Georgia State Researcher to Develop Writing Intervention To Improve Language-Based Learning Disabilities

ATLANTA—Working with a $1.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences, Georgia State University professor Cynthia Puranik and colleagues at Seton Hall University are developing a writing-focused intervention program for students who have language-based learning disabilities (LLD).

Students with LLD have a disability related to spoken or written language, which “negatively impacts their ability to read, spell or write and also negatively impacts academic performance,” she explained.

Puranik and Anthony Koutsoftas, associate professor in Seton Hall’s Department of Speech-Language Pathology, will create writing intervention materials that special educators and speech-language pathologists can use for small group instruction to meet educational goals for students with LLD.

This collaboration, called Writing in Students with LLD, will test and refine the new writing intervention with 16 educators and 50 fourth- and fifth-grade students with LLD.

“There is a great need for educators to gain knowledge on the structure of spoken and written language in order to improve literacy outcomes for students with LLD,” said Puranik, a professor in the university’s College of Education & Human Development. “The ability to write is necessary for academic success. Additionally, writing is a requisite skill for obtaining gainful employment, whether an individual completes higher education or moves directly into the workforce.”

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