How to Make Adjustments for Specific Learning Disorder

What specific learning disorder means in school

Specific learning disorder is a broad term that can include persistent difficulty in reading, written expression, or mathematics. In school settings, the most common profiles are dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia. Students may show one main pattern or a mix of more than one.

The key point for NCCD is this: the school does not document the diagnosis alone. It documents the student's functional needs, the adjustments made in response, the consultation that has taken place, and the monitoring of whether those adjustments are working.

• Name the classroom barrier: decoding, spelling, handwriting, written output, maths fact recall, or problem solving.
• Show the adjustment: text-to-speech, writing frame, concrete maths materials, extra time, or modified response mode.
• Show the impact over time: work samples, teacher notes, consultation, and review notes.

Which specific guide do you need

Specific learning disorder covers more than one profile, and a student's record usually gets clearer once you know which barrier is doing most of the work. This page stays the umbrella reference for all three profiles, including written expression, which does not yet have its own dedicated guide.

• Reading and decoding is the main difficulty: go deeper with How to Make Adjustments for Dyslexia, then come back here for the shared evidence and level guidance.
• Mathematics is the main difficulty: go deeper with How to Make Adjustments for Dyscalculia, then come back here for the shared evidence and level guidance.
• Written expression (dysgraphia) is the main difficulty: there is no dedicated guide yet, so the writing-adjustments section further down this page carries the fullest coverage.
• More than one of the above applies: stay here. The mixed-profile guidance later in this page is written for exactly that pattern.

How to identify the main learning barrier

Before choosing adjustments, get clear about what is actually hard for the student during learning. Two students can both have a specific learning disorder and still need different support.

Adjustments for reading difficulty and dyslexia

Reading adjustments should reduce the access barrier without removing the learning goal. If the task is about comprehension, background knowledge, or interpretation, the student may still be able to show that learning even when decoding is hard.

• Provide text in alternative formats, such as audio, text-to-speech, or teacher-read instructions.
• Pre-teach key vocabulary before the lesson so the student is not decoding and learning new content at the same time.
• Use scaffolded texts, summaries, or chunked reading rather than long unbroken passages.
• Allow verbal responses, recorded explanations, or short supported written responses when the task is not assessing decoding.
• Use explicit, systematic reading intervention outside the classroom task when the goal is skill-building rather than curriculum access.

Adjustments for written expression and dysgraphia

Written expression adjustments should separate ideas from handwriting load wherever possible. Many students with dysgraphia know more than they can physically produce on paper at speed.

• Offer a keyboard, speech-to-text, scribe support, or dictation tool when handwriting is the barrier.
• Reduce copying from the board and provide printed notes, writing frames, model paragraphs, or sentence starters.
• Break longer writing tasks into small steps: plan, draft, edit, and publish.
• Use graphic organisers to help the student structure ideas before writing.
• Allow short oral check-ins during writing so the teacher can confirm understanding before written output becomes a barrier.

Adjustments for mathematics difficulty and dyscalculia

Mathematics adjustments should make quantity, sequence, and process visible. They should not leave the student to guess the method from a dense worksheet.

• Use concrete materials, number lines, place value charts, and visual models before moving to abstract notation.
• Give one worked example beside the task so the student can see the method step by step.
• Reduce the number of questions and keep the focus on the target concept rather than worksheet stamina.
• Teach maths vocabulary directly, especially where language is blocking understanding of the task.
• Allow formula cards, fact charts, or calculator access when the barrier is recall rather than concept understanding.

How to choose the right adjustment level for NCCD

The same condition does not automatically mean the same NCCD level. A student with specific learning disorder may sit at Quality Differentiated Teaching Practice, Supplementary, or a higher level depending on the frequency, intensity, and individualisation of the support provided over time.

Strong evidence examples for a specific learning disorder adjustment

Good evidence links the barrier, the adjustment, and the impact. It should be easy for another staff member to understand why the support was provided.

A simple classroom workflow teachers can follow

Use this five-step process to keep SLD adjustments practical and well-documented.

1. 1.Start with one task: Pick a real classroom task the student finds hard, such as reading a content-heavy text, writing a paragraph, or solving a multi-step maths problem.
2. 2.Name the barrier: Write the exact barrier in plain English. For example: decoding load, written output fatigue, poor fact recall, or slow processing.
3. 3.Choose one access adjustment and one output adjustment: This keeps the support practical. One helps the student get into the task. The other helps the student show learning.
4. 4.Log the evidence while it is fresh: Record what you changed, why you changed it, and what happened. This is easier and stronger than writing vague notes weeks later.
5. 5.Review after a short cycle: Check whether the adjustment improved access, output, independence, or confidence. Keep, change, or step up the support.

Why this matters

A student can fully understand the curriculum and still be blocked by how a task is delivered or how they are expected to respond, which is the whole reason specific learning disorder adjustments matter. Reduce the delivery or response barrier without touching the learning intention, and the student gets fairer access while the school ends up with stronger NCCD evidence, both from the same piece of work.

Consistency across the school benefits too. Coordinators are better served by records that follow the same logic in every classroom: identified need, reasonable adjustment, consultation, monitoring. That shared logic makes moderation faster and cuts down on evidence built from a label alone.

Common mistake

Documenting the diagnosis on its own, without the classroom barrier, is the mistake to watch for. A note like "student has dyslexia" carries little by itself. Log what the student cannot yet access, what adjustment was put in place, and what changed as a result.

What to do next

Use this page to work out which profile is at play, then move to the specific guide for reading or maths support, or stay here for written expression. Whichever path you take, keep the same evidence habit: log the adjustment, the consultation, and the review, and revisit the level decision if support becomes more frequent or more intensive than everyday classroom differentiation.

Frequently Asked Questions