LEARNING DISABILITIES AND RELATIONSHIPS: THE 4th R

1
LEARNING DISABILITIES AND RELATIONSHIPS THE 4th
R

• JUDITH WIENER, PH.D.
• Professor, Human Development and Applied
  Psychology
• OISE/University of Toronto
• jwiener_at_oise.utoronto.ca

2
OUTLINE

• Case Study
• What do we know about LD and social
  relationships?
• What are the risk factors for social difficulties
  in people with LD?
• How can parents and teachers help?

3
PEER RELATIONSHIPS

• Peer acceptance
• Popularity
• Neglect
• Rejection
• Friendship
• Number of Friends
• Quality of Friendships
• Stability of Friendships
• Victimization
• Loneliness

4
SOCIAL SKILLS PROBLEM SOLVING

• Social Perception
• Resistance to Peer Pressure
• Conversation
• Attention
• Organization - Executive Functioning
• Group Entry
• Assertiveness - negotiation, asking for help
• Dependence
• Emotion Regulation
• Conflict Resolution
• Immaturity

5
SELF-AWARENESS

• Self-Esteem
• Domain-Specific Self-Concepts
• Academic
• Social/Behavioural
• Physical/Athletic
• Attributions for success and failure
• External for success - eg., Luck
• Internal for failure - eg., I am dumb

6
EMOTIONAL AND BEHAVIOUR PROBLEMS

• Internalizing
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Externalizing
• Oppositional/defiant
• Aggression
• Conduct problems
• Hyperactivity/impulsivity

7
RISK MODEL 1Nonverbal LD
Relationship Problems
Nonverbal LD Social Perception Conversation
Low Self-Esteem Anxiety Depression
8
RISK MODEL 2Multiple Risks
LD
Internalizing Externalizing Behaviour
Problems
ADHD Poverty ESL Educational Mismatch Parenting
Relationship Problems
9
FINDING THE RIGHT SCHOOL AND CLASSROOM

• Mild Disability
• In-class Support
• Resource Room
• Severe Disability
• Inclusion
• Self-contained

10
OVERALL CONCLUSION

• For the most part, the social and emotional
  problems of children with LD are evident no
  matter what the placement
• However, there are subtle placement differences
  that may be important

11
PLACEMENT DIFFERENCES

• ICSgtRR
• Peer Acceptance
• Self-Perception of Math Competence
• Math Achievement
• ICSltRR
• Teacher-rated Problem Behaviour

• INCgtSC
• Friendship Quality - School Companionship
• Self-Perception of Behavioural Conduct
• INCltSC
• Loneliness
• Teacher-rated Problem Behaviour

12
QUALIFICATION

• The options of
• dumping children in general education classes
  without support
• regular class placement with support of an
  educational assistant
• were not examined in this study
• Other studies have shown that dumping without
  support is harmful

13
EXEMPLARY INCLUSION PROGRAM Class Composition

• No more than 30 children
• About 10 children identified with LD
• Children with and without LD same age, achieved
  by split grade
• Children without LD carefully selected - middle
  achievers and nurturing
• No explicit identification of who has LD

14
EXEMPLARY INCLUSION PROGRAM Teachers and Space

• 2 Teachers - 1 with special education training
  and experience
• Teachers and school administration committed to
  inclusion
• Teachers enjoy co-teaching with each other
• Double pod allows space for various teaching
  configurations - small group work, one teacher
  teaching whole class and the other tutoring one
  or two children

15
EXEMPLARY INCLUSION PROGRAM Classroom Process

• Similar ability grouping for skill instruction
• Mixed ability grouping for content subjects
• Carefully crafted cooperative learning
• Reinforcement of strengths
• Focus on social problem solving and helping
  others

16
ENVIRONMENT AND RELATIONSHIPS

• Making home an inviting place
• Providing companionship and support
• Foster Strengths

17
COACHINGSocial Skills Training

• Ongoing and everyday
• Skills needed at home, school and recreational
  activities
• Basic acquisition principles
• Modelling
• Role play
• Performance feedback
• Overlearning
• Multiple examples
• Highly interesting materials
• Delayed, intermittent and vicarious reinforcement

18
SOCIAL SKILLS TRAINING

• Strategies
• Problem-Solving
• Mediation - social autopsy
• Reinforce umprompted generalization
• Enhance Self-Awareness

19
SOCIAL PROBLEM SOLVING

• STOP
• Whats happening?
• Whats the concern?
• Whats going on?
• THINK
• What will happen if?
• What can I do?
• Have I done this before?
• What choices do I have?
• What are the pros cons?

• ACT
• What is my decision?
• What will I need to do?
• Do it NOW!!
• CHECK IT OUT
• Did it work?
• Do things look different?
• Am I satisfied with what happened?

20
SOCIAL LIFEFeatures

• Dorothy Griffiths and Donald Meichenbaum for
  developmentally challenged adults
• 3-5 children and a mediator
• 2-3 times per week
• Based on individual needs of children in group
• Group children with different strengths and
  weaknesses but similar social maturity
• Board game similar to Monopoly

21
SOCIAL LIFEEffectiveness

• Compared to controls, children receiving
  intervention
• Achieved more gains in peer acceptance and social
  skills
• Were less anxious and depressed
• Were less disruptive and aggressive
• Children receiving intervention also
• Maintained gains in social skills for a one-year
  period
• Were more on-task in the classroom
• Had more more peer and less adult or solitary
  interaction on playground

22
TAKE-HOME MESSAGE

• Healthy relationships key to social and emotional
  adjustment
• For many people with LD, acquiring healthy
  relationships is a major challenge
• Fostering these relationships a priority
• Cannot be achieved in a 6-12 week program
• Methods include
• Environmental facilitation
• focus on strengths
• social skills training
• teaching of social problem solving through
  mediation
• Parents and teachers provide mentoring, support,
  and love