Children With Special Needs

Learning Disability
Prepared by : Siti Hawa bt Zainoddin

Definition of Slow Learner

Slow learners are those pupils who have limited ability due to different reason in the education process. A student who has the ability to learn necessary academic skills, but at rate and depth below average same age peers. According to experts, children who for various reason, fall behind in their school work and require special teaching are slow learners.

Causes of slow learner

Low intelligence Physical impairment Environmental problems Behavioral problems Medications and long term illnesses Learning disabilities *Alexia *Dyslexia *Strephosymbolia

Low Intelligence
Children with poor intelligence, mild and moderate mental retardation are slow learners.

Their brain development may be inadequate, causing delayed development. It is easy to detect such children because they are late to standing, sitting, walking talking etc.
It is possible for educational psychologist to assess their I.Q. to determine their mental level.

Physical Impairment
Many children with short sight or other eye problem may not be able to read from the black board, book or copy.
Children with hearing problem may not understand what the teacher is teaching. It is necessary to assess these scholastically taken for hearing and visual impairment.

Behavioral Problems
Many children with conduct problems score low marks even though they may be intelligent. Some children have school phobias, some of them may be emotionally unstable due to reasons like anxiety, depression. While some other turnout to be defiant or disobedient children.

Environmental Problems
No child can perform well in hostile environment at home or in school. Causes like poor discipline at home or school, family issues : Separation and divorce, illness of family member, alcoholism and drugs, poverty, physical, emotional and sexual abuse.
Frightening friends, teacher student mismatch frequent change of school or medium of instruction etc. can lead to low school performance.

Medications and long term illnesses

Continuous use of certain medicines like antiallergic, antiepileptic, antiasthematic, alcohol and recreational drugs can cause poor school performance. Long term illness like asthma, epilepsy, after effects of head injury, brain problem, birth sequele, anemia, chronic lead ingestion and other chronic illness can cause poor school performance.

Strephosymbolia

Learning disabilities that cause slow learning

Alexia

Dyslexia

Alexia
Definition: A language impairment caused by injury to the areas of the brain that process visual language. The injury prevents people from being able to read, but not from being able to write. Also Known As: word blindness, pure word blindness, Text blindness or visual aphasia. (Jose Vega M.D., Ph.D)

Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty that mainly affects reading and spelling. Dyslexia is characterized by difficulties in processing word-sounds and by weaknesses in short-term verbal memory. (SPELLIT Research Report) The effects may be seen in spoken language and written language.

Strephosymbolia
A typical symptom of dyslexia in which letters are transposed, reversed, or confused; more generally a disorder in which objects are perceived in mirror image. (ANDREW M. COLMAN)

Symptoms of slow learner

Difficulty in reading, writing or spelling.

Difficulty in understanding clearly.

Seeming to be lazy or stupid.

Difficulty in concentrating and seeming to be hyper.

Forgetting something shortly after reading it.

Easily confused by long verbal explanations, especially involving sequences.

Disorderly and craves attention.

Problems in dealing with money.

Forgets lists of items. Learns well through observation, demonstration, experimentation and visual aids. Forgetting where you are going or where you should be.

Difficulty in maintaining eye contact.

Habit of daydreaming, losing track of time.

Roles of teachers in helping those slow learners

Teacher should pronounce the words clearly for the student and ask the student to repeat the words.

Teacher should use visual aids such as flash cards, it would help the students to understand it easily and memorize it for long time.

Stories-telling and drama activities should be encouraged in class.

Play memory games to enhance their memory. Teacher should write a word on board and ask to the student to write it in air, teach them the spelling in parts, so they know the sound of the word.

Spelling are very necessary for slow learner, because it helps to form a word, therefore teacher should give attention to teaching spelling to the students. Computer games, the best method for teaching reading process. These interactive games not only help slow learner in their reading process but it also help to increase their quick decision making ability.

Competition of spelling between the students.

Engage student in form filling and letter writing according to their age to encourage their writing and ignore their mistake in early stages.

THANK YOU