Specific Learning Disabled (SLD)
Program Description
Students with a specific learning disability demonstrate a deficiency in one or more of the basic learning processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest in significant difficulties affecting the ability to listen, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematics. Associated conditions may include, but are not limited to, dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, or developmental aphasia. A specific learning disability does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of a visual, hearing, motor, intellectual, or emotional/behavioral disability, limited English proficiency, or environmental, cultural, or economic factors.
Curriculum
Students who struggle with learning to read due to having a specific learning disability benefit from being provided with reading instruction using a direct, multisensory structured approach. Martin County School District has adopted a curriculum, that addresses the needs of students with IEPs who have significant deficits in decoding text. Students with learning disabilities who struggle with math benefit from being provided with instruction using the CRA model: Concrete, Representational, and Abstract. Students should first be exposed to new math concepts by being provided with hands-on manipulatives. Once they demonstrate understanding and proficiency at the concrete level, they can transition to completing similar tasks with picture representations, and lastly with only numbers and symbols.
Eligibility Criteria
A school-based team may determine that a student is eligible for the specific learning disability program if all of the following are present:
When provided with learning experiences and instruction appropriate for the student’s chronological age or grade-level standards, the student does not achieve adequately for his/her chronological age or does not meet grade-level standards in one or more of the following areas:
Oral expression
Listening comprehension
Written expression
Basic reading skills
Reading fluency skills
Reading comprehension
Mathematics calculation
Mathematics problem solving
The student does not make adequate progress to meet chronological age or grade-level standards in one or more of the areas identified in 1. (above) as determined through a process based on the student’s response to scientific, research-based intervention. Click here Martin County School District’s manual for Multi-tiered System of Supports (MTSS).
The student’s performance is not primarily the result of one or more of the following:
A visual, hearing, or motor disability
Intellectual disability
Emotional or behavioral disability
Cultural factors
Irregular pattern of attendance or high mobility rate
Classroom behavior
Environmental or economic factors
Limited English proficiency
The student demonstrates a need for special education.
Service Delivery
Students will be provided specialized instruction and related services, as deemed necessary by the IEP team, in the least restrictive environment, meaning they will be educated alongside peers without disabilities to the greatest extent possible. Some students may demonstrate a need for direct instruction in an ESE classroom setting (small group) to address significant deficits.
Program Information
