Learning Disabilities
DEFINITION OF LEARNING DISABILITIES (LD)
National Joint Commission on Learning Disabilities, 1990
Learning disabilities is a general term that refers to a heterogeneous group of disorders manifested by significant difficulties in the acquisition and use of listening, speaking, reading, writing, reasoning, or mathematical abilities. These disorders are intrinsic to the individual and presumed to be due to central nervous system dysfunction. Even though a learning disability may occur concomitantly with other handicapping conditions (e.g., sensory impairment, mental retardation, social and emotional disturbance) or environmental influences (e.g., psychogenic factors), it is not the direct result of those conditions or influences.
LD commonly manifests itself as a deficit in one or more of the following areas:
- Basic Reading Skills
- Reading Comprehension
- Math Computation
- Math Reasoning
- Written Expression
- Spelling
- Writing
- Listening Comprehension
- Oral Expression
- Problem Solving
Learning Disabilities: Signs, Symptoms and Strategies
LDA (Learning Disabilities Association of America), 2004
"The symptoms of learning disabilities are a diverse set of characteristics which affect development and achievement. Some of these symptoms can be found in all children at some time during their development. However, a person with learning disabilities has a cluster of these symptoms which do not disappear as s/he grows older."
Most frequently displayed symptoms:
- Short attention span
- Poor memory
- Difficulty following directions
- Inability to discriminate between/among letters, numerals, or sounds
- Poor reading and/or writing ability
- Eye-hand coordination problems; poorly coordinated
- Difficulties with sequencing
- Disorganization and other sensory difficulties
Other characteristics that may be present:
- Performs differently from day to day
- Responds inappropriately in many instances
- Distractible, restless, impulsive
- Says one thing, means another
- Difficult to discipline
- Doesn’t adjust well to change
- Difficulty listening and remembering
- Difficulty telling time and knowing right from left
- Difficulty sounding out words
- Reverses letters
- Places letters in incorrect sequence
- Difficulty understanding words or concepts
- Delayed speech development; immature speech
Information on Specific Learning Disabilities:
- Dyslexia
- http://www.ldanatl.org/aboutld/parents/ld_basics/dyslexia.asp
- Dyscalculia
- http://www.ldanatl.org/aboutld/parents/ld_basics/dyscalculia.asp
- Dysgraphia
- http://www.ldanatl.org/aboutld/parents/ld_basics/dysgraphia.asp
- Dyspraxia
- http://www.ldaamerica.us/aboutld/parents/ld_basics/dyspraxia.asp
- ADHD
- http://www.ldanatl.org/aboutld/teachers/understanding/adhd.asp
