By: Fiza Nadeem
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Learning Disabilities
Basic Information about Learning Disabilities
Basic information about learning disabilities Learning disabilities include various disorders that impact a person’s ability to organize, retain, understand, or affect their use of verbal and non-verbal information. They are a result of impairments in processes such as a person’s ability to to perceive, think, remember, or learn information. These impairments occur in different processes such as phonological processing, language processing, visual spatial processing, memory, attention, and executive functioning. The impact of these disabilities and the processes they impact are interconnected to other areas such as:
1. Mathematics – calculations and problem solving
2. Oral language – ability to listen, speak, and understand
3. Reading – includes word recognition, comprehension, decoding, phonetic knowledge
4. Writing – spelling and written expressions
5. Others – difficulty in social interactions, perspective taking, organization, and social perception
The difference between a learning disability and learning disorder
A learning disability is characterized as a legal term where public schools identify a student(s) with a learning disability on the premises of the documentation and assessments they have done. In contrast, a learning disorder is defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) as a learning disorder. The diagnosis is done by a licensed professional such as a school or child psychologist.
When do learning disorders appear (Bozatlı et al., 2024)
A study looking at Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) found that early symptoms start in preschool and can be identified by recognizing delays in a child’s social skills, motor skills, and language development. The prevalence of Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) in the United States is around 9.7% among children within the age of 3-17 years old.
Types of learning disabilities
First, dyscalculia impacts a person’s ability to understand math and numbers. People with dyscalculia have difficulty memorizing numbers, organizing numbers, poor comprehension of symbols in math, struggle with counting, and being unable to tell the time.
Secondly, dysgraphia is a disability that affects a person’s motor skills and their handwriting. It also includes poor spelling, spatial planning on the paper, illegible handwriting, difficulty in thinking and writing.
Dyslexia, on the other hand, impacts a person’s reading ability and language based processing skills. Individuals with dyslexia have difficulty in reading comprehension, writing, ability to recall, spell, decode and reading fluency.
Where do learning disabilities result from?
● Neurobiological factors
● Injuries that can cause alteration in brain functioning
● Can be a genetic cause
● Can eo-exist with other conditions such as behavioural, attentional, and emotional disorders, medical conditions, or sensory impairments
● Premature birth
● Malnutrition
● Exposure to substances and alcohol
● Environmental toxins
● Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
● Occur in conjunction with other disorders such as:
Depression
Bipolar disorder
Anxiety
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD)
Signs of learning disability
In terms of signs of learning disabilities, various signs are noticed during school by teachers or others around the child and the impact is noticeable on the academic performance. According to the Cleveland Clinic (2024) signs appear through difficulties in
○ Ability to identify numbers, counting, letters, or mathematical symbols
○ Organization including the ability to organize thoughts in order to express oneself
○ Vocabulary
○ Rhyming
○ Difficulty in short term and long term memory processes
○ Following directions
○ Coordination
○ Ability to write well
○ Reasoning
○ Problem solving
○ Conceptualization
○ Ability to abstract information
Diagnosis of learning disability
Learning disabilities are recognized by teachers in school. As a result of that, the school may offer help through a school psychologist, child psychologist, or other licensed professionals for assessments. The assessments allow one to make a diagnosis.
The process includes making observations, conducting interviews from teachers, immediate family, others, viewing school reports, and observing the family and medical history of the child. Once a diagnosis is made, the family, school, and teachers work together to ensure an effective plan is placed for the child to thrive and reach a high academic performance. A diagnosis can ensure a child gets accommodations such as supportive resources such as extra time on tests, using certain platforms such as Kurzweil 3000, or writing tests and exams in separate space that is quiet with less distractions. Alongside that, it ensures the school adapts to the child’s need in order to help.
Overall, learning disabilities have a detrimental impact because people have to learn how to navigate a complex diagnosis and go through the struggles of it. Learning disabilities do not only impact a child or adult in their academic life but in other areas of their life such as social and work life. This could look like having difficulty with social cues or skills, among other things. It is difficult in the sense that the world is not kind to those with learning disabilities, at least not the ones that are not visible to others. It is time we as a society understand that individuals with learning disabilities are not different, rather, they have different ways of learning and approaching things.
References:
Bozatlı, L., Aykutlu, H. C., Sivrikaya Giray, A., Ataş, T., Özkan, Ç., Güneydaş Yıldırım, B., & Görker, I. (2024). Children at risk of specific learning disorder: A study on prevalence and risk factors. Children, 11(7), 759. https://doi.org/10.3390/children11070759
Cleveland Clinic. (2024). Learning Disabilities. Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/4865-learning-disabilities-what-you-nee d-to-know
Fiedorowicz, C., Judy, C., Phillips, M., Price, A., & Gordon Bullivant, M. (2015). Position paper to revise or not to revise: The official LDAC definition of learning disabilities versus DSM-5 criteria. https://www.ldac-acta.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/LDAC-DSM-5-Statement-Mar ch-2015-FINAL-CL.pdf
Learning Disabilities Association of Canada. (2015). Official definition of learning disabilities – LDAC-ACTA. Ldac-Acta.ca. https://www.ldac-acta.ca/official-definition-of-learning-disabilities/
