Counseling Students with Learning Disabilities - Term Paper Example

Introduction Learning disability leads to major functional impairment and recognizes the need for lifelong support and intervention. The importance of discovering a learning disability at an early age is receiving recognition. It helps in effective counseling to students of all ages. Early intervention leads to easier solutions. Counseling can be done by educationists, pediatrics, nurses, or school counselors. Then again, counseling is required to acquire social skills, for career development in addition to the normal skills of reading, speaking, writing and mathematical skills. This paper will examine the different types of learning disabilities that children are affected with, and how counseling can help them cope with it. Meaning and definition of Learning Disability Learning disability is neither a mental condition nor a psychiatric disorder. Learning disabilities occur due to anomalies in the brain structure and can be inherited. Toxins in utero or in a person’s early environment can also cause learning disabilities (Helpguide, 1996). Learning Disabilities Association of America (2001) states that students with learning disabilities have normal or potential normal intelligence but manifest disabilities of perceptual, conceptual or coordinative nature (cited by Melody, 2002). According to Brinckerhoff (1994), neurologically based learning disabilities manifest themselves in different ways (cited by Milsom & Hartley, 2005). The disability in each student may be unique and manifests itself in different ways, according to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). There is no upper limit set to determine intelligence or disability, hence, the definition proposed by the Association for Children and Adults with Learning Disabilities (1985) included the phrase "average and superior intelligence" could occur concomitantly with disability (cited by Brody & Mills, 1997). This suggests that a disabled child can be gifted at the same time. For instance, a child who struggles with reading, writing, and spelling may be very good at math and science. These definitions lead us to believe that a specific learning disability is unique to any individual and it can manifest in many ways. The method of diagnosis, impact and the counseling would also vary accordingly. A person with average or above-average intelligence may be unable to achieve certain things at a particular age and such a person is identified as having a learning disability. The discrepancy between ability and achievement may either be overlooked or taken as ‘laziness’ by those who have not been trained to identify learning disability. It denotes that the processing of information is not taking place even though there is the required input. Learning disability can usually be detected in listening, speaking, reading writing, spelling, calculations, and reasoning. A student may have the disability in one or more of these areas. Apart from these, disability may affect the mobility or sensory perceptions. Signs and symptoms Learning Disabilities (LD) may be connected to getting information into the brain (input), processing this information (organizing), storing and retrieving this information (memory), and getting this information back (output), according to LDA of America (2005). Visual and auditory perceptions usually carry the information to the brain. The individual may experience difficulty in experiencing in sounds and shapes. According to Martin & Lounsbury (2004), learning disabilities have been divided into four domains of functions – dyslexia (an individual may mix up letters within words and words within sentences while reading arising out of a disorder in processing of small units sound known as phonemes); dyscalculia (difficulty in understanding and using math concepts and symbols associated with a deficiency in visual-spatial skills); dysgraphia (difficulty in forming words and letters with pen and paper or difficulty in producing legible handwriting associated with lack in motor and visual-motor coordination); and pragmatic language disorders or non-verbal learning disorder. People with Attention-Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) also have learning disabilities (DO-IT, 2001). Students with ADHD have difficulty paying attention in school or at home. They may be much more active than what is normal for their age. These lead to problems in relationships, learning and behavior. Hence, students with ADHD are seen as being difficult and is considered learning disability. Such students tend to lose things often, are unable to pay attention, forget things, get easily distracted, and may be disorganized (AAFP, 1999). At the same time, other students with ADHD may have different symptoms like being fidgety, interrupting conversations, cannot remain quiet or sit quietly on the seat, talk too much and out of turn and always on the move. Counseling in most cases helps. They need to be organized and supervised in all their activities. Focus should not be on grades but on effort and good behavior should be rewarded. Pliszka, Carlson, & Swanson (1999) emphasize that LDs can be diagnosed by demonstrating a "significant discrepancy between a measurement of intelligence (i.e., IQ score) and the childs academic ability as measured by a standard achievement test" (cited by Janice, 2002). Thus, even though two students may receive the same scores during the testing, only one may be diagnosed with LD. LD if not detected early may lead to complications. With time, they become resistant to cure and respond poorly to treatment. People with LD require special education, self-advocacy skills, and accommodation, according to experts of Helpguide. The student needs guidance in learning with his unique disability. He usually has some strengths which compensate for his weaknesses. Besides, school and home settings provide accommodations and interventions, which help him to cope with the disability. Children’s brains are more flexible than adult brains hence early detection is beneficial to help them. A child with LD needs more attention than a normal child needs and learns more easily in a customized learning environment. Role of counselor Students with learning disabilities as described above, often suffer from emotional disorders, which result in lack of self-confidence. This ultimately ends up in frustration. Such students lack social skills, have low self-esteem and the interpersonal relationships become affected. LD is not a disease which can be cured. It is a life-long challenge. Students with LD can learn, only their method of learning is different. The school has to work with the parents, the child and the school counselors or the education specialists. School counselors can helps students with learning disabilities prepare for life after high school. Individualized Education Program (IEP) have to be developed to meet the needs of unique individuals. This can be done through information collected from the students and the parents. The counselor can then adopt any of the techniques depending upon the disability that the student faces. Special educations professionals help coordinate the IEPs but in certain cases, participation of related services professionals may be necessary. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) encourages the involvement of school counselors in transition planning (Milsom & Hartley). The schools counselors need to be trained as per standards specified to assist in educational transitions. Techniques and interventions Learning Disabilities Association of America has developed certain techniques which the counselors can apply to assist the students. A “read-along” technique with taped texts and materials can help those with reading difficulty; lesson outlines is provided to those that have memory problems or difficulty in taking notes. Educational videos, films or talking books helps those who read below expected levels, while a table of facts or a calculator is provided to those that have a short-term memory problem for instance, in understanding math problems. A cassette recorder or a computer with word processing software is useful for those students whose handwriting is slow, illegible or contains reversed letters. A “misspeller’s dictionary” or computerized spell checker, or a multi-sensory approach helps the students that face difficulty in spellings. For those that have problems organizing time, material and information, the approach would be different. They would need a quiet uncluttered space to do their homework in; an alarm clock would help in maintaining schedules. A diary would assist in keeping track of assignments to be completed and texts could be marked with a highlighter. The most important quality that a counselor requires to have is patience. Students with LD are normally slow in one field or the other and they need to be given sufficient time. Sometimes they may not be able to understand the question fully, in which case sufficient ‘wait time’ has to be allowed. Alternatively, the question can be provided in written form. Another effective approach is to teach the oral and written language together as far as possible. As they learn to read, they find spoken and written language relate to each other. Depending upon the child’s age, daily practice of reading aloud good story books should be stressed upon. Language games encourage identification of rhyming words and creation of rhymes. Mathematics disabilities are the most difficult to handle. Concepts and skills in numeration, geometry, measurement, collection, and interpretation of data, estimation/mental computations, patterns and relations and word problems/applications need to be concentrated upon. Calculators should be encouraged whenever necessary so that memory is not taxed unnecessarily. Mental computation skills should be gradually developed. They should be encouraged to draw illustrations whenever possible. As they learn to solve computational and word problems, they should continue to discuss, read and write. They should be motivated to apply these applications of mathematics to everyday life, which in turn would help build self-confidence. Apart from these, counselors must allow them to take breaks between work; they must be let free to run around which helps to release stress. Many students may like to listen to loud music while studying, which should be overlooked. Most often it helps them to concentrate better. Criticism of the weaknesses should be minimum while rewards and recognition of even a small effort should be given. This works as a great motivational factor. Sabatino (1982) clarifies that many students with learning difficulties experience these same types of doubts about their abilities as normal people who attempt something for the first time (cited by Keith, 2002). Confidence builds up with a successful attempt and fear is replaced with exhilaration. In he case of students with LD, fear of failure holds them back from making attempts. Encouragement and guidance is necessary to help them overcome fears. A counselor’s role is important is helping them to experience success. According to Keith, a few simple rules in designing activities can bring very good results. The counselor should let the student know in advance the purpose of the assignment and the level of performance expected. This reduces confusion and anxiety which normally lowers performance. Secondly, involving the student in designing a logical and sequential steps works as a great motivator believes Keith. Assignments should be challenging but attainable for the students. Discussing past failures and probable causes helps student to identify and learn from them. The expectation that they can be successful has a powerful effect on the students with LD. The IEP recognizes that every child is unique and his learning environment is customized. In accordance with this, schools, under the guidance of a counselor, may give special education classes several hours per week. Equipments like word processors, voice recognition programs, and audio-text books helps them overcome the hurdles in learning. A counselor should also be aware of the alternative ways of teaching such as outlining the lessons at the beginning of the class or reading the notes aloud. Helpguide experts believe that education for students with LD would be ideal if it could include direct instruction (teacher-directed lecture, discussion, and learning from books), strategy instruction (teaching ways to learn, such as memorization techniques and study skills) and support both at home and school. They have to be urged to be proactive, self-awareness has to be encouraged, they must be taught perseverance and how to set and achieve goals. Emotional stability is of utmost importance because the success of any program lies in this. Bean (2002) draws a parallel to spiritualism by explaining that Moses asked God for help. Similarly, students should be encouraged to seek assistance and guidance. Secondly, Moses never asked to be healed but only sought intervention and support. This illustrates the need for students with disabilities to be assertive about reasonable accommodation. Moses continually expresses fears, frustrations and doubts, which demonstrates that counselors should be able to assist students with LD to be able to express freely without inhibitions. Ellis (2002) focuses on the use of special techniques to remember concepts to be able to relate to the real world. Students who do not catch the central idea of a unit, ‘miss the point’ and are left behind. A typical example given by Ellis: Content-area class Unit To-be-learned Concept World history The Middle Ages feudalism American history the Civil Rights Movement peaceful resistance English Charles Dickens Author study exploitation Psychology Factors impacting behavior co-dependency Science Evolution survival of fittest To make learning meaningful and to develop meaningful understanding of the concepts, they should be encouraged to construct their own understanding based on the new information that has been provided. This way chance of retaining the concept is much higher than by trying to memorize. A Relate Think Sheet (example given below) helps a student with LD immensely. The student just has to remember one or two important words and it requires active participation from the student. This has its own disadvantage to the extent that it may make a student lazy, as he is not involved in the preparation of the Relate Think Sheet. Qualities required in a counselor Schultz (2003), a Clinical Neuropsychologist, believes that a counselor must possess the following qualities to be to successful in helping a student with LD. She should understand the relationship between emotion and cognition. She should understand when students feel successful negative emotions and irrational behaviour reduce. While a counselor knows that each student learns differently, this should not be made obvious to the student concerned. The student is more important than the curriculum. The counselor should first make the student feel psychologically safe before trying to teach new syllabus. She should have the ability to expose the student to a great variety of stimuli. They should be allowed to demonstrate what they have learned. The role of the counselor also calls for the ability to be able to analyze what works best with a particular student and what needs to be avoided. She should be confident enough tom advocate what would suit her student best. Equal participation of the student is necessary and this needs to be recognized by the counselor. Counseling for social skills Apart from counseling the student, the family too needs counseling to cope with the stress and so that the family is better equipped to help the child face the challenge. Family counseling sessions allow everyone to air his or her feelings and seek advice on how to cope with the situation. Students with LD also need counseling in social skills. Some students are unable to connect a smile with happiness or an angry tone with the emotion of anger. Brown (2005) reiterates that people with learning disabilities are in culture shock in their own culture. The counselor should be able to communicate to the student what his difficulties are and how o overcome them at the appropriate time. They should be amply rewarded and given recognition but should also be made to understand that there is still lot to achieve. This ability is invisible hence, the student is likely to be constantly blamed for wrong behavior when they are unable to meet the challenge. The students with LD should be dealt with respect because they are unaware of the effect on others. Instead of merely reprimanding them for misconduct, if the counselor demonstrates the right way of doing things, they learn faster. For instance, if the student pushes the chair around with noise, the counselor should actually move a chair without noise and show to the child the right way of doing it. The child will never forget this but if he is verbally asked to move it ‘slowly’, he may not accept and follow it. It is equally important they learn how to get along with others. For this social and group activity are most beneficial. Career counseling Career counseling is another aspect, which is very important in secondary schools. They may have average or above average IQ but the disability can prevent them from acquiring knowledge when they are taught in large groups, or counseled with unstructured approaches (Hutchinson, 1997). They may be unaware of their own abilities, lack in problem-solving skills, are not matured in their social skills, or have a low academic achievement. These students do not know how their deficit contributes to their difficulties. Career counseling can help to participate in career development programs in secondary school. Cognitive instruction is recommended for this age group. Problem-solving and other thinking skills are stressed upon. Instead of absorbing facts, they try to understand and construct their own thoughts and knowledge. Counseling entails that student be involved in setting goals. The counselor should also provide the student enough opportunity to practice thinking and behavior skills in authentic situations. Counseling at this stage helps to the success of the youth in post-school employment. Conclusion It is thus clear that the role of a counselor stretches much more than that of an educator. The learning disability cannot be cured by medicines. All it requires is the right understanding on the part of the counselor and application of the right techniques as each individual is different. Patience, quality to recognize the accurate ability of the student, modifying the techniques, and motivating the student identified with learning disability are by far the greatest requirements in a counselor. The counselors are the only hope that such children have to meet these challenges. They have to know and understand all kinds of situations and disabilities. They have to accept that culture and language play an important role in learning and they should be ready for it. Disabilities will continue to remain in the society but the right counseling can help these students adjust to their surroundings with right counseling. References: AAFP (1999), ADHD: What Parents Should Know, 16 April 2006 Bean H A A (2002), "Teaching mindfully." Academic Exchange Quarterly 6.2 (Summer 2002): 193(2). British Council Journals Database. Thomson Gale. 16 April 2006 Brown D S (2005), Counseling Students with Learning Disabilities on Social Skills, 17 April 200 6 Brody L E & Mills C J (1997), Gifted Children with Learning Disabilities: A Review of the Issues, Journal of Learning Disabilities Volume 30, Number 3, pp.282-286 16 April 2006 DO-IT (2001), What are specific types of learning disabilities? The Student Services Conference Room, 16 April 2006 Helpguide (1996), Learning Disabilities: Types, Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Causes, 16 April 2006 Hutchinson N L (1997), Career Counseling of Youth with Learning Disabilities, < http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content2/career.counsel.ld.k12.3.html> 17 April 2006 Janice S (2002), "Learning disabilities: a diagnosis ignored by nurses. (Updates & Kidbits)." Pediatric Nursing 28.6 (Nov-Dec 2002): 630(4). British Council Journals Database. Thomson Gale. 15 April 2006 LDA of America (2005), Types of Learning Disabilities, 16 April 2006 LDA of America (2005), Accommodations, Techniques and Aids For Learning, 16 April 2006 Keith W C (2002), "Raising self-expectations: the key to motivating students with disabilities." Academic Exchange Quarterly 6.2 (Summer 2002): 68(5). British Council Journals Database. Thomson Gale. 16 April 2006 Martin T S & Lounsbury B (2004), "A child with a learning disability: navigating school-based services " Pediatrics 114.5 (Nov 2004): SS1432(5). British Council Journals Database. Thomson Gale. 15 April 2006 Melody A (2002), "Emotional intelligence in the classroom." Academic Exchange Quarterly 6.2 (Summer 2002): 46(6). British Council Journals Database. Thomson Gale. 15 April 2006 Milsom A & Hartley M T (2005), Assisting students with learning disabilities transitioning to college: what school counselors should know, Professional School Counseling, 16 April 2006 Schultz Dr. J (2003), Teaching Strategies, What Makes a Great Teacher for Students with LD: Introducing the Hybrid Teacher, LD Online, 17 April 2006 Read More