For teachers

With four to six percent of all students classified as having specific learning disabilities (SLD) in our nation’s public schools, every teacher can expect to find students with learning disabilities in the classroom. Success for these students requires a focus on individual achievement, individual progress, and individual learning. Despite obstacles, recent research tells us that we can teach these students how to learn. We can put them into a position to compete!

Specific strategies apply to specific learning disabilities, and many are outlined here. You will also find tips for working with children who have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Understanding Learning Disabilities and ADHD

• Encouraging Compliance and Managing Non-Compliance at School: The roots of compliant behavior and a handful of strategies to use at school. Read the article
• Websites on early childhood development, compiled by the LDA Early Childhood Committee. See the list
• Differentiated Instruction: Related Terms: Differentiated Learning, Personalized Contextual Instruction, Academically Responsive Instruction Read the article
• Learning Disabilities: Signs, Symptoms and Strategies: The term Learning Disabilities is an umbrella term that describes a number of more specific learning disabilities. This article offers the signs and symptoms of each plus strategies to use at school and at home. Read the article
• Types of Learning Disabilities: A thorough review of the specific types of processing problems that result in learning disabilities. Read the article
• Symptoms of Learning Disabilities: An overview of the diverse set of characteristics that affect development and achievement in people with learning disabilities. Read the article
• ADHD: Signs, Symptoms and Strategies: While not considered to be a learning disability, many children with ADHD (approximately 20 - 30%) also have a specific learning disability (SLD). Read the article
• Accommodations, Techniques and Aids For Learning: Suggested ways to aid students with specific learning disabilities so they learn more effectively at home or at school. Read the article
• Successful Strategies for Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities: A review of what the research tells us works for students with learning disabilities. Read the article
• What is a SOP?: IDEA 04 now reguires a Summary of Performance (SOP) when exiting high school, instead of an evaluation. Families, teachers and students need to become familiar with the SOP used in their own high school. Read the article
• When learning is a problem: Your chances of knowing a student or adult with learning disabilities are very good, since it is estimated that 10% of the school-aged population have at least one learning disability (LD). More than 50% of all students in public school special education programs have been diagnosed as having learning disabilities. Read more in our informative brochure.  |  En Español

Teaching Reading

• Homework: Successful homework strategies for teachers. Read the article
• Why Reading Is Not a Natural Process: An overview of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) research in reading. Read the article
• Reading Instruction: Tips for Teachers: Instruction in both phonics and literature is essential to helping young children read. This list of tips provides a wealth of information on the fundamentals of teaching reading. Read the article
• Reading Methods and Learning Disabilities: An overview of the critical components of reading and tips on selecting appropriate reading methods. Read the article
• Phonology: This fact sheet provides an overview of phonological processing and its critical role in teaching reading. Read the article

Social/Emotional Aspects of Learning Disabilities

• A Handicap With No Name: Poignant and instructive memories from childhood school days as a student with undiagnosed and untreated learning disabilities. By Dale S. Brown. Read the article
• Learning Despite Learning Disabilities: Facing the challenges of college academics and social situations isn't easy, especially if you have learning disabilities that haven't been identified. Author Dale S. Brown reflects upon lessons learned, for the benefit of students with learning disabilities going to college, and their teachers. Read the article
• A Letter to Grandma: Reflections of an adult on being a child with learning disabilities in a regular classroom without accommodations, diagnosis or treatment. By Dale S. Brown. Read the article
• Counseling Students with Learning Disabilities: Students with learning disabilities are in culture shock in their own culture. Their perceptual problems have made it difficult for them to pick up the hidden rules that others know instinctively. These tips will help you help them learn these rules. Read the article
• Social Acceptance of Students with Learning Disabilities: In spite of the enormous efforts put forth by families, the skilled special educators, and mental health professionals, the individual with a learning disability has one final challenge to meet in life: Social Acceptance. Read the article
• Social Adjustment Problems: An overview of the social consequences of learning disabilities. Read the article
• Learning the Language of Relationships: Tips for teaching non-verbal language skills. Read the article