On-line study materials: Special Needs Education - Online

Terminology

Vocabulary – (Specific) Learning Difficulties

  • Reading difficulties – dyslexia
  • Academic activities
  • Spatial orientation
  • Math underachievement – dyscalculia – specific math disability
  • Dyspraxia
  • Classroom adjustment
  • acquisition
  • central nervous system dysfunction
  • disruptive behaviour
  • expectation
  • motor abilities
  • phonological awareness
  • courtesy
  • illegible
  • omission
  • clumsiness
  • discrepancy
  • internvention
  • prevalence
  • feedback
  • comprehension

DEFINITION:

The term “specific learning disability” means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations. The term includes such conditions as perceptual handicaps, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. The term does not include children who have learning disabilities which are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor handicaps, or mental retardation, or emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage. (USOE, 1968, p. 34)

Individuals´ with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA):

  • (a) A team may determine that a child has a specific learning disability if:
  • (1) The child does not achieve commensurate with his or her age and ability levels in one or more of the areas listed in paragraph (a) (2) of this section, when provided with learning experiences appropriate for the child’s age and ability levels; and
  • (2) The team finds that a child has a severe discrepancy between achievement and intellectual ability in one or more of the following areas: (i) Oral expression; (ii) Listening comprehension;
  • (iii) Written expression; (iv) Basic reading skill; (v) Reading comprehension; (vi) Mathematics calculation; or (vii) Mathematics reasoning. (U.S. Department of Education, 1999, p. 12457)