Special needs Case Study

1. What classic symptoms of learning disability does Nathan exhibit?
He seems to have the symptoms of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) focusing on inattention disorder. Those symptoms include, fails to finish tests or quizzes, rarely completes written exercises, easily distracted, frequently loses or misplaces homework, and has trouble staying organized.

2. What accommodations has Nathan received in the past?
They discovered Nathan had a learning disability when he was in the second grade. He received special attention by being placed in the resource room away from the other students. He was also placed on drugs to help calm him down. It also seems to me that they set Nathan up on an IEP.

3. What strategies would you recommend to help Nathan work with his learning disability? Why?
Some strategies I think would benefit Nathan would be to first communicate with other teachers and schools. This is where I believe an IEP may help. It would help each teacher have the same understanding and would also help Nathan set goals and reach to achieve them. With Nathan, it is important to plan ahead and include Nathan in the process. Listen to what he has to say and work with him closely. Another strategy that could work is to develop a behavior plan that incorporates a reward system. Third, limit distractability by seating Nathan away from doorways, windows, pets or other distracting things. This will help Nathan to stay focused more on the important things. Incorporate movement into the lessons, don't just have writing activities. Allowing movement will help Nathan to have enjoyment as well as allows him to physically get his wiggles out. Write down specific tasks or information so he can easily see it and reference back to it in case he forgets or needs reminding. Allow frequent breaks. Divide assignments into little chunks instead or working on it all at once. When Nathan doesn't get breaks, he becomes not interested and doesn't care if he finishes something or not. Last, help Nathan become organized with his homework. We could get a folder to place his finished homework in, color code homework or any lose papers, and use checklists. Another thing that may help is to set specific times and places of when he can work on his homework. Be consistent! This will help him see what he has to get done and will also allow a place to put his homework when finished. All of these strategies will help Nathan become productive and not be so bored. These strategies will also teach him discipline and allow him to work on fixing his problems.

4. How many students like Nathan will you likely have in your classes? Justify your response by summarizing the information from a link or reference (include the link/reference).
Dr. Russell Barkley states, in a classroom containing 30 students, 1-3 students will have ADHD. He also expresses boys are diagnosed 3 times more than girls. Children with ADD will
affected emotional development and will slow them down to match children that are younger. One-fourth of those children with ADHD will suffer serious learning disabilities. He also states, some children who have ADHD will exhibit problems with people who have authority. They will also be likely of skipping school more frequent, dropping out of school, or having to repeat another school year. (http://www.healthcentral.com/adhd/c/1443/13716/addadhd-statistics/)