Learning Disability - Writing

NAME: Alyssa Forte TOPIC: Learning Disabilities - Writing

How is your disability defined by the federal and state laws?

Writing disabilities are classified as a specific learning disability. According to the Federal Government, “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, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations including such conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. The term does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, mental retardation, emotional disturbance, or environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantages” (Smith, 2007).

What are the developmental characteristics of persons with this disability?

Many times a person with a writing disability has another learning disability, so characteristics of any person with a disability are common with people who have a writing disability (Beringer, 1999). Some social characteristics of people who have learning disabilities are immaturity, misinterpreting social and nonverbal cues, inability to predict and follow social situations, shyness, and insecurity (Smith, 2007). Developmental characteristics of people with a writing disability include problems developing spelling skills, illegible handwriting, and forming letters incorrectly or reversing letters (Beringer, 1999 and Silverman, 2002). Word spacing, poor phonics skills, and trouble telling the difference between the singular and plural form of a word are other characteristics of a person who has a writing disability (Silverman, 2002). Emotional characteristics of people with a writing disability, such as dysgraphia, which is when a person has trouble with handwriting, include frustration from having to redo work (International Dyslexia Association, 2000). Cognitive characteristics of people with writing disabilities, or reasons why they might have a disability are because of problems with their fine motor skills, and being unable to remember patterns of letters (IDA, 2000). However, each person with a disability is different and all of them are on different levels of functioning.


If you were a teacher in a general education classroom, what information and strategies would help you best support a child with this disability?

If I was a teacher in a general education classroom and one of my students had a writing disability, the first thing I would look at was the student’s IEP. The student’s IEP will tell what accommodations and modifications are needed (Smith, 2007). If the student had dysgraphia, an essay test would be one of the worst ways to test that student because the test would require a lot of writing (Wright, 2007). Students who have dysgraphia often lose their train of thought, which is another reason why an essay test would not be beneficial to the student (IDA, 2000). I would use different forms of testing, such as oral tests or I would have the student dictate what he or she is trying to say to a teacher, who would then write their ideas down for them. I would also give a student with a writing disability more time to take a test (Jones, 1999). I would have all of my students, regardless of if they had a writing disability, practice writing the letters of the alphabet daily because it would be a good reinforcement (IDA, 2000). I would use exercises, such as writing with eyes closed or leaving specific spaces for letters, in order to help a student with a writing disability become better at remembering the formation of letters (IDA, 2000). Another exercise I would use is showing a student how the letter is formed using arrows so he or she can have help remembering (Beringer, 1999). Even though I would be using exercises to help the student learn the letters, I would also try to reduce the amount of copying that a student would have to, such as taking notes (Jones, 1999). I would also use assistive technology, such as computers to help a student who had difficulty with fine motor skills (IDA, 2000). Social support that I would use would be the student’s parents, the student’s past teachers, and other special education and general education teachers.

What resources would help you as a teacher to serve this child?

One website that I would use as a teacher to help a child who had a writing disability is: http://www.ldonline.org/indepth/writing
The reason why I would use this website is because it lists helpful tips for teaching students who have writing disabilities, and tells information about different types of learning disabilities.

Another website that I would use as a teacher to help students with writing disabilities is:
http://www.wrightslaw.com
The reason why I would use this website is because it shows the special education laws that all teachers should know. This website also answers questions that people have about the special education field, so it is beneficial to everyone.

Another website that I would use is:
http://www.cec.sped.org
The reason why I would use this website is because it tells the latest news and current events happening in the special education community that all teachers should know about.

People within my school that I would use as a resource to help me with the child are the student’s former teachers because they would know how the student works best and worst.

Curriculum materials that I would use in order to help serve the child would be the student’s IEP because it dictates the accommodations and modifications that I should be using in order to help the student learn the best they can.

Works Cited
Beringer, V. (1999). The "Write Stuff" for preventing and treating disabilities.In Perspectives. Retrieved November 11, 2007, from http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/read.write.tx.beringer.htm

International Dyslexia Association. (2000). What is dysgraphia?. Retrieved November 11, 2007, from http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/read.dysgraphia.facts.htm

Jones, S. (1999). Dysgraphia accommodations and modifications. Retrieved November 11, 2007, from http://www.ldonline.org/article/6202

Silverman, L. K. (2002). Upside-down brilliance: the visual-spatial learner. Denver: DeLeon Publishing.

Smith, D. D. (Ed.). (2007). Introduction to special education: making a difference (6th ed.). New York: Pearson Education, Inc.

Wright, P. (2007). Are teachers required to provide all accommodations and modifications listed in the child’s IEP?. Retrieved November 11, 2007, from http://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc/ltrs/accoms.mods.kelly.htm