Students with

Learning
Disabilities
 American National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities
(NJCLD) which is composed of several professional
organizations issued the following definition in 1989:

LEARNING DISABILITY
 is a generic term that refers to a heterogeneous group of disorders manifested by
significant difficulties in the acquisition and use of listening, speaking, reading,
writing, reasoning or mathematical abilities.
 these disorders are intrinsic to the individual and presumed to be due to central
nervous system dysfunction.
 may appear across the life span.
 Problems in self-regulatory behavior, social perception and social interaction may
exist in learning disabilities but do not themselves constitute a learning disability.
 Learning disabilities are
not the same as Intellectual
disability.
 Three Criteria in
Determining the
Presence of
Learning Disabilities
Three Criteria in Determining the Presence
of Learning Disabilities

1. Severe discrepancy between the child’s potential

and actual achievement.
2. Exclusion or absence of mental retardation,
sensory impairment, and other disabilities

3. Need for special education services

Learning and Behavior
Characteristics of
Children with Learning
Disabilities
General difficulties
• Difficulties in understanding and following directions
• Difficulties remembering things (short-term and long-term memory
problems)
• A short attention span & being easily distracted
• Being overactive or impulsive
• Difficulties organizing work and time; difficulties `getting started’
• Lack of confidence; reluctant to attempt difficult or new tasks
• Difficulties with tasks that require rapid responses
• Lack of effective learning strategies
 Difficulties in reading
(Dyslexia)
• Difficulties remembering sight words
and patterns
• Difficulties identifying the separate
sounds in spoken words
• Difficulties blending sounds
• Confuses similar letters and words
• Difficulties decoding words
 Difficulties in mathematics
(Dyscalculia)
• Difficulty with counting and sorting
groups of objects to match numbers
• Difficulty remembering number
facts (e.g., addition facts, times
tables)
• Difficulties with arithmetic
operations.
 Difficulties in writing
(Dysgraphia)
• Difficulty forming letters
• Difficulty in holding a pencil correctly
• Difficulty in tracing shapes with fingers
• Difficulty in recognizing shapes
• Difficulty in copying what is written
from the blackboard
• Difficulty in drawing and so on.
 Major considerations for teaching students with
learning difficulties are:
 Use direct, explicit teaching to teach reading, writing, spelling and
mathematics.
 They can already do, move ahead gradually, introducing harder
material very
 carefully.
 Monitor students’ work regularly and carefully so that you know when
students are
 experiencing difficulties, and you can respond quickly.
 Teach skills in practical, meaningful ways, and use concrete materials
frequently.
Major considerations for teaching students with
learning difficulties are:
 Give plenty of attention to phonics and decoding strategies in
reading, as well as plenty of attention to phonemic awareness skills
(rhyming games, games involving swapping beginning sounds,
ending sounds and middle sounds in words, clapping out the
number of sounds and syllables in words). However, if a student has
a hearing impairment, place more emphasis on sight-word
approaches to reading as students with a hearing impairment may
not be able to hear some sounds in words, even at close range.
 Provide plenty of practice and revision of skills and knowledge.
 Use peer tutors and parent helpers to provide extra instruction and
practice.
 Attention Deficit Disorder
(ADD) and Attention
Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
(ADHD)
 Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention
Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

 are conditions in which

children exhibit significant
differences in the ability to
pay attention and to engage
in active work compared to
their normal peers.
 The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual on Mental Disorders IV of the
American Psychiatric Association DSM IV, APA gives the symptoms and
states that either of 1 or 2 are present.

1. Six or more of the following eight symptoms of inattention have

persisted for at least six months:
a.) Often fails to give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in
schoolwork, work, or other activities.
b.) Often has difficulty sustaining attention in tasks or play activities.
c.) Often does not follow through on instructions and fail to finish schoolwork,
chores, or duties in the workplace.
d.) Often has difficulty organizing tasks and activities.
e.) Often avoids dislikes or is reluctant to engage in tasks that require sustained
mental effort such as schoolwork or homework.
f.) Often loses things necessary for tasks or activities such as toys, school
assignments, pencils, books, or tools.
g.) Is often easily distracted by extraneous stimuli.
h.) Is often forgetful in daily activities
 The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual on Mental Disorders IV of the
American Psychiatric Association DSM IV, APA gives the symptoms and
states that either of 1 or 2 are present.

2. Six or more of the eight symptoms or hyperactivity-impulsivity

hyperactivity.

a. Often fidgets with hands or feet or squirms in seat.

b. Often leaves seat in classroom or in other situations in which remaining
seated is expected.
c. Often runs about or climbs excessively in situations in which it is
inappropriate. In adolescents and adults this is an expression of subjective
feelings of restlessness.
d. Often has difficulty playing or engaging in leisure activities quietly.
e. Is often on the go or often acts as if driven by a motor.
 The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual on Mental Disorders IV of the
American Psychiatric Association DSM IV, APA gives the symptoms and
states that either of 1 or 2 are present.

Impulsivity:

a. Often blurts out answers before questions have been

completed.
b. Often has difficulty waiting turn.
c. Often interrupts or intrudes on others, butts into
conversations or games. Some symptoms are present before
age 7
 GROUP 2 REPORTERS
• Batis, Sarah Jane • Escobido, Veronica
• Boreres, Nolyn Erica • Estonio, Shadie
• Cabus, Mia Lyn • Feliciano, Teresa
• Cabelin, Maria Linda • Lago, Cherry Jean