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By: Jada Griffin
“Creativity is the key for any child with dyslexia, or for anyone for that matter. Then you can think outside of the box. Teach them anything is attainable. Let them run with what you see is whatever they need to run with.” - Orlando Bloom
What are specific Learning Disabilities?
Specific Learning Disabilities (SLDs) are neurodevelopmental disorders that affect a student's ability to process, retain, and apply information in reading, writing, and mathematics. According to Eileen Ahearn's study (2003), SLDs are not due to environmental, sensory, or intellectual factors but arise from specific cognitive impairments. The early identification of SLDs is crucial in providing targeted interventions to support academic achievement. As outlined by Elieen Ahearn (2003), without appropriate intervention, students with SLDs may face ongoing academic struggles, impacting their self-esteem and future educational opportunities. Additionally, research by Charles Hughes (2011) emphasizes that a deeper understanding of the cognitive processes involved in SLDs allows educators to design better-targeted, evidence-based interventions. Understanding the nature of SLDs enables educators to implement individualized teaching strategies that address these cognitive challenges and promote academic success.
What are the Symptoms of Specific Learning Disabilities?
Symptoms of Specific Learning Disabilities (SLDs) manifest in numerous ways, often related to reading, writing, and mathematics difficulties. Children with dyslexia, for instance, may exhibit problems with reading fluency, decoding words, and recognizing letter patterns, which can result in slow reading and frequent spelling errors (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2021). Students with dyscalculia struggle with number concepts, making it difficult to understand basic math operations and solve problems (National Center for Learning Disabilities, n.d.). Additionally, students with SLDs might show difficulties with organization, time management, and memory, affecting their ability to follow instructions and complete tasks efficiently. These symptoms do not reflect a lack of intelligence; instead, they suggest specific cognitive challenges that can be addressed with targeted interventions. Early identification and appropriate support can significantly improve students' educational experiences with SLDs.
What are effective teaching strategies?
Effective teaching strategies for students with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLDs) often involve individualized approaches that address their unique challenges. For instance, explicit instruction in reading, writing, and math skills is essential. Students with dyslexia benefit from phonics-based programs that focus on the relationship between sounds and letters, while those with dyscalculia require structured support in understanding numerical concepts and operations (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2021). Additionally, providing accommodations, such as extended time on assignments or alternative formats for instruction, helps create a more accessible learning environment (National Center for Learning Disabilities, n.d.). Visual aids, graphic organizers, and multi-sensory techniques also support students in processing and retaining information in ways that align with their strengths. Educators can help students with SLDs achieve academic success by combining individualized instruction with appropriate support.
Questions:
Which of the following statements is true about Specific Learning Disabilities (SLDs)?
A) SLDs are caused by environmental factors such as poor teaching or lack of resources.
B) Students with SLDs generally struggle with reading, writing, and mathematics due to cognitive impairments, not a lack of intelligence.
C) Students with SLDs do not require specialized interventions or accommodations to succeed academically.
D) All students with SLDs can be fully cured with the right medication or therapy.
2. A teacher notices that one of their students struggles to recognize letter patterns, frequently misspells words, and reads at a much slower pace than their peers. Based on this information, which Specific Learning Disability (SLD) might the student be experiencing?
A) Dyscalculia
B) Dyslexia
C) ADHD
D) Autism
Conclusion
Based on the information I have reviewed, I believe that understanding Specific Learning Disabilities (SLDs) and the various teaching strategies to support students with these challenges is crucial for educators. Effective teaching for students with SLDs involves individualized instruction, accommodations, and specialized techniques to meet their needs. As the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (2021) highlights, explicit instruction and specialized support tailored to the student’s specific learning challenges can significantly improve academic performance. Furthermore, strategies such as multi-sensory instruction and visual aids have been shown in this study to enhance learning outcomes for students with dyslexia, dyscalculia, and other SLDs (National Center for Learning Disabilities, n.d.). As a future educator, fostering an inclusive classroom environment where these students can thrive is essential. I have learned that early identification and targeted interventions are critical to helping students with SLDs reach their full potential. Moving forward, educators should embrace differentiated instruction and maintain flexibility in their teaching practices to ensure that all students, regardless of their learning challenges, are given the tools to succeed.
How did I use AI?
So, I used the AI tools Canva and Chat gpt for this assignment. I first used the website Canva to help me create my multimedia element for this assignment. For my lesson draft, I used it to make a mini video to showcase what my learning targets are and what the readers will learn after reading my lesson. I am not a big tech person, so navigating and figuring out how to use Canva was a long process, but I watched a short video on YouTube to help me work the website, and the video was so insightful that after the first minute, I understood how to work Canva. For my use of Chat gpt, I used this AI tool to help me write my multiple-choice questions. I used the prompt, "Hey chat, can you help me create multiple choice questions for my assignment?". Using AI for this action was very helpful; it gave me many questions to choose from that were all related to my content. I would say using AI was more straightforward than the other assignments for this assignment. After doing the peer reviews and getting the responses back from my peers, I saw that one of my questions was not a multiple-choice question. So, to fix that, I used Chat gpt to help me form a question. To do this, I asked to chat with the prompt, " Hey chat, could you help me form a multiple choice question for my wiki book lesson?". I copy pasted my lesson in the chat box so that AI could see what I needed my question to refer to. After using AI for this, I found AI to be helpful when you need help with projects or tasks; it can give you a plethora of perspectives and answers to help you. Using chat gpt made creating my lesson easier, for example when I was in the process of building my wiki book lesson, I noticed when I did use AI, it could give me more information links to more articles that are peer-reviewed and credible, and it also would help with my grammar and help find misspellings that I could catch. For my writing, Ai had some effect. For my section on effective teaching strategies, I needed help adding more information to the paragraph, so I used AI to help me add more details to what I already had. With chat, they can write a text for you if you allow it to, but in this case, it did not write my text for Me but instead gave me a breakdown of my paragraph and guided me to find and think of more information to add to my text. So, in other words, Ai acted as a teacher, not trying to give them the answer flat out but assisting me in helping me find the answer on my own and giving me the tools I needed to use to get there. As I said before, Using Ai for this project gave me links to other peer-reviewed and credible sources to use for this project, and I used some of the sources in my wiki book. With those sources and the help of AI, I was able to understand in more depth specific learning disabilities and disabilities that fall under SLDS themselves, for example, dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia. Overall, using AI for How I used it for I do believe it enhanced my lesson. it was able to help me fix and beef up some of my areas in my lesson that could use more information, fixed grammar spelling, or just need a different perspective.
References
Ahearn, E. M. (2003). Specific Learning Disability: Current Approaches to Identification and Proposals for Change. National Association of State Directors of Special Education, ED481860.pdf
Hughes, C. A. (2011). Effective Instructional Design and Delivery for Teaching Task-Specific Learning Strategies to Students with Learning Disabilities. Focus on
Exceptional Children, 44(2),
1- https://doi.org/10.17161/fec.v44i2.6689
Resources. National Center for Learning Disabilities. (2024, May 7). https://ncld.org/resources/
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Learning disabilities resources. Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/learning/more_information/resources
Answers: 1. B 2. B
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