RPwD ACT 2016

 

As per RPwD ACT 2016 Specific Learning Disabilities is a group of disabling conditions that hampers a person's ability to learn, listen, think, speak, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations.

Examples of Specific Learning Disabilities:

• Dyspraxia - The inability to motor plan, to make an appropriate body response.

• Dysgraphia - Difficulty with the act of writing both in the technical as well as the expressive sense. There may also be difficulty with spelling.

• Dyscalculia- Difficulty with calculations.

• Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder(ADHD)- Hyperactivity, distractibility and impulsivity

For more information please read RPwD Act 2016 under ask T.I.N.A.

  

Although learning disabilities occur in very young children, the disorders are usually not recognized until the child reaches school age. Learning disabilities are life-long and are not outgrown or cured, though many people develop coping techniques through special education, tutoring, medication, therapy, personal development, or adaptation of learning skills. Learning disabilities arise from neurological differences in brain structure and function and affect a person’s ability to receive, store, process, retrieve or communicate information.

These ideas may be helpful in determining accommodations.

 

What types of learning disabilities are there?

 Learning disabilities can be divided into three broad categories:

 

Specific Learning Disability: A disorder in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, write, spell or to do mathematical calculations. Included in this category are expressive writing and expressive language disorders.

 

• Dyslexia is the term associated with specific learning disabilities in reading. Although features of a learning disability in reading vary from person to person, common characteristics include difficulty with individual sounds in words, and difficulties with word decoding, fluency, rate of reading, rhyming, spelling, vocabulary, comprehension and written expression. Dyslexia is the most prevalent and well-recognized of the subtypes of specific learning disabilities.

• Dyscalculia is the term associated with specific learning disabilities in math. Although features of a learning disability in math vary from person to person, common characteristics include difficulty with counting, learning number facts and doing math calculations, difficulty with measurement, telling time, counting money, estimating number quantities, mental math and problem-solving strategies.

• Dysgraphia is the term associated with specific learning disabilities in writing. This term is used to capture both the physical act of writing and the quality of written expression. Dysgraphia can manifest in difficulties with spelling, putting thoughts on paper, and poor handwriting, including difficulty in forming letters or writing within a defined space, organizing thoughts on paper, keeping track of thoughts already written down, and difficulty with syntax, structure, and grammar.

 

  Associated Deficits and Disorders

 

While not designated as specific sub types of learning disabilities, there are a number of areas of information processing that are commonly associated with learning disabilities:

 

• Auditory Processing Disorder is the term used to describe a weakness in the ability to understand and use auditory information. Individuals may have difficulties with noticing, comparing and distinguishing the distinct and separate sounds in words, picking out important sounds from a noisy background, recalling information presented orally, understanding and recalling the order of sounds and words, and difficulty with spelling, reading and written expression.

 

• Visual Processing Disorder is the term used to describe a weakness in the ability to understand and use visual information. Individuals often have difficulty noticing and comparing features of different items and distinguishing one item from another, distinguishing a shape or printed character from its background, distinguishing the order of symbols, words or images, difficulty engaging in short-term and long-term recall of visual information, and understanding how objects are positioned in space.

 

• Non-Verbal Learning Disabilities is the term used to describe the characteristics of individuals who have unique learning and behavioural profiles that may overlap with dyslexia, dyscalculia and dysgraphia but that differ in significant ways. Most notably, these individuals often have strengths in the areas of verbal expression, vocabulary, reading, comprehension, auditory memory and attention to detail, yet have difficulty with math computation and problem solving, visual-spatial tasks and motor coordination, reading body language and social cues, as well as seeing the “big picture” in social and academic contexts.

 

• Executive Functioning Deficits is the term used to describe weaknesses in the ability to plan, organize, strategize, remember details and manage time and space efficiently. Executive functioning deficits are often seen in individuals who have a learning disability.

 

Learning Disability /Specific learning disability/Dyslexia

 

LD does not contain a list of medical conditions that constitute disabilities. Instead, one need to understand LD has a general definition of disability that each person must meet.

A person has a disability if he/she has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a record of such impairment, or is regarded as having impairment. For more information about SLD refer to RPD ACT.

 

Accommodating Students with Learning Disability

 

People with learning disabilities may develop some of the limitations discussed below, but seldom develop all of them. Also, the degree of limitation will vary among individuals. Be aware that not all people with learning disabilities will need accommodations to perform their jobs and many others may only need a few accommodations. The following is only a sample of the possibilities available. Numerous other accommodation solutions may exist.

 

Questions to Consider:

 

1. What limitations is the student experiencing?

2. How do these limitations affect the student and the student’s job performance?

3. What specific job tasks are problematic as a result of these limitations?

4. What accommodations are available to reduce or eliminate these problems? Are all possible resources being used to determine possible accommodations?

5. Has the student been consulted regarding possible accommodations?

6. Once accommodations are in place, would it be useful to meet with the student to evaluate the effectiveness of the accommodations and to determine whether additional accommodations are needed?

7. Do supervisory personnel and students need training?