Learning Disablities

Learning Disabilities – The General Wiring
Learning disabilities are loosely defined as neurological dysfunctions that affect age-appropriate learning abilities. There are a wide variety of definitions, interpretations, and strategies applied to learning disabilities, but they generally focus on how the brain should be “wired” at a particular age, versus how an individual’s brain is actually “wired” at that age.

Learning Disabilities – The Variety of Disorders
Many attempts have been made to precisely define learning disabilities (LD). The following definition is used by the U.S. government for purposes of legislation and qualifying students for special education funds:

“Specific learning disability” means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations. The term includes such conditions as perceptual handicaps, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. The term does not include children who have learning problems which are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor handicaps, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.

In a nutshell, learning disabilities consist of a wide variety of cognitive-based processing disorders. These processing issues may manifest themselves in basic abilities such as reading, vocabulary, writing, or mathematics. They can also present themselves at higher levels of learning in areas such as reasoning, memory, abstract concepts, organization, and time management.

Learning Disabilities – Understanding LD Characteristics
Learning Disabilities (LD) is a broad term encompassing a variety of disorders, including, among others, dyslexia (problems with reading and language), dysgraphia (problems with writing), dyscalculia (problems with mathematics), and dyspraxia (problems with sensory integration/motor skills coordination). Every situation is unique -- each student with a learning disability may exhibit a different combination of learning problems. Additionally, students who excel in some learning areas may be very weak in others. For example, a brilliant student in math, science, and technology may struggle with dyslexia in reading, vocabulary, and spelling.

Many students with learning disabilities are of average or better intelligence, but intelligence is a composite of seven to nine major mental skills, so it’s possible to have very high abilities in most of these mental skills but be weak in a couple of the others, resulting in poor performance in activities that rely on the weak mental skills. Learning disabilities aren’t medical ailments that respond to medical treatment. However, with proper assessment and cognitive skills training in the identified areas of weakness, students with learning disabilities can show dramatic success in school, work, and life.

Learning Disabilities – Assessing LD Characteristics
Learning disabilities and their characteristics are diverse, but they have a significant common denominator for you and your child -- they affect learning development and educational achievement for a lifetime. The great news is that cognitive training programs like those offered by LearningRx can strengthen the areas of cognitive dysfunction for a lifetime of success. The key is proper assessment and testing at the earliest age possible. At LearningRx, we can help with a simple online assessment right now or for a more comprehensive assessment, please contact your local LearningRx Center.

Online Assessment