Every classroom has students who struggle with learning, and as educators, understanding these challenges is key to supporting their success. The Auspeld, Understanding Learning Difficulties is a comprehensive guide designed specifically for teachers, equipping you with the knowledge and strategies to help students with learning difficulties and disabilities, including dyslexia, dyscalculia, and written expression disorders.
Not all learning challenges are the same. This guide explains the differences between learning difficulties, often caused by external factors like ineffective instruction or sensory impairment, and learning disabilities, which are neurodevelopmental in origin and persist despite appropriate intervention. Understanding these distinctions helps educators identify students who need targeted support.
This resource provides proven teaching techniques that work for all students, especially those with learning difficulties. Strategies such as explicit instruction, retrieval practice, and structured phonics programs can make a significant impact in literacy and numeracy development.
With clear explanations of essential topics like phonological processing, working memory, and orthographic processing, this guide helps teachers understand the cognitive processes behind learning challenges. It also outlines how accommodations, such as assistive technology, flexible assessment methods, and classroom modifications can create a more inclusive learning environment.
If you work with students who struggle with reading, writing or maths, this guide is an invaluable tool. It will help you identify their needs, implement effective teaching strategies, and ensure they receive the right support to reach their full potential.
By applying the insights from Understanding Learning Difficulties, you can make a real difference in the lives of students who need it most.
For more information and teaching resources contact our team or check out our library.
Click here to Download the Guide
Many people struggle with learning in specific areas, even though they are intelligent and have had the opportunity to learn. These struggles may be due to Specific Learning Disorders (SLDs), which affect reading, writing, or maths skills. SLDs are neurological (related to how the brain processes information) and are not caused by laziness or lack of effort.
For Reading Difficulties (Dyslexia):
For Writing Difficulties:
For Maths Difficulties (Dyscalculia):
For Parents & Teachers:
For more information and resources contact our team or check out our library.
Speld Qld conducts psychoeducational assessments by registered Psychologists. We assess for learning strengths and weaknesses and can provide a diagnosis of Specific Learning Disorder (in reading, written expression, or mathematics), if appropriate. This includes patterns of difficulties you may see commonly referred to as dyslexia, dyscalculia, or dysgraphia (written expression skills not motor skills).
As part of our assessments, we ask for information about someone’s development, type of learning instruction, opportunity for and engagement in learning, other factors that may impact learning, and information about targeted extra intervention or help. All this information helps us to provide useful recommendations on how to support your child.
To diagnose Specific Learning Disorder, Speld Qld uses the DSM-5-TR criteria, which requires that the difficulties learning and using the academic skill/s have “persisted for at least 6 months, despite the provision of interventions that target those difficulties”. This is because we will need to determine that if substantial difficulties are present, they are persistent and not better accounted for by other factors. If you are looking to investigate whether your child may have a Specific Learning Disorder, we recommend ensuring that you have engaged in extra targeted intervention or help in the skill area/s of concern.
By intervention or extra help, we mean extra teaching that is more than the typical or standard teaching of a skill in a classroom. This extra teaching needs to be targeted to the skill that is a weakness or concern (e.g., spelling help for spelling difficulties).
A commonly used timeframe for this extra help or intervention is 6-12 months.
There is no one set intervention or program. Extra intervention and help for skill areas that do not have explicit programs may involve explicit and repeated teaching of the target skills using quality resources and approaches.
Some resources may be available in the Speld Qld library.
Library resources can be borrowed and posted to members.Examples of phonics resources, which can support reading and spelling skills:
Examples of Reading and Spelling resources (with phonics):
Examples of Spelling resources:
Examples of Reading resources
Examples of Reading Comprehension resources:
Examples of Written Expression resources:
Examples of Mathematics resources:
Supporting and navigating your child’s journey with learning difficulties can be an intimidating process, especially in the early stages of investigating the situation.
Queensland schools support students with learning disorders by providing access to a range of supports tailored to meet individual needs.
Seeking the support of your child’s school teachers is an important step to understanding how they are progressing, what support they are receiving and working together towards a plan for your child’s development.
Once you arrange a parent-teacher interview, it is important to be prepared and know how to approach the conversations to ensure you get the most out of your meeting.
Code Read Dyslexia Network shared “7 Tips for meeting with your child’s school” written by Sarah Mitchell, Dyslexia and Literacy Consultant, that can help you enter the parent-teacher meeting confidently, with topics including:
Prepare
Keep all reports, emails, and notes in one folder for easy reference. Research effective teaching strategies and prepare key questions. Focus on solutions, practice responses, and stay constructive to ensure the best support for your child.
What to Ask?
Ask if your child has an Individual Education Plan (IEP) and request assessment reports. Inquire about interventions, their effectiveness, and whether they are evidence-based. Clarify what accommodations are provided and ensure the IEP includes targeted support, not just adjustments.
Put everything in writing
Take notes during the meeting and email them to attendees for confirmation. Record key points, action items, and deadlines. Request a follow-up review date and details on how progress will be measured.
Use time wisely
Prioritise key concerns, focus on solutions, and ask necessary questions. Stay future-focused and arrange follow-ups if needed.
Follow up
Check in after two weeks and maintain monthly communication. Collaborate with teachers rather than relying on your child for updates.
Leave silent space
Ask direct questions and allow time for responses. Silence can encourage deeper discussion and problem-solving.
Educate respectfully
Share concise resources with teachers and inquire about learning difficulty training. Support their knowledge without being confrontational.
For more information and resources contact our team or check out our library. Take the first steps towards your child’s future!
