disability:* characteristics: … # needs"reminderstoget" startedonclasswork"or...

DISABILITY: CHARACTERISTICS: IMPACT OF DISABILITY: (How might school performance be affected?)

SPECIALIZED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES TO CONSIDER:

SUPPORTS/ ACCOMMODATIONS TO CONSIDER:

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Specific Learning Disability: Executive functioning

Working memory deficit

• Forgets assignments or parts of assignments.

• Forgets to bring materials to or from school.

• Forgets to hand in homework.

• Loses or misplaces belongings.

• Forgets classroom procedures.

• Forgets to do chores. • Forgets part or all of

verbal directions for tasks or chores.

Direct instruction of strategies:

• Mnemonic devices.

• Visual imagery. • Self-‐talk. • Self-‐monitoring

strategy.

• Use of storage devices such as agenda, calendars, electronic organizers, recorders.

• Use of cueing devices such as verbal reminders, alarms on watches, visual cues in classroom, sticky notes in prominent locations.


Difficulty with response inhibition

o Talks without raising hand.

o Interrupts. o Talks back. o Makes insensitive

comments. o Has difficulty waiting

turn. o Has physical contact

with peers or siblings. o Can’t wait while adult

helps someone else.

o Teach social strategies.

o Teach replacement behaviors.

o Teach self-‐monitoring strategies.

o Restrict access to settings in which the student can get into trouble.

o Increase supervision (move closer to adult in classroom).

o Find ways to cue student to control impulses (posting rules, verbal reminders, secret signal).




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Difficulty with emotional control

§ Has frequent tantrums. § Overreacts to small

problems. § Has frequent mood

changes. § Becomes overly

anxious. § Temper flares quickly. § Is slow to recover from

disappointments. § Shuts down.

§ Teach coping strategies.

§ Teach positive self-‐statements and model appropriate use.

§ Anticipate problem situations and prepare the student for them.

§ Structure the environment to avoid the problem situations.

§ Break tasks into smaller steps.


Difficulty sustaining attention

Ø Fails to complete work or chores on time.

Ø Stops before work is finished.

Ø Switches frequently between activities.

Ø Has difficulty listening to stories read aloud.

Ø Is distracted by things happening around him/her when doing seatwork or homework.

Ø Teach the use of self-‐monitoring strategies.

Ø Write start/stop times on assigned tasks.

Ø Use incentive systems.

Ø Break tasks into subtasks.

Ø Give student short breaks.

Ø Set a timer to complete a task.

Ø Use a self-‐monitoring tape for student to check his/her own progress.

Ø Make tasks interesting using




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various instructional modalities.

Ø Provide praise when student is on task.


Difficulty with task initiation

v Needs reminders to get started on classwork or homework.

v When one task is completed, slow to start another one.

v Waits for someone else to begin in group activities.

v Needs cues to begin overlearned routines.

v Instruct and model through early portions of tasks.

v Provide verbal cues to get started.

v Arrange for a visual cue to prompt start.

v Note start and stop times when tasks are completed.

v Use timer.


Difficulty with planning/ prioritization

ü Has difficulty carrying out a long-‐term project, deciding what needs to happen first, second, etc.

ü Can’t make or follow a timeline for project completion.

ü Doesn’t offer useful suggestions for how to complete a task when

ü Teach student to use agendas or planners.

ü Teach how to create and use a to-‐do list.

ü Teach how to break large tasks or assignments into manageable parts.

ü Provide a plan or schedule for the student to follow.

ü Use scoring rubrics when giving assignments.

ü Break long-‐term projects into clearly defined subtasks and attach deadlines to




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working on a group project.

ü Can’t organize a group game at recess or with friends at home.

ü Can’t complete tasks in the order of priority or importance.

ü Can’t take notes in lectures that focus on the most important information.

each subtask. ü Create a project

template.


Difficulty with organization

Has messy desk. Has messy notebooks, backpacks, etc.

Can’t find belongings when asked.

Can’t produce an organized piece of writing.

Doesn’t turn in assignments he/she says are completed.

Teach organizational strategies for belongings, notebooks, etc.

Teach strategies for organizing writing-‐mapping, structured paragraphs, essay shells, etc.

Model use of graphic organizers and methods of taking ideas from graphic

Provide examples of how to organize notebooks, backpacks, etc.

Use color codes or other meaningful items to help student logically organize and separate work.

Provide a shell for student to practice organization of his/her writing.




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organizers and translating into organized text or sentences.


Difficulty with time management

• Has difficulty completing tasks on time.

• Misses deadlines for assignments.

• Has difficulty estimating how long it takes to do something.

• Can’t adjust schedule to fit in new tasks, special events.

• Can’t complete routines consistently on time.

• Teach the use of schedules and timers.

• Teach strategies for managing time.

• Give student a schedule to follow and prompt him/ her at each step.

• Be consistent in your own time management.

• Impose time limits. • Provide reminders

about how much time is left.

• Use cueing devices such as clocks, bells, or alarms.


Difficulty with goal-‐directed persistence

o Doesn't stick with challenging tasks.

o Can’t sustain attention well to tasks that are not intrinsically interesting.

o Teach student to backward plan.

o Teach student how to break tasks into parts.

o Provide student with realistic and concrete goals for lessons and chapters.

o Include goals in your lessons and remind student of progress toward goals.

o Give student a




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schedule to follow and prompt him/ her at each step.

o Be consistent in your own time management.

o Impose time limits. o Provide reminders

about how much time is left.

o Use cueing devices such as clocks, bells, or alarms.


Difficulty with flexibility

Ø Easily upset by changes in plans, disruptions in routines.

Ø Struggles with open-‐ended tasks.

Ø Doesn’t try multiple approaches to solving problems.

Ø Excessively ‘rule-‐bound.’

Ø Teach coping techniques.

Ø Reduce novelty by advance familiarization with places, schedules, or activities.

Ø Pre-‐teach material. Ø Provide cues for

transitions. Ø Decrease the

speed, volume or complexity of information presentation.

Ø Break tasks into component parts.




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Ø Adapt open-‐ended tasks to make them more closed.

Ø Provide student with templates and/or rubrics.

Ø Increase the level of support around a task by offering reassurance, step-‐by-‐step assistance, close contact during transitions, or cueing coping strategies.


Difficulty with metacognition (knowing when to use a particular strategy in a particular situation)

v Asks for help rather than trying to solve a problem on his or her own.

v Doesn’t notice how others react to his or her behavior.

v Doesn’t like tasks or games that involve problem solving.

v Model and teach use of metacognitive strategies.

v Teach social/behavioral skills with perspective taking activities.

v Prompt student to use analytical skills by embedding questions designed to elicit metacognition (ex. “How did you solve that problem?”).

v Build error monitoring into tasks (have student show that he/she has




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checked work). v Use scoring rubrics

to define what a quality product or assignment will include.


Difficulty with naming facility (rapid automatized naming)

• Difficulty with reading fluency.

• Oral reading may be slow and laborious.

• Difficulty with timed reading tasks

• Use of word retrieval games such as Password, Charades, Crosswords, Pictionary, etc.

• Intersperse or sandwich high interest activities within curriculum relevant activities.

• Explicit teaching of metacognitive strategies that incorporate the student’s learning strengths.

• Make a game out of how many of X the student can

• Allow alternative format for timed activities.

• Alternative format for oral reading activities (do not ask to read aloud in front of peers).

• Allow extra time to complete assignments.

• Consider need for assistive technology solutions for reading tasks.

• Allow student extra time to process information before requiring a response.




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name within a given time. Have the student compete against his/her own best score.

• Have the student plot or graph progress.

• Teach student how to use any assistive technology provided.

Specific Learning Disability: Auditory processing

Difficulty with auditory discrimination

ü Inability to recognize differences in phonemes (sounds), including the ability to identify words and sounds that are similar and those that are different.

ü Inaccurate pronunciation of new vocabulary words.

ü Confusion between similar sounding words.

ü Spelling difficulties.

ü Use manipulative to represent phonemes, syllables.

ü Use multisensory approaches to teach decoding, spelling.

ü Teach student to use assistive technology devices for spelling or note taking.

ü Preview/pre-‐

ü Consider need for assistive technology solutions for reading or spelling tasks.

ü Pair visual and auditory cues.

ü Use visuals, graphic organizers, outlines, and cloze notes with lecture.

ü Minimize distractions.

ü Provide




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ü Difficulty learning foreign languages.

teach new vocabulary.

preferential seating where distractions are minimal (not necessarily near teacher).

ü Provide note taking assistance or notes.

ü Simplify oral directions.

ü Reduce penalty for spelling on in-‐class assignments.

ü Gain student’s attention prior to delivery of information.

ü Speak clearly without over exaggerating; adjust rate as needed.

ü Emphasize critical information.

ü Monitor student’s attending skills, provide breaks if necessary.




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ü Allow manipulatives.

ü Reduce language level or reading level of assignments, as appropriate.


Difficulty with phonological awareness (sound structures of language) NOTE: Phonemic awareness is a subset of phonological awareness. Any student with phonological awareness difficulty will have phonemic awareness trouble as well.

Sound (phoneme) level: o Difficulty isolating

sounds within words. o Difficulty blending

sounds into words or word parts.

o Difficulty identifying rhyming words.

o Difficulty matching sounds.

o Difficulty segmenting words into sound parts.

o Difficulty rearranging sounds within words.

Syllable level: o Difficulty identifying

syllables within words. o Difficulty re-‐arranging

or manipulating syllables within words.

o Difficulty blending syllables into words.

Sound (phoneme) level: o Explicit

instruction and drill on phonemic awareness exercises using blocks or chips to represent the sounds (rather than letters or letter combinations).

o Gradually increase the number of sounds (phonemes) as the student becomes more adept.

o Use of extra repeated practice and overlearning

o Pair visual and auditory cues.

o Use visuals, graphic organizers, outlines, and cloze notes with lecture.

o Provide note taking assistance or notes.

o Reduce penalty for spelling on in-‐class assignments.

o Reduce language level or reading level of assignments, as appropriate.

o Emphasize critical information.

o Use of highlighting. o Reduce amount of

material on the




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o Difficulty segmenting words into syllables.

Word level: o Difficulty identifying

words within a sentence.

o Difficulty re-‐arranging or manipulating words within a sentence.

Sentence level: o Difficulty identifying

sentences within a passage.

o Difficulty re-‐arranging or manipulating sentences within a passage.

All levels: o Difficulty learning basic

reading skills needed for phonetic decoding of unknown words.

o Difficulty learning sound/symbol relationships.

o Difficulty learning to spell words correctly.

techniques. o Once the student

becomes adept with manipulating sounds using blocks or chips, begin to introduce letter symbols to represent the sounds.

Syllable level: o Try having the

student clap or tap to represent each syllable they hear.

o Explicit instruction and drill on phonological awareness exercises using blocks or chips to represent the syllables (rather than letters or letter

page. o Consider need for

assistive technology solutions for reading or spelling.




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combinations). o Use of extra

repeated practice and overlearning techniques.

o Once the student becomes adept with manipulating syllables using blocks or chips, begin to introduce letter symbols to represent the syllables.

o Use of multi-‐sensory activities (VAKT).

All levels: o Teach the student

to use any pertinent assistive technology devices for help with reading or spelling barriers in upper grades.




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Difficulty with phonemic awareness (sounds within words). NOTE: Phonemic awareness is a subset of phonological awareness.

Ø Difficulty isolating sounds within words.

Ø Difficulty blending sounds into words or word parts.

Ø Difficulty identifying rhyming words.

Ø Difficulty matching sounds.

Ø Difficulty segmenting words into parts.

Ø Difficulty rearranging sounds within words.

Ø Difficulty learning basic reading decoding skills involving phonics.

Ø Difficulty learning sound/symbol relationships.

Ø Difficulty learning to spell words correctly.

Ø Explicit instruction and drill on phonemic awareness exercises using blocks or chips to represent the sounds (rather than letters or letter combinations).

Ø Gradually increase the number of sounds (phonemes) as the student becomes more adept.

Ø Use of extra repeated practice and overlearning techniques.

Ø Once the student becomes adept with manipulating sounds using blocks or chips, begin to

Ø Pair visual and auditory cues.

Ø Use visuals, graphic organizers, outlines, and cloze notes with lecture.

Ø Provide note taking assistance or notes.

Ø Reduce penalty for spelling on in-‐class assignments.

Ø Reduce language level or reading level of assignments, as appropriate.

Ø Emphasize critical information.

Ø Use of highlighting. Ø Reduce amount of

material on the page.

Ø Consider need for assistive technology solutions for reading or spelling.




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introduce letter symbols to represent the sounds.

Ø Use of multisensory activities (VAKT).

Specific Learning Disability: Auditory processing:

Difficulty with phonological memory (memory for sounds of letters)

v Difficulty remembering sound/symbol relationships.

v Difficulty with sound blending for identification of unknown words in reading.

v Difficulty with phonetic analysis of words.

v Difficulty with spelling.

v Teach the student how to use any assistive technology device provided.

v Try commercially available materials (such as Earobics or Brain Builder) for improving phonological memory.

v Incorporate multisensory activities into learning tasks (VAKT).

v Teach alternative methods for identifying unknown words

v Consider use of assistive technology solutions for reading/spelling tasks.

v Modified grading (reduce penalty for misspelled words).

v Use of a word bank for writing assignments.

v Provide visual/auditory cues.




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(structural analysis, context clues, configurational clues, etc.)


Difficulty with auditory sequencing

§ Difficulty remembering or reconstructing the order of items in a list or the order of sounds in a word or syllable.

§ May not appear to pay attention to lecture.

§ Difficulty following multi-‐step oral directions.

§ Spelling difficulties.

§ Use manipulatives to represent phonemes, syllables, and items.

§ Use multisensory approaches to teach decoding, spelling.

§ Model use of graphic organizers.

§ Model highlighting of key concepts.

§ Teach the use of self-‐monitoring checklists.

§ Teach student to use strategies and assistive technology devices for

§ Pair visual and auditory cues.

§ Use visuals/ graphic organizers, outlines, cloze notes with lecture.

§ Minimize distractions.

§ Provide preferential seating where distractions are minimal (not necessarily near teacher).

§ Provide note taking assistance or notes.

§ Simplify oral directions.

§ Break tasks into sequential steps.

§ Reduce penalty for spelling on in-‐class




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spelling, Notetaking.

§ Teach student to backward plan and to break task into parts.

§ Teach memory strategies.

§ Teach student to use mnemonic aids.

assignments. § Gain student’s

attention prior to delivery of information.

§ Speak clearly without over exaggerating; adjust rate as needed.

§ Emphasize critical information.

§ Monitor student’s attending skills; provide breaks if necessary.

§ Allow manipulatives.

§ Reduce language level or reading level of assignments, as appropriate.

Specific Learning Disability: Visual processing

Difficulty with visual discrimination

o Difficulty interpreting what is seen.

o Difficulty visually distinguishing one object from another.

o Difficulty in noting

o Teach strategies for self-‐questioning and self-‐monitoring, verbalizing each step.

o Provide note-‐taking assistance for accuracy.

o Reduce penalty for spelling on in-‐class assignments.




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similarity between letters and words.

o Difficulty organizing the position and shape of what is seen.

o Difficulty distinguishing between look-‐alike words.

o Reversal of letters, numbers, or words.

o Problem distinguishing color, size, shape, and directions.

o Inaccurate copying. o Inaccurate

identification of symbols.

o Trouble interpreting maps, charts, and graphs.

o Use active verbalization for best memorization.

o Implement parts-‐to-‐whole verbal teaching approach.

o Teach the use of checklists for math processes.

o Teach student how to highlight key points.

o Color code information presented visually.

o Provide index card or reading guide to follow print.

o Increase white space on handouts/ worksheets/tests.

Specific Learning Disability: Visual processing

Difficulty with visual sequencing

ü Problems sequencing plots of stories.

ü Skips words, reads part of sentence out of order, or rereads parts of the same sentence.

ü Difficulty copying,

ü Teach strategies for self-‐questioning and self-‐monitoring, verbalizing each step.

ü Use active verbalization for best

ü Provide note-‐taking assistance for accuracy.

ü Reduce penalty for spelling on in-‐class assignments.

ü Color code




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reversals, omissions.

ü Spelling problems. ü Difficulty following

an equation. ü Loses place while

reading, skips words, read words out of order, re-‐reads parts of the same sentence or selection.

memorization. ü Implement parts-‐

to-‐whole verbal teaching approach.

ü Teach the use of checklists for math processes.

ü Teach student how to highlight key points.

information presented visually.

ü Provide index card or reading guide to follow print.

ü Increase white space on handouts/ worksheets/ tests.

Specific Learning Disability: Visual-‐motor

Difficulty with visual-‐motor integration or spatial ability

Ø Problems coordinating and relaying information from visual input to involved sensory motor areas.

Ø Impaired ability to orient body in space, especially in relation to other people and objects.

Ø Problems with directionality, which can impair ability to track when reading and following math equations.

Ø Appears clumsy.

Ø Use highlighters, bumped lines to create stronger visual of line location.

Ø Use of special paper to accentuate location of letters, letter parts on line (ex. house paper, Theo Bear paper, etc.).

Ø Model use of graphic organizers and methods of taking

Ø Provide organizational assistance.

Ø Allow/recommend use of word processor or assistive technology.

Ø Suggest use of graph paper or paper with vertical lines for alignment of problems.

Ø Provide note-‐taking assistance.

Ø Allow recorder for lectures.




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Ø Illegible handwriting. Ø Inaccurate copying. Ø Difficulty organizing

information on paper, including aligning problems and spacing correctly.

Ø Trouble transitioning between 2 sources of information (keyboard & worksheet).

Ø Eye-‐hand coordination problems.

Ø Poor pencil grip. Ø Difficulties keeping up

with materials. Ø Difficulties with

geometry concepts.

ideas from graphic organizers and translating them into organized text/sentences.

Ø Teach, model, and practice color-‐ coding text for organization.

Ø Incorporate the use of graphic organizers, visual schedules, and timelines.

Ø Provide extended time for writing assignments and tests.

Ø Provide auditory prompts.

Ø Incorporate the use of color overlays.

Ø Allow desk copy for near point copying.

Specific Learning Disability: Processing speed

Difficulty with processing speed

v Takes longer than average time to complete work

v Responds slowly to questions

v Struggles to make rapid comparisons between and among bits of information

v Has difficulty copying.

v Teach time management strategies.

v Emphasize quality over quantity.

v Allow additional time to complete in-‐class assignments, tests.

v Allow additional time for verbal response

v Provide a cue




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v Has difficulty completing assignments within time limits.

before the student is called upon to answer.

v Shorten repetitive tasks.

v Eliminate repetitive practice when mastery is shown.

v Reduce volume of writing and copying·

v Consider using a cloze procedure on tests.

v Adjust the length of take home work.

v Consider assistive technology solutions.

Specific Learning Disability: Long term memory or long-‐term retrieval

Difficulty with visual long-‐term memory.

Difficulty with auditory long-‐term

Difficulties storing and retrieving previously experienced visual and/or auditory information.

Difficulty visualizing information.

Difficulty sustaining

Summarize information in multiple modalities.

Teach summarizing strategies.

Use mnemonic

Provide formula cards, checklists, lists of steps.

Create word banks on appropriate areas of tests

Use repetition Employ strategies




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memory. interest during visual and/or auditory presentations.

Difficulty memorizing poems, speeches, or facts.

Difficulties remembering details.

Problems with word retrieval.

aids; teach student to use mnemonic aids.

Teach student how to use a graphic organizer.

Teach linking strategies.

Teach color-‐coding techniques.

Teach student to use drawings to aid memory.

Model/think aloud procedural steps

Teach student to break large tasks into steps – backward plan.

to activate prior knowledge

Use simple vocabulary in directions

Break tasks into manageable parts.

Use graphic organizers.

Specific Learning Disability: Short term memory

• Difficulty with visual short-‐term memory.

• Difficulty

with

• Difficulty remembering information just heard or seen.

• Trouble taking accurate notes.

• Difficulty following multi-‐step oral and

• Summarize information in multiple modalities (Think-‐Pair-‐Share).

• Teach

• Provide note-‐taking assistance.

• Reduce spelling penalty on in-‐class assignments

• Use of summarizing




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auditory short-‐term memory.

written directions. • Poor spelling. • Poor test taking skills. • Appearing to “tune

out.”

summarization strategies.

• Teach mnemonic aids.

• Teach student how to use graphic organizers.

• Teach linking strategies.

• Teach color-‐ coding techniques.

• Teach the use of drawings to aid memory.

• Model/think-‐aloud procedural steps.

• Teach student to break large tasks into steps – backward plan

• Teach note-‐taking strategies.

strategies. • Use of tape

recorder for lectures.

• Break down tasks into manageable parts.

• Allow use of checklists for step processes.

• Allow color-‐coding.

Specific Learning Disability:

Difficulty with concentration or attention

§ Difficulty remaining on task.

§ Difficulty focusing

§ Teach the use of: o Procedural

checklists.

§ Allow preferential seating or defined space(s) in




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Attention/ Concentration

attention in distracting situations.

§ Disruptive behaviors. § Difficulty organizing

materials.

o To do lists. o Schedules. o Calendars. o Charts. o Various

graphic organizers to teach concepts.

o Rubrics. o Visual study

aids. o Self-‐

monitoring charts.

o Self-‐talk strategies.

§ Teach student to break large tasks into steps – backward plan.

§ Teach note-‐taking strategies.

§ Maintain a structured classroom with defined procedures.

§

classroom. § Provide note-‐

taking assistance. § Create a structured

classroom. § Provide sequential

instruction. § Redirect as

needed. § Use repetition and

check for understanding.

§ Break tasks into manageable parts.

§ Allow use of formula cards, checklists, lists of steps, graphic organizers, visual study aids, self-‐monitoring charts, schedules.

§ Use visual timer. § Provide study

guides.




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Specific Learning Disability: Reasoning

Difficulty with verbal reasoning skills

ü Word finding problems.

ü Poor organization. ü Limited vocabulary. ü Developmentally

inappropriate quality and quantity of language

ü Limited verbal responses.

ü Link to prior knowledge.

ü Use summarizing strategies; teach student to summarize.

ü Pre-‐teach or preview vocabulary.

ü Teach vocabulary strategies.

ü Activate prior knowledge.

ü Teach use of graphic organizers.

ü Use semantic mapping.

ü Allow use of graphic organizers.

ü Provide cues for summarization.

ü Provide word banks.

ü Provide a glossary of important terms.


Difficulty with nonverbal reasoning skills

v Appears awkward and inadequate in fine and/or gross motor skills.

v Has difficulty “reading” body language.

v “Talks his way” through simple motor activities.

v Has exceptional memory for rote material.

v Teach student to use procedural checklists for math solution processes.

v Link to prior knowledge.

v Use summarizing strategies; teach summarization strategies.

v Provide note taking assistance

v Allow/suggest use word processor.

v Give step-‐by-‐step directions presented visually and/or auditorily.

v Break tasks into manageable parts.

v Provide checklists




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v May not understand the operation of mechanical devices.

v Pre-‐teach or preview vocabulary.

v Teach student to break large tasks into steps – backward plan.

v Use metacognitive modeling.

for math solution processes.

v Allow extended time for writing assignments and tests.

v Incorporate the use graphic organizers.

v Preview vocabulary.

v Provide cues for summarization.


Difficulty with abstract reasoning skills. Difficulty with fluid reasoning skills.

Has difficulty generalizing and drawing inferences.

Has difficulty solving unique problems.

Has difficulty categorizing, comparing, and contrasting.

Is verbally expressive and does well with concrete thinking.

Can repeat but not follow directions.

Has good decoding skills but poor

Use concrete examples.

Provide lists of steps for problem solving.

Use manipulatives to develop concepts.

Activate prior knowledge.

Pre-‐teach or preview vocabulary.

Teach reading comprehension strategies.

Check for understanding of abstract concepts individually before pairing with another.

Preview vocabulary.




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comprehension.

Use visualization strategies.

Use metacognitive modeling.

Specific Learning Disability: Social perception

Difficulty with social skills

o Perceives and interprets social situations inaccurately.

o Is ineffective at recognizing faces, interpreting gestures, deciphering postural cues and “reading” facial expressions.

o Is unable to perceive proximity and distance.

o Is unable to notice or distinguish between changes in tones and/or pitch of voice and/or emphasis of delivery.

o May withdraw in novel situations.

o Naively trusts others.

o Directly teach social skills.

o Use role-‐play, social autopsies, social stories.

o Teach the use of procedural checklists for social situations, self-‐monitoring strategies/ checklists.

o Fade from verbal to visual cues in social situations.

o Allow the use of procedural checklists, self-‐monitoring checklists.

o Provide verbal, visual cues.

disability:* characteristics: … # needs"reminderstoget" startedonclasswork"or...

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