Learning Disabilities: Literacy

This subject is not offered in 2014.

Attendance at all classes (tutorial/seminars/practical classes/lectures/labs) is obligatory. Failure to attend 80% of classes will normally result in failure in the subject.

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry.

The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the HDisability Liaison Unit websiteH: Hhttp://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/H

This subject reviews contemporary theories and explanations of learning disabilities in literacy and examine their underpinning assumptions and implications. Theories include schematic-interactive models, strategic models and orthographic learning models. Implementation issues such as word, sentence and topic level processes are examined. Contemporary diagnostic and education programs and practices for students with learning disabilities in literacy are analysed and evaluated in terms of current research. In addition, strategies for the provision of assistance at the systemic, school and classroom levels are examined.

On completion of this subject, students should be able to:

• discuss the cognitive and affective processes involved in fluent reading;
• discuss the developmental trends to acquiring this knowledge;
• discuss the causes of different types of dyslexia and comprehension difficulties (psycholinguistic, information processing, phonological cognitive, metacognitive);
• discuss and evaluate procedures for diagnosing and reporting literacy difficulties;
• discuss the characteristics of successful literacy instructional programs according to particular literacy learning disabilities;
• evaluate literacy education programs and develop and implement education programmes that are supported by current research;
• analyse critically approaches to the assessment of reading disabilities, procedures used to diagnose and remediate reading disabilities, theories and explanations of reading disability;
• develop a problem solving approach to the diagnosis of specific learning disabilities;
• develop skills in communicating the nature of particular cases of reading disabilities to teachers, parents and students;
• use the model of literacy knowledge to plan and implement a literacy support program;
• work in a team with other professionals in analysing and reporting reading disabilities;
• display positive attitudes to the diagnosis and remediation of reading disabilities.

One written assignment totalling 5,000 words (100 per cent).

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.