Early Warning Signs of Learning Disabilities

Presented by: St. Louis Learning Disabilities Association 13537 Barrett Parkway Drive. Suite 110 Ballwin, MO 63021 (314) 966-3088 www.ldastl.org Early Warning Signs of Learning Disabilities It’s no use saying ‘we are doing our best.’ You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.  - Winston Churchill

Well, what IS a learning disability? • A neurological issue • Creates difficulty in storing, processing and/or producing information • Discrepancy between what is expected (ability) and what is produced (achievement)

Okay, so what do we think causes them? • Risks can be environmental, biological, genetic, or perinatal • Medical advances are keeping fragile children alive who are at risk for development and later educational problems • Children with already identified disabilities such as cerebral palsy may be more at risk for LD also

Environmental Risks?? • Adopted child from an orphanage • Malnutrition • Infections • Exposure to smoking and/or other neurotoxins • Inconsistent caregivers • Lack of stimulation • Exposure to environmental toxins • Limited exposure to language • Poverty • Lower opportunity for pre-natal care and/or early diagnosis

Biological or Genetic risks?? • Family history of LD, spoken and/or written language issues • Chronic otitis media that may result in intermittent hearing loss • Adopted child status • Potential poor maternal care • Potential fetal alcohol exposure • Potential prematurity and/or low birth weight

Perinatal Risks? • Low Apgar scores • Low birth weight and/or preterm birth • Hospitalization for longer than 24 hours in a neonatal intensive care unit • Difficulty with suckling, sucking, and swallowing

Are there any protective factors? • Access to regular, quality pre-, peri-, and postnatal care • Maternal education • Quality learning opportunities for both the child AND the family • Exposure to a wide range of words (vocabulary), sentence structure (syntax), and ideas.

Are there any protective factors? • A learning environment that is diverse in both cultural and linguistic backgrounds • Access to printed materials – books, magazines, etc. • Involvement in both individual and group play, interactions and conversations – Unstructured as well as structured! • Lots of gross and fine motor activities

Okay – How do I know what to look for? • Developmental Milestones • The foundation for future growth and learning • Children gain skills and abilities in a predictable pattern • Although not all children hit them at the same time or in the same order • Some variations are normal, but patterns of differences should be noted • May be warning signs of later learning problems

But what if he’s just delayed? • Delay • Implies that the child will catch up as brain matures • Disability • Implies that a child will need direct intervention to remediate the concerns

SO - What areas are likely to be affected? • Language • Cognitive • Concentration • Attention • Motor Coordination • Social/Emotional

Language • Preschool • Problems with pronunciation • Difficulty discriminating between sounds • Limited and/or slow growing vocabulary • Lack of interest in telling stories • Difficulty expressing wants or needs • Does not enjoy being read to aloud

Cognitive • Preschool • Poor track record for task completion • Unable to remember daily routines or the names of teachers/peers • Problems learning to categorize similar items • Difficulty making choices • Tough time learning size, shape or colors • Very easily distracted • Difficulty learning left to right

Motor Coordination • Preschool • Messy eater • Clumsiness • Reluctance to draw or trace • Difficulty with self-help skills • Lacing/Tying shoes • Fastening clothes • Awkward when climbing, jumping or running • Struggles with stacking or building

Social/Emotional • Preschool • Impulsive behavior • Trouble making friends • Low tolerance for frustration • Resistance to change • Overly withdrawn or aggressive • Invades personal space of peers • Sudden, extreme mood swings • Sensitivity to sensory input

Scenarios Let’s see how well we observe our students…

Michael Michael is in kindergarten and his teacher noticed he needs a lot of extra help in class. He is always looking around the room and asking questions that do not have to do with what the teacher is talking about. When his teacher does a read aloud, Michael cannot answer the questions about the story. His teacher is concerned and wondering if he is not paying attention or if he does not understand the story. When the class was asked to draw a picture about the story, Michael never got started. Instead, he played with his crayon box and all the crayons fell out on the floor. He spent the rest of the class writing time picking up the crayons.

Darrell Darrell is not keeping the pace of the other five year olds in his class. When it is time for everybody to draw a picture, Darrell has a lot of trouble even getting started to write his name. It takes him so long to try to write his name, but when he finished it says “DAI”. Most of the other children have learned to write their name and can be creative with their work by making pictures and shapes. Darrell can’t make shapes, so the teacher gives him a picture to copy, and he has a hard time doing that, too.

Jana Jana is much more quiet than the other kids. The other kids in her class have just learned about pumpkins and they have started using new words like jack-o'-lantern and seeds but Jana is not. Her teacher keeps asking her questions about the pumpkin, but all she says is pumpkin, or orange. Another child told a story about when he went pumpkin picking and the teacher ask Jana if she has ever done this, and she just shook her head “no”. Her teacher is concerned and wondering if she should contact her parents about these concerns.

Carrie Carrie has just moved into Ms. D’s class. Since she has gotten there, Ms. D. has noticed that she has a very difficult time adjusting to her new classroom. Although she has been told and even practiced common routines, she is having difficulty doing these things when it is time. During reading time, Ms. D. just introduced a new vocabulary word and most kids learned it during the week, but when Carrie is asked anything about the word, she either stays quiet, shrugs or says I don’t know.

Justin Justin is always getting into trouble. He has a difficult time choosing what activity he want to go to and when he is at an activity with other kids, a problem happens. He gets so upset if he does not get his way that he cries and cries and doesn’t end up doing anything. Sometimes, he just stands back in the corner and refuses to do or talk to anybody, and other days, he runs up and hits the kids he is upset with. This is having a big effect on his friendships, and he does not even seem to notice.

Hmmm… Noticing a pattern with a student?Let’s Track it

Data Collection Sheets Note a specific behavior that you are interested in tracking. Then use a simple hash mark to note each occurrence. Simple way to see how often a behavior is occurring.

You’ve tracked it… Now where do you go from here?

Notification • Involve the director/principal • Inform the parents together • Call a team meeting • Teacher • Director/principal • Relevant Special Educators • Parents • Discuss the area(s) of concern • Response to Intervention (RTI) or Evaluation?

RTIResponse to Intervention 5% 15% 80%

Using Best Practices • Use a variety of materials • Change them often • Teach to all learning styles • Allow movement • Different sitting positions • Visual aid to auditory activity • Incorporate LOTS of coordination, perceptual and motor skill activities • Teach – and demonstrate procedures and routines • Clean up, etc. • Social Skills

Best Practices (cont’d) • Understand the developmental milestones • As well as the “red flags” • Understand age appropriate activities • Acknowledge and respond to the child • ALL communicative attempts • Allow the children to demonstrate competence • In front of their peers!

Referral possibilities Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) P.O. Box 480 Jefferson City, MO 65102 (573)-751-421 http://dese.mo.gov Missouri First Steps (Ages 0-3) http://dese.mo.gov/divspeced/FirstSteps/ St. Louis Learning Disabilities Assn. 13537 Barrett Parkway Dr. Suite 110 Ballwin, MO 63021 (314) 966-3088 Special School District (Ages 5+) 12110 Clayton Rd. Saint Louis, MO 63131 (314) 989-8100

Strategies and Proactive Measures • Having a visual schedule-picture schedule • To support those who struggle with language • Having little or no down time • Kids need to be engaged! • Giving plenty or warning before transitions and clean up times • Or move the child from the area before clean up • Positioning furniture in such a way that there are no open runways • Teaching expected appropriate behaviors often

More Strategies and Proactive Measures • Having duplicates of the most desired classroom items • Labeling shelves with pictures • So children can find the classroom materials and clean up more easily • Anticipate problems and be ready to intervene • Having a “bag of tricks” and be ready to switch activities at a moments notice • Frequent drinks and snacks • Children may not recognize hunger and/or thirst

Prompts and Cues • Using the least intrusive prompt possible • Hand signal • Colored card • Try to fade the prompt as the child becomes more independent • Give directions in a variety of ways • Pair a picture or sign language with verbal instruction

Prompts and Cues • Using chaining strategies • Teach 1 step at a time • Once step 1 is mastered, teach step 2 • Then “link” them together • Adapt materials/outcomes to meet the needs of the child • If at all possible, allow the use of the same materials as the rest of the class • Materials should be age appropriate for their chronological age

I’m thinking of a child who…

The Referral Process

Early Warning Signs of Learning Disabilities