Exceptional Children

An Introduction to Special Education

Tenth Edition

William L. Heward

2013, 2009, 2006, 2003, 2000

Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Chapter 5

Learning Disabilities
 Focus Questions

Why has the concept of learning disabilities proven so difficult

to define?
What characteristic encompasses all students with learning
disabilities?
What factors might account for the huge increase in the
prevalence of students identified with learning disabilities since
the category was officially recognized in the mid-1970s?
Are the achievement deficits of most students diagnosed with
learning disabilities the result of neurological impairment or
poor instruction?

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 Focus Questions (cont.)
What can a students responsiveness to evidence-based
instruction reveal about the need and focus of special
education?

How can academic tool skills and learning strategies relate to

each other?

What skills are most important to the success of an

elementary-age student with learning disabilities in the general
education classroom? for a secondary student?

Heward
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 IDEA Definition of Specific
Learning Disability (LD)
A disorder in one or more of the basic psychological
processes involved in understanding or using language

May manifest itself in an imperfect ability to:

Listen,think, speak, read, write, spell, or do
mathematical calculations
Includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities,
brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and
developmental aphasia
Does not include learning problems that are the result
of other disabilities or environmental, cultural, or
economic disadvantage

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 Operationalizing the Definition
Most states require three criteria be met to receive services:
Discrepancy between intelligence and achievement
An unexpected difference between general ability and
achievement

Exclusion criterion
The students difficulties are not the result of another known
condition that can cause learning problems

A need for special education services

The student shows specific and severe learning problems despite
standard educational efforts
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 Responsiveness to Intervention

A local education agency may use a process that

determines if the child responds to scientific,
research-based intervention as a part of the
evaluation procedures.

The responsiveness to intervention approach shifts

the identification of learning disabilities from a
wait-to-fail model to one of early identification and
prevention.

Heward
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 The NJCLD and the Definition of LD
The NJCLD believes the federal definition of LD
contains several weaknesses:
Exclusion of adults
Learning disabilities can occur across the life span
Reference to basic psychological processes
This is a curricular issue concerning how to teach and not a
definitional one
Inclusion of spelling as a learning disability
Spelling can be subsumed under written expression
Inclusion of obsolete terms
Includes terms that are difficult to define
Wording of the exclusion clause
Suggests that learning disabilities cannot occur with other
disabilities
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 The NJCLD Definition of LD
A general term that refers to a 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 and may appear
across the life span

Problems with self-regulatory behaviors, social perception, and

social interaction may coexist but do not themselves constitute a
learning disability

Although learning disabilities may occur with other

handicapping conditions or with extrinsic influences, they are not
the result of those influences
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 Characteristics
Students with LD experience one or more of the
following difficulties:
Reading problems - 80% of all children identified
Deficits in written language - Perform lower than their age-
matched peers without disabilities across most written
expression tasks
Underachievement in math More than 50% have math IEP
goals
Poor social skills - 75% have social skills deficits
Attention deficits and hyperactivity
Behavioral problems-Higher than usual incidence of behavior
problems
Low rates of self-esteem/self-efficacy-lower levels of self-
efficacy, mood, effort, and hope
Heward
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 Characteristics

The Defining Characteristic

Specificand significant achievement deficits in the
presence of adequate overall intelligence
The performance gap becomes especially
noticeable and handicapping in the middle and
secondary grades
The difficulties experienced by children with
learning disabilities, especially for those who
cannot read at grade level, are substantial and
pervasive and usually last across the life span

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 Prevalence
LD is by far the largest of all special education
categories
42.3% of all school-age children with disabilities
receive services under the LD category and about
4% of the school-age population
Males with LD outnumber females by a ratio of 3:1
The rising incidence of children with LD led some
scholars to suggest it be considered an epidemic
Some contend that too many low achievers have
been improperly diagnosed as LD

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 Causes
Brain damage or dysfunction
In most cases there is no evidence of brain damage
Neuroimaging research has been reasonably consistent in revealing
functional and/or structural differences in the left temporal lobe of the
brain of individuals with dyslexia
Educators should refrain from placing too much emphasis on theories
linking learning disabilities to brain damage or brain dysfunction
Heredity
There is growing evidence that genetics may account for at least
some family links with dyslexia

Biochemical imbalance
Most professionals give little credence to biochemical imbalance as a
significant cause of or treatment for learning disabilities

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 Causes (cont.)

Environmental Factors
Impoverished living conditions early in a childs life and
limited exposure to highly effective instruction probably
contribute to achievement deficits

The tendency for learning disabilities to run in families

suggests a correlation between environmental influences on
childrens early development and subsequent achievement in
school

Many students learning problems can be remediated by

direct, intensive, and systematic instruction

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 Identification and Assessment
Standardized Intelligence and Achievement Tests
Used to measure the discrepancy between
achievement and general intellectual ability
Curriculum-Based Measurement
Used to measure the growth of students proficiency
in the core skills that contribute to success in school
Direct Daily Measurement
Used for observing and recording a childs
performance on a specific skill each time it is taught
Criterion-Referenced Tests
Used to compared a childs score with a
predetermined criterion
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 Identifying LD by Assessing
Responsiveness to Instruction (RTI)
Basic premise of RTI:
Measuring low-achieving students response to increasingly
intensive, scientifically validated instruction can determine
whether the childs struggles to learn are the result of poor
or insufficient instruction or of a disability for which special
education is needed
Two functions of RTI
Screening/identification and prevention

Trustworthiness of RTI depends on

The consistent, rigorous implementation of research-based
interventions
Accurate, reliable, easy to use measures for monitoring
student progress

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 Implementing Responsiveness to
Instruction (RTI)
Tier I: Primary Intervention in the General Education
Classroom
Primary prevention is provided to all students in the form of
evidence-based curriculum and instruction in the general
education classroom
Tier II: Secondary Intervention
Students who are struggling in the general education
program receive an intensive fixed-duration trial of small-
group supplemental tutoring using a research-validated
program
Tier III: Tertiary Intervention
In most RTI models, Tier 3 is special education

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 Benefits and Goals of RTI
Earlier
identification of students using a problem-solving
approach instead of a wait-to-fail approach
Reduction in the number of students referred for special
education
Reduction in the over-identification of minority students
Provisionof more instructionally useful data than those
provided by traditional methods of assessment and identification
Increased likelihood that students are exposed to high-quality
instruction in the general education classroom by stipulating that
schools use evidence-based instructional practices and routinely
monitor the progress of all students
Service to all students with achievement problems, so that only
those students who fail to respond to multiple levels of
intervention efforts receive the label learning disabled

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 Educational Approaches

Content enhancements are used to enhance the

organization and delivery of curriculum content
Graphic Organizers and Visual Displays
Note-Taking Strategies
Guided Notes
Mnemonics

A learning strategy is an individuals approach to

learning tasks
Students use task-specific strategies to guide themselves
successfully through a learning task or problem

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 Educational Placement Alternatives

General education classroom

During the 20082009 school year, 62% of students with LD
were educated in general education classrooms.
Research on the academic achievement of students with LD in
inclusive classrooms is mixed.

Consultant teacher
Provides support to general educators who work directly with
students with learning disabilities
Works with several teachers and thus indirectly serve many
children
Most consultant teachers have little direct contact with students

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 Educational Placement Alternatives
Resource room
A resource room is a specially staffed and equipped classroom
where students with LD come for one or several periods
during the school day to receive individualized instruction
The resource room teacher works closely with general
educators to suggest and plan each students program
During the 2008-2009 school year, 28% of students with
learning disabilities were served in resource rooms

Separate classroom
A special education teacher is responsible for all education
programming for 812 students with learning disabilities
During the 2008-2009 school year, 8% of students with
learning disabilities were served in separate classrooms

Heward
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