Learning Disabilities

Learning disabilities are highly complex and as unique as the individual. At one point, learning disabilities were determined to be caused by dyspedagogia (inefficient teaching), but this is not the reason (although it can lead to negative consequences). Learning disabilities endure throughout an individual's life; adults simply manage the issue better. They are a real issue that cross cultures and languages, and they are the highest percentage of all exceptionalities. Learning disabilities are "loosely described as a difficulty in dealing with information, particularly language based information, despite apparent freedom from an intellectual or sensory handicap or cultural difference" (p90). Symptoms of one learning disability are not consistent to all learning disabilities. In addition, unlike many exceptional students, learning disabled students difficulties are not able to be measured numerically like an amount of auditory or vision loss.

The term learning disabilities was first used by Samuel Kirk in 1963 to describe students of normal intelligence with learning problems. It has been most difficult for professionals to come up with a definition for learning disabilities that they can agree on, to this date they have not come up with a common definition.

Definitions

Learning Disability: is a syndrome of behaviours that manifests differently in different individuals although the components of the syndrome itself are varied and confused. The common components of learning disabilities are difficulties in listening, speaking, reading, writing, reasoning, mathematical abilities, problems in self-regulatory behaviours, social perception, and social interaction. Some examples of learning disabilities are agnosia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and dyslexia.

Agnosia: the lack of knowledge or an inability to recognize the significance of sensory stimuli.

Dysgraphia: unable to express thoughts in writing.

Dyscalculia: difficulty with math.

Dyslexia: difficulty reading (first used in 1877 to decribe difficulty extracting meaning from print). There are quite a few successful people who are suspected to have dyslexia such as Hans Christian Anderson, Winston Churchill, George Patton, Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Cher, and Tom Cruise to name a few; by no means should a learning disability hold anybody back from being successful.

Prevalence: the total number of existing cases, old and new.

Etiology: the process of finding causes to explain how a particular problem came into existence.

For further definitions of learning disabilities visit http//www.helpguide.org/mental/learning_disabilities.htm.

Characteristics of Learning Disabilities include
- Memory retrieval, typically with new information, a new technique, a memory sequence, or a formula. The item may be learned efficiently on the first day but lost on the next.
- Difficulties processing language during the sending, receiving or integration process. The severity of variation of this element can vary dramatically.
- Communication misunderstandings or misinterpretations, much as this is common with all children the frequency is higher and often consistent with learning disabled.
- Disorganization, including mixing up steps in a sequence or having poor understanding of time.
- Variance in the severity of the issues. It is never consistent and often changing day to day and can be inconsistent with other skills.

Prevalence

Since 1963 when the term was first coined the number of students classed as learning disabled has been astronomical. In Canada, students with learning disabilities account for 48 percent (table 1-2 on pg17) of the special education population. In Ontario, children with learning disabilities make up approximately half of the students identified as exceptional. Definitional problems and misdiagnosis of children cause inflated numbers of children class as learning disabled, as well as lack of standardization and the misinterpretation of the discrepancy are blamed for the high rates of learning disabled children. Boys outnumber girls with learning disabilities, with a ratio of at least 4 to 1. Some of the reasons could be due to boys being more aggressive, assertive, and dominant in school settings than girls, as well as the fact that boys have problems in language and reading more often than girls do.

Etiology

Experts do no agree on the causes of learning disabilities suggesting they may be the result of physiological factors, others suggest it is due to expectations beyond their means, and still others blame environmental factors (such as inadequate nutrition, inappropriate diet, or allergies). Suspected causes interact in subtle ways, rendering etiology even more difficult to determine.

Bennett, S., Dworet, D., Weber, K. (2008). Special Education in Ontario Schools ( 6th ed.).
St. Davids, Canada: Highland Press, pp. 90-97.

Winser, M. (2008). Children with Exceptionalities in Canadian Classrooms (8th ed.).
Toronto, Canada: Pearson Prentice Hall, pp. 17, 90, 128-168, 567, 570.