JESICA SIA YUEN R.
CHONG
Grade V-Chong Adviser
Reflection paper in SPED
The term “learning disabilities”, sometimes referred to as specific learning disabilities, is
an umbrella term that covers a range of neurologically based disorders in learning and various
degrees of severity of such disorders. Predecessor terms include: minimal brain damage and
minimal brain dysfunction.
Broadly speaking, these disorders involve difficulty in one or more, but not uniformly in
all, basic psychological processes: (1) input (auditory and visual perception), (2) integration
(sequencing, abstraction, and organization), (3) memory (working, short term, and long-term
memory), (4) output (expressive language), and (5) motor (fine and gross motor).
Learning disabilities vary from individual to individual and may present in a variety of
ways. Learning disabilities may manifest as difficulty: (1) processing information by visual and
auditory, means, which may impact upon reading, spelling, writing, and understanding or using
language, (2) prioritizing, organizing, doing mathematics, and following instructions, (3) storing
or retrieving information from short or long term memory, (4) using spoken language, and (5)
clumsiness or difficulty with handwriting.
Learning disabilities are not emotional disturbances, intellectual disabilities, or sensory
impairments. They are not caused by inadequate parenting or lack of educational opportunity.
In Clara’s situation, the following are her notable characteristics in the classroom;
1. Clara is restless and unfocused in class
2. She has troubles following instructions.
3. She skips activities when left supervised.
During their parent-teacher conference, she was diagnosed to have a learning disability.
According to Kristina Scully on her Article page Pathway to Succes, supporting kids with
special needs works best when both regular education and special education staff work
together. That’s why it is helpful for all teachers to understand how they can modify and
accommodate for students in their classrooms. For newer teachers, learning that you need to
modify work for kids of various levels can be a bit overwhelming. Even teacher who are highly
experienced might struggle with how much to modify. It’s really a balance because you are
constantly trying to find out what is “just tough enough” to push your students, with it still
being at an appropriate level that can help them grow. Too easy and the work doesn’t really
challenge them. Too difficult and kids might shut down, causing them to not learn anything at
all. It’s okay (and actually good) to fine-tune your level of modifications over time.
She also posted va quick reference list for some ideas to pull from when we need to
modify for a child’s assessment, homework, or other assignment:
Reduce the Workload:
Assign even or odd problems only – This is a great strategy for homework. It’s simple and
quick for the teacher, but still gives the child similar practice to everyone else.
Select specific problems and omit extra ones
Give 1 essay question instead of 3 or 4
Give choice – Let the student select 10 problems to do or let them pick whether to do the
front or back of a worksheet. This will help with motivation, too, since the child sees they
have a choice in the assignment.
Put fewer problems on each page – This will be less visually distracting.
For matching, reduce the number of items to match or break them in half
Reduce the number of multiple choices – There will be less to select from. For example, if
everyone else has a quiz with 4 possible multiple choice answers, your student might only
have 2 or 3 options to choose from.
Eliminate true or false questions – These questions can be extremely tricky, especially for
kids with language-based disorders.
Modify the Content:
Give a similar but different assignment with lower grade level material in area of
weakness (math, reading, or writing) – For example: if the topic is computing with
fractions, the student might be drawing fraction pictures. This will also help you target
the “most important” concepts for the child to learn at the time.
Provide an alternative assignment – This can be a research project, hands-on project, lab
experiment, or making a poster to show understanding of a topic.
Align student interest to the content – For example, you might focus on reading
strategies while learning about trains.
Provide Supports:
Give a word bank for fill in the blank or when writing an essay
Allow students to type or orally report their responses
Give a specific list for steps to complete a task
Provide concept cards with an assignment
Allow the student to use their book or notes
Provide specific examples
Highlight tricky or key words in questions
Allow extra time
Allow student to work in quieter setting
Allow calculators
Allow for brainstorming prior to the assignment
Have adult read assignment to student
