|
PART 1 2
A Learning Disability (LD) is defined as a disorder
in specific kinds of learning. It causes a person
to have difficulty learning and applying specific
skills. These skills generally affect: reading,
writing, listening, speaking, reasoning, and math.
It is believed that the disability is related
to differences in the makeup of the brain resulting
in neurological deficits.
Learning disabilities present differently
in each person. Someone with LD may have difficulty
reading while another person may be a good reader
but have difficulty in math, and still another
may be adequate in both of these skills but, be
unable to write anything that is legible.
It is often asked just how common is learning
disabilities and the answer is - extremely common.
The incidence in the United States may be as great
as 1 out of every 5. In 2002, Federal Special
Education data revealed there were 3 million children
(ages 6 through 21) with an Individual Education
Plan (IEP). This data breaks down further to show
that over half of these 1,500,000 children had
a diagnosis of learning disabilities (Twenty-fourth
Annual Report to Congress, U.S. Department of
Education, 2002).
As mentioned earlier, Learning Disabilities
research leans toward the cause being neurological
as evidenced by how a person's brain processes
information. One of the most difficult hurdles
persons with learning disabilities have to rise
above is the pervasive belief that they are dumb
or lazy. Neither of these descriptors is factual,
persons with LD just process information differently.
If a diagnosis of LD is made, it will often
be called a specific learning disability because
there are different types of LD and each type
presents with different kinds of symptoms and
needs and different types of intervention strategies.
It is commonly believed that there are two basic
categories of learning disabilities – one
stemming from speech and language deficits and
the other being related to academic skills deficits.
If someone is diagnosed
with a speech and language disorder they will
exhibit deficits in of the following areas of
development:
| |
Problem
in accurately or comprehensibly making speech
sounds (developmental articulation disability) |
| |
Problem in
being able to speak and communicate effectively
(developmental expressive language disability) |
| |
Problem comprehending
what others are saying (developmental receptive
language disability) |
More
>>
|
