Learning Disabilities: Characteristics, Identification, and Teaching Strategies

Part of the “Psychology in the Classroom” series, Teaching for Thinking addresses higher order thinking processes. The book helps teachers understand teaching strategies to enhance thinking, understand the role of questioning, helps teacher focus on teaching and evaluating creative insight skills, and understand the basic principles and pitfalls in the teaching of thinking skills.

How and when does a child begin to make sense of the world? Why does a lively preschool child so often become a semiliterate and defeated school failure?

Developmental psychologist Margaret Donaldson shows that much of the intellectual framework on which we base our teaching is misleading. We both underestimate the astonishing rational powers of young children and ignore the major stumbling block that children face when starting school.

Given a setting and a language that makes sense to them in human terms, very young children can perform tasks often thought to be beyond them. The preschool child learns everything in a human situation. Only in school is he asked to acquire skills―reading, writing, arithmetic―isolated from a real-life context. This transition is difficult.

The author suggests a range of strategies that parents and schools can adopt to help children. She argues that reading is even more important than we have thought it to be, since learning to read can actually speed children through the crucial transition.

There are a ton of books that offer child-rearing advice, and only a few less that describe research on childhood emotional and learning problems; this is one of the few books that combines the two. Edward Hallowell brings readers into his consultation rooms to meet his clients — and the descriptions and dialogue are effective in bringing the situations to life. When You Worry About the Child You Love will help you understand why your child is unhappy or underachieving, will help you help your child to manage her emotions, and perhaps most important, will help parents do what they can and stop blaming themselves.

Note: This is the bound book only and does not include access to the Enhanced Pearson eText. To order the Enhanced Pearson eText packaged with a bound book, use ISBN 0134471881. A practical approach to identifying, understanding, and helping students with language difficulties achieve success in school and beyond. 

With an emphasis on the connection between language and literacy, Teaching Students with Language and Communication Disabilities explores language development and language disorders within the context of specific disabilities. The book is designed to help teachers and other professionals acquire knowledge about language, language development, language disorders, and evidence-based practices for enhancing language skills that will enable them to become more effective teachers and/or clinicians. Student vignettes, teacher perspectives, activities, and literacy sections foster the application of concepts to real classroom situations.

The Fifth Edition includes reconceptualized chapters that use the Response to Intervention (RtI) model as as the framework for classroom-based language assessment and instructional methods. Expanded discussions of emerging teaching technologies and the latest research literature are included throughout the book. The Enhanced Pearson eText version of the text features embedded videos, check your understanding quizzes, and application exercises. Improve mastery and retention with the Enhanced Pearson eText The Enhanced Pearson eText provides a rich, interactive learning environment designed to improve student mastery of content. The Enhanced Pearson eText is:

• Engaging. The new interactive, multimedia learning features were developed by the authors and other subject-matter experts to deepen and enrich the learning experience.*
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• Affordable. Experience the advantages of the Enhanced Pearson eText along with all the benefits of print for 40% to 50% less than a print bound book.

* The Enhanced eText features are only available in the Pearson eText format. They are not available in third-party eTexts or downloads. *The Pearson eText App is available on Google Play and in the App Store. It requires Android OS 3.1-4, a 7” or 10” tablet, or iPad iOS 5.0 or later.

This book provides an understanding not only of dyslexia but also of the broader population of weaker readers and presents information on how to help them. Understanding Dyslexia and the Reading Process presents dyslexia against a background of normal reading development, and in the context of child development, taking into account multiple factors that affect how well a child overcomes or compensates for dyslexia. Case examples are presented throughout to illustrate specific skill weaknesses. Dyslexia research provides considerable knowledge about how to help all children who do not learn to read on schedule. The final two chapters of the book deal with the history and nature of reading instruction, and how we can improve the teaching of reading in our schools. For anyone interested in reading development.

With this fully realized second edition of the classic guide, Dr. Larry Silver addresses the subjects all parents wonder about when they suspect their child has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: What causes ADHD? What signs should I look for? How can I make sure my child is diagnosed correctly? Could my child have a learning disability, too? What’s the latest information on medications and other treatments? What controversial treatments should I watch out for? What should I tell my child’s school, and what should they be doing? Dr. Silver’s warm, thoroughly practical guide will give parents, teachers, and others the support they want and the answers they need.