INTRO:

1

• INTRO
• Richard Evans
• Husband
• Father
• Educator

2
BUT Most Importantly to you a person with

• Learning Disabilities
• Reading
• Writing
• Dyslexia
• ?

3
What does LD look like?

• Average IQ range
• Normal appearance
• Invisible disability
• Then how can you tell a person has a learning
  disability?

4
Define the term

• Learning Disability A term used for disorders
  that effect a student's ability in the areas of
• language
• mathematics
• written expression

5
Define the term

• Dyslexia - A learning disability characterized by
  difficulties in single word decoding.

6
Dyslexia is

• one of several distinct learning disabilities
• a specific language-based disorder of
  constitutional origin
• characterized by difficulties in single word
  decoding
• reflecting insufficient phonological processing
  abilities

7
Dyslexia is

• manifested by difficulty with different forms of
  language
• Including problems with reading
• Problems with acquiring a proficiency in writing
  and spelling

8
The early school years

• Played games (K)
• Never really disliked school
• Started with Phonics 1st grade
• See and say 1st 2nd grade
• Reading groups
• One of those students

9
The trials and tribulations of 3rd grade

• Lack of progress 3rd grade
• Hearing checked
• Eyes checked
• Chapter 1 program
• Parent conference
• Encore performance in 3rd grade
• Same worksheets no improvement
• The problem had to be me

10
Moved to Dallas TX

• Finished 3rd Grade
• Talking with the principal
• Meeting with counselor
• Testing
• Learned to look busy
• Moved again at the end of the year

11
4th and 5th grades A true bottom up experience

• 4th grade
• Young teacher
• Look busy and dont say anything
• Ms. Little the experienced Teacher
• Daily trips to the office
• Hanging out with the bad kids
• Honing a new learning skill

12
Moving back to West Texas

• Junior High School
• The new way of learning worked
• When it didnt, I relied on old skills
• Coaches paddled for any grade below a C
• Getting finished with school became a priority

13
High School

• I was convinced I wanted out
• Ag shop and football kept me in
• Why couldnt I learn this stuff
• English
• History
• Algebra
• DECA

14
Quituation

• Worked full time 230 Midnight M-Th
• Sleeping in class was a new problem
• Meeting with teacher and principal
• I dropped out -- 1976-77 school year

15
A number of dead-end jobs

• Manufacturing Plant building trailers
• Working as a Mechanic
• Driving a truck
• Buying my own trucks
• Driving cross country
• Drugs become a problem

16

• 1985 -- admitted
• Learning problem
• Problem with Drugs and Alcohol
• Started to teach myself to read
• 1992
• Enrolled full-time in College
• Commitment to discover how to learn

17
1985-1991 (7 year Transition)

• Learning to learn
• Family support (sometimes)
• Higher power
• Adult Literacy council (Tom Green County)
• Read elementary book
• Read the dictionary
• Hanging out on Campus (Angelo State Un.)
• Parking lot
• Around campus

18
Characteristics/labels (from list)

• Lazy
• Dumb
• Zoned out"
• Daydreamer
• Hyper
• Confused
• Left/right
• Over/under

• Spells
• Phonetically
• Inconsistently
• Difficulty
• Managing time
• Being on time
• Learning sequenced information
• Easily frustrated

19
Define Learning Disability

• Learning Disabilities Association of Texas (LDAT)
  says
• a person with average or above average
  intelligence who is unable to learn by
  traditional teaching methods (may be LD)

20
What does this mean?

• A student with a true learning disability lacks
  the ability to excel in the traditional manner in
  the area for which the disability is associated.

21
Do you know this child?

• Below grade level achievement in one or more
  subjects
• Slow language development
• Short attention span
• Poor memory
• Hyperactivity
• Poor impulse control
• Aggressiveness, immaturity, disorganization
  (LDAT, 2002)
• These are possible characteristics
• of a student with LD

22
I learned that Being "learning different" means

• That academically I do things a little differently

23
Being "learning different" means

• I like to see the whole picture first, I want to
  spend time getting to experience the idea

24
Being "learning different" means

• I want to discover the parts of the idea or
  object for myself

25
Being "learning different" means

• I need good concrete models to foster learning

26
Being "learning different" means

• I must discover in different ways the knowledge
  that others have learned through memorization

27
Being "learning different" means

• I do most things with average or above average
  success however there are a few things that I
  will have great difficulty

28
Being "learning different" means

• The ability
• to see multi-dimensionally, all at once, or from
  any one place at a time
• to think in pictures and to register those
  pictures as real
• I dont see maps, I see models

29

• I have a real talent for thinking
  3-dimensionally, in pictures like computer
  graphics
• I am always rapidly creating in my mind, so that
  I rarely hear what others really say
• But this talent interferes with symbols, print,
  spoken language, balance, movement, and the sense
  of time

30
Being "learning different"

• Affects my sequential thinking and my ability to
  stay on task
• Affects my language rate, so that my speech
  either speeds up or slows down

31
My present difficulties

• Difficulty decoding words, identifying words in
  isolation, sometimes in content
• Omission of word endings or small words when
  reading or writing
• Difficulty in coding words or spelling
• Occasional reversals or inversion of letters or
  numbers b/d, p/g, 25/52
• Persistent difficulty with oral reading

32
My difficulties (cont-)

• Occasional problems with reading comprehension
  especially at higher levels
• Difficulty with handwriting
• Difficulty expressing thoughts in written form
• Difficulty with rote automatic recall of facts

33
My difficulties (cont--)

• Imprecise or incomplete interpretation of
  language that is heard
• Struggles with word retrieval
• Difficulty expressing thoughts orally especially
  when language is requested on demand
• May require longer periods of time for mental
  processing

34

• Can Persons with LD
• Learn ?
• Compete academically ?
• Have a normal life ?

35

• Research assistant
• Special education k-12
• Elementary 1-6th
• Math 1-8th
• Science 1-8th
• Administrator certification k-12
• Instructor Blinn College
• 3rd Year PhD student

36
Things that work for me

• Record lectures (tape/MD)
• Colored overlays and highlighters
• Object to fiddle with
• Organizers
• Calendars (big and small)
• Palm Handheld
• Technology
• Spell check
• Grammar check
• Thesaurus
• Text reading software
• Text typing software

37
Can Persons with LD be successful

• or
• Am I just the exception to the rule?

38

• That is for us to decide
• teachers
• Parents
• Persons with LD
• But I believe
• all means all
• I am not an exception to the rule but rather, I
  am the rule--All Students Can Learn

39
QUESTIONS?

• PowerPoint slides
• can be found at
• http//www.raevans.com
• THE END