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Subject PSYCHOLOGY

Paper No and Title Paper No 11: Human Development

Module No and Title Module No 30: Learning Disability and Autism

(Specific Learning Disability)

Module Tag PSY_P11_M30

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Learning Outcome
2. Specific Learning Disability
3. Types
4. Diagnosis
5. Causes
6. Assessment
7. Management
8. Summary

PSYCHOLOGY PAPER 11 : Human Development

MODULE 30: Learning Disability and Autism (Specific
Learning Disability)
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1. LEARNING OUTCOMES
After studying this module, you shall be able to

 Know about Specific Learning disability.

 Identify the core features of these different types of learning disabilities.
 Understand the causal factors and management of learning disability.

2. SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITY

Specific Learning Disabilities are the disorders where basic psychological processes required for
understanding or using language, spoken or written, that may result in faulty listening, speaking,
writing, thinking, spelling, and/or reading skills or unable to handle numbers in mathematical
calculations. It includes some other conditions like brain injury, dyslexia, minimal brain
dysfunction, developmental aphasia, andperceptual disabilities.

Learning disability as a group comprises of numerous zones of less than average functioning
whereby an individual has significant struggles while learning in the normal fashion, mostly the
result of an underlying cause or set of causes.

There are various terms which are more often used interchangeably: learning disorder, learning
disability, and learning difficulty. However these terms are particularly different from each other.
Talking about learning disability, it generally includes problems or difficulties in the learning
process mainly in academics. However, only these problems may not be sufficient to receive a
diagnosis of learning disability.

The diagnosis of LD has certain criteria which the individual must meet to be diagnosed as
having LD. There are differencesin the level, intensity, and frequency of the reported conditions,
problems, &symptoms. Learning disabilities refer to a groupof disorders that are identified by
improper development of somelanguage, academic, or speech skills. There are various types of
LDs which may include dyscalculia (mathematics disability), dyslexia (reading disability), and
dysgraphia (writing disability).

Individuals who have learning disabilities will often face unique challenges which are often
pervasive during the entire course of their life. The severity of the disability & current knowledge
decides the type of intervention which may help the individual adapt to the external environment
and help him learn strategies to cope with the day-to-day problems. A few interventionsare
simple in nature, while others arecomplex. Existing technologies can be effective support in
classroom training and facilitate training. School psychologists along with other professionals
design an intervention and thenorganizing the implementation of each intervention by working
closely withparents and teachers. Social support leads toincreases in the learning capacity of
students with such learning disabilities.
PSYCHOLOGY PAPER 11 : Human Development
MODULE 30: Learning Disability and Autism (Specific
Learning Disability)
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3. TYPES

Learning disabilities may be characterized and classifiedby the type of affected information
processing stage or by the unambiguous troubles because of a deficit in information processing:

By information processing stage

Four stages of information processing that are used in learning are as follows:

 Input: This is the material that one perceives through their senses, likeauditory and visual
perception. Difficulties in the process of visual perception may be manifested in problems
in distinguishing the type, form, size, and position of items. Difficulties in auditory
perception involve problems in screening out different sounds to be able to pay attention to
one sound. Some children are unable to process the tactile input.

 Integration: This stage is where a perceived input is interpreted, categorized, sequenced,

or associated with our previous learning. Children with this problem may not be capable to
describe or recite a narrative in the properorder, may be unable to remember the order of
information, may be able to comprehend a new concept but may not be able to generalize it
to other dimensions of learning, ormay learn facts but may not be able to understand the
bigger picture.

 Storage: In this stage there may be difficulties with short-term or long-term memory.
Difficulties generally arise in short-term memory.Complications with visual memory
mayhamper learning how to spell.

 Output: Facts and ideas come out of our brains either through wordsor through muscle
activities. There may be difficulties in spoken language, e.g.replying to a question, where
one has toretrieve info from storage, then organize their thoughts, and then putthe thoughts
into words before speaking. Written language may also be affected. Problems with motor
abilities often lead to problems with fine and/orgross motor abilities, i.e. the person may
have difficulty with running, riding a bicycle, walking, and end to stumble or bump into
things when walking.

By function impaired: There may be some deficits insystem ofinformation processing, which
may beapparent in some or the otherform of specific learning disability. This is known as co-
morbidity of learning disabilities.

 Reading disorder
PSYCHOLOGY PAPER 11 : Human Development
MODULE 30: Learning Disability and Autism (Specific
Learning Disability)
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The most common learning disability is reading

disability. Reading deficits are experienced by almost 70-80 percent of all children which
specific learning disability. The term called "Developmental Dyslexia" is very often
usedinterchangeably with reading disability; however, researchers have insisted that there
are many different types of reading disorders, of which dyslexia is only one. Any part of
the reading process may be affected in reading disabilities, including difficulty with
recognizing words accurately or fluently, decodingwords, rate of reading, and
comprehension as well.
Some of the common symptoms are trouble with phonemic knowledge—where words are
broken into their comprising sounds, and difficultywith associating letter or combination
of letters to specific sounds (sound-symbol correspondence).

 Disorder of Written Expression

The criteria for this disorder as per the DSM-IV-TR is writing skills (which are
measured by functional assessments or standardized test) which fall remarkably below
what is expected from anperson’sage, intelligence as measured by IQ tests (Criterion A).
This may result in significant impairment in child’s academics and competence and
chores which require composing written text (Criterion B), and if there is a sensory
deficit then the problems in writing skills must exceed which are generally associated
with the sensory deficit (Criterion C).
Often a combination of various problems can be found in such individuals in their skills
with written expression as demonstrated by bothpunctuation and grammatical errors,
multiple spelling errors, poor organization of paragraph and hard to distinguish
handwriting. Impairment in motor coordination can also cause disorder in writing, which
is not to be considered as writing disorders.

 Math disability
Also knows as dyscalculia, a math disability has to do with such difficulties as learning
math concepts, difficulty memorizing mathematical facts, understanding how problems
are organized and difficulty organizing numbers. These persons are usuallycited as
having verypoor sense of numbers.

 Non-Verbal Learning Disability

These usually manifest in the form of clumsy motor skills, inadequate visual-spatial
abilities, problems in social relations, difficulty in mathematical skills, and poor
organizational skills. These individuals mayoften have specific strengths in someother
domain, likeearly reading and spelling skills, early speech, excellent rote-memory and
auditory retention, large vocabulary, and fluent self-expression.

 Disorders of speaking and listening: These troubles mayinclude difficulty with

memory, socialor executive functions and often co-occur with learning disabilities.

PSYCHOLOGY PAPER 11 : Human Development

MODULE 30: Learning Disability and Autism (Specific
Learning Disability)
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4. DIAGNOSIS

IQ-Achievement Discrepancy

Psychologists, educators and specialists often identify LDs bycombining results from intelligence
tests,classroom performance, academic achievement tests,and the skills of social interactions and
aptitude. Other areas of assessment can include memory, perception, attention, cognition, and
linguistic performance. These results examine whether the academic performance of a childis
according to the level of his or her cognitive abilities.The student is usually diagnosed with LD if
a cognitive capacity of a child is much higher than his academicperformance.

There has been a lot of critique of thisperspective amongst researchers. The recent evidence of
research in this area indicates that a discrepancy between measured IQ & academic achievement
may not be an indicator of LD. Furthermore, diagnosis made by this discrepancy method cannot
predict the effectiveness of a treatment.

Response to Intervention (RTI)

Current research has majorly focused on a diagnostic process which oriented towards treatment
and is called Response to Intervention (RTI). Suggestions from researchers for applying such a
model involve: a screening program for students, thenthe students who havedifficulties are placed
into intervention programs at the earliest, instead of waiting till they meet the diagnostic criteria.
Then their performancesare closely monitored to determine whether adequate progress has been
made from increasingly intense interventions. For those who respond well no further
interventions are required. Those who do not respond then, are categorized as non-responders.
Those students can be given special education interventions. RTI has some models which even
include another tier of intervention before diagnosing a child as having LD.

The most important benefit of having such a model is that the child doesn’t have to lag behind to
make sure that he needs assistance. Thus more children receive assistance before they reach an
extremely high level of failure and this result in fewer people needing the special education
programs.

But children's individual neuropsychological states are not taken into account by this method.
However RTI takes more time to implement than other programs. RTI is nowcounted as an
initiative which is normal in today’s education setting.

PSYCHOLOGY PAPER 11 : Human Development

MODULE 30: Learning Disability and Autism (Specific
Learning Disability)
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5. CAUSES

The etiology of LDs is not clear andthere may be no evident cause for it in some cases. However,
some reasons of LD may include:

 Heredity – LDsare often hereditary. Those who suffer from LD usually have a parent or some
relative who suffer from LD or some similar condition.

 Complications during pregnancy and birth – LDs can be a result of abnormalities in the
developing brain and nerve cells, fetal exposure to alcohol or drugs, illness or injury of
mother during pregnancy, oxygen deprivation at the time of birth, low birth weight, or
premature or prolonged labor.

 Accidents after birth – LDs may be caused by brain diseases, head injuries, toxic exposure, or
malnutrition.

6. ASSESSMENT
 Many standardized assessments are used in assessing abilities involved in academic
areas:reading (word recognition, fluency & comprehension); mathematics (computation
and problemsolving); writtenexpression (spelling and composition,handwriting).

 There are many tests used widely: Wechsler Individual Achievement Test II, Woodcock-
Johnson III, Stanford Achievement Test (10th edition), and Wide Range Achievement
Test III. These tests are reliable to identify domains of difficulty.

 Some majorly used comprehensive achievement tests are the in the reading domain
specifically are also used. There are many tests which measure multiple domains of
reading are the Stanford Diagnostic Reading AssessmentandGray's Diagnostic Reading
Tests–2nd edition; some which assess reading subskills include the Gray Silent Reading
Test, Gray Oral Reading Test IV – Fourth Edition, Tests of Oral Reading and
Comprehension Skills,Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing, Test of Word
Reading Efficiency, Test of Reading Comprehension 3, andthe Test of Reading Fluency.


The aim of assessing individuals on these domains is to decide what kind of intervention
plan may be best suited for them. And it also considers the situational variables and judge
whether the co-morbid disorders may need interventions, e.g. language delays or
behavioral issues.

PSYCHOLOGY PAPER 11 : Human Development

MODULE 30: Learning Disability and Autism (Specific
Learning Disability)
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7. MANAGEMENT

Interventions include:

 Model of mastery:

Children learn and work at their pace

Practicing
Children gain basic abilities or skills before moving to a net level

Note: this can be used most appropriately with adult learners or for those outside mainstream
school system.

 Direct Instruction:

Direct Instruction (DI) is a method which focuses onanorderlydesigned curriculum &

skillfully and carefully implementing it. Some of the features of DI include:
Greatlyplanned and intensive instructions
Focuses on carefully designed instructionswhich can aim for small learning growth
Written teaching plans
Interactions between teachers and their students
Rectifying mistakes instantly and skillfully
Making groups based on the level of competence of individuals
Assessing the progress of individuals frequently

 Classroom adjustments:

Particular seating arrangements

Customized worksheets
Tailored assessment procedures
Relaxedsurroundings

 Special equipment:

Word processors with spell checkers and dictionaries

Text-to-speech and speech-to-text programs
Speech calculators
Audio books
Assignments and activities based on computer

PSYCHOLOGY PAPER 11 : Human Development

MODULE 30: Learning Disability and Autism (Specific
Learning Disability)
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 Classroom assistants:

Note Takers
Readers
Proofreaders
Scribes

 Special Education:

Prescribed hours in a resource room

Placement in a resource room
Enrollingin special schools, i.e. schools which specialize in LD interventions

 Individual Education Plan (IEP)

IEP describestheindividual need and requirementsof a child formally diagnosed with an

LD.It is devised in such a way that it canhelp children reach academic and educational goals.
In every caseit should betailored and modifiedaccording to the individual’srequirements as
judged by the assessment process, and it shouldhelp educatorrecognizedisability of and
difficulties faced by a student and how they affect the learning process for that individual.
This plan is helpful as it majorly explains three things: how the individual is learning, how is
he shows the learning in his repertoire of behavior, and what can the educators do to help
him learn more effectively.

 Educational therapy

Educational Therapy is also used to treat individuals with learning differences, challenges
and difficulties. It offers a large variety of rigorous interventions which are planned and
customized to remediate learning problems. These interventions are individualized and
unique to a particular student or learner.

8. SUMMARY

 Conditions characterized by significant discrepancy between the ability and achievement

of the individual are recognized as specific learning disabilities.
 It can occur in different areas like reading, writing, mathematical ability etc.
 Many psychological/educational tests aid in the diagnosis of a learning disability.
 If diagnosed early intervention in terms of special education and remediation training
helps deal with the problems adequately.

PSYCHOLOGY PAPER 11 : Human Development

MODULE 30: Learning Disability and Autism (Specific
Learning Disability)