Running Head: Learning Disabilities Summary

Learning Disabilities Summary

Melissa Rosanio and Ellen Will

Dr. Nahmias

SERP 405
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Abstract

For this Learning Disabilities Summary we observed a students reading, writing, applied

problems, and behaviors in his academic setting. These settings vary from resource classrooms to

a co-operative general education and special education classroom with instructors from both

areas. Our data suggests that the student (David) has a specific learning disability in reading. We

believe his inability to focus and his hyperactive tendencies lean towards Attention Deficit

Hyperactivity Disorder. He has also received an Autism diagnosis. Based on our observations we

can tell where David struggles academically. We can also identify what types of instruction and

support he needs while at school.

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Description of Student:

David is a sixteen year old who attends a magnet high school in the Tucson Unified

School District. He has been diagnosed with a Specific Learning Disability. His learning

disability affects his reading, math, and written expression. We were able to observe David

during his writing, reading, and science instruction.

Since David was determined to have a specific learning disability, he is eligible to receive

special education services. David has six classes in a regular school day, and four of those classes

he takes in a resource room the other two classes are a mix of general education students and

special education students. These classes are co-taught with a general education teacher and an

experienced special education teacher. Being in this resource room gives him access to one on

one attention that is crucial for his success with assignments and tasks. However, he opts out of

the help in almost every class because it attracts unwanted attention. When he does not accept the

supporting staff member, the instructor will inform him he has to work with a group instead of

working alone at his personal desk. David does not like working on reading, writing, or math, so

he has a tendency to drag out completing his assignments.

Reading:

Reading is one subject that David works hard to avoid. Instead of completing reading

assignments he prefers to use his cell phone, watch videos online, or sleep. Given the ultimatum

to either work in a group or get help from a support staff, he will try to convince his other

classmates to read for him. Reading aloud is incredibly difficult for David; he has poor fluency,

which causes him to get frustrated and usually to give up. Based on our observation, we noticed

he struggles with his pacing, verbalizing punctuation, and splitting words into parts. He carries

on his sentences without acknowledging the punctuation, which also leaves his reading sounding
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monotone and flat. When presented with a passage that is longer than three or four sentences, he

often gets lost because he has a hard time focusing. This leads to David becoming distracted by

the fact that he cant find his place in the reading. We provided him with a line-to-line guide to

help him keep track of his place, especially with the long passages. Another struggle for David

with reading is his very limited vocabulary. We see this reflect in his reading when he comes to a

word he does not know instead of trying to decode it and figure out its meaning, he will skip the

word and keep going. Or he will replace the challenging word with a word he is more

comfortable with using, in some cases the words are spelled similarly. By doing this, the

meaning of the text is altered and his comprehension is impaired. Along with poor

comprehension, he has a hard time recalling information and applying it when needed. Although

he struggles tremendously with reading he does have the capabilities to read passages with

support.

Writing and Written Language:

Another area that David has a hard time with is writing and written language. He is able

to write short and choppy sentences when asked to write about a story or given a prompt, but

struggles with written and oral expression. As previously stated, David has a very limited

vocabulary, which means he also has very limited spelling skills. He tends to only use words he

is comfortable with spelling or words that he can spell without asking for extra assistance. He

also completely ignores verb tense when writing and speaking. When told to self correct his

work or to double-check it before turning it in for a grade, he has a hard time finding his

punctuation errors. Although he struggles in many areas in writing there are many things that we

believe he could benefit greatly from. For example, having a prompt to base his writing off of, or

having sentence starters with fill in the blank options. Despite his limited vocabulary, we found
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that he can pick out context clues, which is something we would like to explore further. Giving

him the task of filling in a blank may work well if he is given a long enough passage to work off

of. The only problem we see with giving him multiple accommodations is that he has the

tendency to skip over the strategies he is taught and ask his teacher for the answer unless the

supporting staff tells him otherwise in his classes.

Mathematics:

We were unable to observe David during his math instruction, however we did get to see

him do work through problem solving. Over the observation period we learned that David has

the tendency to ask questions that are, for the most part, helpful in advancing through an

assignment. One of his favorite questions to ask is, Why? closely followed with, What

happens next? each time he was to ask this set of questions the instructor would walk him

through a shortened version of the answer. Thus fulfilling his need to know why and what and

allowing him to sit down and work through problems on his own. Despite his lack of enthusiasm

when it comes to writing or taking notes, David takes note of all things that are highlighted in

order to grab his attention. When faced with a difficult task he rewrites the important information

or puts it in an order that is easily understood from his perspective. After writing the equation,

David will then try to examine the problem further or he will work backwards if it is deemed

appropriate to find an answer. With the help of his instructor or one-on-one support aid he is able

to check each step that he works through to ensure accuracy. Lastly, he finds the results of the

problem and will determine if there is another or an easier way of solving the problem. Although

not every situation requires four steps to problem solving, this method has seemed appropriate

for Davids skill set. This process helps him with his written expression, higher thinking skills,

and his verbal expression.

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Behavior:

When David is in an isolated environment with limited distractions and a smaller group

of students he is able to focus more of his attention to detail as long as he is in the presence of a

support staff. Once the student hits a level of frustration he will try to avoid his own tasks and

distracts his classmates from doing their own work. Misbehavior is not acceptable according to

his instructor but is something that she must work with. He is verbally disciplined on a regular

basis because of his tendencies to act out intentionally, refusing to do work, being rude and

distracting for other students, and using inappropriate language. We learned that his outbursts

are, for the most part, related to the challenges he faces in his academic career. His frustrations

can be linked to poor fluency and comprehension in reading and writing and difficulty

understanding new strategies.

Oral Language:

In terms of receptive and expressive language we observed David communicate with the

instructors, support staff, and his peers. We discovered that he was able to respond to questions

and he had the ability to hold his place in a casual conversation. He did not have difficulty

engaging in conversations unless they were pertaining to an assignment or task. If David were to

be asked about his progress on an assigned task he would be hesitant to respond and would ask

the teacher multiple questions to drag out the conversation as a way to avoid doing the work.

When discussing an assignment he would require some prompting or he would ask why he

needed to contribute to the group. Ultimately we learned that David prefers verbal

communication to written expression because it is easier for him to speak than write. Despite his

need for prompting, his slow processing and poor fluency skills are harder for him to overcome

and require more practice than his verbal expression requires.

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Summary:

Based on our observations we are able to say that David does have a specific learning

disability. At certain times of the school day when David is presented with work he will be off

task, misbehave, and get his classmates distracted. However, when David is in an isolated

environment with very little distractions he is able to focus better. Instead of giving David the

option to work with a group of classmates or the support staff, he should only have the option to

work with the support staff. Doing this until he can do the work himself so he knows how to

contribute to the group work. That way he will not be convincing his classmates to do the work

for him. We also believe that taking away the option for him to work with others will show an

increase in positive appropriate behavior. His misbehavior is highlighted when he is struggling

and doesnt want to ask for help, he would rather be disruptive and distract others. Having him

work with a supporting aid, with reinforcement from his teacher, he will have a better chance of

staying on task. For reading, David should continue to use the line-to-line guide to help train his

vision to stay consistent, in addition to getting help with his reading fluency. He was able to

show that he has the skills to read but struggles with pace, punctuation, and splitting words;

which leaves his reading sounding monotone and choppy. A method of instruction that can be

used to improve is to scaffold his assignments. He will be able to devote more time and attention

to his work if the instructor is able to break the assignments down into smaller pieces. Another

suggestion we would like to test out on David is giving him some form of assistive technology

device that can help him translate his verbal communication into written expression. Dragon

Naturally Speaking is a computer program that can be used for individuals who have difficulties

writing by dictating their speech into a document. Support aids for writing assignments are also

appropriate for David. Hopefully by scaffolding his assignments and by getting assistance from a
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support aid he will be able to meet goals more frequently and his instructor will be able to

introduce David to more challenging content.