What is a Learning Disability? Dr. Rick McCendie

The plan April 12 th What is a learning disability? April 19 th Strategies to assist college students with LD

Today’s outline Tools used to assess LD LD definition Examples of major profiles of LD Facts about LD

Goal of Psycho-Educational Assessment To evaluate the student’s learning profile What are the student’s strengths and weaknesses? Learning needs? Can lead to diagnosis of LD. Informs academic programming.

Tools used to assess LD Intelligence:Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – III Memory:Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning – II Academic:Wechsler Individual Achievement Test - II

Intelligence Testing (WAIS-III) 4 Major Indexes Verbal Comprehension – the ability to answer oral questions that measure factual knowledge, word meanings, reasoning, and ability to express ideas in words. Perceptual Organization – the ability to integrate visual stimuli, reason non-verbally and apply visual-spatial and visual-motor skills to solve problems that are not school taught.

WAIS-III (cont’d) Working Memory – the ability to actively maintain information in conscious awareness, perform some operation or manipulation with it, and produce a result. Processing Speed – the ability to demonstrate speed in solving an assortment of nonverbal problems (speed of thinking and motor speed).

Wechsler Individual Achievement Test - II Word Reading Pseudoword Decoding Reading Comprehension Spelling Written Expression Numerical Operation Math Reasoning

What is a learning disability? A learning disability is diagnosed when a specific area of academic achievement (e.g. reading) falls substantially below that expected given the individual’s chronological age, measured by intelligence and age- appropriate education (DSM-IV).

Learning Disability (def’n) “Learning disabilities are neurological disorders that interfere with a person’s ability to store, process, or produce information, and create a gap between one’s ability and performance. Individuals with learning disabilities are generally of average or above average intelligence.” (National Centre for Learning Disabilities, 1999)

Example: Reading Disorder Susan is in the Fall semester of grade 3 (age 8yrs-2m; G3:3) and has struggled to learn to read since Kindergarten. Psycho-ed testing has indicated: WISC-III Verbal Comp. 55 th %ile WIAT-II Word Reading1 st %ile; G1:1 WIAT-II Pseudoword Dec.1 st %ile; K:7 WIAT-II Reading Comp. 1 st %ile; <1:0

More LD profiles Language-based Learning Disability Non-Verbal Learning Disability (NLD)

Common experiences of individuals with LD Have important needs and ideas to communicate but have difficulty expressing them. Try to read but have difficulty making sense of letter and numbers Can lead to a cycle of academic failure, lowered self-esteem and overwhelming frustration

Common experiences (cont’d) Disengagement from school Behaviour to avoid failure or being “found out” or “being seen as dumb” Inattention/distractibility (but is not ADHD) Lack of task persistence

Facts about LD Can be lifelong conditions that affect many facets of an individual’s life (e.g. school, work, daily routines, family life, friendships and play) Some may have one LD, but others have overlapping LDs that affect multiple areas of functioning

Facts about LD (cont’d) Individuals with LD may have marked difficulties on certain types of tasks, but may excel at others. LD can affect an individual’s ability to read, write, write, speak, compute math and perform social skills

Facts about LD (cont’d) LD is due to central nervous system dysfunction LD is constitutional in origin Occurs across the lifespan Individuals with LD have average IQ or better LD is not due to mental retardation or weak cognitive skills Prevalence 3% of children in Canada (Stats Can 2007), 3-10% in North America

Facts about LD (cont’d) Runs in families Many individuals with LD eventually become quite successful; much of their difficulty occurs in school-related activities