What is a Learning Disability ..... Part III

*Again.... I want to remind you all that this is information is taken from the F.A.T. City Learning Disability Workshop hosted by Richard D. Lavoie.

Experiencing Frustration, Anxiety, and Tension:
LD children experience these feelings when teachers:
1) use throwaway sarcasms which may make the rest of the class laugh but create a victim out of the LD child;
2) move through question and answer periods so rapidly that LD children cannot keep up and choose not to volunteer, or when called on, cannot answer;
3) become intimidating, and demand that LD students "Look at them" when they speak to them.

Inability to Process Language:
LD children's inability to process language as rapidly as others may make it necessary for teachers to:
1) move less rapidly through classroom discussion, especially the question and answer periods;
2) take the LD child aside and promise only to call on him or her when standing in front of the student's desk. That way, only the teacher and LD student know when the student is required to answer.

Risk Taking:
Sometimes intimidating situations in the classroom make LD students hesitant to take risks. This leads to:
1) lack of participation in classroom discussion for fear of giving a wrong answer which will be ridiculed;
2) LD students developing into LD adults who are reluctant to take chances.

Visual Perception:
The visual perception problems of LD students make it difficult for them to immediately understand what they are looking at. This problem is exacerbated by teachers who:
1) urge the LD student to "try harder" to understand what he or she is having trouble making sense of;
2) attempt to "bribe" such students by offering them an early recess or less homework, etc.;
3) attempt to threaten the student by withdrawing such things as recess, etc.;
4) engage in "blaming the victim" by accusing the LD child of not trying hard enough.

Reading Comprehension:
LD students have trouble with reading comprehension even if they know and recognize individual words within a sentence.
They may be dyslexic or they may not have a grasp of the background information required to understand what they are reading.

The Effect of Visual Perception on Behavior:
Often the LD child gets into trouble and does now know what he or she did wrong. Misperceptions of visual stimuli can lead the LD student to give incorrect answers or respond inappropriately to situations.

Visual-Motor Coordination:
Difficulties with visual-motor coordination often make the writing process very difficult for LD students.

Oral Expression:
The inability to retrieve stored linguistic information the way others can is called dysnomia. Teachers can help with this problem by giving the LD student more time to answer and respond to questions.

Reading and Decoding:
LD students are often dyslexic and they cannot decode information as quickly as others can.

Auditory and Visual Capabilities:
LD students often need to hear a written passage before they are able to comprehend it. Many LD students benefit from having books on audiotape.

Fairness:
Teachers are urged to reexamine the notion of what is "fair." "Fair" does not mean that every child gets the same treatment, but that every child gets what he or she needs.
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The last point is one of the most important ones in this post! I had problems with my #2's kindergarten teacher because she would use that reasoning all the time. She couldn't make special exceptions for my child because it wouldn't be "fair" or that if she did that for MY child then she would have to do it for ALL.... which is something that needs to change! For example, my #2 had trouble settling down for nap time and I asked if he could just have a book or something quiet to do since he no longer took naps... well, the answer was, "it wouldn't be fair." SOOOOOOOOOO frustrating!!!!
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What is fairness? Do we cater to the
few in spite of the majority... or do
we let let those few fall between the
cracks?
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