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Day in the life of a student living with a SLD.

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Day in the life of a student living with a SLD.

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Being a young student and living with a specific learning disability can make school and many other things very challenging. Living with this disability can also cause me to resent school. Everyday readings are a struggle because I "can't" read most of the words on the page, and its hard for me to focus long enough to get through reading a paragraph. The words on the page rarely make sense, causing my comprehension to decrease. I also struggle with math and writing. Math is hard for me because I don't understand what the teacher is saying and I am too afraid to ask for help. I don't want to be seen as the "dumb" kid, so I pretend like I know what I am doing but continue to struggle. Writing is a struggle because I cannot seem to get my thoughts down on to paper, and most times I struggle with explaining my thoughts to my teacher.

Three times a day I go see my resource teacher. In her classroom we work on many different skills to help me increase my learning skills. For writing we take things slow to help me better understand how to formulate my thoughts about a topic and how to organize them. Then we spend many days getting those initial thoughts down on paper and eventually turing them into complete sentences. We use many different strategies for each step of the writing process. Once I get to my published copy I am extremely excited and proud of the work that I have done. For math, we a lot manipulative to help me better visualize the numbers and equations. We will continue to work on the same skill or topic until I have mastered it and can do it on my own. For reading we work in centers. Each center focuses on a different skill in reading. At the main table we will read a short story with the teacher page by page, and we will summarize each page as we are reading to help build our comprehension. The other centers help with identifying key word in passages, reading fluency and sights words. By going to my resource room I can feel like a normal kid and not have to worry about being the slowest kid in the class. My resource teacher helps me feel and become more smarter than I already am. She has helped me learn to love school, and to never give up even when the challenge seems too difficult.

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In what feels like a former life, I was a school psychologist and evaluated students for exceptional children's (special education) services. The assessment would include academic, intelligence and behavioral testing as well as interviews, observations and other forms of data collection.

I would often have parents say, "I think my child has dyslexia." I would listen to their concerns, nodding my head and then when they finished speaking, I would explain that the education system does not use the term "dyslexia." Instead, the assessment data may indicate a child has a "specific learning disability" or SLD.

Throughout my time as a school psychologist, I tried to educate parents on the acronyms and jargon associated with assessments and placement into an exceptional children's program. Meetings and paperwork can be daunting. Parents should know that the services provided will help significantly, but getting from Point A to Point B can be a bit confusing.

*A neurological deficit that affects the way a person interprets graphic symbols;

*A linguistic deficit, not a visual one;

*A disability that in no way affects general intelligence but considerably affects a person's ability to read;

*A condition that is significantly more prevalent in boys.

What is a specific learning disability?

*A disability that affects one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written;

*A condition that may manifest itself in a reduced ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do math.

*A term used in the public educational system to identify students for exceptional children's (special education) services.

Dyslexia and specific learning disabilities have a number of commonalities, but the main difference is that the term "dyslexia" is not used to identify students in the education system. Dyslexia is more of an umbrella term that encompasses a realm of reading difficulties while SLD can be very specific to phonics, reading fluency, reading comprehension, writing, math calculations or math applications.

Signs a student may have dyslexia or SLD in reading:

*Average to high intelligence;

*Significant difficulty reading, writing or spelling;

*Able to articulate thoughts verbally;

*Inability to get thoughts down on paper;

*Difficulty copying notes;

*Need for additional time to finish assignments;

*Challenges processing and integrating information;

*Trouble organizing school work;

*Frustration over school, often in a specific subject area (reading or math), but sometimes both;

*Poor memory for oral instructions.

Action steps and helpful tips:

*Talk with your child's teacher immediately if you suspect a learning disability.

*Provide a quiet area for homework, especially when working in the area(s) of difficulty.

*Allow frequent breaks during homework time.

*Encourage critical thinking as opposed to memorization of facts.

*Support and use the services provided by your child's school.

Reading, writing and math come so easily to many of us that it's hard to imagine just how challenging it is for children who have true dyslexia or a specific learning disability. Parents need to keep in mind that learning disabilities are lifelong and the best plan is for families to find and embrace strategies that work for their child's specific area of difficulty.

Susanna Barbee is a local mom, writer and educator. Find more on her blog, www.zealousmom.com. Reach her at susanna.barbee@gmail.com.

Sources:

medicalnewstoday.com

idea.ed.gov

idea.ed.gov

www.cyh.com

ldaamerica.org

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Barbee: Dyslexia vs. specific learning disabilities

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In what feels like a former life, I was a school psychologist and evaluated students for exceptional children's (special education) services. The assessment would include academic, intelligence and behavioral testing as well as interviews, observations and other forms of data collection. I would often have parents say, "I think my child has dyslexia."

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Specific Learning Disability BSC. 38 likes · 1 talking about this. Specific Learning Disability