Learning Disabilities

LEARNING DISABILITIES
(LD)

DEFINITION

A specific learning disability is a permanent (neuro-biological) disorder that affects the manner in which individuals classified with normal or above-average intelligence take in, retain, and express information. A learning disability is classified as a perceptual disorder in which information processing is affected as it travels between the eye, ear or skin, and the brain. Such disorders do not include problems which are due primarily to visual, hearing, or motor handicaps, to mental retardation, to emotional disturbance, or to an environmental deprivation (Nolting, 1991).

TYPES

There are many types of learning disabilities, and each one presents a very different set of learning issues. The most common learning disabilities are:

Language-Based Disorders
Oral Language
Written Expression
Reading
Math Disorder (Dyscalculia)
Non-Verbal Disorders

CAUSES

It is believed that most learning disorders are genetically transmitted.

PREVALENCE AND COURSE

Studies report that 10-15% of the population is characterized by spoken and written language deficiencies (Ryan,1994). According to the same researcher (Ryan, 1991 in Jacob et al., 1998), 10.5% of all first-year college students identified themselves as having learning disabilities. Children with learning disabilities grow up to be adults with learning disabilities. There are cases where the learning disability is no longer evident in the testing; however, this is usually due to the young adult/adult developing exceptional compensatory strategies in order to process information more efficiently. In general, learning disabilities do not go away or become "cured". They remain with the individual throughout life, but may be less and less obvious to others as the individual develops coping strategies.

TREATMENT

For children with diagnosed learning disabilities, assistance can be offered to improve reading skills, writing skills, math skills, and perceptual skills. For those that continue to experience on-going difficulties throughout their lives, numerous strategies and techniques can make processing the information easier and more efficient. Special education teachers, learning specialists, and parents usually teach these strategies to the student. The learning disabled person also often learns useful techniques by trial-and-error.

CHARACTERISTIC PROBLEMS

Reading Disability

Slow reading
Poor phonetic skills
Poor comprehension
Weak short-term memory
Poor auditory skills
Mispronounces words
Interchanges similar letters and sounds

Written Expression Disability

Poor spelling
Poor organizational skills
Poor handwriting
Poor grammar
Poor punctuation
Weak vocabulary
Leaves out words
Slow writer

Math Disability

Poor computation skills
Makes simple mistakes
Interchanges numbers
Difficulty understanding conceptual ideas
Problems aligning columns
Problems remembering formulas

Non-Verbal Disability

Left/right confusion
Social inadequacies
Problems with spatial relations
Motor problems--balance, coordination

Remember, a learning disability is a problem in the area of processing. For Visual-Processing problems, a student may have difficulty taking notes from the board or overhead, making sense of chapter material, studying from notes and note cards, or keeping written material (math problems, etc.) in order on the paper. For an Auditory-Processing problem, a student may have difficulty taking accurate and organized notes from lecture, working in discussion groups, or remembering things he's told verbally (due dates, changes to assignments or class locations.)

CHARACTERISTIC STRENGTHS

May be very creative
If details are difficult, may have strong understanding of big picture (or vice versa)
Diligent
Motivated
Usually has one or two areas of exceptional skill
May have a better understanding of their learning processes than the average student
May have developed learning strategies to aid themselves