LDA welcomes ideas, research, and practices for improving instruction and services for individuals with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD). As new initiatives are introduced, LDA must be vigilant to ensure that they are of benefit to children and youth with SLD.
Specific Learning Disabilities refers to a disorder in which one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or using language, spoken or written. This disorder may manifest itself in imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or perform mathematical calculations.
Disorders included: perceptual disabilities, brain injuries, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.
Although there is no single RTI (Response to Intervention), the many variations that are emerging use a two-to-five tiered model. Each tier provides increasingly individualized instruction, continuous monitoring of progress to calculate gains, and criteria for changing interventions. In general, the tiers include:
Cleveland, Ohio
Local and national studies estimate that 60 to 70 percent of youth offenders have learning deficiencies. In a pilot program funded by the Cleveland Foundation, 117 Cleveland children were screened for learning problems in the Cuyahoga Co. Detention Center. About 75 percent of them possibly had an undetected learning disability, and 69 percent were on a repeat trip through the court system.
Daniel McCarthy, a businessman, tax adviser, and part-owner of the New York Yankees, has donated $100,000 to a project designed to fight the problem and has promised to pressure others to pitch in as well.