Examples of overall difficulties:

• Lack of background information to relate new material across subject areas

• Difficulty remembering facts due to lack of ability to relate the new information to background knowledge

• Gaps in skill across areas due to knowledge and acquisition being dependent on exposure to information or specific curriculum

Academic Impact:

• Oral Expression: Poor word retrieval; Organization of thoughts; Using precise language to effectively communicate ideas (oral and written)

• Listening Comprehension: understanding language (oral, written); provide off-topic/random responses to questions

• Vocabulary: Difficulty understanding lectures or complicated verbal directions

• Reading -Reading Fluency, Reading Comprehension

• Writing

• Math-vocabulary in operations; word problems

Overall strategies:

Presentation

• Support visual information with verbal information (demonstrations, task charts, story maps, formulas)

Vocabulary Strategies

• Use a quick vocabulary book or reference wall which the student can draw information for discussion or written expression

• Use vocabulary that is understood by the individual when presenting directions and discussing concepts and in assessments

• Use vocabulary cartoons to increase and remember vocabulary

Rich learning experiences/environment

• Museums, field trips, virtual field trips

• Label items, talk through activities, text talks

Scaffold Instruction

• Access prior knowledge prior to introducing new topics/concepts

• Relate new information to prior knowledge

• Incorporate interests into instructional activities

Memory and Retrieval

• Repeat skills and vocabulary

• Use mnemonics to help retrieve knowledge

• Chunk information

Overall accommodations:

• Preferential seating to enhance monitoring of comprehension

• Check in with the student to ensure comprehension of task demands

• Provide study guides

• Allow "think time" when responding to questions

• Highlight key words or facts