Chapter 14

Question 1

What are the three general perspectives on how to understand and assess for Learning Disabilities? Explain each.

Answer 1

• Cognitive Processing (CP): Cognitive measures must be used to identify students with LDs.
• RTI: only when a student repeatedly fails to respond to instruction is an LD diagnosis considered.
• Low-achievement (LA): Achievement scores below 85 along with impairment in the real world academic setting would be sufficient to identify a learning disability

Question 2

What are some of LDs exclusionary criteria that is used to “rule out” conditions that could cause the same symptoms.

Answer 2

• Intellectual disability, sensory deficits, other mental or neurological conditions, lack of language proficiency, psychological adversity, or inadequate educational instruction.

Question 3

As noted in the federal guidelines, what are the two broad forms of reading disabilities?

Answer 3

• Basic reading problems, such as difficulty understanding the relationships among sounds, letters, and words.
• Difficulties with reading comprehension, due to an inability to grasp the meaning of words, phrases, and paragraphs.

Question 4

Reading disabilities in general reflect what?

Answer 4

• Persistent deficits rather than a developmental lag in linguistic and reading skills.

Question 5

What is the genetic range of percentage rates of children who have parents with reading difficulties?

Answer 5

• 30% to 60%

Question 6

Define reading comprehension.

Answer 6

• The process of simultaneously extracting and constructing meaning through interaction and involvement with written language.

Question 7

Name the three Domain-Specific Deficits for LD-math.

Answer 7

• Concepts of number, counting, arithmetic processes

Question 8

Compared to “good” writers, how are writers with Learning Disorders?

Answer 8

• They produce shorter and less interesting essays, produce poorly organized text at the sentence and paragraphs levels, and are less likely to review spelling, punctuation, grammar, or the body of their text to increase clarity.

Question 9

What percentage of school aged children will have problems with written expression?

Answer 9

• 2% to 8%