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Learning Disabilities

Learning Disabilities

A child with a learning disability is a child who has difficulty in some facet of academic or behavioral functioning that is not related to any other handicapping condition. Often these students perform well, in certain academic areas, while in others their performance is very low. This type of problem is very frustrating for the students, particularly at the middle-school grades and upper grades as the peer group assumes more importance. Learning disabilities in children are often complicated by problems with adjustment, poor peer interactions, volatile family relationships and sometimes juvenile delinquency.


The U.S. Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services says that a specific learning disability means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell or to do mathematical calculations. The term includes such conditions as perceptual handicaps, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.


 

Tests in Academic Skills

There is a range of standardised assessment instruments for determining age-level appropriate achievement. Some of these assessment tools give indicators about achievement levels across the 3 main academic areas of reading, mathematics, and writing. Other tools focus largely on reading levels, and the different skills involved in reading. The following assessment tools are designed for children through to adults and may be included in the assessment battery used to assess Learning Disability:


Wide Range Achievement Test, Third Edition WRAT-III (1993):
This test gives measures on achievement in the areas of reading, spelling and arithmetic. The standard scores and percentiles given by the WRAT-III compare the individual’s performance with others of the same age. It takes approximately 30 minutes to administer. Age limit: 5 years to adult.


Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery - Revised, Achievement Battery (1989):
This is a battery of standardized tests measuring cognitive abilities, scholastic aptitudes, and achievement. Cognitive and Achievement Batteries are each organized in standard and supplemental test books. The Standard Batteries provide core information quickly. The Supplemental Batteries provide in-depth testing when more information is desired. Covers age range from two through ninety. Common norms are provided for Cognitive and Achievement Batteries along with derived scores and profiles. With this revision, ten new tests have been added to the Cognitive Abilities Battery and four new tests to the Achievement Battery. The Cognitive Ability Battery-Standard contains 7 tests, each measuring a different aspect of intellectual ability. Cognitive Ability Battery-Supplemental contains 14 additional measures. The seven cognitive factor scores are long-term retrieval, short-term memory, processing speed, auditory processing, visual processing, comprehension-knowledge and fluid reasoning. The four scholastic aptitude clusters are reading aptitude, mathematics aptitude, written language aptitude, and knowledge aptitude. The WJR-Achievement Battery takes approximately 1 hour to administer.


Wechsler Individual Achievement Test - II (WIAT-II) (1993):
WIAT–II is a rich and reliable source of information about an individual’s academic skills that can be used to guide appropriate intervention. It is an important measurement tool in achievement skills assessment, learning disability diagnosis, special education placement, curriculum planning, and clinical appraisal for preschool children through adults. This comprehensive battery includes a broad sample of curriculum content. Subtests include a detailed description of the specific curriculum objective(s) underlying items to facilitate a thorough evaluation of an individual’s skill area strengths and weaknesses. It can be administered to individuals from age 4 to adult. The comprehensive battery takes between an hour to an hour and a half to complete.


Kaufman Tests of Educational Achievement (K-TEA):
The Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement (K-TEA) is an individually administered measure of the school achievement of children and adolescents in years 1 to 12. It offers age-based norms (6 years to 18 years 11 months) as well as grade-based norms, and comprises two separate and non-overlapping forms: a Brief Form and a Comprehensive Form. Both forms offer norm- eferenced measurement in selected achievement domains, and the Comprehensive Form also provides criterion-referenced assessment in the analysis of students' errors in the various content areas. Each form of the K-TEA has its own manual, to aid the examiner in administering, scoring, and interpreting the form administered.


The Neale Analysis of Reading Ability - Revised (NARA):
This test is designed to measure the Rate, Accuracy and Comprehension of oral reading. It is designed for students between the ages of 6 and 12 years, but it is also used with older individuals with special needs (such as reading difficulties). If a student has a Learning Disability, then measured ability in an academic skill e.g. reading or writing will be at a lower achievement age than at a chronological age. Thus, psychologists may use tests of academic skills that would normally be used on students of a younger age.

An example of a reading test sometimes used in this way is the Neale Analysis of Reading Ability - Revised. The reading materials included in this test (which is designed for younger students) may be reading age-appropriate for a tertiary level student with a Learning Disability (specific reading difficulty). However, the content is generally not chronologically age-appropriate for tertiary level students with a Learning Disability. The time it takes to complete the NARA is dependent on the different reading skills of the individual. The average completion time is about 20 minutes. Age limit: 6 to 12 years, and special needs groups.


The Oral and Written Language Scales (OWLS):
This test is an individually administered assessment instrument that may be used by psychologists, speech pathologists, and educators with post-graduate qualifications in special education. It provides information about 3 language usage areas: listening comprehension, oral expression, and written expression. It takes anywhere between 15 to 40 minutes to complete. Age limit: 3 to 21 years.


The Woodcock Reading Mastery Test:
This is a test of reading performance designed for ages between Kindergarten and Adult. It may be used in a number of ways to provide detailed information on reading readiness, the basic skills of reading, and reading comprehension. This test gives some indication of the strengths and weaknesses in reading skills that the individual may exhibit when tackling printed matter. The Woodcock Reading Mastery Test takes about 30 minutes to complete. Age limit: Kindergarten to adult.


The Slosson Oral Reading Test- SORT-R (1994):
This test is intended to provide an estimate of abilities in word recognition. The results are expressed in standard scores, stanines and grade/age equivalents. It takes about 15 minutes to complete and should usually be used in conjunction with other tests of academic skills. Age limit: 5 to 65 years of age.