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NASDSE has been working with a small group brought together by the National Center for Learning Disabilities and the Learning Disabilities Association to work on a document for parents and others to answer some basic questions about SLD and dyslexia. The link below is the product of this joint effort. 

The Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) program serves students who generally have average or above average intelligence. Learning disabilities is a general term that describes specific kinds of learning problems. Specific Learning Disabilities may affect the way a student receives, processes, or expresses information. A learning disability can cause a person to have trouble learning and using certain skills. The skills most often affected are reading, writing, listening, speaking, reasoning, and doing math. There often appears to be a gap between the individual‘s potential and actual achievement.

Continuum of Services

 As exceptional educators and general educators look at student needs and strengths, keep in mind that there is a continuum of services. For students who are participating in the Sunshine State Standards for Standard Diploma, teachers may recommend consultation, peer support, support facilitation, a co-taught class, or specific instruction in the resource room.

Consultation – General Education and Exceptional Student Education (ESE) teacher meet regularly to plan, implement, and monitor instruction methods designed to ensure success for students with disabilities. ESE teachers are required to maintain detailed records of the teachers and students they serve.

Often, students benefit from support of general education peer who can assist with physical, social or classroom needs. A peer may also provide instructional tutoring with teacher direction.

Support Facilitation - An Exceptional Student Education (ESE) teacher provides direct support for students with disabilities in the general education classroom. Support facilitators may work and move among two or more general education classrooms, working with general education teachers and assisting all students. The frequency and intensity of support varies based upon students’ and/or general educators’ need for assistance.

Co-Teaching - Two teachers, one ESE and one general education, share responsibilities for planning, delivering, and assessing learning for all  students, with or without disabilities, in a class. Co-teaching means both teachers work together for the entire period a class is taught.

Some ESE students may require a more specialized support in a resource room. This is where the ESE teacher provides specific explicit instruction in a setting other than the general education classroom for a period of the day.

Within this continuum of services teachers, continue to receive training in specific instructional models in order to match the classroom instruction to the specific instruction needs of the students. With support and intervention, students with specific learning disabilities can be successful in general education.