Teaching Students With Learning Disabilities

Lesson 1

Understanding Learning Disabilities

One in seven Americans has a learning disability. That means that in your class of 28 students, four could have significant trouble keeping up with the basics. Your first lesson investigates what learning disabilities (LDs) are and defines some common types that you may often see in the classroom.

Identifying Students with LDs

Is Tamara having trouble with reading because it's not her favorite subject, or is something else going on? The process of identifying students with LDs is a long and sometimes tedious one, which is what you will learn about in this lesson.

Making Sense of the IEP

This lesson explores individualized education programs (IEPs), which are road maps that guide the learning curve of every child with LDs. Once you know how to decode the language and the sections, it's easy to start using IEPs as the helpful tools they are meant to be.

Understanding Service Locations

This lesson focuses on common service locations that help students with LDs meet educational goals. Students with LDs receive IEP-mandated services in a number of ways. Whether they're in their main classroom or a special education room, they will learn a bit differently than other students.

Learning the Right Teaching Strategies

In this lesson, you will learn about teaching strategies that make learning memorable for students with LDs. The right teaching strategies spell out the difference between a creative, engaging classroom and one that stagnates without reaching most of its students.

Helping Students With Word Identification Problems

Word identification problems can make "cat" look like "can" or "pan." Imagine how hard it would be to read all the wrong words in all the right places. In this lesson, you will discover smart strategies to help students find their words.

Helping Students With Reading Comprehension Problems

For students who have trouble reading, it's hard enough to just get the words right. But to pair those words with their meaning is a seemingly insurmountable task. In this lesson, you will learn how to chunk information, so students can understand what they're reading and fall in love with texts.

Helping Students With Written Expression Problems

Writing poses quite a few challenges for students with LDs—some may have trouble holding their pencils, and others find it difficult to communicate. This lesson takes a tour of strategies that bring writing to life for students who often don't even realize all the neat things they have to say.

Helping Students With Math Reasoning and Calculation Problems

Many students with LDs dread math because math requires various skills to come together seamlessly: reasoning, logic, number sense, writing, and computation are all key. In this lesson, you will learn how to make all those numbers a little easier for students with LDs to manipulate.

Modifying Your Classroom

Even though the IEP gives you a general idea of how to help your students with LDs, you will still need to explore new, innovative ideas to modify your classroom, assignments, and tests. In this lesson, you will learn modifications that may spell success for students with LDs who need a push in the right direction.

Managing Student Behavior

Every student has had days when going to school was a drag. Students with LDs are no different. Because school forces them to tackle big challenges head on, it's often their least favorite thing to do. This can lead to behavior problems that you will have to defuse creatively, which is what this lesson covers.

Linking Home and School

The connection between home and school is a powerful predictor of classroom success for students with LDs. Your final lesson focuses on the best ways to conduct meaningful parent-teacher conferences that help everyone unite behind a child with LDs in need.