By Sophia Delport

Since the disappearance of schools catering specifically for learners with learning disabilities, teachers are faced with learners from all walks of life with various capacities and abilities in one classroom.

Many of the symptoms and indicators associated with learning difficulties and disabilities are often ascribed to a learner having social or behavioural problems, and because many of these indicators, when occurring in isolation, can be associated with many different issues, this makes the identification process even more confusing.

If a learner exhibits several of the following characteristics, it is often a good indication that he or she may have one or more learning disabilities:

Reading

• Avoidance of reading or writing
• Tendency to misread information
• Have poor reading comprehension 
• Have difficulty with syntax and grammar 
• May confuse similar letters or numbers or even reverse them 
• Have difficulty summarizing content 
• May have difficulty reading text in columns, or in small print or footnotes 
• Have difficulty understanding subject text books 

Writing

• May have difficulty writing ideas and/or organizing thoughts on paper
• May reverse, confuse or omit letters
• May often spell the same word differently in one piece of writing
• May read well and not write well (or vice versa)
• Have trouble with continued bad spelling – even after intervention
• Have poor skills in writing essays or pieces of transactional writing
• May be able to explain things orally, but not in writing

Auditory and cognitive

• Have trouble with open-ended questions
• Have poor grasp of abstract concepts
• Have difficulty learning a foreign language
• Poor ability to apply math skills
• May acquire new skills slowly
• May have difficulty following directions – especially multiple directions
• May experience visual and spatial confusion (i.e. confuse right and left, up and down, etc)
• May seem unaware of time or the sequence of events
• May not respond to sounds of spoken language, or may consistently misunderstand what is said
• May be bothered or overly sensitive to different frequencies of sound (i.e. music, vacuums, loud noises)
• May have difficulty differentiating sounds that occur simultaneously
• May find it difficult to memorise information or may be  unable to repeat what has just been said

Attention/organization

• Difficulty getting organized
• Trouble with test formats such a multiple choice
• Slow work pace in class and in testing situations
• Poor note taking skills
• Poor ability to proofread or double check work
• May experience stress on extended  mental effort

Social behaviour

• Difficulty accepting criticism
• Difficulty seeking or giving feedback
• Problems negotiating or advocating for oneself
• Difficulty resisting peer pressure
• Difficulty understanding another person’s perspective
• May experience social isolation
• May misinterpret non-verbal social cues
• May not use appropriate eye contact.

When you suspect that you have a learner with a learning disability, you need to contact your HOD or Principal and make them aware of the fact that the child possibly has a learning disability. The parents or caregivers should also be informed so that the child could get the best treatment possible. It normally takes a team of professionals to accurately diagnose a learning disability, so make sure you liaise with your school and the Department of Education. Helpful websites you can visit for help are www.health24.com,  www.education.gov.za .

Intervention 

[The following information was taken from www.health24.com] 

With early identification and intervention along with a cooperative attitude between school and parents, the prognosis for a child with a learning disability is positive in a significant percentage of cases. Early identification (pre-puberty) can prevent or limit frustration and failure in school, as well as associated emotional, social or behavioural problems. Intervention usually includes one or more of the following:

• Individual or group remedial lessons by a trained remedial teacher
• Occupational therapy for children with NLD, motor disabilities and visual perception disabilities
• Physiotherapy for NLD and motor disabilities
• Speech and language therapy for children with specific language difficulties and auditory perception disabilities
• Social skills groups and behavioural management for children to help them to cope with the social and emotional difficulties which may arise from a learning disability
• Education for family members on the ramifications of learning disabilities and the effect on family functioning
• Homework tutors to assist with individual homework sessions

When remediation isn’t possible or the problem cannot be overcome, supportive measures can be put in place to assist children to work around these problems and reach their potential despite these learning problems.  In South Africa, the Department of Education offers special dispensations for Learners with Special Educational Needs. These must be applied for by the school and may include:

• Extra time for exams
• Spelling concession
• Handwriting dispensation
• Oral exams
• A planning aid for exam writing
• Questions on tape
• Use of a computer during exams
• A scribe during exams

In addition to formal intervention and support measures, it is imperative that children with learning disabilities also receive support at home and in the classroom. The following are some ideas of how teachers and parents can assist children with learning disabilities:

• Ensure that learning occurs in a relatively distraction-free environment.  If possible, seat the child in the front of the class, or in a position where he or she will be exposed to fewer distractions. A single desk is often preferable. Some sort of shelving for the storage of books, worksheets and stationary often ensures an organised desk space.
• Provide a calendar with a weekly plan, homework, assignments and tests to help the child structure his or her time.  If possible, supervise the recording of homework to ensure that the child knows what needs to be done and when.
• Repeat instructions and provide these in a structured, simple and clear way.  Provide both written and oral instructions and, if possible, ask the child to repeat the instructions to you in their own words to ensure that they have understood these. Make sure that the child is paying attention before instructions are given, and make eye-contact with the child to monitor whether they understand the instructions.
• Provide a checklist of features that can help learners to plan and evaluate their own work, such as use of paragraphs, style, punctuation, and headings.
• Break assignments up into small tasks and be available to check assignments in the planning stages and provide support and suggestions.
• Reduce volume of work, presenting only essential information and reducing the number of practice examples required of the child.
• Underline important facts in passages and help the child to recognise important information and summarise.
• Give specific questions to guide reading and understanding.
• Allow work to be done on a computer if necessary.
• Don’t penalise poor spelling, just correct it.
• Provide a key with word definitions and ask the child to start his or her own dictionary where new words can be written down and used in future assignments.
• Enlarge reading texts, maps and diagrams for easier reference.
• Use visual aids such as charts and graphs, and teach and present work in different ways.
• Give extra time to complete tasks if necessary, but also help the child to plan and use their time effectively.
• Minimise the amount of work copied from the board, as this is time-consuming and takes energy from the child.
• Use concrete examples to explain new concepts.
• Provide the learner with strategies such as acronyms or mnemonics to remember information.
• A quick recap of the previous day’s work is beneficial.  Don’t assume that the child with a learning disability remembers or can build on what was learnt the previous day.
• Children with a learning disability need organised teachers and parents. Ensure that the worksheets or notes that are given to the child are well set-up.
• Remember that producing good work takes a great deal of effort from children with learning disabilities.  Make sure that you provide lots of positive reinforcement and help to boost the child’s self-esteem.
• A “homework buddy” or “classroom buddy” (a strong and organised classmate) can be used to keep an eye on the child with a learning disability to ensure that they stay organised in class and have someone whom they can ask for help if necessary.
• Any child can only learn if they are properly fed and rested, and the same is true of a child with a learning disability. Because children with learning disabilities take so much longer to complete homework and learn, it often becomes the sole focus in a family.  While too many extra-mural activities can be exhausting and distracting for a child with a learning disability, it is imperative that these children be allowed to participate in activities which they enjoy, and that they are given sufficient leisure time. It is particularly important to find something that the child feels positive about in order to boost his or her self-esteem.

It is imperative that the treatment and support plan for a child with a learning disability be updated often to ensure that he or she receives the most beneficial support. While many of these measures take effort and time from teachers, employing some of the above suggestions in the classroom context would benefit all learners, not only those with special educational needs.