Module 1
Learning Disabilities and Related Disabilities: Characteristics and Current Directions
A. Recent Changes in Special Education
Over the next several years, most schools will be working to implement the common core
standards since the majority of the states have adopted them. These will have major implications
for students with disabilities as educators work to provide universally designed procedures to
ensure that students with disabilities have access to the standards. All educators will also be
working to task analyze the common core skills to determine the specific strategies that will be
utilized to ensure progress in the standards. An increasing emphasis on differentiated instruction
will be necessary to include all students in the common core. Specific attention to vocabulary
development and critical thinking will be essential.
These standards are designed to result in uniform expectations and are sequential. New
assessments based on these standards will be utilized. There is a strong emphasis within the
common core on critical thinking skills, literacy, collaborative work, text complexity and on 21st
century skills for career preparation. According to the National Governors, Association for Best
Practices, teachers, parents, and community leaders have weighed in to help create the Common
Core State Standards. The standards communicate what is expected of students at each grade
level. Provided teachers are given adequate training and support, these standards will allow
teachers to be better equipped to know exactly to how to help students learn and establish
individualized benchmarks for them. The Common Core Standards focus on the core conceptual
understandings and procedures and give students the opportunity to master them. (National
Governors Association Center for Best Practices, 2010).
The term Intellectual Disabilities is used in the 30th Annual Report to Congress (U.S.
Department of Education, 2012) instead of mental retardation, which was previously used in the
special education law (IDEA-2004). Many special educators and parents have long felt that the
term mental retardation is stigmatizing and demeaning. In response to this concern, the American
Association for Mental Retardation (AAMR), the foremost organization supporting the needs of
people with mental retardation, in February 2007 changed its name to the American Association
on Intellectual Disabilities (http://www.aaidd.org). The law and many agencies and organizations
now refer to intellectual disabilities rather than to mental retardation. On September 24, 2010,
Congress passed S. 2781 known as “Rosa’s Law,” which changed the term mental retardation to
intellectual disabilities in all laws that refer to individuals with disabilities. In “Rosa’s Law” an
intellectual disability shall mean a condition previously referred to as mental retardation or a
variation of this term and shall have the same meaning with respect to programs or qualifications
for programs for individuals with such conditions. (S. 2781, September 24, 2010).
The revised definition recognizes that mental retardation is a set of conditions that blend
together intelligence and adaptive behavior. Adaptive behavior refers to practical skills, such as
self-care skills, independent skills, or social skills. The levels of mental retardation are structured
by the level of support that the student needs. Thus, mental retardation is a particular state of
functioning that begins in childhood and is characterized by limitations in both intelligence and
adaptive skills (Kirk et al., 2009; Hunt & Marshall, 2013). Students with mild intellectual
disabilities can learn academic skills, but their learning rate is slow, and they will need sufficient
support along the way. The characteristics of emotional disorders and behavioral disorders differ.
Emotional disorders involve feelings about oneself. For example, the student may feel so
chronically sad or depressed or have such a low self-concept that these feelings interfere with the
individual’s outlook on life and ability to learn.
Behavioral disorders involve more overt problems, such as aggressive or antisocial
behavior. Often behavioral and emotional challenges are interdependent or overlap with each
other and are interrelated. A student who feels poorly about himself or herself may engage in
specific behaviors that lead to being socially isolated. A student who is depressed may engage in
withdrawal behavior, which leads to poor peer relationships. Moreover, emotional and
behavioral challenges occur in diverse populations, and they are found in every economic, racial,
cultural, and language group.
There have been a series of special education laws, as shown in Table 1.5. Under this series
of laws, all children and youth ages 3 through 21 with disabilities have a right to a free and
appropriate public education. Further, each state must have a special education plan that is in
compliance with the federal law. Special education laws are considered civil rights legislation
that guarantees education to individuals with disabilities. The first law providing for students
with disabilities was called the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 94-
142), passed by Congress in 1975. The most recent law in the series is the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA-2004).
Students with learning disabilities are typically included within the designation of “high
incidence disabilities.” A more detailed discussion of learning disabilities is given in the next
section. A concise description of learning disabilities is that it is a neurological condition that
interferes with a person’s ability to store, process, or produce information. It can affect the
person’s ability to read, write, speak, spell, compute math, reason, and can also affect one’s
attention, memory, coordination, social skills, and emotional maturity (Learning Disabilities
Association of America, 2009). There are several other widely used definitions of learning
disabilities, which are presented in the next section, on the category of learning disabilities.
About 40% of all students with disabilities are identified under the category of learning
disabilities. About 55% of these students are in general education classes for 80% or more of the
school day, and about 31% are in regular classes for 40% to 79% if the school day (U.S.
Department of Education, 2012). Students with learning disabilities are often included in groups
of mild disabilities. Children with learning disabilities are found in every economic, racial,
cultural, and language group.
Children with other disabilities are often included in the designation high incidence
disabilities, depending in large measure on the individual state’s certification requirements for
special education teachers, as well as specific programs that are in the schools. For example, in
Illinois, the initial certification for special education teachers certifies teachers to teach seven
different categories of disabilities: learning disabilities, intellectual disabilities,
emotional/behavioral disturbance, orthopedic impairments, traumatic brain injury, autism, and
other health impairments. Thus, types of other disabilities that may be included in mild
disabilities depend on individual state certification regulations and school programs. Children
with other disabilities are found in every economic, racial, cultural, and language group.
B. The Category of Learning Disabilities: A Field in Transition
A learning disability is a neurological condition that interferes with a person’s ability to
store, process, or produce information, affecting the person’s ability to read, write, speak, spell,
or compute mathematics. It can also interfere with attention, memory, coordination, and social
skills. If provided with the right support and interventions, students with learning disabilities can
succeed in school and have a successful, and often distinguished, career later in life. Parents and
teachers can help the student achieve success by both fostering the student’s strengths and
knowing the student’s weaknesses.
The enigma of the youngster who encounters extraordinary difficulty in learning, of course,
is not new. Throughout the years, children from all walks of life, in all cultures, nations, and
language groups have experienced serious difficulties in learning. The condition of learning
disabilities has been recognized for over 50 years, and its recognition offered a welcome
explanation for misunderstood children who were encountering serious problems in school and
in learning.
Beginning in 2000, the number of students identified with learning disabilities in the public
schools decreased. In 1997, 4.4% of the population were identified with learning disabilities. By
the year 2006, the number had dropped to 4.0%. This decrease in learning disabilities occurred,
even though the numbers of students eligible for special education continued to grow—
increasing 16% over the past 7 years (see Figure 1.1). Probably, some students are being
identified in other areas of disabilities, such as ADHD or Autism Spectrum Disorder.
The most widely used definition of learning disabilities first appeared in 1975 in Public Law
94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act. It also has been incorporated in the
series of revisions of this law, including the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education
Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA-2004): The definition of learning disabilities in the federal law
forms the basis of many state definitions, and it is used by many schools. Two other significant
definitions of learning disabilities are offered by the National Joint Committee on Learning
Disabilities and the Interagency Committee on Learning Disabilities. Additional definitions of
learning disabilities have been developed by other organizations and in other countries.
The Interagency Committee on Learning Disabilities (ICLD) is a government committee
that was commissioned by the U.S. Congress to develop a definition of learning disabilities.
ICLD includes representatives of 12 agencies within the Department of Health and Human
Services and the Department of Education. The ICLD definition includes social skills deficits as
a characteristic of learning disabilities (Interagency Committee on Learning Disabilities, 1988).
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM 5), published in May 2013,
represents 36,000 individuals in the field of mental health. This includes many physicians and
psychologists. The definition for this organization in its 5th edition is not learning disabilities.
Instead, they use the terms reading disorders, written expression disorders, and mathematics
disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
Although not always stated directly, implied in many of the definitions is the view that
learning disabilities are related to neurological factors. All learning originates within the brain
and, consequently, a disorder in learning can be caused by a dysfunction in the central nervous
system, which is an organic system comprising the brain and the spinal cord. In many cases, the
neurological condition is difficult to detect by medical examination or external medical tests.
Central nervous system dysfunction is therefore usually determined through observation of
behavior. Neuroscience and medical research report growing evidence of the neurological basis
for learning disabilities through functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) studies.
Cognitive processing factors refer to an uneven development of the various components of
mental functioning. Mental ability is not a single capacity; rather, it is composed of many
underlying mental abilities. For the individual with learning disabilities, these component
abilities do not develop in an even fashion. That is, whereas some of the components are
maturing in an anticipated sequence or rate, others are lagging in their development, thereby
appearing as symptoms of the learning problem. Students with learning disabilities manifest
strengths and weaknesses in different mental processes. A key phrase in the federal definition
that refers to this component of the definition is a disorder in one or more of these basic
psychological processes. Individuals with learning disabilities encounter different types of
problems in learning. One child’s challenge may be in the acquisition of speech and oral
language; another may be in reading, arithmetic, handwriting, motor skills, or writing. As noted
earlier, the operational portion of the federal definition identifies seven specific academic areas
of learning in which learning disabilities can be detected.
The most controversial component in the definitions of learning disabilities is the
identification of a gap between what the student is potentially capable of learning and what the
student has in fact learned or achieved. The operational portion of the federal definition states
that the child with learning disabilities has a severe discrepancy between achievement and
intellectual ability in one or more of seven areas. This component of the definition reflects the
notion that learning disabilities are not primarily the result of other conditions, such as
intellectual disabilities; emotional disturbance; visual or hearing impairments; or cultural, social,
or economic environments.
In practice, however, the exclusion component of the definition of learning disabilities
becomes difficult to implement because children often exhibit co-occurring (or comorbid)
problems. Teachers who work with children with other disabilities often observe that many
students appear to have two problems—their primary disability plus their learning disabilities.
There is growing acceptance that other conditions often co-occur with learning disabilities.
Some children with learning disabilities also may be gifted and talented (Vukovic & Siegel,
2006; Lovett & Lewandowski, 2005). Characteristics of giftedness include spontaneity,
inquisitiveness, imagination, boundless enthusiasm, and emotionality; and these same traits are
often observed in children with learning disabilities. Often, children with learning disabilities,
like gifted children, seem to require a great deal of activity. They may find the general education
classroom environment uninviting, or they may have trouble attending to the classroom
instruction. If their learning needs are not being met, they may respond by becoming fidgety,
inattentive, and even disruptive. It is especially important that difficulty with school for these
children does not lead to the withholding of learning opportunities, which can develop into
frustration, failure, or depression.
Gifted and talented individuals with learning disabilities can become high-achieving adults.
Successful adults with learning disabilities may find the world of work to be quite different from
the world of school. Studies show that many highly successful people have learning disabilities.
In fact, one study shows that 30% to 40% of 300 individuals who had achieved a high level of
financial success had learning difficulties in school (Kantrowitz & Underwood, 1999; West,
2003). A major business magazine, Fortune, did a cover story on chief executive officers (CEOs)
of major corporations who have learning disabilities (Morris, 2002). There appears to be a
strong, positive side to learning disabilities that requires further research.
Many different characteristics are associated with learning disabilities. However, each
individual is unique and will display only some of these characteristics. No one individual
displays all of the characteristics and traits. Some students have disabilities in mathematics,
whereas others excel in mathematics. Attention problems are symptomatic for many students
with learning disabilities, but not for all. Further, certain characteristics are more likely to be
exhibited at certain age levels. For example, young children are more likely to be hyperactive
than adolescents. In addition, deficits are manifested in different ways at different age levels. For
example, an underlying language disorder may appear as a delayed speech problem in the
preschooler, as a reading disorder in the elementary pupil, and as a writing disorder in the
secondary student. Moreover, these characteristics are also found among students with mild
disabilities.
Clinics and schools identify four times more boys than girls who have learning disabilities.
However, gender research shows that there actually may be as many girls with learning
disabilities as boys, but they are not being identified. Boys and girls with learning disabilities
have different characteristics. Boys tend to exhibit more physical aggression and loss of control;
however, they also exhibit visual-motor abilities, spelling ability, and written language
mechanical aptitude. Girls with learning disabilities tend to have more cognitive, language, and
social problems and to have severe academic achievement deficits in reading and math. Girls
tend to be more verbal and display less physical aggression. Girls with learning disabilities who
are not identified are an underserved group that is at significant risk for long-term academic,
social, and emotional difficulties.
When the initial small group of concerned parents and professionals first sought to obtain
help for their children and to promote the field of learning disabilities in the 1960s, their efforts
focused on the pressing needs of the elementary-level child. Today, we recognize that learning
disabilities become evident at many stages of life and that the problem appears in a different
form at each stage. The number of students gradually increases from age 6 to 9, a majority of
students are in the 9 to 14 age range, and the number decreases sharply from age 16 to 21. This
pattern suggests that substantial numbers of children with learning disabilities are identified in
the age range of 9 through 14. Most children are not identified until age 9, and the decrease
during the late teen years may relate to the large school dropout rate of adolescents with learning
disabilities.
Each age group (preschoolers, elementary children, adolescents, and adults) needs different
kinds of skills. Therefore, certain characteristics of learning disabilities assume greater
prominence at certain age levels. The Preschool Level, because growth rates are so unpredictable
at young ages, educators are generally reluctant to identify preschoolers under a categorical label
such as learning disabilities. Very young children (under age 6) who appear to have learning
disabilities are often identified with a noncategorical label such as developmental delay.
Legislation for preschool children with disabilities includes two different laws.
Among the characteristics displayed by preschool children with developmental delays are
poor motor development, language delays, speech disorders, and slow cognitive and concept
development. Common examples of problems at the preschool level are the 3-year-old child who
cannot catch a ball, hop, jump, or play with manipulative toys (poor motor development); the 4-
year-old child who does not use language to communicate, has a limited vocabulary, and cannot
be understood (language and speech disorders); and the 5-year-old child who cannot count to 10,
name colors, or work puzzles (poor cognitive development). In addition, preschoolers often
exhibit behaviors of hyperactivity and poor attention. The problems and treatment of the
preschool child are so unique that a special chapter of this text is devoted to the topic (see
Chapter 8, “Young Children with Disabilities”). Data for 3- to 5-year-old children are not
counted by category of disability (e.g., learning disabilities), but 5.8% of all children receiving
special education services are in the 3 to 5 age group (U.S. Department of Education, 2012).
The Elementary Level, for many children, learning disabilities first become apparent when
they enter school and fail to acquire academic skills. The failure often occurs in reading, but it
also happens in mathematics, writing, or other school subjects. Among the behaviors frequently
seen in the early elementary years are inability to attend and concentrate; poor motor skills, as
evidenced in the awkward handling of a pencil and in poor writing; and difficulty in learning to
read.
In the later elementary years, grades 4 through 8, as the curriculum becomes more difficult,
problems may emerge in other areas, such as social studies or science because more higher-level
thinking skills are required. Emotional problems also become more of an impediment after
several years of repeated failure, and students become more conscious of their poor achievement.
For some students, social problems and the inability to make and keep friends increase in
importance at this age level. About 40% of all children with learning disabilities are in the 6 to
11 age group (U.S. Department of Education, 2012).
The Secondary Level, a radical change in schooling occurs at the secondary level, and
adolescents find that learning disabilities begin to take a greater toll. The tougher demands of the
middle school and high school curricula and teachers, the turmoil of adolescence, and the
continued academic failure combine to intensify the learning disability. Adolescents are also
concerned about life after completing school. They may need counseling and guidance for
college, career, and vocational decisions. To worsen the situation, a few adolescents find
themselves drawn into acts of juvenile delinquency or are tempted to drop out of school.
Because adolescents tend to be overly sensitive, some emotional, social, and self-concept
problems often accompany a learning disability at this age. Most secondary schools have
programs for adolescents with learning disabilities. Although this age group is considered
throughout this text, some of its unique features and some special programs for adolescents are
discussed in Chapter 9, “Adolescents and Adults With Learning Disabilities and Related Mild
Disabilities.” About 60% of all students with learning disabilities are in the 12 to 17 age group
(U.S. Department of Education, 2012).
The Adult Years, by the time they finish schooling, some adults overcome their learning
disabilities, are able to reduce them, or have learned how to compensate or circumvent their
problems. For many adults, however, the learning problems continue, and vestiges of their
disorder continue to hamper them in adulthood. Both reading difficulties and nonverbal social
disabilities may limit their career development and may also hinder their ability to make and
keep friends. Many adults voluntarily seek help in later life to cope with their learning
disabilities.
The condition of learning disabilities is a universal problem that occurs in all cultures and
nations in the world. The problem is not confined to the United States or to English-speaking
countries. Accumulating research shows that in all cultures and societies there are children who
seem to have normal intelligence but who also have severe difficulty in learning language,
acquiring reading or writing skills, or doing mathematics. esearch reports about learning
disabilities come from many parts of the world: South Korea, (Kim, Rhee, Burns, & Lerner,
2009), the Netherlands (Van der Lief & Morfidi, 2006; Stevens & Werkhoven, 2001), Great
Britain (Wedell, 2001), Scandinavia (Lundberg & Hoien, 2001), New Zealand (Chapman, 1992),
Germany (Opp, 2001), Italy (Fabbro & Masutto, 1994), Mexico (Fletcher & DeLopez, 1995),
Portugal (da Fonseca, 1996), Canada (Wong & Hutchinson, 2001), Australia (Elkins, 2001),
Russia (Korkunov et al., 1998), South America (Bravo-Valdivieso & Miiller, 2001), and Israel
(Shalev et al., 1998). The problem appears in children learning an alphabet-based system of
written language, such as English, and with children learning a logographic (pictorial) system of
written language, such as Chinese (Hsu, 1988) or Japanese (Tsuge, 2001).
The term learning disabilities was first introduced in 1963, when a small group of concerned
parents and educators met in Chicago to consider linking the isolated parent groups active in a
few communities into a single organization. Each of these parent groups identified the children
of concern under a different name, including children with perceptual handicaps, brain-injured
children, and neurologically impaired children. To unite these groups, they needed to agree on a
single term to identify the children of concern. When the term learning disabilities was suggested
at this meeting by Sam Kirk (Kirk, 1963), it met with immediate approval.
During the 50 years since learning disabilities were first recognized, the field has wrestled
with many controversial issues, and our notion of learning disabilities is different from what it
once was (Hallahan, 2007). Although the term learning disabilities had immediate appeal and
acceptance, the task of developing a definition of learning disabilities that is acceptable to all has
proved to be a formidable challenge. Indeed, defining this population is considered so
overwhelming that some have likened learning disabilities to Justice Potter Stewart’s comment
on pornography: impossible to define, “but I know it when I see it.” The most influential
definition of learning disabilities is in the federal law IDEA-2004.
Learning disabilities was first identified as a category of special education in federal law in
1975 (PL 94-142). These were heady days for parents, who finally had a sensible explanation of
their child’s problems and for educators who were passionately committed to instructing students
with learning disabilities and providing the kind of intensive, relentless, iterative individualized
instruction they needed (Hallahan, 2007). Prior to the establishment of the field of learning
disabilities (1800–1930), there was a period of broad scientific research on the functions and
disorders of the brain. Many of the early brain researchers were physicians who were involved in
investigating the brain damage of adult patients who had suffered a stroke, an accident, or a
disease. These scientists gathered information by studying the behavior of patients who had lost
some brain function, such as the ability to speak or to read. Through autopsies of many of these
patients, the scientists were able to link the loss of functions to specific damaged areas of the
brain.
This brain research became the foundation of the field of learning disabilities (1930–1960),
when the scientific studies of the brain were applied to the clinical study of children and were
then translated into ways of teaching. Psychologists and educators developed instruments for
assessment and for methods of teaching students with learning disabilities. During the transition
phase, terminology changed many times, with various terms being used to describe the problem
—brain-injured children, minimal brain dysfunction, and, finally, learning disabilities.
The term brain-injured child was first used by Alfred Strauss and Laura Lehtinen (1947),
pioneers who identified brain-injured children as a new category of exceptional children. Strauss
and Lehtinen hypothesized that a brain injury could occur during one of three periods in the
child’s life: before birth (prenatal stage), during the birth process, or at some point after birth
(postnatal stage). These scholars believed that as a result of such organic impairment, the normal
learning process was impeded. Many of these children previously had been classified as mentally
retarded, emotionally disturbed, autistic, aphasic, or behaviorally maladjusted. A large number of
children exhibited such severe behavioral characteristics that they were excluded from the public
schools. One characteristic of the brain-injured child is a perceptual disorder, which is a
disturbance in the ability to perceive objects, relations, or qualities—a difficulty in the
interpretation of sensory stimulation. For example, one teacher noted that when she wore a
particular dress with polka dots, the children with perceptual disorders seemed compelled to
touch it to verify what they thought they perceived.
Strauss’s work with brain-injured children laid the foundation for the field of learning
disabilities by perceiving similar characteristics in a diverse group of children who had been
misdiagnosed by specialists, misunderstood by parents, and often discarded by society. The term
minimal brain dysfunction (MBD) is defined as a mild or minimal neurological abnormality that
causes learning disabilities, and the term MBD was recommended as a way to identify these
children by the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (Clements, 1966). MBD was
used to describe children with near-average intelligence and with certain learning and behavioral
disorders associated with deviations or dysfunctions of the central nervous system. Many
medical professionals employed the term MBD when diagnosing children. Learning disabilities
successfully serves as a recognized way to refer to individuals with problems that are the concern
of this text.
Learning disabilities became an established discipline in schools throughout the United
States. The field grew rapidly as programs for learning disabilities were developed, teachers
were trained, and children began to receive services. One of the first public school programs for
learning disabilities was established in Syracuse, New York (Cruickshank et al., 1961). By the
1960s and 1970s, public school programs for learning disabilities were rapidly established
throughout the nation. Several strong forces promoted this development, including parental
pressures, an increase of professional information, the availability of teacher training programs,
and state laws requiring services for students with learning disabilities. All of this took place
before the passage of the first comprehensive special education law in 1975, the Education for
All Handicapped Children Act (PL 94-142).
Most of the early programs were for students at the elementary level. In these early
programs, children with learning disabilities were placed in separate classes, a setting that
followed the traditional instructional programs in special education at that time. Later in this
period, resource room programs were introduced, and the secondary schools also began to serve
adolescents with learning disabilities. Many new tests and teaching materials were developed
during this period to serve the growing number of students identified under the category of
learning disabilities.
C. Neurosciences and Study of the Brain
Informed educators need up-to-date information about the brain and learning. Scientific
investigations that attempt to unravel the mysteries of the human brain and learning are
fascinating in themselves. Knowledge about the brain is increasing rapidly and promises to
further our understanding of the enigma of learning disabilities. Recent neuroscience advances
have new technologies to study the brain and its role in learning (Dehaene, 2009; Sousa, 2001).
The neurosciences are a cluster of disciplines that investigate the structure and functions of the
brain and the central nervous system. All human behavior, including learning, is mediated by the
brain. The process of learning is one of the most important activities of the brain. From a
neurological perspective, difficulty in academic learning and reading represents a subtle
malfunction in this most complex organ of the human body.
Although the two halves of the brain appear almost identical in structure, they differ in
function, and these differences appear very early in life. The left hemisphere reacts to and
controls language-related activities. For more than 90% of adults, language function originates in
the left hemisphere, regardless of whether the individual is left-handed, right-handed, or a
combination of the two. Language is located in the left hemisphere in 98% of right-handed
people and in about 71% of left-handed people (Hiscock & Kinsbourne, 1987).
The right hemisphere deals with nonverbal stimuli. Spatial perception, mathematics, music,
directional orientation, time sequences, and body awareness are located in the right hemisphere.
Thus, even though visual and auditory nerve impulses are carried to both cerebral hemispheres
simultaneously, it is the left hemisphere that reacts to linguistic stimuli, such as words, symbols,
and verbal thought. Consequently, adult stroke patients with brain injury in the left hemisphere
often suffer language loss, in addition to an impairment in the motor function of the right half of
the body.
This duality of the brain has led to speculation that some people tend to approach the
environment in a “left-brained fashion,” whereas others use a “right-brained approach.” Left-
brained individuals are strong in language and verbal skills, while right-brained individuals have
strengths in spatial, artistic, and mechanical skills. These differences in brain function warrant
further discussion because the concept may provide some insight into differences in the need for
differentiated learning.
Samuel Orton, a physician and early investigator of reading and language difficulties,
theorized that the reversal of letters and words (which he called strephosymbolia, or twisted
symbols) was symptomatic of a failure to establish cerebral dominance in the left hemisphere,
which is the location of the language area (Orton, 1937). Current findings support Orton’s early
theories, showing that the left hemisphere does specialize in the language function and the right
hemisphere controls nonverbal functions. However, the two hemispheres of the brain do not
operate independently; there are many interrelating elements and functions. The learning process
depends on both hemispheres and their interrelating functions. Inefficient functioning of either
hemisphere reduces the total effectiveness of individuals and affects their acquisition and use of
language.
The issue of lateral preference is the subject of a related controversial theory, which
proposes a relationship between learning disorders and a tendency to use either the right or left
side of the body or a preference for the right or left hand, foot, eye, or ear. The term consistent
laterality refers to the tendency to perform all functions with one side of the body. Mixed
laterality is a tendency to mix the right and left preference in the use of hands, feet, eyes, and
ears. A student’s laterality may be tested through observation of simple behaviors—such as
throwing a ball, kicking a stick, seeing with a tube, and listening to a watch—or through more
sophisticated means used in neuropsychology. There are mixed research findings about the
relationship between reading ability and lateral preferences (Biegler, 1987; Obrzut & Boliek,
1991).
Research on the brain and its relationship to behavior and learning has accumulated slowly,
in part because some technologies for studying the structure and function of the brain have only
recently become available. Today, neuroscientists can vastly extend their studies of the structure
and functions of the brain because of technological advancements that have created opportunities
for a better understanding of the brain and its relationship to learning and learning problems.
Many of the brain research investigations involve studies of individuals with the condition of
dyslexia, which is a puzzling type of learning disability that interferes with learning to read. (See
Chapter 12, “Reading Difficulties,” for more information about dyslexia.) Individuals with
dyslexia encounter severe difficulty with reading. It is not a matter of intelligence; instead,
dyslexia appear to be related to brain structure and function.
For almost a century, scientists suspected that there was a neurological basis for dyslexia
and that the difficulty in acquiring reading skills stemmed from neurological differences in brain
function. With the growing knowledge about the brain and its relationship to reading, there is
finally convincing evidence that people with dyslexia do indeed differ in their brain structure and
function from persons who do not have reading problems.
Postmortem anatomical studies—autopsy studies—of individuals with dyslexia show strong
evidence that the brain structure of dyslexic individuals is different from that of individuals
without dyslexia. The brain tissue of eight people—six men and two women—was studied.
Some of these individuals were young men who died suddenly, often in motorcycle accidents. At
the time of death, their brains were donated for study to an ongoing dyslexia research center at
Harvard Medical School’s Department of Neurology at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. The
postmortem anatomical brain studies found a remarkable and consistent abnormality in the
structure of the brain in these individuals. This abnormality was found in an area of the brain
known as the planum temporale, which lies on the superior surface of the temporal lobe. In the
left hemisphere, this area is the center of language control. In the postmortem studies of dyslexic
cases, this area (i.e., the language area) of the left hemisphere was smaller and had fewer brain
cells than that of nondyslexic individuals. However, this same area in the right hemisphere was
larger and contained more cells than are found in Non dyslexic individuals.
D. New Issues and Directions
Today, many students with learning disabilities and related mild disabilities receive
instruction in general education classes or inclusive classrooms. There are many benefits of
inclusion. General education classrooms can provide students with disabilities greater access to
their general education peers, raise expectations for student performance, help general education
students be more accepting of diverse students, and improve coordination between regular and
special educators (Cawley et al., 2002; Elbaum, 2002). The philosophy and practice of inclusion
are discussed in detail in Chapter 4, “Educational Settings and the Role of the Family.”
Most students with learning disabilities and related disabilities are served in general
education classes. In addition, students may have a disability, but they have a 504 Plan and
receive instruction in the general education classroom. Success in an inclusive classroom
requires the collaborative effort of the classroom teacher and the special education teacher
(Schwarz, 2006). The strategies in the feature Including Students in General Education 1.1,
“Some Overall Strategies,” are targeted for students with learning disabilities and related mild
disabilities. However, these basic strategies will benefit all students in the general education
classroom. Inclusion must be done responsibly to ensure that the students receive the services
designed to meet his or her needs in whatever setting the student is placed.
RTI is a procedure for teaching all students in general education classes. Under the law
(IDEA-2004) and the Regulations for IDEA-2004 (2007) schools are permitted to use RTI to
identify students with learning disabilities or a comprehensive evaluation. RTI is briefly
mentioned is this section, but it is discussed in greater detail in Chapter 2, “Assessment and the
IEP Process.” Briefly, RTI is a prevention model to limit or prevent academic failure by
providing “evidenced-based teaching procedures” for all students in general education. The RTI
procedure provides for increasing intensity levels of support for those students who do not
respond adequately to the instruction.
Today’s children live in a technological society with an ever-changing influx of new
computer-based technologies. They have more comprehensive and faster world-wide links to
commerce, communication, and culture. Schools must prepare students to deal with these
dramatic changes so that they can fully participate and compete in the increasingly complex
technological workplace. Society readily recognizes the benefits of computer-based technologies
for typically functioning children. However, there are even greater benefits for students with
learning disabilities and related mild disabilities. Computer applications can help level the
playing field by allowing them to succeed in the general education environment. For many
students with learning disabilities and related mild disabilities, their ease in operating computers
is an area of strength that helps them overcome areas of severe difficulty, such as their abilities to
read and write. Research shows that often students who have academic problems have a special
facility with computers (Belson, 2003; Hasselbring & Glaser, 2000; Raskind & Higgins, 1998a,
1998b). Specific applications of computer technology appear within pertinent chapters
throughout this book.
The Assistive Technology Act, passed in 2004, recognizes the need for persons with
disabilities to access and use assistive technology devices and provided funding to support
assistive technology (PL 108-364). The reauthorization of the Assistive Technology law was
passed in 2010 and was renamed the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video
Accessibility Act of 2010 (PL 111-260) Assistive technology for students with disabilities is
defined as “any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off
the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional
capabilities of individuals with disabilities” (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2004
Regulations, 34 C.F.R. 300). Table 1.7 lists some ways the students with learning disabilities and
related mild disabilities can use computers.
