Focus on… Learning Disabilities

What does it mean if you or someone you know has a learning disability?

The Office of Disability Services currently serves 97 students with learning disabilities. We have served 615 students with learning disabilities over the past nine years. Some of the most common academic accommodations include additional time for exams; quiet, separate space in which to take exams; preferential seating in the front of the class and textbooks in an alternative format.

What is a learning disability?

Although no one definition for learning disabilities has been established, most experts agree that learning disabilities are a group of neurological disorders that affect the brain's ability to receive, process, store, and respond to information. They generally occur in individuals of average or above average intelligence and affect the areas of listening, speaking, reading, writing, and mathematics.

Formal definitions for learning disabilities

What causes learning disabilities?

While the true causes of learning disabilities are unknown, experts believe that a few possibilities may be due to heredity, complications during pregnancy and/or birth, or even exposure to toxins. It is also known that learning disabilities are NOT due to socioeconomic status, environmental factors, or cultural differences and are unrelated to learning problems that occur due to visual, auditory, or motor disabilities; mental retardation or emotional disturbances.

How common are learning disabilities?

According to the National Institutes of Health, approximately 15% of the US population has some type of learning disability.

How are people affected by a learning disability?

Learning disabilities can affect listening, speaking, reading, writing, and mathematics. These problems may vary in severity; in the specific way that they affect functioning; and in the way they impact individuals over time.

Learning disabilities primarily affect students in the academic setting. Students with learning disabilities may work at a slower rate than their non-disabled peers. In addition, those affected may need to read and reread to gain full understanding of materials; may struggle expressing themselves through writing; may have trouble interpreting the spoken word, including the subtleties often included in language; and may experience problems communicate orally.

What are possible characteristics of someone with a learning disability?

•  Often spelling the same word differently in a single document

•  Reluctance to take on reading or writing tasks

•  Trouble with open-ended questions on tests

•  Weak memory skills

•  Difficulty in adapting skills from one setting to another

•  Slow work pace

•  Poor grasp of abstract concepts

•  Inattention to details or excessive focus on them

•  Frequent misreading of information

•  Trouble filling out applications or forms

•  Easily confused by instructions

•  Poor organizational skills

Copyright © 1999-2006 National Center for Learning Disabilities, Inc.

What are good coping strategies for individuals with learning disabilities?

•  Assess personal strengths and weaknesses

•  Determine and understand learning style

•  Communicate to others about what is needed to learn best

•  Be a self-advocate!

Academic accommodations for students with learning disabilities may include:

•  Extended time to complete tests

•  Note takers

•  Tape-recorded lectures, books and printed course material in
   alternate formats (e.g. electronic text or taped texts)

•  Copies of overheads/class notes

•  Priority registration

•  Reduced course loads

The information presented above was compiled from the following sources:

LDonline.org , retrieved June 27, 2006

National Center for Learning Disabilities , retrieved June 27, 2006

Education, retrieved June 27, 2006

Helpguide: Expert, non-commercial information on mental health, healthy lifestyles, and aging issues , retrieved June 28, 2006