What is a learning difficulty? This is a situation which impacts many people, young and old.
A learning difficulty, also referred to as a learning disorder and learning disability, is a neurological disorder that hinders a person’s ability to learn basic competencies. The definition of a learning difficulty according to the Individuals with Learning Disabilities Education Act, most recently amended in 2004, is: “…a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.”
According to this same legislation, it excludes, “learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.”
Typical types of learning disabilities include:
- Dysgraphia, which is a writing disability resulting in difficulty recalling and forming letters or writing within a confined space
- Dyscalculia, which is a mathematical disability resulting in difficulty understanding basic arithmetic
- Dyslexia, which is a reading disability resulting in difficulty understanding written words, often as a result of the words appearing backwards or scrambled throughout a page
- Auditory Processing Disorder, which is a listening disability resulting in difficulty understanding language or other auditory prompts despite normal hearing capacity.
- Visual Processing Disorder, which is a sensory disability resulting in difficulty understanding visual prompts (dyslexia is a type of visual processing disorder)
- Nonverbal Learning Disabilities, which are disorders originating in the right hemisphere in the brain and hinder visual-spatial, intuitive, organizational, logical, and comprehensive mental functions
Learning disabilities can not always be cured or de-conditioned. While they are not completely understood, most medical researchers believe they are the result of atypical mental configurations. Thus, a learning difficulty is not indicative of intelligence and does not necessarily limit the capacity of those with this diagnosis. In fact, high intelligences are often accompanied with learning difficulties and will not necessarily limit intellectual endeavors. Some notable historical and current figures with known learning disabilities include:
- Albert Einstein
- Winston Churchill
- Alexander Graham Bell
- Walt Disney
- General George Patton
- Vice President Nelson Rockefeller
- Whoopi Goldberg
- Charles Schwab
Causes of Learning Difficulties
As aforementioned, learning difficulties are not completely understood, but researchers from related fields have compiled theories that suggest possible influences and causes. These theories include:
- Congenital influences: researches have observed that learning difficulties appear to be inherited from earlier generations, suggesting that they are hereditary. Alternately, some experts believe that this could be a manifestation of behavioral conditioning rather than genetic proclivity.
- Environmental influences: specialists suggest that environmental influences such as exposure to toxins, harmful conditions (such as extreme temperatures), maltreatment (such as physical or emotional abuse), and malnutrition can result in learning difficulties.
- Cerebral development: medical scientists have posited that both pre and postnatal developmental influences to the brain may trigger learning difficulties. This includes prematurity, low birth weight, low oxygen supplies, and head injuries.
Problems Associated with Learning Difficulties
Most problems associated with learning difficulties result from their misinterpretation. For example, children with learning difficulties are often accused of being lazy or unintelligent. Consequently, students, parents, and school faculty may become frustrated, which can lead to a child’s discouragement. Learning difficulties can also be misconstrued as another type of disorder, such as mental retardation, autism, deafness, blindness, behavioral disorders, or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Such a misdiagnosis can result in erroneous prescriptions and other counterproductive measures. Additionally, delays in diagnosing learning disabilities can cause greater problems, such as academic hardship or emotional issues relating to self-esteem. Ironically, these sorts of adversities can be harder to surmount than learning difficulties themselves.
Opposition to Mental Disabilities
There are a number of critics of the concept of learning difficulties. This opposition is generally based on the perception that learning difficulties are not the result of a disability, but rather a difference in the way that information is processed. Subsequently, critics have concluded that the designation of a learning disability systematically prevents academic improvement. Some renowned critics include:
- Gerald Coles, who believes that the concept of learning disabilities are a product of a partisan agenda and opposes the idea that they are neurological in nature.
- Marva Collins, who opened a private school for students with learning disabilities called the Westside Preparatory School in Chicago in 1975 and reported that there were far more instances of “teaching inabilities.”
- Jan Hunt, a child psychologist who asserts that the learning process is distinct for every student and thus, that each student should be left to learn at his or her own pace without reprimand, coercion, or distinction.