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• Inability to process specific information
• Leads to lack of attention, confusion, inability to digest content.

Commonalities:
• Dyslexia and Dyscalculia
• Processing Difficulties
• Struggles in specific subjects
• Reading below level
• Skill deficits

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Specific Learning Disability: Categories of Students with Disabilities

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Colorado provides archived trainings for educators desiring to learn more about assisting students with SLD.

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Find what you were looking for?

If you have problems with broken links or accessing the content on this page, please contact our web content coordinator Amanda Timmerman at Timmerman_A@cde.state.co.us. Please copy the URL link for this page into the email when referencing the problem you are experiencing.

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If you have problems with broken links or accessing the content on this page, please contact our web content coordinator Amanda Timmerman at Timmerman_A@cde.state.co.us. Please copy the URL link for this page into the email when referencing the problem you are experiencing.

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Modifications & Accommodations for students with SLD

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Modifications & Accommodations for students with SLD

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As students with SLD cover a wide-range of student needs, various modifications and accommodations can be used with qualifying students.

Basic principles:

Break down tasks

Access to notecards before

Graphic organizers

Modifications:

Audio instead of reading

Large print materials

Dictate to scribe

Sensory tools

Additional time

Frequent breaks

Planner/organizer

Alternate assignment

Excused from project

Accommodations:

Notes outline

text-to-speech software

Classroom nonverbal signs

Class routines

Graphic organizers

List of math formulas

Step-by-step instructions

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About the Author

About the Author

is the director of thought leadership at Understood and author of Amanda Morin The Everything Parent's Guide to Special Education. She worked as a classroom teacher and early intervention specialist for more than a decade.

Reviewed by

Reviewed by

Donna Volpitta, EdD is the founder of Pathways to Empower. Her work draws on the latest research in neuroscience, psychology, and education.

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Common accommodations and modifications in school

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is the director of thought leadership at Understood and author of Amanda Morin The Everything Parent's Guide to Special Education. She worked as a classroom teacher and early intervention specialist for more than a decade. Donna Volpitta, EdD is the founder of Pathways to Empower.

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Audio books
Text-to-speech
Calculators
Colored overlays for word processing

Natural Readers
Prizmo
WordQ

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With all the free & cheap assistive technology available for reading and writing these days, you can provide your own accommodations at home - without any formal evaluation - and sometimes at work, depending on the accommodation needed. Here are a couple of ideas you might want to look into:

Natural Readers software is a free text-to-speech software program you can download on your computer. With this program installed on your computer, your computer will read out loud everything on your monitor after you highlight the text. This includes internet sites, email, and word processing documents. Actually, it can read anything you see written on your computer.

Prizmo is an app for your phone that lets you take a picture of what you want to read and then it reads it out loud to you. This works great for books, magazines, menus, or whatever else you need to read that's not on a computer. You can check it out at about It costs $9.99 at the App Store. You can even create files that have multiple pages if you take multiple pictures.

For other ideas about assistive technology that may be helpful, click here and check out Georgia Tech's TOOLS FOR LIFE APP FINDER.

Just click on the picture that looks like the one here, and it will give you information about free & cheap apps.

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With all the free & cheap assistive technology available for reading and writing these days, you can provide your own accommodations at home - without any formal evaluation - and sometimes at work, depending on the accommodation needed.

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A Guide to Specific Learning Disabilities. (2015, November 22). Special Education Guide. https://www.specialeducationguide.com/disability-profiles/specific-learning-disabilities/

Assistive Technology (AT) – Learning Disabilities Association of America. (2020). Learning Disabilities Association of America. https://ldaamerica.org/category/assistive-technology-at/?audience=Educators

Morin, A. (2021, March 31). Common accommodations and modifications in school. Understood. https://www.understood.org/articles/en/common-classroom-accommodations-and-modifications

Specific Learning Disability: Categories of Students with Disabilities. (2017, October 1). [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcuXaZGHIDg

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Bringing Support TO the Students Just Let them Eat Cake!

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A specific learning disability is defined as, "a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations" (A Guide to Specific Learning Disabilities, 2015).

Prevalence: high incidence

According to the Special Education Guide, "Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) is by far the largest category of disability within the Individuals for Disabilities Education Act.  Nearly half of all disabled children are labeled in the category of SLD" (A Guide to Specific Learning Disabilities, 2015).

Categories included:
— Oral expression
— Listening comprehension
— Written expression
— Basic reading skill
— Reading fluency skills
— Reading comprehension
— Mathematics calculation or problem solving

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Definition

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) defines a specific learning disability as "a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations." This disability category includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia and developmental aphasia (a type of language disorder).

However, as IDEA's definition notes, "Specific Learning Disability does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities; of intellectual disability; of emotional disturbance; or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage." This clause helps to distinguish learning disabilities from the other disability categories specified by IDEA. Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) is by far the largest category of disability within the Individuals for Disabilities Education Act. Nearly half of all disabled children are labeled in the category of SLD.

Common Traits

According to the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (known as NICHCY), specific learning disabilities commonly affect skills in the areas of:

Reading (called dyslexia)

Writing (called dysgraphia)

Listening

Speaking

Reasoning

Math (called dyscalculia)

Signs that a child might have a learning disability tend to appear in elementary school. For example, difficulty learning the alphabet, problems with following directions, trouble transforming thoughts into written words and misreading math problems are all possible indicators of a specific learning disability.

Educational Challenges

It's clear from reading the above traits that students with learning disabilities can face a number of educational challenges. Oklahoma's State Department of Education alludes to several of these challenges in their online fact sheet on specific learning disabilities; they include:

Difficulty reading out loud

Poor reading comprehension

Struggling to write papers and essays

Trouble understanding lectures

Difficulty holding a pencil

Tips for Teachers and Parents

Don't let the term "learning disabilities" mislead you, teachers and parents. Rooted within this term is a common assumption that children with learning disabilities can't learn. NICHCY proposes otherwise, stating, "Children with learning disabilities are not 'dumb' or 'lazy.' In fact, they usually have average or above average intelligence. Their brains just process information differently."

Indeed, the more politically-correct phrase "learning differences" offers a more accurate snapshot that captures the essence of learning disabilities. Supplied with the appropriate special education services, students with learning disabilities can flourish academically. Take a student with dysgraphia for example. He or she may have A-worthy ideas for a paper inside his or her head, but without accommodations those ideas will probably not earn the grade they deserve. One potential accommodation for such a scenario entails using speech-to-text technology to write papers.

Overall, the best educational accommodations for students with specific learning disabilities stem from assessing a child's particular case and identifying his or her strengths and weaknesses. This evaluation is worked into the individualized education program (IEP) process.

Parents, are you concerned that your youngster might possess a learning disability? NICHCY notes you can ask your school to evaluate your son or daughter to diagnosis any learning disabilities. If your child has a specific learning disability, the IEP process will begin to unfold.

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A Guide to Specific Learning Disabilities | Special Education Guide

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The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) defines a specific learning disability as "a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations."