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| A Resource for Teachers, Clinicians, Parents, and Students by the Brain Injury Association of New York State. |
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Click on "MORE" after any of these possible explanations to view suggestions for exploring that possible explanation.
Medical Possibility #1: Medication side effect: Some students may have a problem with difficult academic tasks as a side effect of medication. Medical Possibility #2: Chronic pain. Some students may have a problem with difficult academic tasks as a result of being in chronic pain. Medical Possibility #3: Fatigue, hunger, general nutrition: Some students may appear to have written composition problems as a result of fatigue (e.g., insufficient sleep) or hunger. Medical Possibility #4: Seizures: In rare cases, problems with difficult academic tasks may be a result of subclinical seizures that may or may not be diagnosed. If seizures have been diagnosed, staff should ask the physician if difficulty with academic tasks is a likely or possible consequence of the seizures and/or the seizure medication(s). If seizures have not been diagnosed, but are suspected, a seizure evaluation should be recommended. If seizures are diagnosed, the prescribed medication regimen should be followed along with environmental management of a possible lack of compliance with the medication regimen. (See Tutorial on Seizures.)
Cognitive/Self-Regulatory Possibility #1: Initiation impairment: Some students may have difficulty with difficult academic tasks as a result of initiation impairment. The student may not start the requested writing activity. Alternatively, staff or parents may start the student on the activity, but when it comes to initiating the use of writing strategies or the next phase of the activity, the student’s initiation impairment may block further work. (See Cognitive/Self-Regulatory Possibility #2: Weak orientation to task: Some students may appear to have difficulty with written composition as a result of disorientation or uncertainty regarding what is required of them. (See Cognitive/Self-Regulatory Possibility #3: Generally weak cognitive and academic functioning: Some students may have weak written composition as a result of excessive demands placed on their memory, organizational ability, academic skill, or other cognitive ability. They may experience frequent failure in school. (See Cognitive/Self-Regulatory Possibility #4: General slowness in information processing: Some students may have difficulty writing as a result of general slowness in information processing. (See Cognitive/Self-Regulatory Possibility #5: Organizational impairment: Some students may have difficulty with written composition as a result of organizational impairment. (See Cognitive/Self-Regulatory Possibility #6: Weak idea generation/elaboration: Some students may have difficulty with written composition as a result of difficulty generating ideas or elaborating on ideas. (See Cognitive/Self-Regulatory Possibility #7: Attention deficit: Some students may have difficulty with written composition as a result of an attention deficit. (See Cognitive/Self-Regulatory Possibility #8: Inhibition impairment: Some students may have written composition problems as a result of inhibition impairment (i.e., impulse-control problems). (See Academic Possibility #1: Inadequate encoding (writing) fluency (writing mechanics): Some students have difficulty with written composition because the physical act of writing is hard and laborious, their spelling is very weak, and/or written grammar is weak. These difficulties may be independent of compositional abilities or may contribute to additional compositional weakness. (See Behavioral Possibility #1: Oppositionality: Some students appear to have difficulty with academic tasks as a result of oppositional behavior (See Behavioral Possibility #2: Attention or sympathy seeking: Some students may do poorly on academic tasks as a means of obtaining adult and/or peer attention or sympathy. (See Behavioral Possibility #3: Manipulativeness: Some students may do poorly on academic tasks as a form of manipulation. (See Behavioral Possibility #4: Task avoidance: Some students may do poorly on academic tasks as a way to avoid specific tasks. (See
Social-Emotional Possibility #1: Depression: Some students may do poorly on academic tasks because they are upset, depressed, and/or lack positive relationships with peers and/or adults. (See Social-Emotional Possibility #2: Anxiety: Some students do poorly on academic tasks as a result of anxiety. (See Social-Emotional Possibility #3: Frustration: Some students may do poorly on academic tasks as a result of feeling frustrated. (See
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Problem: The student appears to have difficulty with written composition
Please review the list of possible explanations to the problem. Click on a possibility to learn about relevant observations and experiments to further determine the source of the problem.
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