Understanding Learning Disabilities in Children
The Child with Learning Disabilities
A number of linguistic, biological, and social factors can contribute to learning disabilities. When these factors are not present, the child is often considered normal by family members and teachers. The first noticeable change is difficulty learning in school. The highest proportion of children diagnosed with learning disabilities is between 8 and 11 years of age.
Learning disabilities often occur together. It is uncommon to find children who are solely dysgraphic, dyslexic, or dyscalculic. Most commonly, aspects of each of these three difficulties are present in the same individual.
Children with learning difficulties often try to avoid schoolwork, requiring parents and teachers to constantly encourage them.
Children with learning disabilities typically have near-normal intellectual development, but may have deficiencies in the perceptual-psychological domain. Language development may also be altered or delayed. Learning difficulties are related to brain dysfunction, whether proven or not, acquired or congenital. However, they are not primarily due to sensory or motor deficits, emotional deprivation, or emotional imbalance. Learning difficulties increase with educational neglect and reduced attention. Therefore, these students should receive re-education through special programs.
Myklebust (1967) proposed the Learning Quotient (LQ) to provide a more accurate diagnosis of learning disabilities. The LQ is calculated by dividing the reading age by the expectancy age and multiplying by 100. The expectancy age is calculated by adding mental age, chronological age, and grade age, then dividing by three.
Sullivan Palincsar (1997) stated that learning disabilities have become the largest single category of dysfunction, even surpassing language and speech disorders. 80% of individuals receiving Special Education services are identified as having reading problems. The classic procedure for determining whether an individual has learning difficulties in reading is to identify a discrepancy between ability and performance.
The Concept of Learning Disabilities
The National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities (NJCLD) describes learning disabilities as a patchwork of significant problems in learning reading, writing, and arithmetic. These problems are intrinsic to the individual but can coexist with other issues.
Definitions of Learning Disabilities
Authors agree on five major criteria for exclusion (i.e., what is not a learning disability):
- Low IQ
- Sensory-motor deficiencies (vision, hearing, etc.)
- Deficiencies in language acquisition
- Affective disorders
- Educational deficiencies
According to Ross (1977), a learning difficulty can only be identified if an appropriate teaching method and a valid educational relationship have been established, and the student still does not perform adequately on homework. Following this author, an operational definition considers:
- Performance Potential (PP): What a subject demonstrates when process conditions are optimal.
- Real Yield (RY): An objective measure of Educational Achievement (EA) taken from a pedagogical test. This test is an “intermediate step between an objective examination and a test of capacity, with educational content but with a form of response, with an objective assessment and construction carried out by psychological techniques.” Test results can be expressed as a ratio of performance or as an age or level of performance.
The NJCLD, in 1981, proposed the following scientific and diagnostic definition:
“Learning disabilities is a generic term that refers to a heterogeneous group of disorders that manifest themselves in significant difficulties in the acquisition and use of language, reading, writing, reasoning, or mathematical abilities. These disorders are intrinsic to the individual and are presumed to be due to central nervous system dysfunction, although they may manifest alongside other deficient conditions.”