Learning Disabilities Defined

What is a learning disability (LD)?

Learning Disabilities (LDs) are very common and affect 5 to 10 percent of Canadians. LDs are brain-based problems that affect one or more ways that a person takes in, stores or uses information. LDs can interfere with learning basic skills such as reading, writing, and math.  They can also interfere with higher level skills such as organization, time management and social skills.

People with LDs are intelligent and can learn. The difficulties they experience are due to impairments in one or more of the psychological processes related to learning:

• Phonological processing (identifying and manipulating speech sounds)
• Working memory (holding information in mind while also using the information)
• Processing speed (speed of taking in, using or pulling out information)
• Language processing (understanding and express information using words)
• Visual-spatial processing (perceiving or organizing visual information)
• Executive functions (planning and organizing)
• Visual-motor processing (carrying out hand-eye activities)

LDs come in many forms and their effects are different from person to person. They relate to:

• Getting information into the brain (Input)
• Making sense of this information (Organization)
• Storing and retrieving information (Memory)
• Getting information back out (Output)

Learning disabilities are life long and invisible

LDs are a life-long condition that affects people differently depending on the situation. In order to find good, effective strategies for compensating and success we need to understand how a person’s learning profile interacts with their environment. Since many people learn to compensate for their learning differences as they mature, it can seem as if any learning disability they have has disappeared. It is for this reason that it was once thought that LDs only impacted children.

We now know that learning disabilities continue throughout a person’s life, even if they learn to compensate for the difficulty. Living with a learning disability can have an ongoing impact on a person’s friendships, school, work, self-esteem, and daily life. People with learning disabilities can manage their LD. They can succeed when solid coping skills and strategies are developed!

Learning disabilities can have an impact on:

Academics: Difficulties with spelling, reading, listening, focusing, remembering, and writing can all impact learning.

Executive Functions: Executive functions equip us to do things like plan, predict, organize, and focus. Learning disabilities often interfere with how people manage their lives and physical space. Executive functions can also be impacted by ADHD (which is not a learning disability).

Social Life: Some learning disabilities make it difficult for people to interpret facial expressions, body language, and tones of voice. This can significantly impact a person’s social life.

Physical Interactions with the World: Our balance, coordination and movements are all based on the information we receive from the world around us. Learning disabilities that interfere with how we process information can cause a person to appear to be uncoordinated or “clumsy”.

Thank you to LDA Manitoba for the text.