Special Education

The term Learning Disability means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language; spoken or written imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do math calculations. Learning disabilities include perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia and developmental aphasia.

Since the late 1970s, the major method of identifying learning disabilities has been by looking for an IQ- achievement discrepancy. This is a comparison between scores on standardized intelligence and achievement tests. Researchers have proposed an alternative means of identifying students as learning disabled. This way is known as Response -to-intervention or Response-to-treatment approach. This way students are provided with "generally effective" instruction, and their progression is monitored.

Between 5 & 6 percent of public school students 6 to 17 years of age have been identified as learning disabled. "Learning Disabilities is by far the largest category of special education."(pg. 175)

Many professionals suspected neurologivcal factors were a major causse of learnng disabilities. Today, there is little evidence of actual damage to brain tissues, so the term dysfunction has come to replace injury or damage. There are also many other causes for being learning disabled. Over many years, researchers have gathered enough evidence and concluded that learning disabilities can b inherited. The two most common studies are Familiality studies deals with the degree to which a certain condition occurs in a single family. A more convincing method of determining whether leaning disabilities is inherited is Heritability studies. This study is a method of determining the degree to which a condition is inherited. Besides inheriting leaning disabilities, there are also teratogenic factors and medical factors. Teratogens are chemicals that can cause malfunctions or defects in the developing fetus. Ther are many medical conditions that can have such a negative impact on children that they develop these disabilities.

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