Supporting children with exceptionalities: The neuroscience of learning and learning disabilities and behavioral differential diagnosis.

Learning disabilities are not “silos”, but rather interact with shared features that can make identification and remediation challenging. This 1-day preconference workshop will review the neuroscience and interconnected relationship of speech, language processing, reading and executive function (EF) acquisition, and the impact on learning and classroom success. We will discuss Language/Auditory Processing Disorders, (APD), Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Dyslexia and Executive Function Disorders (EFD), and how these learning challenges change over time.

Objectives:

• Participants will be able to identify and differentiate the typical constellation of behaviors that are characteristic of: language, reading, autistic spectrum and executive function disorders.
• Participants will be able to identify the early warning signs that put a child at risk for reading failure.
• Participants will understand the impact of language processing deficits on reading and learning.
• Participants will understand the behavioral presentation and overlap between APD and ASD.
• Participants will understand the neurodevelopmental time sequence, complexity and the relationship of EF on learning and classroom performance.

This workshop is part of the Special Needs Certificate Program at the CEESA Conference.