Resouces
Educating Children With Learning Disabilities
Auditory Processing Disorder (APD)
This acquired communication disorder affects a child’s ability to process language. Those who are diagnosed with aphasia have difficulty speaking, understanding, reading and writing. Aphasia is not something that a child is born with, but rather it is a disability that results from trauma to the brain, such as a head injury or a brain tumor. Aphasia can range in from mild to severe. Though this disability is rare in children, it can certainly affect them. Teachers can help students with aphasia in a variety of ways. They can speak write simple and clear notes to convey messages, they can engage them in speech-sound activities and picture cards can be used to convey meaning. Sign language and information communication technology (ITC) can also be used for communication.
Read more about Auditory Processing Disorder
Understanding Auditory Processing Disorder
Aphasia
This acquired communication disorder affects a child’s ability to process language. Those who are diagnosed with aphasia have difficulty speaking, understanding, reading and writing. Aphasia is not something that a child is born with, but rather it is a disability that results from trauma to the brain, such as a head injury or a brain tumor. Aphasia can range in from mild to severe. Though this disability is rare in children, it can certainly affect them. Teachers can help students with aphasia in a number of ways. They can speak write simple and clear notes to convey messages, they can engage them in speech-sound activities and picture cards can be used to convey meaning. Sign language and information communication technology (ITC) can also be used for communication.
Dyscalculia
Dyscalculia is a disability that affects a child’s ability to understand math. This lifelong disability ranges from mild to severe and can have different effects at different stages of life. Those who suffer from dyscalculia have visual-spatial and language processing difficulties, meaning that they have difficulty understanding what they see and hear; which in turn affects their ability to understand mathematical concepts. Helping children with dyscalculia depends on the how they are affected. Recommendations include creating a quite learning environment that is free from distractions, having needed materials on hand; introducing concepts with concrete examples and working on different ways to approach mathematical concepts other than rote memorization.
Dyslexia
This neurological learning disability affects a child’s ability to read. These children often struggle with fluency and decoding, which can affect comprehension. This disability may also impact other language skills, including speech, writing and spelling. The main problem with this disability is that people with dyslexia find it difficult to make letter-sound connections, thus inhibiting reading development. Teachers can employ several tactics to help dyslexic students succeed. Notes and messages should be written down in clear handwriting; using different colored ink or chalk can help to convey messages. Teachers should provide students with a printed schedule of events that will occur throughout the day to help students stay on task. Children should be encouraged to read texts that are on their instructional reading level and that are of topics that interest them. Structured reading lessons that offer repetition allow students to digest new words and instill confidence in reading.
A Dyslexic Child in the Classroom
