Types of Learning Disabilites

1. Types of Learning Disabilites By: Ms. Twamley

2. 1. Autism • Known as a complex neurobiological disorder. Autism effects a person’s communication, social relationships and overall behavior. • Signs usually appear before age 3. The cause is unknown, but recent scientific studies believe there it has a strong genetic base. • A developmental pediatrician is the proper professional to diagnose a case of autism. • Occurs 4X more in boys than girls and one in 100 children are affected by Autism.

3. Signs of Autism • Social and communication impairments include a lack of response to social stimuli, lack of smiling or eye contact and not responding to one’s name. Other characteristics are lack of pretend play, lack of imitation, inability to sustain conversation, aloofness and acting like they don’t seem to hear. • Repetitive behaviors are called stereotypy and involve repeated movements such as hand flapping, making sounds, head rolling and body rocking. Compulsive behavior involves arranging objects or toys in stacks or lines. • Restricted interests include an unvarying pattern of daily activities and limited interests like a pre-occupation with a single TV show, toy or game. • Self injuries are movements that injure or can injure the child like eye poking, skin picking, hand biting and head banging. • Sleep problems can include insomnia, nocturnal awakening and early morning wakening.

4. 2. Deafness • This is a hearing impairment so severe that a child can not process information spoken to them through hearing.

5. Signs of Deafness • All infants and children should be screened for hearing loss, as early diagnosis and intervention can have a dramatic impact on the child's future development and educational needs. • Signs of deafness in young children include not responding to noises, responding slowly, or not learning to speak by the expected age. • A deaf child may also lag behind in developing motor skills and coordination, or in learning how to balance, crawl, or walk. Profoundly deaf children are usually diagnosed by the age of 2.

6. 3.Deafness-Blindness • This is when there is are simultaneous hearing and visual impairments. • Causes severe communication, developmental, and educational problems and can not be placed in special education programs solely for deaf children or blind children.

7. Signs of Deafness/Blindness • Some people who are deaf/blind will have experienced a sudden and total loss of hearing, which can occur as a result of infection or injury. Others will experience a gradual deterioration of hearing • speech and other noises sounding muffled and indistinct • an inability to understand conversation when there is background noise • pain in the eyes • blurring of vision • halos appearing around sources of light

8. 4. Hearing Impairment • A impairment in hearing either permanent of fluctuating, but is not under the category of deafness.

9. Signs of Hearing Impairment • Muffed hearing, having a hard time understanding what people are saying when there is background noise • Ringing, roaring, hissing, or buzzing in the ear • Ear pain, itching, irritation • Pus or fluid leaking from ear

10. 5. Mental Disabilities • Is a generalized disorder appearing before adulthood, characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning • The definition now includes both a component relating to mental functioning and one relating to individuals' functional skills in their environment

11. Signs of Mental Disabilities • Delays in oral language development • Deficits in memory skills • Difficulty learning social rules • Difficulty with problem solving skills • Delays in the development of adaptive behaviors such as self-help or self-care skills • Lack of social inhibitors • Children with mental retardation learn more slowly than a typical child. Children may take longer to learn language, develop social skills, and take care of their personal needs, such as dressing or eating. Learning will take them longer, require more repetition, and skills may need to be adapted to their learning level.

12. 6. Multiple Disabilities • Children with multiple disabilities have two or more disabling conditions that affect learning or other important life functions. • The combination of which causes such severe educational problems that the child can not be accommodated in a special education program solely for one if the impairments • People with multiple disabilities will need educational services targeting each area of disability.

13. Signs of Multiple Disabilities • Students with severe and/or multiple disabilities may exhibit a wide range of behaviors depending on the combination and severity of the disabilities. • Limited speech and/or communication • Difficulty with basic physical mobility • Generalization of skills may not occur without intervention • Maintenance of skills may not occur without intervention and frequent use • Need for support in major life activities

14. 7. Orthopedic Impairment • Orthopedic impairment is defined as a severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term includes impairments caused by congenital anomaly (e.g., clubfoot, absence of some member, etc.), impairments caused by disease (e.g., poliomyelitis, bone tuberculosis, etc.), and impairments from other causes (e.g., cerebral palsy, amputations, and fractures or burns that cause contractures)

15. Signs of Orthopedic Impairments • These may include paralysis, unsteady gait, poor muscle control, loss of limb, etc. An orthopedic impairment may also impede speech production and the expressive language of the child. It is important to note that appropriate seating/positioning of the child is of primary consideration for effective screening, evaluation and instruction

16. 8. Other Health Impairment • Means having limited strength, vitality, or alertness, including a heightened alertness to environmental stimuli, that results in limited alertness with respect to the educational environment

17. Signs of Other Health Impairments • Limited strength, vitality, or alertness due to chronic health problems

18. 9. Tourette’s Syndrome • Is a neurological disorder that includes repetitive, involuntary movements of tics • Average age of onset is 7 to 10 years • Tics can include sniffing, snorting, barking, self harm, punching, swearing etc.

19. Signs of Tourette’s Syndrome • The main symptoms of TS are tics. Motor tics can be everything from eye blinking or grimacing to head jerking or foot stamping. Some examples of verbal tics are throat clearing, making clicking sounds, repeated sniffing, yelping, or shouting. In rare cases, people with TS might have a tic that makes them harm themselves, such as head banging

20. 10. Emotional Disturbance • A condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time • An inability to learn and cannot be explained intellectual, sensory or health factors • An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers • Inappropriate types of behavior of feelings under normal circumstances • A general mood of unhappiness or depression • A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems

21. Signs of Emotional Disturbance • Depression • Anxiety • Fatigue • Poor appetite • Weight loss • Sleep disorder • Poor self image • Suicidal ideation • Nervousness • Instability

22. 11. Specific Learning Disabilities • A specific learning disability is a disorder in one or more of the central nervous system processes involved in perceiving, understanding and/or using concepts through verbal (spoken or written) language or nonverbal means. This disorder manifests itself with a deficit in one or more of the following areas: attention, reasoning, processing, memory, communication, reading, writing, spelling, calculation, coordination, social competence and emotional maturity

23. Signs of Specific Learning Disabilities • Learning disabilities typically affect five general areas: • l) Spoken language: delays, disorders, and deviations in listening and speaking • 2) Written language: difficulties with reading, writing and spelling • 3) Arithmetic: difficulty in performing arithmetic operations or in understanding basic concepts • 4) Reasoning: difficulty in organizing and integrating thoughts • 5) Memory: difficulty in remembering information and instructions

24. 12. Speech or Language Impairment • This can be a communication disorder such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment, or a voice impairment

25. Signs of Speech or Language Impairment • Not combining words • Must be told and retold to carry out simple directions (not just non-compliance) • Using only nouns • Poor eye contact • No rapid increase in number of words understood and used • Does not tolerate sitting for listening activity/looking at books, etc.

26. 13. Visual Impairment • Is vision loss (of a person) to such a degree as to qualify as an additional support need through a significant limitation of visual capability resulting from either disease, trauma, or congenital or degenerative conditions that cannot be corrected by conventional means, such as refractive correction, medication, or surgery

27. Signs of Visual Impairment • Partially sighted indicates some type of visual problem, with a need of person to receive special education in some cases; • Low vision generally refers to a severe visual impairment, not necessarily limited to distance vision. Low vision applies to all individuals with sight who are unable to read the newspaper at a normal viewing distance, even with the aid of eyeglasses or contact lenses. They use a combination of vision and other senses to learn, although they may require adaptations in lighting or the size of print, and, sometimes, Braille; • Myopic - unable to see distant objects clearly, commonly called near-sighted or short-sighted • Hyperopic - unable to see close objects clearly, commonly called far-sighted or long-sighted • Legally blind indicates that a person has less than 20/200 vision in the better eye after best correction (contact lenses or glasses), or a field of vision of less than 20 degrees in the better eye; and • Totally blind students learn via Braille or other non-visual media.

28. 14. Pervasive Developmental Disorders(PDD) • Is a delay in social/language/motor and/or cognitive development.

29. Signs of PDD • Children with these conditions often are confused in their thinking and generally have problems understanding the world around them

30. Sources • http://chealth.canoe.ca/channel_condition_info_details.asp?disease_id=152&channel_id=165&relation_id=1762#Symptoms • http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Deafblindness/Pages/Symptoms.aspx • http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/hearing-loss-symptoms • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_retardation • http://learningdisabilities.about.com/od/mo/g/multiple_disabi.htm • http://www.tahperd.org/LINKS/links_pdfs/APE%20factsheets/Severe_Multiple_Disabilities.pdf • http://www.projectidealonline.org/orthopedicImpairments.php • http://www.ci.maryville.tn.us/mhs/MCSsped/orthop.htm • http://nichcy.org/disability/specific/ohi • http://nichcy.org/disability/categories !!!!!! • http://kidshealth.org/teen/diseases_conditions/brain_nervous/tourette.html# • http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/e/emotional_disorders/intro.htm • http://www.csun.edu/cod/conf/1997/proceedings/120.htm • http://essentialeducator.org/?p=5671 • http://www.speechlanguagepathologyservices.com/faqs.html • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_impairment • http://www.medicinenet.com/pervasive_development_disorders/article.htm