IFUGAO STATE UNIVERSITY

LAMUT, IFUGAO
COLLEGE OF ADVANCED EDUCATION

A CASE STUDY ANALYSIS OF A CHILD WITH LEARNING

DISABILITY/IES

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for SPED 203

(TEACHING STRATEGIES FOR CHILDREN WITH LEARNING
DISABILITIES)

Submitted to:

MR. DONATO O. ABAYA

Submitted by:

DAN PAUL A. NASTOR MAED-SPED 1

A. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The case study seeks to explore a child with a learning disorder that dropped

out of his grade school, exploring the explicit factors that lead to that discussion and

what he exactly went through. The case study will contain detailed information about

the child starting from the point of birth, social, medical, and all other historical facts

that are important in dissecting the learning disability in him. Historically, several

children across the world struggle in school in certain circumstances of learning as

monitored from time to time. Nevertheless, it has been noted that when a child

struggles during learning in school with some skills for a period, it could be related to

a learning disorder (O’Connell et al., 2019). The learning disorder has various

definition depending on the prevailing parameters at that time. However, a learning

disorder in a child can be defined as a scenario when a child exhibits some level of

difficulty in one or more learning spheres.

The difficulty in the learning can be experienced even though the intelligence

or the motivation might not be affected. The learning disability would be exhibited

through factors such as difficulty in understanding a concept that is learnt or even the

inability to notice specific shapes or item that is being taught. The children with learning

disorder occasionally may feel stigmatized due to their inability to master the academic

concept (Fletcher et al., 2019). The stigmatization can be related to the difficulty in

handling and managing the learning disorder; stigmatization often has been

considered as a hurdle in managing a learning disorder. Conversely, a learning

disorder can exhibit emotional disturbance resulted from the aggression as a result of
frustrations that one might go through amid others. In the research, there is the

inclusion of management mechanism involve in the learning disorder. The special

education is well illustrated as a mode of helping children with the learning disorder.

The learning disability is estimated to have affected more than a million

children across the world. In the United States, the population of children affected by

learning disability has generally involved about 10 % of the children population. The

learning disability is some occasion can have referred to as intellectual disability

(Giofrè et al., 2017). However, currently, there is the existence of science and

psychologically integrated spectrum approach in handling learning disability in

children. This paper seeks to address the learning disability with an amplified and well-

explained case study. The case study will illustrate a practical example of a child with

a learning disability through the case to case approach—the causes of learning

disability in children and even the medical history behind the learning disorder (Gadow,

2018). The majority of the human population that is not exposed to such human

condition occasionally can be linked to discrimination and prejudice towards the

children with a learning disorder. The research was conducted for months, of course,

through the consent of the guardian of the child. The parents were optimistic about the

condition of their child, and they were willing to go millstone to avert the situation and

the state of their child. The case study further explores the experience of a child with

a learning disability through his learning life.

B. BACKGROUND OF THE CLIENT

B.1. Source of Information

 The participant was a 13-year-old male student who dropped out of his grade

level of study and was later designated as a person with the learning disability. The

participant was at the beginning of his adolescent stage. The case study was

conducted through dome a one on one interview, direct observation and through the

taking of pictures with the consent of the child parents. The main was to explore the

experience, the medical aspect of handling the learning disorder and the intervention

plan that was applied. The attitude that a child exhibit towards himself was found to be

linked with the school dropout even later he was optimistic about re-admission back in

school to complete the study. The effort of the people in the ecological niche where

the child exist is pivotal in the management of learning disorder. This person might

include the teachers, parents and the peers of the child.

In the contemporary world today, financial stability and other factors like

educational achievement are strongly linked with going to school. Therefore, going to

school is significant in the life of any child or a young child. However, it is essential to

note that some factors might hinder one from achieving his/her education dream

(Shobha et al., 2019). The learning disability is one of the factors that might hinder an

individual from attaining their education dream. Nevertheless, there is an upsurge

need to mitigate this menace that affects a chunk of the population of children today

to achieve educational equality.

B.2. Personal Data

Name of the Child: Major Gino S. Pastrana

Date of Birth: 2007 October

Age: 13 years

Nationality: Filipino

Resident: Nueva Vizcaya

Religion: Iglesia Ni Cristo

Address: San Fernando, Bambang, Nueva Vizcaya

B.3. Family Background

Major Gino was born in the year 2007 and raised by both her mother and father.

He was born in a family of three children. He was the last born of the other two siblings.

He was a darling of both his parent being that he was the last born of the family. The

mother works as a housekeeper, while the father is a secretary working in a five-star

resort hotel in La Union. The family has no history of a common ailment in their

generation even though the father had a highblood and was under medication

throughout her life. He was raised in the town of Bambang, Nueva Vizcaya. However,

from the observation, one could not tell that he was from a well-off family. His other

two brothers were ahead of him by 6 and 4 years respectively hence he would always

consult them in all his academic matters. However, when he was in Kindergarten, he

complained to the parents about the attitude that the brothers were depicting towards

him, and this could be linked to his poor performance in school. Therefore, Gino grew

to have a rosy relationship with his two other siblings. Notably, at Kindergarten it was

reported that he had difficulty in reading as compared to his other peers

B.4. Medical History

 Gino is a thirteen-year-old well-nourished male with no known long-term

medical complications and complains. However, in the past one year, he had been

experiencing consistence fatigue and pain in the joint. He was taken to the hospital

and diagnosed with Juvenile arthritis even though there is no family liked in terms of

family medical history. He was given medication after diagnosis to provide the remedy

to the condition. However, after a short duration of taking the medication, he stooped

after experiencing a short relieve from the condition. In the past month, he has

experienced short lightheadedness and accompanied by the little headache and

eventually lead to convulsion. However, Gino has no report of loss of consciousness

about the headache/convulsion, and again he went to the hospital and was given a

medication that relieved him from the symptoms. He is reported to have been feeling

better currently, and he is feeling well with no medical complains.

C. EVALUATION AND ANALYSIS OF THE CASE

C.1. Development Milestones

Learning disability as defined medically is a neurobiological disorder that may

interfere a person’s ability to comprehend things in terms of understanding resulting

from the partial or full impairment of the process involving in thinking, remembering

and the general learning. The experience of processing the information can be related

to the interference in the central nervous system, which goes up to the main processor

that is the brain (Cornoldi et al., 2017). The lobe in the brain is pivotal since it plays a

primary role in memory retention and reception, which are vital in the learning process.

However, there is three known learning disorder that has been linked to hindering
academic achievement of a person. The three-learning disorder may include, the

reading disorder, the writing expression disorder and occasionally the disorder of not

comprehending mathematics often called mathematics disorder. The three-learning

disorder is the most known learning disability in the sphere and confines of special

education.

However, learning disabilities are not easy to recognize, and many populations

of children might be facing this pandemic undiagnosed. The difficulty in recognizing

the learning disabilities can be related and blamed on its nature of the unobservable

in the construct level. The process of identifying a person with low academic

capabilities and lack of mastery in academic skills is not a walk in the park, and it is

strenuous (Franklin, 2018). Therefore, the managing of learning disabilities requires

special attention leading to the integration of special education—the special education

unique education attention and system given to learners with different disability cases.

Medically, the learning disability can be linked to the neurological defects in the human

body, which interferes with the ability of a person to process information resulting in a

deficit in the intelligence capacity of a person. Nevertheless, it is important to note that

people with this kind of disability might have 100 score characteristics on a

standardized intelligent test even though their academic excellence cannot be

equivalent to the score (Vincent & Shobha, 2019). However, the learning disability can

also be caused by external factors outside the human body such as cultural diversity,

the impairment in terms of vision and hearing, the mental health imbalance, poverty

and even lack of an instructor.

C.2. Assessment

In the case study, during a semi-structured interview with the client, we noticed

that he could not scan anything and comprehend any piece of written material that

was presented to him. The parents reported that he dropped out of his elementary

final level of study remaining while remaining with only one year to proceed to high

school. Nevertheless, the drop out was blamed on the stigma that affecting the general

wellbeing of Gino. However, it was noted that he could read some few words after

some time.

Also, the stigmatization among his peers was evident, since, during the first

interview, he adamantly refused to participate, prompting the intervention from his

parents. The cooperation and coordination were difficult during the first stages of the

one-on-one interview. The self- esteem issues were evident and could be seen with

the lack of the courage to participate in the interview (Rouse & Graham, 2016).

Subsequently, he would read and produce a different sound of his own imagination

different from what was presented to him. He could not properly spell any word

correctly, and the fluency of his words was not comprehensive and was lacking the

flow. He struggled with pronunciation and spelling of words.

C.3. Diagnosis

Reading Disability

The reading disability is the most common type of learning disability exhibited

in young children suffering from the learning disorder. The reading disability directly
linked to the central nervous dysfunction, as mentioned earlier, that learning disability

are connected to the dysfunction of the cognitive aspect of the central nervous system.

The central nervous system plays a key role in the phonological processing of the

information (Piasta et al., 2019). The phonological processing applies the sound as a

medium that would process language in processing any material that is written down.

Then people experiencing the difficulty in reading are linked to struggle in

spellings and word recognition. The brain system and mechanism within the brain are

primary in the reading capabilities of a child. However, it is essential to note that the

reading disorder of child and that of the adult are different in the way in which they

occur. Nevertheless, the brain accountable and responsible for the understanding of

language and the pronunciation in any written material. The right side of the brain or

any side of the brain with the reading incapacities is required to compensate for the

weak activation of the other side of the brain (Grigorenko et al., 2019).

Low Self –Esteem

Self-esteem has a myriad definition that has led to a heated debate about the

meaning of self-esteem. However, self –esteem can be defined as self-worth that

controls the behavior and actions of a person that can affect a person’s quality of life.

The consistency of academic incapability and negative comments that a child receives

from the people in his environment contributes majorly in lowering their self-esteem

(Gadow, 2018). The low self – esteem can contribute majorly to learning disorder and

impact the quality of life in a person. The low self –esteem contributes to mental

retardation that can often increase the learning disorder effect in a person.
D. TREATMENT/INTERVENTIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

Intervention Mechanism

Several coping mechanisms can be implemented in a child with a learning

disability. In the case study presented, the child has dropped out of school due to

learning disability. There were no interventions taken to avert the situation, and this

can be blamed on the ignorance of the people around him (Graham, 2016). The

Intervention, therefore, is required to include mechanisms that would see him and the

people around him accept the situation and be willing to support him achieve his

dreams.

The intervention plans include multiple approaches that include establishing his

academic difficulties and the consideration of the type of problem he is experiencing

since academic difficulties are broad. In his case study, the main diagnostic problem

is reading difficulties. The Intervention will include a help-seeking approach

mechanism. The help-seeking approach mechanism entails going to the teachers and

the adults around him for the instrumental aid (Bhogaraju et al., 2017). The

instrumental aid encompasses the method of effective learning. The consideration of

effective learning mechanism that would be suitable for the child is primary since the

child will be given approach as oppose to the rest of learners (Bishop, 2018). Also,

there will be an Intervention that would be dependent on the child. The maladaptive

strategy where the child would be trained on how to prevent others from learning about

his inability to read. However, he can express himself on what he wants, specifically

when in need of any help.

The Implementation Plan

The first step would be involving his parents understanding and learning about

the condition of their child. And, this step is key in intervention scale to enable the

child to have the support from the family first that would be able to defend him in case

of victimization from outsiders. The family should even include the extended members

and even his peers. The brothers that had meted him with prejudice and discrimination

should also be involved in the process. This concept would enable the environment

around him to strengthen and support him.

Secondly, the child is to be registered back to school to complete his studies.

In school re-admission, it is advised that a thorough background checking should be

done that involves the teachers. The school management should be involved to give

the child a good reception that would motivate him. The re-admission should be done

in an in-depth consultation with her former teachers which had a little experience of

him in class. The former teachers would provide a more amicable solution on the

issues like the level of a grade that he should join. Finally, there, the child should be

made aware of what is happening and helped in understanding and appreciating his

conditions. This procedure may involve an expert in social psychology to give a child

a thorough counsel. In this, he will learn to cope up and achieve his academic

excellence

E. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

In summation, long-lasting support and care should be made available for

children suffering from learning disabilities. The children suffering from learning
disabilities experience severe stigmatization in their ecological niche. The

stigmatization results in factors like severe mental retardation, and in the end, they are

not achieving any academic achievement in their lives.

The parents and the teachers play a primary role in providing support and care

for children with learning disabilities (Arunagirinathan et al., 2020). The children with

LD are required to have a strong social connection with their environment. The

interaction should be active and involved to avert the discrimination and prejudice

aspect. The peer relationship is a critical component that the caregivers should look

into for children with the learning disability.

However, the children on their side are supposed to be aware of their learning

disability. The explanation should be made available to appear regularly and can be

dealt with appropriately. The explanation should help them understand and appreciate

their condition. The programs should be initiated by special help group that advocates

for the rights of children with the learning disability. The schools should be aware of

and be ready to accept learners with a learning disability since there is only one SPED

Center in every municipality. The school environment should be friendly and act as

their second home to help them resourcefully achieve their academic achievement.

REFERENCES

Bandla, S., Mandadi, G. D., & Bhogaraju, A. (2017). Specific learning disabilities and

psychiatric comorbidities in school children in South India. Indian journal of

psychological medicine, 39(1), 76..

Bishop, T. W. (2018). Mental Disorders and Learning Disabilities in Children and

Adolescents: Learning Disabilities. FP essentials, 475, 18-22.

Chordia, S. L., Thandapani, K., & Arunagirinathan, A. (2020). Children ‘at risk’of

developing specific learning disability in primary schools. The Indian Journal of

Pediatrics, 87(2), 94-98.

Franklin, B. M. (2018). The first crusade for learning disabilities: The movement for the

education of backward children. In The formation of school subjects (pp. 190-

209). Routledge..

Gadow, K. D. (2018). Children on medication volume I: Hyperactivity, learning

disabilities, and mental retardation (Vol. 22). Routledge

Giofrè, D., Toffalini, E., Altoè, G., & Cornoldi, C. (2017). Intelligence measures as

diagnostic tools for children with specific learning disabilities. Intelligence, 61,

140-145.

Grigorenko, E. L., Compton, D. L., Fuchs, L. S., Wagner, R. K., Willcutt, E. G., &

Fletcher, J. M. (2019). Understanding, educating, and supporting children with

specific learning disabilities: 50 years of science and practice. American

Psychologist.

Piasta, S. B., Park, S., Farley, K. S., Justice, L. M., & O'Connell, A. A. (2019). Early

childhood educators' knowledge about language and literacy: Associations with

practice and children's learning. Dyslexia.

Rouse, A. G., & Graham, S. (2016). Best Practices in Writing Instruction for Students

with Learning Disabilities. In Interventions in Learning Disabilities (pp. 175-

190). Springer, Cham.

Vincent, R. G., & Shobha, G. (2019). Classroom practices of teachers on learning

disabilities in children. International Journal of Educational Management.

DOCUMENTATIONS

He found it difficult to read the

words/sentences presented to
him.

He kept on turning the pages just

to find some easy to read words
accompanied by pictures.

He can count but with guidance

and the help of counters.
He’s not in the good mood this day
that’s why I called her mom for
company.

Found out that he can read with

the help of pictures (read through
pictures).