"The day-to-day lives of people with a learning disability and their families have always been much affected

by the way they are perceived and treated by the communities they live in. The history of public and private attitudes over the last three centuries is one of intolerance and lack of understanding. (Mencap, UK)

The Challenge
our philosophy is that every child can learn, and it is our job to find out how to reach each one.

The School

Reporter: Mr. GARY P. LAGATIERA

any individuals whose physical, mental, or behavioral performance is so different from the norm--either higher or lower--that additional services are needed to meet the individuals needs.

is a generalized disorder appearing before adulthood, characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors. It has historically been defined as an intelligence quotient score under 70.

1.

Mild Mental Retardation are likely to need only intermittent to limited support typically do not look different from their non- disabled peers often have only mild or moderate development delays except in academics, they are often not identified until they enter the school setting

2. Moderate Mental Retardation

will probably need limited to extensive supports they have a recognizable syndrome they look different than their non- disabled peers their development is often significantly delayed they are typically identified as infants or toddlers

3. Severe Mental Retardation generally need services at the pervasive level, typically throughout life they have multiple disabilities (in mobility and communication)

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Down Syndrome Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Genetic Problems during pregnancy Problems at birth Exposure to certain types of diseases/ toxins Iodine deficiency Malnutrition

refers to a variety of disorders that affect the acquisition, retention, understanding, organization or use of verbal and/or non-verbal information. range in severity and invariably interfere with the acquisition and use of one or more of the following important skills: oral language (e.g., listening, speaking, understanding) reading (e.g., decoding, comprehension) written language (e.g., spelling, written expression) mathematics (e.g., computation, problem solving)

(2003 Mexico Child Link All Rights Reserved. 80 Locksley Park, Belfast, BT10 0AS)

1.

Reading Skills
poor decoding skills poor reading fluency slow reading rate lack of self- monitoring reading skills poor comprehension and /or retention difficulty identifying important ideas in context extreme difficulty building ideas and images difficulty integrating new ideas to existing knowledge weak vocabulary skills extreme difficulty understanding words or grammar

2. Spelling Skills
phonological awareness is noticeably stronger than spelling ability frequent spelling errors of high frequency words extreme difficulty with homonyms and / or regular spelling patterns no understanding of the relationship of phonics to written language no understanding of common spelling rules inadequate understanding of phonics even with instruction

3. Written Expression Skills

poor writing fluency unable to compose complete, grammatical sentences difficulty organizing written information poor handwriting extremely poor alignment inability to take notes or copy information from a book or the board oral expression is noticeably stronger than written expression extremely weak proofreading skills

4. Oral Language Skills

inability to hear small differences between sounds, not attributable to a hearing loss, particularly vowel sounds difficulty articulating thoughts or ideas orally difficulty pronouncing words inability to blend sounds together to form words difficulty listening and responding to a series of directions disorganized recall of facts or details

5. Mathematical Skills
poor mathematical fluency difficulty memorizing multiplication tables difficulty identifying multiples and / or factor poor basic calculation skills difficulty understanding word or application problems lower visual perceptual and visual- spatial ability inability to transfer basic mathematical concepts to solve problems with unpredictable information inability to use basic facts within more complex calculations

6. Memory Skills extremely weak ability to store and retrieve information efficiency extremely weak ability to hold information for immediate use

7. Reasoning Skills extremely weak ability to solve problems, particularly when information or procedure is unfamiliar extreme difficulty recognizing, transforming, or using specific information to reach general conclusions

displays a behavior that is markedly different from that exhibited by others. refuses to abide by the expectation of his parents, school or society, in relation to the standard behavior. it is difficult to diagnose, since there are no visible physical symptoms. it is believed to be the result of brain injury, child abuse, trauma, or even a genetic disorder.

aggressive towards people and is often found to play wicked tricks on them hardly found child being affected by the pain of others or showing regret for mean actions There have complaints of the child destroying property, like defacing school desks, indulging in vandalism tends to show little or almost no empathy, compassion and concern for others. shows open defiance and refuses to adhere to any rules and regulations

there are frequent tantrums does not have any friends in school involved in smoking, drinking, drug usage or early sexual activities

love care understanding trust/ confidence develop self- esteem give responsibilities patience attention medication

Lucas, M.R.D.,PhD., Corpuz, B.B.,Ph.D. (2007).Facilitating learning: metacognitive Process, Lorimar Publishing Inc. ` Aquino, A.M.,EdD.(2008). Facilitating human learning, Rex Book Store Inc. ` http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_ retardation#Cause  http://www.cloudnet.com/-edrbsass/ mrcharacteristics.htm ` http://www.msjc.edu/StudentServices/ LearningSkillsProgram/Pages/LearningDisabilities-Cahracteristics.aspx
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