About Learning Differences

You may have found through personal experience that some students – perhaps your child – find it difficult to learn in traditional classroom settings. We know that many of these children have average to above average potential and have the desire and ability to thrive in an environment that meets their individual needs.

We believe that children who learn differently need to be taught in different ways with a variety of techniques, multisensory options, and sufficient repetition to master skills at each level before going on to another level. Without the proper intervention, learning differences can become significant learning disabilities.

At The Highlands School, we work with students who struggle with:

Auditory Processing Disorder

Auditory processing refers not to how one hears, but to what one does with what they hear. Auditory Processing Disorders involve deficiencies in:

  • Localization of sound
  • Auditory discrimination
  • Auditory pattern recognition
  • Temporal aspects of sound
  • Auditory performance with competing background signals
Source: Katz, 1992

Dyslexia

The International Dyslexia Association adopted the following definition of dyslexia on November 12, 2002:

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede the growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.

This definition has been adopted by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) for its research programs in dyslexia and learning disabilities.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

ADHD is a neurobiological disorder characterized by developmentally inappropriate levels of:

  • Inattention (the inability to sustain attention and focus on the task at hand; can be distracted by noises, movements, pictures or one's own thoughts)
  • Impulsivity (acting or talking without thinking and failure to consider the impact it will have on others; do not learn from past experience)
  • Hyperactivity (an unusual degree of activity including fidgeting, difficulty sitting still and difficulty falling asleep)

Source: Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD)

Executive Functioning

Executive Functioning refers to thinking processes that help us to plan, organize, focus, prioritize, and manage time and space. Problems with executive functioning often become more apparent in adolescents and adults as tasks at school and in the workplace become more complex.

An individual with Executive Functioning Disorder may experience difficulty with:

  • making plans
  • beginning tasks
  • keeping track of time
  • keeping track of more than one thing at a time
  • monitoring and changing behavior as needed
  • interacting with other people
  • evaluating ideas
  • inhibiting inappropriate behaviors
  • finishing work on time
  • fitting in socially

Source: Dr. Russell Barkley, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, South Carolina as presented at his Nov. 20 and 21, 2008, workshop titled Advances in ADHD Theory, Diagnosis, and Management and the National Center for Learning Disabilities web site.

Nonverbal Learning Disability

According to the Nonverbal Learning Disorders Association (www.nldline.com), a Nonverbal Learning Disorder, known as NLD, is a neurophysiological disorder originating in the right hemisphere of the brain. Reception of nonverbal or performance-based information governed by this hemisphere is impaired in varying degrees, including problems with visual-spatial, intuitive, organizational, evaluative, and holistic processing functions.

Individuals with Nonverbal Learning Disorders are unable to accurately process non-verbal information due to an inability to access the proper areas of the brain. They rely almost exclusively on their interpretation of the spoken and written word and may demonstrate difficulties in areas of:

  • Motor coordination: large and small muscle
  • Visual-Spatial: organization, poor spatial relations, lack of imagery, poor visual recall, poor handwriting
  • Social: demonstrate inflexibility, difficulty with transitions and new situations, deficits in reading social cues and poor social interactions

Source: Nonverbal learning disorders, Sue Thompson, M.A., C.E.T./ www.nldline.com

A child who learns differently needs to be taught differently.