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DODEA Special Education Companion includes pages worth of information on differentiating between disability and language based issues.

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Distinguishing between Disability and Language

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Distinguishing between Disability and Language

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Multilingual learners may display signs that could be misinterpreted as learning disabilities. In order to provide the assistance that is needed an educator must be able to distinguish between a learning disability and a language difference. Some key questions for an educator to ask:

How long has the child been speaking their home language and how long have they been exposed to English?

Are the difficulties observable in both their home and new language?

Are the difficulties observable in multiple settings (e.g., home, school, social settings)?

Have developmentally appropriate strategies been delivered systematically?

Have these strategies produced any significant differences in the child’s learning and development?

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English Language Learner (ELL) experiences difficulty in the ESL and general education classroom

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English Language Learner (ELL) experiences difficulty in the ESL and general education classroom

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ESL and general education teachers attempt a variety of strategies to resolve the student's difficulties. The ESL and general education teachers document student's progress, performance, and behavior.

The DODEA school that I am currently working at has a very robust ESL program for multilingual learners. This program does assessments on all multilingual learners and provides specialized instruction services for all classrooms. The language proficiency of all students is provided to the teachers and ESL teachers provide additional instruction assistance in classrooms daily. This leads to a very strong collaborative atmosphere for teachers throughout the school to keep an eye on students progress and confer on specific strategies for improvement.

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ESL and general education teachers continue implementing effective strategies and monitor student progress.

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ESL and general education teachers continue implementing effective strategies and monitor student progress.

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ESL and general education teachers request assistance from in-school problem-solving team, Student Support Team (SST) or other resource

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ESL and general education teachers request assistance from in-school problem-solving team, Student Support Team (SST) or other resource

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Student Support Team develops intervention plan and time frame

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SST reviews ELL data that has been collected, reevaluates intervention plan, and assesses student progress

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SST reviews ELL data that has been collected, reevaluates intervention plan, and assesses student progress

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SST determines ELL should be referred to CSC or other appropriate alternatives

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SST determines ELL should be referred to CSC or other appropriate alternatives

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SST modifies or expands intervention plan and establishes adjusted time frame

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SST modifies or expands intervention plan and establishes adjusted time frame

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Iris Center (2023), "Page 2: Distinguishing Between Disability and Language Difference." What do teachers need to know about young dual language learners with disabilities? https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/dll/cresource/q1/p02/

DODEA (2017), "1342.12 Companion," Provision of Early Intervention and Special Education Services to Eligible DoD Dependents. v1 June 2017

Morin, Amanda (2021). "Recognizing Signs of Potential Learning Disabilities in Preschool." Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/recognizing-signs-potential-learning-disabilities-preschool/

Honey Wooton, Erin. (2024). Personal Communication via Zoom

Hassan, Eudoxie. (2024). Personal Communication via Zoom

American Federation of Teachers. (2007). Building parent-teacher relationships. Www.readingrockets.org. https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/parent-engagement/articles/building-parent-teacher-relationships

APA (2024). "What is Intellectual Disability?" American Psychiatry Association, Psychiatry.org. https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/intellectual-disability/what-is-intellectual-disability

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Conferring with a students parents early and often is essential.

Information and support should be exchanged to better understand the nature of the child's struggles.

Parents can also initiate vision, hearing and health screening to determine if any of these factors contribute to, or are the cause of, the students school concerns.

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If challenges are detected the first step would be to discuss these observations with the students other teachers to compare notes.

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Implement Effective Teaching Strategies and Monitor Student Progress

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Implement Effective Teaching Strategies and Monitor Student Progress

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Referral to the Case Study Committee (CSC)

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Referral to the Case Study Committee (CSC)

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After the implementation of problem-specific collaborative interventions if a student continues to demonstrate learning difficulties with no improvement it may be necessary to make a formal referral to the CSC.

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An educators observations of a students performance, behavior, and struggles should be conducted for all students to assess strengths and weaknesses. Starting the school year with baseline assessments on reading comprehension and writing is a fantastic way to measure change in a student throughout the school year. It also allows for differentiated instruction to be implemented early.

Signs of a learning disability are much easier to spot in young learners, especially in the first couple years of schooling when they are learning to read, write, and do arithmetic. While older learners have routinely learned to suppress, or mask, these signs many are still visible. Record keeping of observations and progress is essential. Some signs of a learning disability that should be documented include:

Trouble following multistep directions

Issues with reading out loud

Difficulty recognizing, creating, or repeating patterns

Loss of attention or conspicuously displayed boredom

Difficulty forming social relationships

Poor coping strategies to conflict

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Continue Implementing Effective Teaching Strategies and Monitor Student Progress

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Continue Implementing Effective Teaching Strategies and Monitor Student Progress

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Must be conducted withing 10 school days from the receipt of a teacher referral. Within 15 days in the case of a parental referral.

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Within 10 school days of referral acceptance

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Within 45 school days

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No later than 10 school days following the completion of assessment

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Within 10 school days of Eligibility Meeting

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Request Assistance from the Student Support Team

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Request Assistance from the Student Support Team

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Student Support Team develops a specialized intervention plan and time frame. The student support team is composed of several staff members with knowledge of the students behaviors and academic history who collaboratively develop action plans for developing assistive strategies in the classroom. It is composed of general education teachers, ESL teachers, the school nurse, and administrative staff including a speech pathologist and the special education department chair.

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Student Support Team modifies or expands Intervention Plan and establishes adjusted time frame

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Student Support Team modifies or expands Intervention Plan and establishes adjusted time frame

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SST reviews data that has been collected, reevaluates intervention plan, and assesses student progress

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SST reviews data that has been collected, reevaluates intervention plan, and assesses student progress

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SST determines student should be referred to CSC or other appropriate alternatives

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SST determines student should be referred to CSC or other appropriate alternatives