with reading difficulties may differ fromother children.

A child is said to have a phonological-processingproblem when he or she has difficulty perceiving,decoding, remembering and retrieving verbalinformation. These auditory skills are necessaryfor children learning any language, even alanguage as different from English as Chinese.

17

be the strongest single determinant of the successthat he or she will experience in learning to read– or conversely, the likelihood that he or she willfail.

Among readers of alphabetic languages, thosewho are successful invariably have phonemicawareness, whereas those who lack phonemicawareness are invariably struggling. Researchclearly shows that phonemic awareness can bedeveloped through instruction and, furthermore,that such instruction significantly accelerateschildren’s subsequent reading and writingachievement.

Informal Tests of InformationProcessing

One of the key factors in identifying the needs ofa child with Specific Learning Disability is theidentification of areas of weakness and strength,which relate to the ways in which the childprocesses visual, auditory or kinestheticinformation. Informal tests such as theSlingerland Screening Tests for Identifying Children

with Specific Language Disability can provideessential information for understanding thelearning needs of the child with SpecificLearning Disability. Tests such as the Slingerland

provide information on visual perception, visualmemory, visual motor processing, auditorymemory, and auditory perception. Such tests,since they are informal, can be developed at adistrict or school level, although variouspublished materials are available.

Once processing needs are determined, strategiesto assist children in using their processingstrengths and coping with their processingweaknesses can be developed. Tests such as theSlingerland are informal and therefore are notstandardized using a normative process.However, general guidelines have beenestablished for their use.

Standardized Tests of EducationalAchievement

Another form of assessment tool that is criticalto the process of identifying and planning for theneeds of children with specific learning disabilityis the standardized test of educationalachievement. There are many examples of thistype of test, but the ones that give the mostinformation relative to children with SpecificLearning Disability are tests that assess readingdecoding, reading comprehension, mathcomputation, math applications, and/or writtenlanguage, and have the capability of providinginformation related to error analysis. Someexamples of this type of test include, but are notlimited to, Kaufman Test of Educational

Achievement, Woodcock Reading Mastery Test

–Revised, Keymath Diagnostic Arithmetic Test –

Revised.

Standardized tests of educational achievementhave been taken through a normative processand show evidence of validity and reliability.Formal assessment procedures employ tightlyorganized test materials, structured testsituations, and group-based comparisons. Thesetests often have a highly prescribed test formatand are designed to reveal data that can becompared to that obtained on children who weretested during the instrument’s construction.(Guerin and Maier 1983)

In most cases, those qualified to administer thistype of test include, but are not limited to,school psychologists, learning disabilitiesspecialists, educational diagnosticians, readingspecialists, clinical psychologists, remedialreading teachers, resource and methods teachers,counsellors, social workers, and others within thegeneral fields of psychology, education, andsocial service who have background training inassessment. (KTEA Manual 1985).

Other tests, such as the Wechsler Individual

Achievement Test (WIAT), are slightly morerestrictive in the qualifications of thosepermitted to administer them. Usually,individuals in educational or psychological

18

analysis of the various subtests can help to clarifystrengths and weaknesses in informationprocessing. Examiner qualifications for this typeof test are the most restricted. Teachers may findthe book How to Detect Reading/Lear ningDisabilities Using the WISC-III by EvelynSearls (1997) helpful in demystifying WISC-IIIresults.

Administration of a test of intellectualfunctioning should be the last step in theassessment process for children with SpecificLearning Disability. Having progressed frominformal assessment to formal assessment, andhaving had psychologists, district personnel,resource teachers, classroom teachers and parentsinvolved in a collaborative planning process, thechildren should already have an educationalprogram designed to address their needs.

For those children whose information processingis hindered by weaknesses related to focus ofattention, further investigation with theassistance of a psychologist, using behaviourrelated tests such as the Conners’ Rating Scales-

Revised, may be warranted.

testing who have graduate level training in the useof individually administered assessmentinstruments are qualified to administer thesetests. (WIAT Manual 1990) Many resource andmethods teachers would fall into this category.

In each case it is best to consult the test manualfor reference to examiner qualifications.

Standardized tests of educational achievementprovide further information related to thechildren’s level of skill development in certainacademic areas as compared to a normativegroup of children, whether in the same grade orage group. Children with learning disabilitiesgenerally show significant lags in one or moreacademic areas.

Standardized Tests of InformationProcessing

Similar to informal tests of informationprocessing, standardized tests of informationprocessing, such as the Detroit Tests of Learning

Aptitude: 4, also provide information related tovisual memory, visual perception, visual-motorprocessing, auditory memory, auditory perceptionand kinesthetic processing. Tests such as thePeabody Picture Vocabulary Test – III and theExpressive Vocabulary Test provide informationon general vocabulary usage. More in-depthlanguage tests such as the Test of Language

Development (Intermediate or Primary): 3 provideinformation related to language processing andpragmatics. There are many of these types oftests available, but again the examinerqualifications are restricted.

Standardized Tests of IntellectualFunctioning

In order to confirm whether or not children arediagnosed with Specific Learning Disability, astandardized measure to determine intellectualpotential, such as the Wechsler Intelligence Scale

for Children-III, should be completed. The resultsfrom this testing will help determine if adiscrepancy between intellectual potential andacademic achievement is present. Furthermore,

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21

Observations Report Form General

Student’s Name: Date:

Oral Language:

Handwriting or Printing:

Copying Ability:

Focus of Attention:

Written Expression:

(Continued on reverse)

22

Problem-Solving Skills:

Social Skills/Peer Relationships:

General Classroom Behaviour

Observations Report Form General


Oral Language:

Handwriting or Printing:

Copying Ability:

Focus of Attention:

Written Expression:


Continued on reverse

Problem-Solving Skills:

Social Skills/Peer Relationships:

General Classroom Behaviour

25

Work Sample Report Form


Written Language

Expressing/sequencing thoughts:

Sentence/paragraph structure:

Word order/verb agreement

Expressive vocabulary:

Length of paragraphs/sentences:


26

Words omitted/added/substituted:

Language mechanics/pragmatics

Spelling

Phoneme/grapheme association

Regular/irregular patterns:

Letters or sound units omitted/substituted/added/rearranged:

(Continued)

27


Prefixes/suffixes/word endings:

Sound analysis

Spelling lists:

Spelling in daily work:

Expressive Language

Oral vocabulary:

Word finding:

(Continued)

28

Fluency in conversation:

Sentence structure/syntax:

Words omitted:

General articulation:

Comprehension of questions:

(Continued)

29


Math

Math facts:

Sequencing steps in computation:

Organizing numbers (lining up):

Place value:

Money:

Time:

(Continued)

30

Measurement:

Estimation:

Attention to operational signs:

Choosing the correct operation:

Solving multi-step word problems (look for omission of steps or steps out of order):

(Continued)

31


Visual-Motor Integration

Gross/fine motor abilities:

Handwriting/printing:

Letter formation/size/spacing:

Length of time to copy or complete:

Accuracy of copying:

Organization of work on paper:

(Continued)

32

Ease of transition from manuscript to cursive:


Following directions (understanding the language of the direction):

Receptive language:

Social relations related to language weakness:



Written Language

Expressing/sequencing thoughts:

Sentence/paragraph structure:

Word order/verb agreement

Expressive vocabulary:

Length of paragraphs/sentences:


Words omitted/added/substituted:

Language mechanics/pragmatics

Spelling

Phoneme/grapheme association

Regular/irregular patterns:

Letters or sound units omitted/substituted/added/rearranged:

(Continued)


Prefixes/suffixes/word endings:

Sound analysis

Spelling lists:

Spelling in daily work:

Expressive Language

Oral vocabulary:

Word finding:

(Continued)

Fluency in conversation:

Sentence structure/syntax:

Words omitted:

General articulation:

Comprehension of questions:

(Continued)


Math

Math facts:

Sequencing steps in computation:

Organizing numbers (lining up):

Place value:

Money:

Time:

(Continued)

Measurement:

Estimation:

Attention to operational signs:

Choosing the correct operation:

Solving multi-step word problems (look for omission of steps or steps out of order):

(Continued)


Visual-Motor Integration

Gross/fine motor abilities:

Handwriting/printing:

Letter formation/size/spacing:

Length of time to copy or complete:

Accuracy of copying:

Organization of work on paper:

(Continued)39

Ease of transition from manuscript to cursive:


Following directions (understanding the language of the direction):

Receptive language:

Social relations related to language weakness:

41

Giving the TAAS (Test of Auditory Analysis Skills)

The test starts off with two demonstration itemsthat are intended to show the child what he orshe is expected to do. The first (item A) goeslike this: “ Say cowboy.” (Now pause and allowhim or her to respond. This lets you know thathe or she heard the word.) Then say “Now say itagain, but don’t say boy.” Give him or her timeto respond. (The correct answer, of course, iscow.)

If he or she gets this one correct, move on to thesecond demonstration item. If he or she does notget item A correct, attempt to explain the taskto the child. If it requires more than a simpleexplanation, stop testing.

The second demonstration item (item B) is “Saysteamboat.” (Pause – wait for the response.)“Now say it again, but don’t say steam.”

If the child answers both demonstration itemscorrectly, start the test with item 1. If the childdoes not answer both demonstration itemscorrectly, do not administer any more items.Stop testing when the child has answered two ina row incorrectly.

Item Question Correct Response

A. Say cowboy Now say it again, but don’t say boy cow (Preschool)B. Say steamboat Now say it again, but don’t say steam boat (Preschool)1. Say sunshine Now say it again, but don’t say shine sun (Kindergarten)2. Say picnic Now say it again, but don’t say pic nic (Kindergarten)3. Say cucumber Now say it again, but don’t say cu(q) cumber (Kindergarten)4. Say coat Now say it again, but don’t say /k/ (the k sound) oat (Grade 1)5. Say meat Now say it again, but don’t say /m/ (the m sound) eat (Grade 1)6. Say take Now say it again, but don’t say /t/ (the t sound) ache (Grade 1)7. Say game Now say it again, but don’t say /m/ gay (Grade 1)8. Say wrote Now say it again, but don’t say /t/ row (Grade 1)9. Say please Now say it again, but don’t say /z/ plea (Grade 1)10. Say clap Now say it again, but don’t say /k/ lap (Grade 2)11. Say play Now say it again, but don’t say /p/ lay (Grade 2)12. Say stale Now say it again, but don’t say /t/ sale (Grade 3)13. Say smack Now say it again, but don’t say /m/ sack (Grade 3)

(Rosner 1979)

For each statement that you have checked, put a checkmark or X under the corresponding deficit columnsindicated in the chart on the last page of this section.

Once you have identified a potential area(s) of weakness, go to the more specific checklist and strategiesfor the indicated area(s).

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Checklist for General Warning Signs

Use the following checklist to help you to identify areas of weakness regarding your students.

Check each of the warning signs that apply to the student being considered. Each of these statements isfollowed by a set of capital letters that will help you to further identify specific areas of processingweakness. The capital letters represent the following:

V: Visual VS: Visual Spatial A: Auditory

O: Organization L: Language At: Attention

M: Memory Ma: Math W: Written

q Is the student an adequate oral speller, but apoor written speller? (V)

q Does the student appear to listen, butprocess the information heard inaccuratelyor out of sequence? (A)

q Does the student have difficulty learningsounds and sound patterns (phonemicawareness, phonics, linguistic method)? (A)

q Does the student have difficulty makingdecisions? (At, O)

q Does the student act impulsively….speakbefore thinking…act beforethinking….answer before consideringpossibilities? (At)

q Does the student have difficulty making andkeeping friends? (At,L)

q Does the student find social situationsdifficult? (L)

q Does the student misperceive socialsituations? (At, L)

q Does the student have difficultydiscriminating size, shape or colour? (V,VS)

q Does the student have a poor sense of time?(VS)

q Does the student have difficulty with timeconcepts such as days, weeks, months,years? (VS,O)

q Is the student clumsy and does he or sheshow poor visual-motor co-ordination? (VS)

q Is the student totally dysfluent on paper(known as agraphia)? (W)

q Does the student lose the gist or thoughteasily when writing? (W)

q Does the student have difficulty copyingnotes from the board? (V,M)

q Does the student omit capitalization and/orpunctuation consistently? (W)

q Does the student have difficulty withabstract reasoning or with problem solving?(O)

Checklist for General WarningSigns

q Does the student seem disorganized in his orher thinking? (O, A)

q Are there reversals, inversions, ortranspositions in reading and writing beyondwhat you would usually see at your gradelevel? (V,VS,W)

q Is the student slow to respond when yougive a direction or ask for an oral response?(A,L)

q Is the student confused or slow to respondwhen asked to complete written work?(A,L,W)

q Is written work often not completed within atime limit? (W,O)

q Does the student consistently have difficultywith personal organization? (O)

q Is oral language often rambling ordisjointed? (A,L)

q Is expressive language in written form oftenrambling or disjointed? (At,L,O)

q Does the student have difficulty organizingand/or sequencing his or her thoughts whengiven a general topic or task? (At,O,W)

q Does the student have difficultyremembering what was just said or seen?(A,V, At, M)

q Does the student have difficultyremembering stored facts or coming up withthe appropriate word without prompting?(L,M)

q Is the student restless during videos orvisual presentations? (V)

q Does the student use both left and righthands in motor activities? (VS)

q Does the student tune out in noisyenvironments (may be viewed as adaydreamer)? (A)

q Does the student have difficulty recognizinga pattern or sequencing thoughts orpictures? (VS)

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q Does the student have difficulty with theconcepts of time, money, measurement,directionality and/or sequencing in math?(Ma)

q Does the student have difficulty withabstract or symbolic math concepts? (Ma)

q Does the student have difficulty choosingthe correct operation in math? (Ma)

q Does the student have difficulty filtering outnon-essential information - i.e. can he or shedirect his or her attention to the task athand? (At)

q Does the student have difficulty focusingand maintaining attention? (At)

q Does the student have difficulty with basiccalculation? (V,M,Ma)

q Does the student have difficulty with mathapplications? (V,M,Ma)

q Does the student have difficulty withabstract patterns and relationships betweennumbers? (VS,Ma)

q Does the student have difficultyunderstanding numerical order or placevalue? (Ma)

q Does the student express himself or herselfmuch better orally than in written form? (W)

q Does the student remember information for aday or two, but forget over the long term?(M)

q Does the student consistently forget how toprint his or her name, or forget his or herstreet address, simple number facts, namesof letters, etc.? (M)

q Does the student have difficulty with wordrecall? (M)

q Does the student have difficulty with mathfacts, formulas or the sequence in aformula? (Ma)

These characteristics should be evident at a

level beyond that which you would usually see

at your grade level.

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Deficit Chart

Locate the identification letters next to theboxes you checked in the previous checklist. Puta check mark for every letter under thecorresponding columns on this chart. Thecolumns with the most check marks are areasthat need further investigation.

A At L V VS W M O Ma

45

Characteristics of SpecificDeficit Areas with TeachingStrategies and Methods ofEvaluation

The next section of the resource book is dividedinto specific deficit areas. Each area contains amore specific checklist and a section on teachingstrategies and methods of evaluation.

The checklists will help to further determinewhether or not the student is displayingweaknesses related to a specific processing area.

Consider the characteristics listed in the areathat has been identified from the GeneralChecklist as a potential area of weakness, andplace a check mark beside the ones that apply tothe student. If a majority of the characteristicslisted for a specific deficit area are evident in thestudent, then go to the section(s) related to theteaching strategies and evaluation methodsincluded in that section.

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Attention Deficit

An attention deficit is the inability to filter out

extraneous auditory, visual or kinesthetic information

in order to focus and maintain attention to the task

at hand. Hyperactivity or impulsiveness may be

evident with this deficit.

The following is a list of characteristics that maybe evident in children with this deficit. Use thisas a checklist with regard to students’ who youthink may fit this category.

q The student is fidgety.

q The student is slow to respond when askedto give a direction, when asked for an oralresponse, or when asked to completewritten work.

q The student often misperceives socialsituations.

q The student leaves his seat at inappropriatetimes.

q The student runs or climbs or is generallyoveractive in inappropriate situations.

q The student talks excessively.

q The student has difficulty playing or workingquietly.

q The student is always on the go.

q The student tends to blurt out answers.

q The student has trouble waiting for his/herturn.

q The student interrupts often.

q The student has difficulty following throughon instructions.

q The student has difficulty maintainingattention on the task at hand.

q The student loses things necessary for tasksand activities at school or at home.

q The student has difficulty listening.

q The student fails to give close attention todetail.

q The student seems disorganized.

q The student has trouble with tasks thatrequire sustained focus.

q The student is forgetful

q The student is easily distracted.

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50

• Help to build self-esteem by displaying work orprojects that emphasize the child’s strengths.

• Use a signal to draw the child’s attentionback.

• Redirect physical energy, or ignore it.• Assign a classroom or study “buddy” to the

child.• Provide visual examples and steps for

completing assignments.• Provide an outline and ensure that the child

understands the exact requirements for his orher assignments.

• Provide the child with a copy of the readingmaterial with the main ideas highlighted.

• Allow the child to have practice tests prior totesting so he or she comprehends the structureof testing.

• Try using calming music when working on atask, testing, or during transition times.

• Provide an outline for lengthy readingassignments.

• Provide earphones and tapes of a text, book,or passage.

Evaluation

• Adjust the length of tests, not the level ofdifficulty. Measure knowledge, not endurance.

• Allow extra time for completion of tests.• Avoid visually crowded sheets or confusing

configurations on tests.• Arrange for a quiet area for the child to work

during testing.• Allow for scheduled breaks during testing.• Base evaluations on a demonstration of

knowledge of curriculum concepts andcontent, not simply on completion of all gradeassignments. This child may not be able tocomplete the same number of assignments, butmay display adequate knowledge.

• Consider open-book tests.• Give oral tests or make a scribe available

when necessary.• Consider providing the test on tape, to which

the student responds on an answer sheet.

Methods/Strategies:

• Put the child in a morestructured seating plan withhis or her back to classmates,away from high traffic areas.• Inform the child whenpossible, prior to all

scheduled changes in routine.• Give only one direction at a time.• Check with the child to see if directions have

been understood.• Activity-based lessons with lots of movement

work much better for this type of child. Try toprogram scheduled breaks into the day. Askingthese children to sit still for any length of time isan unreasonable request and most likely notpossible for them.

• A calm, positive manner is much moreproductive with this type of child.

• Plan organization strategies into this child’slesson ( see section on organization).

• Reduce the amount of homework given, but notthe level of difficulty of the task.

• Send home an extra set of textbooks tocircumvent memory lapses with regard tobringing books home or to school.

• Be patient, as these children become morefrustrated and tire more easily than others.

• Make eye contact with the child when givinginstructions.

• Establish daily contact, if possible, with theparents, e.g. notes in a homework book, TalkMail, or brief daily reports to be signed by theparents.

• Use classroom tokens for reward whenappropriate.

• Use encouraging statements to elicit appropriatebehaviours.

• Praise appropriate behaviour and ignoreinappropriate behaviour.

• Immediately give a reprimand if one is necessary.• Use time out when necessary.• Provide a quiet space to work without

distraction when appropriate and if possible.

• Assign oral reports or hands-on projects.• Give more weight for assignments or projects

that allow the child to show his or herunderstanding, using his or her strengtharea(s).

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52

q The student has difficulty learning soundsand sound patterns (phonemic awareness,phonics, linguistic method).

q The student is unable to retain sounds orwords long enough in order to make meaningfrom them.

q The student has a delay in languagedevelopment, vocabulary, or articulation.

q The student is unable to discriminatebetween similar sounding words (e.g. shutand shot).

q The student often looks to see whateverybody else is doing before carrying outdirections.

q The student prefers visual or active games tothose involving listening or speaking.

q The student may not respond as rapidly tosounds as others.

q The student is unable to explain in verbal orwritten fashion what he or she can achieveby doing.

q The student’s written or oral responses willappear very simple and will not be anaccurate indication of his or her knowledge.

q The student’s responses and comments mayoften appear to be dissociated from thetopic.

Auditory-Processing Deficit

An auditory-processing deficit is the inability to

interpret, organize, analyze, or synthesize an auditory

message in the absence of a hearing impairment. Many

children who have been diagnosed with Central

Auditory-Processing Disorder (CAPD) would fall

under this category.

The following is a list of characteristics that may beevident in children with this deficit. Use this as achecklist with regard to students who you thinkmay fit this category.

q The student tunes out in a noisy environment(may be viewed as a daydreamer).

q The student listens but processes theinformation heard inaccurately and often out ofproper sequence.

q The student is unable to follow oral directions,especially those given quickly.

q The student frequently asks for information tobe repeated (often uses question words suchas huh? what?).

q The student has difficulty retaining materialpresented orally.

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q The student experiences difficulty withdictated notes.

q The student experiences difficulty with shortand fast quizzes.

q The student experiences difficulty makingnotes from what the teacher has said.

q The student has difficulty sorting outbackground noises.

q The student has difficulty focusing on onesound among many.

q The student has difficulty answering oralquestions and repeating sentences.

Methods/Strategies:

• Place the student near the front of the roomor near the teacher, away from the door orwindow that may provide a source of auditorydistraction.

• Offer the student a study carrel to work in ifone is available.

• Place the student in a structured rather thanan open classroom if possible.

• Have most oral lessons in written form or inoutline form for this student.

• Place less emphasis on decoding words.Encourage the use of context and picture cues.

• Use taped books, as this will assist the child toassociate the auditory with a visual message.

• Intervene with phonemic awareness activitiesor programs.

• Make sure the student has eye contact withthe teacher when instructions are given, andensure that the student is attending to what isbeing said.

• Teach the student the mouth positionassociated with certain sounds, when teachingthese skills in the classroom.

• Speak in a slow and distinct manner, usingsimple vocabulary.

• Use gesture to reinforce what is being said.• Emphasize key words and word endings when

speaking or writing, especially whenpresenting new information.

• Paraphrase instructionsand information in simplerlanguage rather than onlyrepeating.

• Encourage the student toask questions whenconfused.

• Make instructional transitions clear.• Avoid asking the student to listen and write

notes at the same time.• Provide copied notes when necessary.• Show patience with these children as they tire

easily.• Monitor the student’s understanding of

directions by asking the student to repeat thedirection given.

• Pair the student with a peer helper who canassist the student when he or she has notgrasped the auditory message.

• Do not count spelling in daily work or testsituations.

Evaluation Strategies:

• Break the test into smaller portions.• Provide a scribe for testing.• Do not count spelling on a test.• Ensure that the student has understood the

directions for a test.• Give the student short directions,

explanations, and instructions to follow.• Provide written directions and instructions to

supplement verbal directions and instructions.• Identify a list of word endings, key words, etc.

that the student will practise listening forwhen someone is speaking.

• Have the student silently repeat or sub-vocalize information just heard.

• Deliver directions to the child individually.• Interact frequently with the student during

testing.• Give the student one task to perform at one

time.• Provide visual aids whenever possible.

54

• Provide a quiet place towrite a test.• Provide extra time whennecessary (usually time anda half is sufficient)• Allow point-formanswers to essay questions.

Visual-Processing Deficit

A visual-processing deficit is the inability to

interpret, organize, analyse or synthesize a visual

message in the absence of a visual impairment.

The following is a list of characteristics that maybe evident in children with this deficit. Use thisas a checklist with regard to students who youthink may fit this category.

q The student is inattentive to visual tasks andcan be easily distracted by too much visualstimuli (e.g. brightly coloured posters, or toomuch clutter in the classroom).

q The student is restless during videos orvisual presentations.

q The student has difficulty copying from theboard, test paper, calculator or textbook tothe student’s own paper.

q The student’s written copy may showmissing figures or words, reversals,inversions, additions, deletions, ortranspositions in letters or numbers.

q The student does not remember what he orshe has read silently

q The student rubs his or her eyes orcomplains that his or her eyes are bothering

him or her. The eyes may be botheredbecause of the intensity needed to decipherthe visual material.

q The student’s reading level is belowaverage.

q The student’s oral reading comprehension isbetter than his or her silent readingcomprehension.

q In math, the student is inattentive to functionsigns, omits steps in a formula, or confusesvisually similar formulas.

q The student is a poor written speller, but isan adequate oral speller.

q The student does not observe visualchanges or stimuli that other children notice(e.g. bulletin board displays, posted noticesin obvious places).

q The student’s directionality is weak, and thestudent gets lost in unknown places, oftencopies numbers reversed, inverted ortransposed from the original.


q The student’s work shows persistent spellingerrors.

55

Methods/Strategies:

• Reduce the amount of visual information on apage.

• Have the student use graph paper to assist himor her in lining up the numbers properly.

• Highlight or underline important phrases inthe student’s assigned reading.

• Assign fewer questions, but retain the level ofdifficulty given to an assignment.

• Have the student consistently use a wordprocessor for written work.

• Reduce distracting visual stimuli in theclassroom.

• Allow for extra time for written tasks.• Provide copied notes.• Allow the use of a calculator for math-related

activities.• Have the student use a sliding mask, finger, or

ruler when reading.• Use a scribe when necessary to record answers.• Be aware of the difficulty associated with

visual tasks such as matching.


• Provide oral testing.• Provide a scribe for testing.• Give extra time.• Be aware of the visual difficulty of particular

test questions.• Provide a model or example if possible.

56

Visual-Spatial Deficit

A visual spatial deficit is the inability to interpret,

organize, analyse or synthesize the spatial

components of a visual message in the absence of a

visual impairment.

q The student has poor handwriting orartwork.

q The student loses his or her place whenreading and skips important details orfigures on a page.


q The student’s mapping or graphing abilitiesare weak.

q The student consistently uses a finger tokeep his or her place when reading orfinding a word in a composition (poortracking).

q The student has poor skills when attemptingto accurately match letters and figures incorrect spaces (e.g. letter and numbermatching activities in columns).

q The student has difficulty locating specificwords in dictionaries or texts.

q The student’s papers are poorly organized,and information is scattered.

q The student has difficulty with depthperception and measurement.

q The student is clumsy.

q The student’s written work appears sloppy.

q The student has difficulty perceiving spacesbetween words and recognizing punctuationin written language.

q The student often pushes the wrongnumbers on a calculator or phone.

q The student has difficulty with time conceptsor with the passage of time.

Methods/Strategies:

• Have the student use outline format or visualorganizers.

• Encourage the use of a word processor.• Have the student use coloured overlays when

reading.• Encourage cursive writing rather than

manuscript to reduce reversals, inversions, etc.• Provide strategies for organization.• Have the student consistently use an agenda

or calendar to assist in preplanning. A peerhelper, volunteer or parent may assist with thistask.

57

• Use concrete, hands-onexamples wheneverpossible when introducinga new concept.• Have the student usegraph paper to assist inlining up numbers on apage.

• Reduce the amount of visual information thestudent has to absorb at one time.

• Reduce the number of assigned questions, butretain the level of difficulty.

• Use clay or other kinesthetic means whenintroducing letters in the early years.


• Provide oral testing or a scribe.• Allow blank visual organizers to be brought to

a testing situation, and evaluate theseorganizers if not enough time is available tothe student to translate the organizer towritten form.

• Accept point-form answers.• Allow calculator for math activities.• Limit the amount of visual information

presented on a test page.• Consider alternative methods, other than a

written test, of checking for understanding ofa concept.

• Allow extra time.

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• The student loses the gist or thought easilywhen writing.

• The student omits capitalization and/orpunctuation consistently

• The student can express himself or herselfmuch better orally.

Methods/Strategies:

• Consider alternative forms, other than writtentasks, of practising and demonstratingknowledge in a concept area.

• Encourage the use of a word processor.• Pair the student with a classroom buddy who

can do the writing for the child.• Utilize co-operative learning groups.• Model written work for the student to allow

him or her to imitate your sentence structures.• Allow the student to read his or her written

work aloud to help identify errors inorganization.

• Help the student “brainstorm” ideas about atopic and then show him or her how to putthese ideas into an outline form, combiningsome ideas and discarding others.

• Reduce distracting stimuli by placing thestudent in a study carrel or “office” whenengaged in writing activities.

Written-Expression Deficit

A written-expression deficit is the inability to

effectively communicate thoughts and ideas in a

structured, sequential, and organized form.

The following is a list of characteristics that maybe evident in children with this deficit. Use thisas a checklist with regard to students who youthink may fit this category.

• The student has poor or dysfunctionalhandwriting, otherwise known asdysgraphia.

• The student has total dysfluency on paper,known as agraphia.

• The student has poor spelling.

• The student has difficulty copying from theboard or from dictation.

• The student has poor visual-spatialperception (may start in odd places on thepage, use erratic spacing, use different sizesfor letters).

• The student prefers to print while others arewriting, or the student uses both printing andcursive writing in the same assignment.

• The student is much slower than others tocomplete written work.

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• Have a peer act as amodel for spelling wordsphonetically. Have thestudent read thematerial that the peerswrite phonetically.• Allow the student

to keep a dictionary of “most often misspelledwords.”

• Provide practice in spelling by using acomputer software program that gives thestudent immediate feedback.

• Try various activities to help strengthen andreinforce the visual memory of spelling words(i.e. flashcards, word lists on the chalkboard, alist on the student’s desk, etc.).

• Have the student maintain a folder of allspelling words.

• Place a grip on the pencil to enable thestudent to hold it more effectively.

• Allow the student to use wide-lined paper (forstudents at the beginning stages of learningprinting and cursive writing).

• Use computer paper to help the student writeletters at the correct height.

• Use paper with raised lines to help a studentwhose letters tend to go above or below theline.

• Allow the student to demonstrate knowledgein non-written form (i.e. oral report, artproject, play, etc.).

• Have the student practise air writing (ofcritical importance for dyslexic and dysgraphicstudents). This connects kinesthetic withvisual mode.

• Have a poster with a list of the qualities ofgood writing posted in the classroom.

• Provide specific organizational strategies forwriting, e.g. story maps/webs, visual organizers,flow charts, outlines.

• Allow the student extra time for copying orfor producing written assignments.

• Have copied notes available for the student.• Encourage the student to use a tape recorder

to record draft copies of written work.


• Permit the use of point form or visualorganizers for answers to essay questions orquestions of a similar type.

• Provide oral testing or a scribe when possible.• Follow up a written test with oral questioning

on missing parts.• Provide a word processor for tests.• Consider a take-home test.• Use fill-in-the-blank, true-or-false or matching

questions to reduce writing requirements.• Allow the student to answer questions, using a

tape recorder.• Have the student with visual perception

difficulties use a ruler to place under thequestion to guide him or her to the correctresponse box.

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Language-Processing Deficit

A language-processing deficit is the inability to

receive, comprehend, organize, and express language

in its appropriate forms in the absence of sensory

impairments.

The following is a list of characteristics that maybe evident in students with this deficit. Use thisas a checklist with regard to students who youthink may fit into this category.

q The student’s spoken language showslimited vocabulary, incomplete sentences,improper grammar, and confused or poorlysequenced thoughts.

q The student has word retrieval difficulties.

q The student has difficulty understanding themeaning of some phrases.

q The student does not express feelings orthoughts logically.

q The student says one thing, but writessomething else.

q The student substitutes words of similarmeaning.

q Peers and others often have difficultyunderstanding the student.

q The student has difficulty determining themain idea or theme.

q The student has difficulty identifying asequence in a story.

q When given a general theme, the studenthas difficulty generating or identifyingsupporting details.

q The student has difficulty linking andcategorizing verbal concepts.

q The student has poor spelling.

q The student’s written work is disorganizedand messy.

q The student needs to read a passage orstory several times before understanding itsmeaning.

q The student has difficulty followingdirections.

q The student’s work shows poor coherence inthe structure of sentences, paragraphs andlonger passages.

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Methods/Strategies:

Note: The strategies listed for auditory-

processing deficit are appropriate here as well.

• Allow the student ample time to read silentlyfor practice before asking him or her to readorally.

• Model slow, easy speech for the student and donot interrupt or finish his or her sentence.

• Slow down rate of speaking to allow the childto process the information.

• Assign the student to work with a classroomfriend who is a good language model.

• Establish a signal to remind the student toslow down and speak in complete sentences.

• Have the student record his or her speech toteach monitoring strategies.

• Emphasize the use of context cues.• Provide a language-rich environment.• Place an alphabet strip on the desk for

younger children.• Encourage the student to read a story more

than once.• Monitor reading material to ensure that the

level is appropriate.• Use high-interest books with accompanying

taped version for rereading.• Teach reading strategies that will help locate

information in a text.• Help the student use associate cues when

sequencing events.• Practice sequential activities.• Have the child retell stories he or she has

read.• Introduce and explain key vocabulary in

context.

• Use a multi-sensory approach.• Provide intervention in phonemic awareness.


• Provide oral testing or a scribe.• Adjust vocabulary usage in testing to suit the

language needs of the child.• Allow extra time for testing.• Provide a quiet space for testing.

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q The student has difficulty with abstract orsymbolic math concepts.

q The student has difficulty copying or readingnumbers.

q The student has difficulty choosing thecorrect process to use.

q The student has difficulty visualizing orverbalizing numeric information.

q The student has difficulty generalizing mathinformation to new situations.

q The student has difficulty with mathvocabulary.

q The student often responds with an answerthat bears no relationship to the mathquestion asked.

q The student has difficulty with basiccalculation/application.

Mathematics Deficit

A mathematics deficit is the inability to deal with

number and mathematical concepts.

The following is a list of characteristics that maybe evident in students with this deficit. Use thisas a checklist with regard to students who youthink may fit into this category.

q The student has difficulty distinguishing theimportant from the unimportant details inword problems.

q The student has difficulty recognizingpatterns or relationships among numbers.

q The student has difficulty putting facts in alogical sequence in order to find a solution.

q The student has difficulty remembering mathfacts, formulas or a sequence of formulas.

q The student perseveres with an improperprocedure.

q The student does not understand numericalorder or place value.

q The student has difficulty with such spatialmath concepts as time, money,measurement, directionality and sequencing.

q The student is consistently reluctant to beginany math task.

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Methods/Strategies:

• Use word problems that relate to the student’sexperiences.

• Use concrete manipulatives to demonstrateand practise problems before moving tosymbolic.

• Encourage the use of a calculator or mathcharts, ensuring that the process isdemonstrated in the child’s work.

• Have the child highlight key words for steps,directions or operations in questions given tohim or her.

• Use visual cues (e.g. stop signs or red dots) onthe paper when the student must changeoperations. Have the student raise his or herhand when reaching STOP signs, and providenecessary instructions to go on.

• Use colour coding (e.g. green for addition, redfor subtraction, etc.).

• Provide extra large symbols next to questionsin order that the student will be more likely toobserve the symbols.

• Provide practice in math by using a computersoftware program that gives the studentimmediate feedback.

• Use large coloured arrows to indicate wherethe student begins to work a math problem.

• Reduce the number of questions given to thestudent, but not the level of difficulty.

• For younger students, put a number line onthe desk.

• Have a math reference sheet or cue cards thatdemonstrate the steps to solving a particulartype of question.

• Ensure that the student has a clearunderstanding of the math vocabulary beingused.

• Use modeling frequently.• Have the student work with a classroom peer.• Teach strategies for checking math work.


• Evaluate on daily or weekly basis rather thanon lengthy tests or exams.

• If lengthy tests are required, do not mixconcepts at one time.

• Allow the use of a calculator or charts.• Provide a visual model with test questions to

demonstrate what is being asked.• Provide graph paper for lining up numbers

when working math problems.• Use personal experiences when designing

math problems.• Have oral testing for word problems.• Provide the student with a quiet place to

work.• Allow extra time to complete tests.• Highlight operational signs so that the student

is sure to notice the signs before beginning anoperation.

• Highlight key words on a test so that thestudent is sure to notice the words beforeanswering the question.

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Methods/Strategies:

• Provide structure and routine.• State directions clearly and directly. Try not to

wander off topic.• Clearly state the purpose or points to be

covered in a lesson prior to beginning. Acourse or project outline is helpful.

• Print key words on the board prior to eachlesson.

• Ensure that students write homework in anagenda or lesson book.

• Using a talk mail set up for at risk students,send a talk mail daily, stating homeworkrequirements.

• Use a binder to help keep materials together.• Use a colour coding system for subjects.• Have two sets of books, one for school and

one for home.• Model and teach strategies for approaching a

project. Try not to assume that the studentknows how to organize this task. Have thestudent transfer the steps of these strategiesonto a recipe card or index card, and tape tothe inside of a binder or scribbler.

• Post class rules or learning strategies in avisible location in the classroom.

Organizational Deficit

An organizational deficit is the inability to

internally structure for the purposes of planning,

monitoring, and evaluating information.

The following is a list of characteristics that maybe evident in students with this deficit. Use thisas a checklist with regard to students who youfeel will fit into this category.

q The student’s personal appearance isdisorganized, as are books, locker, desk,assignments and thoughts.

q The student speaks in a rambling,disorganized manner.

q The student is forgetful (e.g. forgets to takeassignments home, write out lessons, and/orbring back completed work).

q The student is often late or absent.

q The student is immature or impulsive.

q The student has difficulty making choices ordecisions.

q The student shows inconsistent behaviours.

q The student strays from the topic quickly.

q The student procrastinates when faced witha highly structured task.

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• Have the childsummarize notes or textreading, using visualorganizers.• Provide easy to followmnemonic devices whenavailable, for remembering

or organizing concepts; e.g. COPS ….Capitalization, Organization, Punctuation,Spelling… as a mnemonic for proofreadingand editing.

• For middle level, post or provide mark valuefor course components at the beginning ofeach unit.

• Involve parents in monitoring the student’shomework and projects.

• Assign a classroom buddy who will check thathomework is written and that the correctbooks are packed.

• Avoid giving homework verbally withoutwritten backup.

• Use co-operative learning techniques whenpossible to utilize the organizational skills ofothers.

• Keep an extra folder of handout sheets toreplace those “lost” by the student.

• Take a new student on a tour of the schooland explicitly point out specific locations suchas the gym and art room, as well as taking thestudent through a day’s schedule prior tostarting school.

• Allow the student to experience theconsequences of disorganization whenappropriate.

• Intervene when the student is disorganized.• Praise and reward the student for good

organization.


• Provide a scribe to ensure that the child hasunderstood what is being asked of him or her.

• Encourage the use of outlines, maps or visualorganizers for tests.

• When designing tests, make use of questiontypes that do not require as muchorganization; e.g. fill in the blank, true orfalse, multiple choice.

• Give extra time for testing.• Present assignments in small chunks.• Provide a model or example in test items.

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q The student forgets sequence, words, ordetails from orally presented materials(short-term auditory memory).

q The student has difficulty copying from theboard. He or she is slow to complete thesetasks and looks up constantly. The copiedwork may have omissions, additions orsubstitutions (visual short-term memory).

q The student takes longer to rememberinformation on tests.

q The student answers a previous questionwhen the teacher has asked a new one.

q The student has difficulty with timed oral orwritten tests.

q The student has difficulty with fill-in-the-blank questions.

Methods/Strategies:

• Use repetitive practice (drill) with thesestudents.

• Use a multi-sensory approach that considersmultiple intelligences when presentinginformation. This enhances memory.

• Present new material in short easy steps.• Use index cards to keep vocabulary words,

spelling words, or number facts at hand.

Memory Deficit

A memory deficit is the inability to retain and recall

information.

The following is a list of characteristics that maybe evident in students with this deficit. Use thisas a checklist with regard to students who youfeel may fit into this category.

q The student often does not remember whatwas done yesterday or the day previous tothat.

q The student can remember information for aday or two, but cannot recall over longperiods of time.

q The student will ask the same question asecond and third time.

q The student can’t remember a sequence ofevents.

q The student can remember that a topic wascovered, but cannot recall the details.

q The student forgets how to print his or hername, the street address, simple numberfacts, names of letters, etc.

q The student forgets homework.

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• Teach the child memory-enhancing strategies suchas mnemonics, rhyme,singing, finger math, etc.• Have the student repeatdirections you have givento ensure understandingand retention.

• Write directions on the board.• Ensure proper and consistent use of an agenda

or calendar.


• Consider methods other than a written test forevaluation.

• Use multiple choice questioning. Provide aword list when using fill-in-the-blankquestioning.

• Use cloze exercises with word choices.• Encourage the use of visual organizers, webs,

or outlines.• Permit the use of a calculator• Provide examples on the test to demonstrate

what is being asked.

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methods, strategies, materials and/or equipmentneeded to support these objectives. The writtenplan should indicate the method of monitoring,the reporting of progress, and each teammember’s responsibility.

For children with Specific Learning Disability,the Special Education Plan will reflect planningbased on helping them to further develop inareas of processing weakness; will indicateclassroom adaptations to methods ofpresentation, support, and evaluation thatrecognize the unique processing needs of thesechildren; and will reflect planning to help thechildren develop methods of coping with andunderstanding the uniqueness of their learningneeds and talents.

Development of a SpecialEducation Plan

A Special Education Plan according to the New

Brunswick Education Act is defined as thefollowing:

… an education program for anexceptional pupil is based on theresults of continuous assessment andevaluation and which includes a plancontaining specific objectives andrecommendations for educationservices that meet the needs of thepupil (Section 1)

A Special Education Plan is necessary forstudents who require adaptations to theirinstruction and/or to the material presented.Many children with Specific Learning Disabilitywill require planning to address their individualeducational needs.

A Special Education Plan should include anidentification of the strengths or talents of thechild, and of his or her needs with respect toprocessing difficulties as identified by theassessment process.

Collaborative planning is an integral part of thedevelopment of a Special Education Plan.Students, parents, classroom teachers, resourceteachers, administrators, and others that mayinclude guidance counsellors, district personnel,school psychologists, speech/languagepathologists share information related to thestudent, share their goals for the student’s futureand identify his or her strengths and needs. Thecollaborative group develops goals for whichshort-term objectives are then established.Responsibility for implementation andmonitoring is also assigned. Roles may beassigned to any member of the collaborativeteam. The written plan produced from thiscollaborative effort should include a currentlevel of performance, specific objectives based onthe collectively developed goals, as well as

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information to parents, the teacher should alsorecognize that the parent(s) may have a learningdisability and adjust his or her presentationaccordingly.

Parents are a key component in the developmentand implementation of a Special Education Planfor their child. Parents who are present atplanning meetings can help to establish goals forthe child that can be further developed by themin the home. Goals and objectives will be agreedupon by both home and school, and the parentscan feel that they have a legitimate stake in theimplementation of the Special Education Plan,and can be assigned activities or tasks that canbe carried out by them with specific goals inmind. In the development of a plan for thechild, the parents may be assigned soleresponsibility for parts of it, e.g. researching theirchild’s disability and seeking medical advice,obtaining a tutor, or enrolling the child inoutside social activities.

Once a collaborative vision for the child hasbeen established, and all clearly feel that theyunderstand and have a part in the planningprocess, then the welfare of the child isenhanced. The child’s school success iscontingent upon parental support andinvolvement.

Parents should also be a part of continuingplanning meetings for the child. Goals andobjectives will change from year to year, but theparents should always have a part in helping toaddress the needs of the child.

Parents often will need support during thedifficult period of identification, evaluation andimplementation. Teachers should be sensitive tothe turmoil that the parent(s) may be feeling.Referral to such groups as the LearningDisabilities Association of New Brunswick canbe beneficial to parents at this time.

Parents’ Role

Parents have an important role to play in thedevelopment and implementation of aneducational plan for children with SpecificLearning Disability. Parents also are an integralpart of the support mechanism for both thestudent and the teacher.

Parents are often the first persons to recognizewhen the child is struggling with schoolwork,and therefore may be key persons to make aninitial request for a referral to the school-basedteam to initiate the assessment process. Theymay notice that the child is taking extra time onhomework, is unhappy when dealing withcertain subjects or avoids certain school-relatedtasks. They may be concerned about theexcessive amount of time their child spends onhomework compared to the time others in thechild’s class spend. Parents often noticebehavioural patterns such as a reluctance to goto school, crying spells, or extended periods ofsadness that send warning signals that somethingis amiss.

Parents are a critical component in the referraland assessment process and the planning andimplementation that follow. The parent, usingsome of the general checklists or observationforms as guidelines can help to provideinformation that augments the teacher’sobservations of the child in the school setting.

Parents can also provide to the teacher abackground history of the early development ofthe child. Such early developmental historyoften gives clear warning signs of the possibilityof learning disabilities.

As learning disabilities are genetically inherited,parents can provide key information as to thepresence of learning disabilities in other familymembers. If other members of a family havestruggled with learning disabilities, then thelikelihood of a learning disability being presentin the child is much stronger. In presenting

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Coping Strategies

Children with Specific Learning Disability oftenfeel frustration in their day-to-day schoolexperiences. Feelings of being overwhelmed orfeelings of depression often accompany theanxiety and tension associated with their struggleto deal with their difficulties.

There are various avenues or strategies that canbe introduced into the lives of children withSpecific Learning Disability that will help themcope with the difficulties that they face. These“coping strategies” are often initiated by parentsand teachers in the hope that the student willbegin to develop these skills independently.

Teachers and parents should be aware of theneed to build a circle of friends for the student atschool and in the community. Socializing mayneed the direct intervention of parents andteachers if it does not occur on its own. Studentswith Specific Learning Disability need a peersupport group to help them through difficultdays. As well, students with Specific LearningDisability will need to develop skills for self-advocacy so that in the future they will be ableto indicate to people the adjustments andaccommodations necessary for their success inpost-secondary institutions and/or the workplace.

Parents and teachers will need to assist thestudents in the development of positive thinkingby fostering their self-esteem. It is often helpfulfor these children to find an adult mentor whocan assist them with their advocacy skills, andwho, by modeling, can show them ways ofdealing with frustration. Self-esteem is alsodeveloped through the identification andfostering of a talent.

More specific coping strategies can be developedthrough social skills or anger-managementgroups, through club activities, or through groupor personal counselling. Parents and teachersshould look at areas that will assist the child todevelop skills for independence in adult life.

Most children develop these skills withoutassistance. Often children with learningdisabilities will need explicit teaching in thisarea. The development of computer keyboardingskills will also be an asset in future life. Inaddition, parents and teachers will need toidentify and develop coping strategies related toassisting the child with academic areas. Thesestrategies, such as study skills, organizationalskills, memory strategies, etc., should beconsidered a toolbox from which the child canchoose the appropriate technique or tool.

Anxiety and its associated tension and stressfrequently plague children with SpecificLearning Disability. Therefore, they need todevelop coping strategies to manage theirreaction to stress, to help them relax, calm downand focus their energy on the task at hand.

Many of the breathing techniques associatedwith Yoga or similar philosophies will relax themuscles and counteract the negative effects ofthe anxiety built up as the child attempts adifficult task. Exercises involving slow deliberatemovement are also helpful. Further, visualizationtechniques and relaxation through the use ofsoothing music are all stress relievers that can beintroduced into the life of the child withlearning disabilities to help them cope with theirtension. (Adapted from “How to Reach and Teach

ADD/ADHD Children” by Sandra Rief 1993)

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As well, computer-assisted instruction is oftenhelpful for children with learning disabilities. Anumber of programs on the market, e.g. Academy

of Reading™, Fast ForWord™ and Plato™, allhave features which can accommodateindividual needs, particularly in basic skilldevelopment.

Assistive Technology

Assistive technology can often help to create anenvironment that nurtures individual styles andcreativity and that enables students to focus ontheir areas of strength. Through assistive devices,assignments and curriculum can be presented sothat students can demonstrate their true abilities.

Children with learning disabilities often benefitfrom the use of computers and othertechnologies. Students may be taughtorganizational skills for writing with suchprograms as Inspiration by Inspiration SoftwareInc., and enhance their finished materials byusing the spell check or hand held checks suchas the Franklin Electronic Dictionary or theFranklin Language Master available from FranklinElectronic Publishers. Often these students canbe taught keyboarding skills. Laptop computersor desktop keyboards, such as the Alpha Smart

2000 available from Intelligent PeripheralDevices Inc., allow students to easily transferwork from home to school.

Although still in the stages of being refined,voice activation software allows the studentswith oral abilities to express their thoughts onpaper. Current literature indicates that programssuch as Dragon Naturally Speaking have proven agreat benefit to children with learningdisabilities.

The use of touch screens allows access to certainsoftware programs to students for whom the useof a keyboard and mouse are not appropriateaccess devices. For very young children with finemotor difficulties, a modified mouse may provebeneficial.

For students with memory difficulties, calculatorsmay be necessary for math-related activities.Calculators with larger keys that give tactilefeedback may be of assistance to children whoare kinesthetic learners.

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Transition

Because services for students with learningdisabilities look very different at elementary,middle and high school levels, appropriatetransitioning is of paramount importance.

It is important, prior to school entry, that theschool obtain all pertinent information, such asthat provided by the age 3.5 screening, that mayassist in the identification of possible learningdifficulties. Diagnosis of a disability may nothave occurred before school entry, but priorinformation shared with the school may assist inan earlier referral to the school-based team for achild with a Specific Learning Disability.Support may initially be in the form ofconsultation with parents about the need forassessment. Upon the clarification of needs andnecessary support services through a diagnosticprocess, school-based teams and parents conferto develop a Special Education Plan andimplement appropriate strategies.

In the transition from elementary to middleschool, information pertaining to the studentmust be clearly defined. Intervention may be acombination of explicit teaching of weaker skillsand consultation/collaboration among teachers,with the long-range goal of increasing thestudent’s independence in the classroomsituation. Students must engage in an ongoingprocess of understanding and accommodatingtheir own needs and styles of learning.

It is imperative that services and adaptations bein place prior to a student attending a newsetting to avoid both frustration and anxiety. It isnot the parent’s responsibility to educate theteachers as to needs and necessary supports. Itmay be expected that at a high school levelstudents are able to advocate for themselves, butskills to do so are often not in place.

Ideally, in the planning for transition, the casemanager for the child (usually the resourceteacher) and school personnel from the receiving

school (to include the resource teacher) wouldmeet, prior to the end of the school year beforethe transition, to familiarize the receiving schoolwith the details of the child’s previous planning,and to outline the needed support for the comingyear. Educators must ensure that assessmentreports, Special Education Plans,accommodation checklists, etc. are passed on tothe new school, via the cumulative record and/orthrough resource or guidance files. It is theresponsibility of the receiving resource teacher tomake receiving classroom teachers aware of theneeds of the children with Specific LearningDisability that may be in their classrooms.

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• reading from a book that had been readpreviously

• the teacher taking a running record of a bookthat was introduced to a student the previousday to analyse the child’s strategies

• the teacher working with letters and sounds• the child dictating a sentence or a short story

pertaining to a book ( The teacher records thedictated sentence or story and then rereads itto the child. The teacher then rewrites themessage on a strip of paper, cuts it intoindividual words and asks the child toreconstruct the message. This book andscrambled sentence are both sent home to beread and assembled and brought back the nextday.)

• the next day the child reading the book andthe sentence being assembled again ( A newbook is introduced. The process begins again.)

It is recommended that at-risk children receivethirty minutes of daily one-to-one instruction fora period of up to twenty weeks or for a maximumof one hundred sessions.

Phonological Auditory Training – Spell

Read

Spell Read P.A.T. is built around the discoveriesof Kay MacPhee, a teacher with twenty-eightyears of experience and professional training.Kay began her career working with the hearingimpaired, and learned techniques to teach themhow to use what hearing they had to speak, readand write.

Her success in working with those studentsbrought the request that she consider using thesame techniques to help hearing children whowere struggling to learn to read and, as a result,were thought to be learning disabled. Shequickly realized that the hearing studentscouldn’t “hear” the sounds of the languageeither, just like the hearing-impaired studentscould not. As they learned how to automaticallyrecognize and manipulate the individual soundsof the language, their reading and writing skillsstarted to improve. With time, she developed

Resources

Short Term Remedial Methods for K-3

Currently, in the area of reading and particularlyin the area of learning disabilities, there has beenmuch emphasis on early identification ofdifficulties and the importance of a balancedapproach, with the inclusion of explicit teachingof skills as part of that balance. The National

Institute of Child Health and Human Development

has performed longitudinal studies that suggestthat a balance of emphasis on comprehension,phonemic awareness, phonics and fluency iscritical. (Lyon 1997)

The following programs suggested as examples ofshort-term interventions have been found to beuseful by some school districts and are only asampling of what might be used for explicitteaching of certain skills.

Reading Recovery

The Reading Recovery Program was firstdeveloped in New Zealand by educator andpsychologist Marie Clay. It is an earlyintervention program designed to help low-achieving six-year-old children to learn to readand write. Marie Clay believes that readingfailure is preventable for all but a very smallpercentage of children, and that any remediationbeyond grade three is largely unsuccessful. A fewteachers in New Brunswick have been given anopportunity to complete a year of training in theprogram, while others have adapted this programto suit their school’s needs and structure.

The program is an individual tutoring program inwhich a trained person meets with a child fort h i rty minutes each day outside the child’s re g u l a rc l a s s room. Although the teacher determ i n e swhat strategies to use, Reading Recovery lessonsoperate in a stru c t u red framework. Each dayteachers and students are involved in five majoractivities that include the following:

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and refined her techniques, to the point thatthey proved to be effective with adult students.(From presentation handout given by DuanePound of P.A.T. – Spell Read)

Early Success

This program available from Nelson, Canada isintended for use with a small group of children.Each of the skill areas involved incomprehension, fluency, phonemic awarenessand phonics is taught. The components of theprogram include reading for fluency, first readingbook walk, shared reading, making words,coached reading, individual reading,independent reading, writing sentences, andword wall. The program is not a total languagearts program, but rather is designed as a short-term intervention method.

Gift of Dyslexia

This orientation and symbol mastery program,designed by Ron Davis, is intended to assistchildren who experience difficulties with visualperception. It is a kinesthetic approach tolearning letters, symbols, and difficult targetwords.

Reading Reflex

This program, conceived by Carmen andGeoffrey McGuiness, uses the concept of phono-graphix and is one of the many programsavailable that moves from phonologicalawareness to sound symbol association. Thisprogram takes what the child knows, the soundsof his language, and teaches him/her the varioussound pictures that represent those sounds. It doesthis through developmentally appropriatelessons.

Academy of Reading

This program is a comprehensive, interactive,multimedia reading program designed toenhance literacy skills in children, adolescentsand adults. The program contains a wide variety

of assessment tools and several training programsthat help develop the skills necessary forsuccessful reading.

The program contains the following readingmeasures:

• Phonemic Awareness Test Battery• Reading Subskills Test Battery• Word Recognition• Oral Reading Comprehension• Silent Reading Comprehension• Cloze Paragraph Comprehension

On the basis of the assessment, each student isassigned lessons according to his or her needs.The management component of the programtracks the student’s progress and providesimmediate feedback to both the student and theteacher.

The Academy of Reading is an interventionprogram for struggling readers. It is not acomprehensive language arts program.

Fast ForWord

Fast ForWor d is a patented Internet-and CD-ROM-based training program for individualswith language and reading problems. Theproduct of decades of research in neuroscienceand neuropsychology, the program represents arevolutionary approach to understandinglanguage. In an intensive series of adaptive,interactive exercises using acoustically modifiedspeech and speech sounds, Fast ForWordstimulates rapid language-skill development aschildren learn to distinguish the variouscomponents of speech.

As children move into the more challenginglevels of the training, the program encouragesenhanced language awareness andcomprehension. On average, children withlanguage problems make 1 to 2 years of languagegains after completion of the 4 - 8 week program.

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Developing PhonologicalAwareness: Sequential Examples

1. Have the child clap his or her hands in timeto the syllables in a two-syllable compoundword, saying the syllables as he or she claps.

2. Have the child draw a dash, from left toright, for each syllable in a two-syllablecompound word as he or she says the word.Then ask the child to “read” the dashes inany order designated.

3. Say to the child, “Say baseball; now sayball.” Ask what was left out.

4. Say to the child, “Say baseball; now say itagain, but don’t say ball.”

5. Have the child clap his or her hands in timeto the syllables of a three-syllable word, e.g.vacation.

6. Have the child draw a dash from left toright for each syllable in a three (or more)syllable word. Then have the child “read”the dashes in any designated order.

7. Tell the child that he or she is going to lookfor a small word in the words you say. Thensay “Mor e. Is the word more hidden in theword morning?” Pause and wait for aresponse. “Farmer? mortgage? morbid? ”

8. Ask the child to find the hidden syllable:Say “Two; is the word two hidden in theword tomorrow?”Say “Toe; is the word toe hidden in theword tomorrow?”Say “Row ; is the word row hidden in theword tomorrow?”Say “Mar; is the word mar hidden in theword tomorrow?”

9. Have the child tell you which part of theword is missing; e.g. say “va ca tion .” Nowsay “cation”. Ask the child which part ismissing.

10. Have the child say the word without aspecific syllable; e.g. say “Say vacation.”Pause and wait for a response. Say “Now sayit again but don’t say va.”

The program consists of five 20-minute trainingsessions a day, five days per week, under thesupervision of Fast ForWor d-trained providers inprivate clinics and hospitals, public and privateschools, or Fast ForWor d Learning Centres.

On-screen rewards for successful completion oftraining segments are supplemented withinteresting token economy rewards, which areawarded with the achievement of point goalsdetermined in conjunction with the child andparents.

Results from the exercises are analysed daily andcompared with the child’s progress to date. TheFast ForWord professional/educator can accessthe child’s historical data and interpretivesummaries online that can be shared withparents during scheduled consultationsthroughout the training.(www.scientificlearning.com/html/ff/intro.html)

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11. Have the child find the hidden beginningsound of a word; e.g. say “Does the wordmat begin with /m/?” Say the letter soundnot the letter name.

12. Have the child tell you which sound ismissing in a word; e.g. say “Say many.”Pause and wait for a response. “Now sayany….. What sound is missing?” You arelooking for the sound, not the letter name.

13. Have the child say a word and then omit asound; e.g. say “Say dart…..now say it againwithout the /d/.”

14. Have the child find the hidden final soundof a word; e.g. say “Say make .” Pause andwait for a response. “Does the word makeend with a /k/ sound?” Use a variety ofwords, some ending with /k/, some with /k/in the middle of the word, and some withno /k/ sound.

15. Have the child identify the missing finalsound of a word; e.g say “make” ..now say“may.” Ask the child to identify themissing sound.

16. Have the child say a word omitting the finalsound; e.g. say “Say pleat. Now say itwithout the /t/.”

17. Have the child substitute the beginning orfinal sound; e.g. say “Say table…now say itagain, but instead of /t/ say /k/ .” “ Say lace.Now say it again, but instead of /s/ say /t/.”

18. Have the child substitute the initialphoneme of a consonant blend; e.g. “Saydrip. Now say it again, but instead of /d/ say/t/.”

19. Have the child substitute the secondphoneme of a consonant blend; e.g. “Sayflee. Now say it again, but instead of /l/ say/r/.”

20. Have the child omit the final syllable in athree-syllable segmentation; e.g. “Sayacrobat . Now say it without bat.”

21. Have the child substitute either a short orlong vowel in the medial position of a word;e.g. “Say spit. Now say it again, but insteadof /i/ say /o/.”

22. Have the child blend three-or four-letterwords; the teacher says /k/ /a/ /t/ and asksthe child to put the sounds together tomake a word.

23. Have the child segment the sounds in aword; e.g. “Say skin . Now say each sound inthe word…/s/ /k/ /i/ /n/. ” Make sure thechild has given the sounds and not theletter names.

24. Have the child identify rhyming words; e.g.“Do pan and man rhyme?”

25. Have the child produce his or her ownrhyming words; e.g.“Give a word the rhymeswith bat?”

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q Division of long assignments into parts

q Organization mentor

q Individual/personal schedule

q Outline provided for all special projects

q Extra set of texts for home

Tutorial Assistance:

q Peer tutor

q Peer helper

q Noon-hour or after-school tutoring

q Mentoring

Testing/Evaluation:

q Scribe

q Small group

q Quiet alternate setting

q Adjusted test format (multiple choice,true/false, etc.) in lieu of essay

q Open book

q Access to computer

q Oral testing

q Practice tests provided or examples givenon tests

q Provincial assessment accommodations(see provincial guidelines)

q Blank visual organizers provided with test

q Frequent short quizzes in lieu of exams

q Extra time ( usually time and a half)

q Evaluation of daily work only

q Word choices provided for fill-in-the-blankquestions

Homework/Study:

q Test outline and preview provided

q Mentor

q In-school study program

q Reduced number of assigned questions

q Extra time for project completion

q Alternate format to written assignment

Accommodations

Memory Devices:

q Charts, tables, number lines

q Calculator

q Mnemonics

q Visual organizers, outlines, maps

q Tactile kinesthetic materials

Note Taking:

q Near rather than far point copying

q Verbal notes on tape

q Photocopied notes

q Student note taker

q Key words and phrases only

q Point-form notes

q Word processor for notes

q Teacher’s copy of notes provided

Written Language/Spelling:

q Access to computer with spell check

q Scribe

q Adjusted expectations for length ofassignment

q Spelling not counted in daily work or testsituations

Reading:

q Taped texts

q Taped novels

q Peer helper for reading

q Large print

q Written directions read to students

Organization:

q Monitoring of student agenda

q Colour coding of notebooks

q Personal calendar/time line assistance

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Suggested Websites

LD Online:This is an excellent source of information on thetopic of learning disabilities. Each week itprovides articles on a particular theme related tolearning disabilities on its web page. You alsohave the opportunity to link with a FAQ page,in-depth articles, first-person stories, or a bulletinboard.

www.ldonline.org/index.html

CEC: LDThis is the website for the Learning Disabilitiesdivision of the Council for ExceptionalChildren. Some articles are available from thissource. It gives links to related sites.

www.bgsu.edu/colleges/edhd/programs/DLD

CLDAThis is the main page for the LearningDisabilities Association of Canada.

http://educ.queensu.ca/~lda/maine.htm

CAPDThis is a general webpage on Central Auditory

Processing Disorder that will give links to furtherinformation.

www.theshop.net/campbell/central.htm

CHADDThis is the main webpage for the Association for

Children and Adults with Attention

Deficit/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

www.chadd.or g

Fast ForWor dThis is the main webpage that gives informationon the program FastForWord

www.scientificlearning.com/html/educators/prointro.html

Videos:

The following videos are available from WETAVideos,22-D Hollywood Ave., Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ 07423

“How Difficult Can This Be?” with RichardLavoie

“Last One Picked..First One Picked On” withRichard Lavoie

“When the Chips Are Down” with RichardLavoie

For further information on Attention Deficit

Disorder, the following videos, available from ChildManagement, Inc , Carol Stream, IL, are

suggested:

“All About Attention Deficit Disorder Part I:Symptoms, Development, Prognosis andCauses” with Thomas Phelan

“All About Attention Deficit Disorder Part II:Diagnosis and T reatment” with Thomas Phelan

Other Resources:

The Academy of Reading program is availablefrom Autoskill International Inc., Ottawa,Canada.

The Fast ForWor d program is available fromScientific Learning Corporation, Berkley, CA.

For more information on phonemic awareness,see the following:

• “Phonemic Awareness in Young Children” byMarilyn Jager Adams et. al., Paul H. BrooksPublishing Co. Baltimore, Maryland, 1998;listed in the current Instructional Resourcescatalogue.

• The Test for Auditory Analysis Skills(TAAS) included with the forms in thisbooklet is from “Helping Children Overcome

Learning Difficulties” by Jerome Rosner, Walkerand Company, New York, 1979.

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• The Phonological Awareness ProfileTestfrom LinguiSystems. Contact 1-800-PROIDEA

For more information on P.A.T.-Spell Read ,contact Heritage Court, 95 Foundry Street, Suite114, Moncton, N.B. E1C 8N8

For more information on The Gift of Dyslexia ,contact New Discoveries in Learning, P.O. Box1019, Windsor, CA 95492

For more information on Reading Reflex ,contact Read America, Inc. or ask for ISBNnumber 0-684-83966-0 at a local bookstore.

For more information on Early Success , contactITP Nelson, 18 George Samuel Drive,Hammonds Plains, N.S. B4B 1L9

For more information on assessment materials,refer to the “Testing Materials Resource Book”,M.D. Angus & Associates, Ltd., Canada, 2ndFloor, 2639 Kingsway Ave., Port Coquitlam, B.C.V3C 1T5

Learning Disabilities Association of NewBrunswick, 420 York Street, Fredericton, N.B.E3B 3P7. Phone: (506) 459-7852

Dolch Sight Word Lists are available from DLMTeaching Resources, 1 DLM Park, Allen, Texas,75002

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Answer Key for Examples ofProcessing Difficulties

Example of Difficulty with VisualProcessing when Reading

Do you remember the story of the Three BillyGoat’s Gruff? There was a big billy goat, a middlesize billy goat, and a little one. When they wantedsome nice green grass, they would walk acrossthe bridge to a field where the grass was tall andgreen. But guess who lived under the bridge?Yes, it was a troll.

Example of Language Deficit whenReading

1. The main characters were Blix and Splox.2. They grummed blantily as they bronted along.3. Blix and Splox were sniped because the cront

was jilp.4. They were sniped with their bluxy drant.

Example of Difficulty withComprehension of Visual Material

Little Red Riding Hood

(Here’s a little fairy story telling other words –words which are altogether different from theones in the original version)

Once upon a time there was a little girl who livedwith her mother in a little cottage on the edge ofa large, dark forest. This little girl often wore apretty little red cloak with a little red hat, and forthis reason people called her Little Red RidingHood.

One morning Little Red Riding Hood’s mothercalled her and said, “Little Red Riding Hood,here’s a little basket with some bread and butterand sugar cookies. Take this little basket to thecottage of your grandmother who lives on theother side of the……”

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83

Bibliography

Books and Manuals

Alberta Education. Special Education Branch.Programming for Students with Special Needs:

Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities.

Edmonton, Alberta, 1996.

Catts, Hugh and Tina Vartiainen. Sounds

Abound: Listening, Rhyming, Reading. EastMoline, Il. : LinguiSystems Inc., 1993.

Davis, Ron with Eldon M. Braun. The Gift of

Dyslexia. Perigree Books, Rev. ed., 1997.

Guerin, Gilbert and Arlee S. Maier. Informal

Assessment in Education. Palo Alto, CA:Mayfield Publishing Co., 1983.

Jager-Adams, Marilyn. Phonemic Awareness in

Young Children. Baltimore, Maryland: PaulH. Brooks Publishing Co., 1998.

McCarney, Stephen B., Kathy CumminsDunderlich and Angela Marie Bauer. The

Pre-Referral Intervention Manual. Columbia,MO: Hawthorne Educational Services Inc.,1993.

McCarney, Stephen B. and Angela Marie Bauer.The Learning Intervention Manual . Columbia,MO: Hawthorne Educational Services,1989.

McGuiness, Carmen and Geoffrey. Reading

Reflex: The Foolproof Phono-Graphix Method

for Teaching Your Child to Read. New York,NY: The Free Press, 1998.

Rief, Sandra. How to Reach and Teach

ADD/ADHD Children. West Nyack, NY:The Center for Applied Research inEducation, 1993.

Rosner, Jerome. Helping Children Overcome

Learning Difficulties. New York, NY: Walkerand Company, 1979.

Sears, Evelyn F. How to Detect Reading/Learning

Disabilities Using The WISC-III. Newark,DE: International Reading Association,1997.

Shalaway, Linda. Learning to Teach…not just for

beginners. Jefferson City, MO: ScholasticProfessional Books, 1998.

Winebrenner, Susan. Teaching Kids with Learning

Difficulties in the Regular Classroom.Minneapolis, Minnesota: Free SpiritPublishing Inc., 1996.

Articles

Bray, Candice M. “Developing Study,Organization, and Management StrategiesFor Adolescents with LanguageDisabilities”: Seminars in Speech and

Language, V16, 1 (Feb. 1995) : pgs. 65 - 83

Freedman, Evelyn and Elizabeth Wing.“Classroom Management and Instructionfor Adolescents with Language Disabilities”:Seminars in Speech and Language, V16, 1(Feb. 1995): pgs. 46 - 64

Lerner, Janet W. “Preventing Reading Difficultiesin Young Children.” National ResearchCouncil, March 1998.

Lyon, G. Reid. “Report on Learning DisabilitiesResearch.” LD Online, National Institute ofChild Health and Human Development,July 1997.

Richards, Regina G. “Strategies for Dealing withDysgraphia.” LD Online, May 1999.

Richards, Regina G. “ Writing Made Easier.” LDOnline, March 1999.

Shore, Kenneth. “ The Disorganized Student”:Special Kids Problem Solver. Columbus, OH:Prentice Hall, 1998.

Smith, Judith Osgood. “ BehaviourManagement.” LD Forum – Council forLearning Disabilities, Fall 1995.

Sturomski, Neil. “Teaching Students withLearning Disabilities to Use LearningStrategies.” LD Online. The NationalCenter for Learning Disabilities, 1999.

“Visual and Auditory Processing Disorders.” LDOnline. The National Center for LearningDisabilities, 1999.

“Understanding Processing Deficits.” LD Online,May 1999.

Tests

Burns and Roe. Informal Reading Inventory, 4thed. Toronto: Houghton Mifflin Company,1993.

Kaufman, Nadeen T. Kaufman Test of Educational

Achievement (KTEA). Circle Pines,Minnesota: American Guidance Service,1985.

The Psychological Corporation. Wechsler

Individual Achievement Test (WIAT). SanAntonio, Texas: Harcourt Brace &Company, 1992.

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Documents

Resource for the Identification and Teaching of …...characteristics associated with Specific Learning Disability, and information regarding practical teaching methods and strategies