Learning Disability in Reading

Question 1

The big 5 of Specific Learning Disability?

Percey Blakeney trying to understand these dang points.

Answer 1

1. To ensure that underachievement in a student suspected of having a Specific Learning Disability is not due to a lack of appropriate instruction (i.e., empirically research-based instruction that is rigorous, systematic, and peer-reviewed) in the student’s State approved grade level standards.
2. The LEA must ensure that the child is observed in the student’s learning environment (including the regular classroom setting) to document the student’s academic performance and behavior in the areas of difficulty. The student’s performance shall be documented by two systematic observations in the area of suspected disability (one must be conducted by the certifying specialist and one may be conducted by the special education teacher).

3.The student does not achieve adequately for the student’s age or to meet State approved grade- level standards in one or more of the following areas, when provided with learning experiences and instruction appropriate for the student’s age or State-approved grade level standards:

4.The student does not make sufficient progress to meet age or State-approved grade-level standards in one or more areas (i.e., Basic Reading Skills, Reading Fluency, Reading Comprehension, Written Expression, Math Calculation, Mathematics Problem Solving) when using a process based on the student’s responsiveness to scientific, research-based intervention in each area of suspected delay. A lack of sufficient progress should be established by examining the student’s Rate of Improvement (ROI) including a gap analysis and should be based on the following criteria.

5. The team must determine that underachievement is not primarily the result of Visual, Motor, or Hearing Disability, Intellectual Disability, Emotional Disturbance, Cultural Factors, Environmental or Economic Factors, Limited English Proficiency, or Excessive Absenteeism.
6. Is your teacher trash?
7. I guess there’s nothing else it could be based on when I watched you for, like, 20 minuets.
8. These scores are in the toilet.
9. Yeah, these scores are still in the toilet even though we tried.
10. Sink me! It’s not anything else…

Question 2

What are the observation rules?

Answer 2

*The student’s performance shall be documented by two systematic observations in the area of suspected disability.

*One must be conducted by the certifying specialist and one
may be conducted by the special education teacher.

Question 3

What are the 6 categories of specific learning disability?

Answer 3

1. Basic Reading Skills
2. Reading Comprehension
3. Written Expression
4. Math Calculation
5. Math Problem Solving
6. Reading fluency

Question 4

Progress monitoring should occur at least every…

Answer 4

Two weeks

Question 5

What is the law of the ROI?

Answer 5

A lack of sufficient progress will be established by examining the student’s rate of improvement (ROI) including a gap analysis and will be based on the following criteria:

a. The ROI is less than that of his/her same-age peers
b. The ROI is the same as or greater than that of his/her same age peers but will not result inreaching the average range of achievement within a reasonable period of time.

Question 6

How often and typically when should we do universal screening for K-12?

Answer 6

Three times a year!

Question 7

How many data points in Tier 2 or Tier 3 do we need in order to make the choice to move to more intensive intervention?

Answer 7

If data is being taken every other week, then 8-10 data points.
If it’s every week, it needs 10-15.

Question 8

What are the 7 rule out factors?

The Learning Disability Cow

Answer 8

1. Visual, motor, or hearing disability
   2.Intellectual Disability
   3.Emotional Disturbance
   4.Cultural factors
   5.Environmental or Economic factors
   6.Limited English Proficiency
   7.Excessive Absenteeism

A blind cow with blood coming out of it’s eyes took an IQ test. It started mooing very loudly because it couldn’t see and got really upset. Tears started coming from the blood. To make the cow feel better, the school psychologist gave the cow a sombrero to wear. Obviously, right? The problem though, which everyone should have seen coming, was that the sombrero made the cow only be able to understand Spanish. But he still liked the hat and wouldn’t give it back until someone paid him 500 dollars. Cow also never went back to school because hated Emily, the school psychologist.

Question 9

How many students should theoretically be in tier 2?

Answer 9

10-15%

Question 10

Tier 3 should have how many?

Answer 10

3-5%

Question 11

What percentage criteria is considered at risk and would land you in Tier 2 right away?

Answer 11

Below the 25th percentile.

Question 12

What percentage would land you in tier 3? How many years behind are they?

Answer 12

1.5 to 2 years behind or are below the 10th percentile and
require the most intensive interventions immediately.

Question 13

What assesments can rule out emotional disturbance?

Answer 13

Medical records, the classroom observation, or screenings

Question 14

How do you rule out cultural, environmental, or economic factors?

Answer 14

Level of performance and rate of progress
compared to students from similar economic
backgrounds, situational factors that are
student specific.

Question 15

Children with Reading Disability have trouble with… (fancy word)

Answer 15

Phonologic Analysis or Processing

Question 16

What’s the oversimplified explanation of what’s going on in the brain with those with a reading disability?

Answer 16

“Our data indicate that dysfunction in left hemisphere posterior reading circuits is already present in dyslexic children and cannot be ascribed simply to a lifetime of poor reading”

Question 17

What part of the brain do we use to read?

Answer 17

Being able to read is not located in just one part of the brain. It’s using many different parts and in complex ways.

Their brains look different from typical readers. It’s something that they are probably born with.

Question 18

How do toddlers learn vocab?

Answer 18

“In the toddler years, vocabulary and syntax development
(forming sentences) often exist in the context of language
exposure in the early environment and sensitive, responsive
caregiving.”

Question 19

Successful management includes…

Answer 19

Successful management includes early childhood intervention and the provision of suitable accommodations after adolescence.

Question 20

The big three of reading impairment is…

Answer 20

1. Poor decoding
2. Poor spelling
3. Poor word recognition

Question 21

What is frequently comorbid with reading impairment?

Answer 21

Mood disorders, ADHD, and speech and language problems (so, uh, everything?)

Question 22

What percentage of those with ADHD have dyslexia?

Answer 22

“In total, 20% to 40% of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder have dyslexia.”

Question 23

What part of the brain is not working right?

Answer 23

“As a group, individuals with dyslexia show hypoactivation in the left-hemisphere reading systems. The structural and functional atypicalities in these brain regions include reduced gray matter volume,42 hypoactivation in response to reading-related functional MRI tasks,43 and weaker functional connectivity between key areas of the reading network.”

Question 24

Reading proficiency is strongly related to…

Answer 24

“It is worth noting that reading proficiency is strongly associated with socioeconomic status48–50: 80% of fourth grade students from low socioeconomic backgrounds read below grade-level proficiency.”

Question 25

Skilled reading in older children also depends on what?

Answer 25

Furthermore, recent research has revealed that skilled reading, especially in older children, is contingent on knowledge of academic language and the additional cognitive skills of perspective-taking and reasoning.

Question 26

When are children with reading disorder typically identified?

Answer 26

“Currently, children are typically diagnosed with dyslexia at the end of the second or beginning of third grade (and many much later), after they have already failed to learn to read over a long period of time and have fallen behind their peers academically.”

Question 27

Why is waiting until 2nd grade to fix a reading disorder a bad idea?

Answer 27

“This wait-to-fail approach fails to capitalize on the most effective window for intervention, which is during an earlier period of heightened brain plasticity in kindergarten and first grade.”

Question 28

What percentage of incarcerated adults have a learning disorder?

Answer 28

“20% to 30% of incarcerated adults76 have a learning disorder.”

Question 29

When interviewing a parent, what can you do to determine in they may have a reading problem?

Because reading impairments are very heritable, screening the family history is especially important.

Answer 29

“In addition to child-directed assessments, given the strong heritability of dyslexia, a crucial component of early identification is an assessment of the reading history of the child’s parent(s) to determine the child’s familial risk of dyslexia. Family history is both quick to elicit and informative in the global assessment of a child’s risk. The Adult Reading History Questionnaire is an inventory91 of an adult’s literacy abilities and habits and can be used to indicate a reading impairment (see ref 92 for a digital version).”

Question 30

Jessica and David have a…

Answer 30

rich literacy home environment.

Question 31

What type of accommodations?

Answer 31

variation in presentation, response, setting, and timing/scheadule

Question 32

What kind of literacy instruction do they need (which really the typical readers can benefit from to…)

Answer 32

Structured literacy instruction

Question 33

Why can spelling look like trash for those with dyslexia?

Answer 33

“Spelling can look quite jumbled at times because students have trouble remembering letter symbols for sounds and forming memories for words.”

Question 34

What to tell parents so they’re not as devastated when you tell them their child has dyslexia…

Answer 34

It’s not a sign of poor intelligence or laziness.

Question 35

What are some secondary consequences of dyslexia?

Answer 35

“Secondary consequences may include problems in reading
comprehension and reduced reading experience that can
impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.”

Question 36

What are the signs of possible dyslexia in pre-school?

Answer 36

“Most common dyslexia characteristics of this preschool, pre-literate
population include challenges in learning to speak, learning
sound and letters, colors and numbers, handwriting, fine
motor skills and sight word identification.”

Question 37

What part of intelligence is probably impaired with dyslexia?

Answer 37

Dat working memory

“Several studies have supported the hypothesis that readers with dyslexia suffer working memory deficits and that
these deficits may contribute independently to difficulties with reading comprehension, i.e., disregarding the problems such readers have in phonological coding (Berninger et al., 2008; Smith-Spark
& Fisk, 2007).”

Question 38

Even if the child/adult has masked dyslexia, what will still be present?

Answer 38

“Similarly, characteristics of adults with dyslexia are often
less obvious as often the individual has learned how to
compensate for the condition and its associated challenges.
However, cognitive challenges such as poor phonological
awareness and rapid naming skills, deficits in working
memory and written language may remain [40-42], along with
other cognitive and literacy issues.”