My son age 7.11, grade 2, is LD in reading, goes to the learning resource lab for 2 hours every morning. He loves going; likes the teacher, the 6 other kids, and the work.. Is making slow but steady progress. However last night he told me he wants to go there for math too, said math is getting hard for him, with story problems.. has difficulty reading them.. Does he actually have to qualify as LD in math to get math services?? A few kids from his morning class go to the resource lab in the afternoon for math, but he stays in the regular class. He sees this and says he wants to go also. We have conferences next week, IEP not scheduled til January.
Re: ld in reading, but math..
My son used to go to resource for math and he is classified as having a specific language disability. My understanding is once they are classified, all their needs have to be met. Now I don’t know if a child’s preference would count as need but I certainly would start by talking to his teacher about how he is doing.
My son is now in a regular classroom for math. But the ESE director has assured me that he can be switched to resource room again if we agree that he would be better off there.
Beth
Re: ld in reading, but math..
Clare,
In answer to your question, yes your child will have to qualify as having a learning difference in either mathematical calculation or mathematical reasoning. When it is determined that a child qualifies for special education under the classification of LD, then the areas in which the child’s disability exists is only addressed. Because of difficulty with reading, you will need to be sure that modifications for reading are being implemented in the classroom. I would call for an IEP review to make sure that this is being done.
Laurie
Re: ld in reading, but math..
It is not at all unusual for children to do well in math, until they have to address the reading required in story problems. Since your child has an identified reading difficulty, he should be getting help in all sreas which require reading as a part of the process. I see a lot of kids who get help in math, science, and social studies because their difficulty in reading impacts their ability to be successful in math, science, and social studies. Bring this up with his teachers.
Good luck.
Re: ld in reading, but math..
While I agree with the fact that it isn’t unusual for a child to be placed in a self-contained SLD classroom, at 2nd grade I, as a special education teacher, would be very leary of doing this for a child who has difficulty reading. My inclination would be to make sure that the his teachers are accommodating this child so that he may continue to be educated with his non-disabled peers to the fullest extent possible. There are several different strategies that can be used successfully. However, getting back to the original poster’s question, the fact remains that her child is having difficulty reading the math problems more so than actually working them. To qualify for SLD services there is a numerical model in which most states use to determine eligibility, and unless the child’s scores from his testing indicate that he is indeed LD in the areas that I described in my previous post, this mother will find it difficult to receive any additional services for her child.
Re: ld in reading, but math..
As I read the original post, the student was receiving resource services for reading, but nothing for math. It is not unreasonable to expect resource services to help this child with the reading component present in math (and science and social studies, too). I, too, would be VERY hesitant to suggest an SLD class for any child who has a deficit in only one area and is making progress in a resource setting.
Re: I would think hed have to qualify
It is completely reasonable to have the accomodation on his IEP that states that content area materials are read TO him. He should not have resource room math if he is having difficulty just because he cannot read the math book. He should have accomodations, the problems should be read to him. There are ways to handle this, certainly other students in the class cannot read the math text either. It just takes a little creative problem solving.
Re: ld in reading, but math..
I don’t know if all schools are similar here, but at our previous school, my son received intervention services in reading even though he did not qualify for an IEP. The teacher and I asked to have him tested for intervention and the testing confirmed his reading problems so he was given these services. You may want to try talking with your son’s teacher, explaining his difficulties and see how you might go about getting him these services.
Good luck to you!
but you can always ask ;)
My LD son was above grade level in math in the early years but is struggling there now as well-not enough to qualify for help. But it was depressing-it had been such an “up’ to know he was actually advanced in something.
Yes, word problems were a stumbling block. Also the multisteps involved as work got harder-he only does one or two steps. Memory probs and mixing up formulas-figuring perimeter when he was supposed to do area, for example.