Learning Disabilities

Learning Disabilities is defined as

1. a condition giving rise to difficulties in acquiring knowledge and skills to the level expected of those of the same age, especially when not associated with a physical handicap.

ADHD, ADD, and Autism, though not strictly included, could also be considered  learning disabilities since they affect learning.

I have written many articles about what is called "Learning Disabilities". (See categories "Learning Disabilities) These are posts about coping with weaknesses, and appreciating and developing our strengths. We are all human. We are all "disabled" in some way and gifted in some way.

Helping Autistic People

I've seen parents come in to talk to the teacher about their autistic son. The mother forcefully wants her son "fixed",  made "normal", while the father just sits there in quiet blankness. Why? Because he recognizes that his son is very like him.

So how do you help an autistic child? What can you do to make it easier for someone who lives in a world of pure logic? I think of the old Star Trek 1 movie, V'ger, where a machine created a world in it's own image; completely logical and predictable. Of course the "biological infestations" of the machines had to be eliminated.

Symptoms of Autism

What is autism?  No one knows really.  It does seem to run in families and there are four times more male than female. (I will therefore use "He" when referring to these people) These are my personal thoughts about what is called autism. I have known six highly functioning autistic people and their families. They look like everyone else and have needs and talents like every one does. They just have trouble relating to people; seeing behavioral patterns. They also find any abstract thought very difficult.  I wonder if we might be talking with extremely "left brained" people (Sensing, Thinking). I also wonder if this this why there are more males than females; girls have more nerve fibers connecting the two halves of their brain (Corpus Callosum).

Auditory Learning

Perceptual Mode-  AUDITORY Learning
The different ways that Left Hemispheric Dominate, Mixed Dominate, and Right Hemispheric Dominate people learn from listening and speaking.

Left Hemispheric Dominate - Primary Learning Channel 
likes to read aloud even when should be reading silently
makes up rhymes
monopolizes conversations
verbalizes all activities

Determining Brain Dominance

How Children Learn - Determining Brain Hemispheric Dominance

Dominate Side of Body - uses opposite side of brain

Left H. Dominate Mixed Dominate Right H. Dominate
right handed ambidextrous                      left handed
uses right foot uses mixed uses left eye, foot, hand
looks through right eye combinations (note some left handers
reverse hemispheres)

Learning Styles

Learning Styles

Left                                                                                                        Right
                                                                             
verbal                                                                    sensitive to light, color, sounds,
                                                                                                      movement, smells  
linear thought process                                                holistic
one thing at time                                                       multi-linear
sequential                                                                  intuitive

How I took Tests

What helped me the most in test taking was to allow me to answer essay questions instead of inaccurately judging my understanding by my inability to recall dates, names, or multiplication tables. Writing allowed me to

How Did I Cope in School?

How do you manage school when you can't follow the teacher's instructions and lectures? What do you do when you can't remember how to spell a word or math formulas? How do you pass tests when you can't remember names and dates? How does a creative person like me survive in school?

Helping "Those Kids"

When a child is falling behind is school, the first thing I do is assume is that I am dealing with a person who is a bit different from the norm; a person who is having trouble coping with an establishment which does not nurture or even recognize his unique gifts, but instead

"Those Kids"

By now most teachers have their class running pretty smoothly-- except for “those kids”.  What about “those kids”?  Perhaps he refuses to do his assignments, she might sit with a dreamy look on her face, he wiggles incessantly and plays with things in his desk, she talks constantly no matter where you put her, and what about the quiet boy who doesn’t want to go out at recess? As a teacher you want to help each child, but how? Nothing seems to be working.