Special Education Update Volume 1 | Page 3

The

Ultimate

Guide

Learning Disabilities

Learning Disabilities, what are they and what do I need to know?

Are you a teacher and asking these questions?

Have no fear, our guide to LD's will give you

everything you need to know and more!

Learning Disabilities very typically have been associated with children who do not do well in school, but does this mean that everyone who does poorly in school are learning disabled? Of course not! Many students who do not perform well in school are not learning disabled, but in fact may not be performing well for a variety of other reasons, most of which have nothing to do with their “ability to learn.” Unfortunately, many students who do perform poorly at school are written off as lazy or as a behaviour problem and are not nurtured or programmed for in a way that will help them overcome the “real” obstacles. Many of these students have very specific learning needs and many others have a legitimate obstacle to learning in the form of a learning disability.

There are a wide variety of Learning Disabilities, each with very specific characteristics and they all must be identified in order for teachers to meet the students specific needs. Below is a link to a website called Helpguide.org. The link takes you directly to a page titled, Learning Disabilities & Disorders: Types of Learning Disabilities and Learning Disorders and their Signs. I found this to be a very useful resource for learning about the various LD’s, as well as the teaching strategies that can be used for each.

http://www.helpguide.org/mental/learning_disabilities.htm

Article Talk

Take some time to read through this article. What do you think about the approaches to dealing with learning problems? Just clik HERE to view the link!

BONUS MATERIAL: click on the pictures at the top of the page to view videos about Learning Disabilities