Learners+with+Disabilities

The term "learning disabilities" describes a neurobiological disorder that affects people's ability to either interpret what they see and hear, or to link information from different parts of the brain. Some characteristics of learning disabilities : slow to learn the connection between letters and sounds * Confuses basic words (run, eat, want, was) Learners with speech impairments are individuals whose speech differs in significant ways from that of others in their age groups. They experience difficulties associated with making certains sounds, stuttering, and maintaining an appropriate vocal quality. Many have low self-images. Consequently, many students with speech inpediments drop out of school. || || [|link] || Children with mental retardation may take longer to learn to speak, walk, and take care of their personal needs such as dressing or eating. They are likely to have trouble learning in school. They will learn, but it will take them longer. There may be some things they cannot learn. || || [|Link] || Children and adolescents can have emotional health disorders that interfere with the way they think, feel, and act. When untreated, emotional health disorders can lead to school failure, family conflicts, drug abuse, violence, and even suicide. Untreated emotional health disorders can be very costly to families, communities, and the health care system. || || [|Link] || The definition of ADHD... ADD...and Attention Deficit Disorder...all mean the same thing.It's a condition that develops within some children in their early childhood years, but can continue into adulthood. ADD/ADHD can make it difficult for people to be able to control their behavior, as well as various other symptoms. It's estimated that 5 million children in the United States have ADHD/ADD ADHD/ADD symptoms include inattentive, impulsive and hyperactive behaviors ADHD/ADD is not a reflection of a child's intelligence nor caused by poor parenting ADHD/ADD is more common in people who have a close relative with the condition || || Link || Children with Autism have less activation in the deep parts of the brain responsible for executive function (attention, reasoning and problem solving). Their strengths include visual processing and weaknesses are auditory processes. Different instructional methods are necessary for children with Autism in order for them to develop skills in all areas. When working with children who are Autistic, it's important to use visual schedules so the child knows what to expect. || || Link ||
 * Name || Topic || Image || Link ||
 * Van Stedum, Ann || Learners with specific learning disabilities 46%
 * Makes consistent reading and spelling errors including letter reversals (b/d), inversions (m/w), transpositions (felt/left) and substitutions (house/home)
 * Transposes number sequences and confuses arithmetic signs
 * Has trouble following directions || [[image:http://ts1.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=1463958444780&id=17c6f38165938f5c6a1a6b2bcdfe835a&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.looklocally.com%2fimages%2fmedia%2f10580%2fimage-bb-learning-disability-dallas.jpg width="128" height="80"]] || [|Link] ||
 * VanKekerix, Erin M. || Learners with speech impairments: 17.4%
 * Wald, Timothy J. || Learners with some degree of mental retardation: 9.7%
 * Whitney, Megan P. || Learners suffering from severe emotional disturbance: 7.6%
 * Wilson, Vanessa R. || Leaners with ADD/ADHD
 * Wilts, Ashley J. || Learners with Autism
 * Reiss, Anthony J. || Learners with Hearing Impairments

Over time, the average hearing impaired student shows an ever increasing gap in vocabulary growth, complex sentence comprehension and construction, and in concept formation as compared to students with normal hearing. Hearing impaired students often learn to "feign" comprehension with the end result being that the student does have optimal learning opportunities. Therefore, facilitative strategies for hearing impaired students are primarily concerned with various aspects of communication. Other problems arise because deafness is an invisible disability. It is easy for teachers to "forget about it" and treat the student as not having a disability. It has also been shown that hearing impaired students with good English skills also have good science concept formation. (After "Mainstream Teaching of Science: A Source Book", Keller et al.)
 * Deaf**: "A hearing impairment which is so severe that a child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification, which adversely affects educational performance."


 * Hard of Hearing**: "A hearing impairment, whether permanent of fluctuating, which adversely affects a child's educational performance but which is not included under the definition of 'deaf'."


 * Deaf-Blind**: "Simultaneous hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational problems that a child cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for deaf children or blind children." (All definitions are from IDEA.) || [[image:http://hearing.surgery.duke.edu/wysiwyg/images/impant.jpg width="116" height="132" caption="http://hearing.surgery.duke.edu/wysiwyg/images/impant.jpg"]] || [|Link] ||