Treatment and intervention

Interventions include:

Mastery model:

Learners work at their own level of mastery.

Practice

Gain fundamental skills before moving onto the next level

Note: this approach is most likely to be used with adult learners or outside the mainstream school system.

Direct Instruction:

Highly structured, intensive instruction

Emphasizes carefully planned lessons for small learning increments

Scripted lesson plans

Rapid-paced interaction between teacher and students

Correcting mistakes immediately

Achievement-based grouping

Frequent progress assessments

Classroom adjustments:

Special seating assignments

Alternative or modified assignments

Modified testing procedures

Quiet environment

Special equipment:

Electronic spellers and dictionaries

Word processors

Talking calculators

Books on tape

Computer

Dictation programs

Classroom assistants:

Note-takers

Readers

Proofreaders

Scribes

Special Education:

Prescribed hours in a resource room

Placement in a resource room

Enrollment in a special school for learning disabled students

Individual Education Plan (IEP)

Educational therapy

Sternberg has argued that early remediation can greatly reduce the number of children meeting diagnostic criteria for learning disabilities. He has also suggested that the focus on learning disabilities and the provision of accommodations in school fails to acknowledge that people have a range of strengths and weaknesses, and places undue emphasis on academic success by insisting that people should receive additional support in this arena but not in music or sports. Other research has pinpointed the use of resource rooms as an important¡ªyet often politicized component of educating students with learning disabilities.

About learning disability

Types of learning disabilities

Diagnosis