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Definition: What is a learning disability?
People with learning disabilities have average to above average intelligence with large discrepancies between their abilities and specific areas of difficulty. The affects of learning disabilities may be mild, moderate or severe. "Learning disability" is a generic term encompassing a wide range of learning and/or social difficulties. Such difficulties may include one or more of the following areas:
- understanding, remembering or producing language (e.g. speaking, writing, reading, listening, spelling)
- reasoning
- motor co-ordination
- mathematics
- noticing and remembering social information
- emotional maturation
- processing information
- organization of things, time and/or space
Types of Learning Disabilities
difficulty in using and understanding language. Problems may occur in the areas of speaking, listening, reading, spelling, and/or writing. Despite these difficulties, persons with Dyslexia can be extremely creative and talented. They often excel in the visual arts, drama, sports, mechanics and many other areas that require visual-spatial integration.
The following are some common signs of Dyslexia:
- trouble expressing verbal language
- poor reading comprehension
- poor spelling
- difficulty reading - trouble identifying individual words
- trouble expressing thoughts in written form
- difficulty listening or following directions - may hear words incorrectly
- confusion about directions in space and time, (e.g. left from right, up from down, months of the year)
- letter reversals (e.g. writing b for d or vice versa), trouble sequencing letters, (e.g. "left' for "felt"). May see words as upside down, blurred or distorted
- difficulty with handwriting
- difficulty with mathematics - using mathematical symbols, sequencing steps to solve a mathematical problem
Difficulty in producing legible handwriting in an appropriate length of time.
Difficulty understanding or using mathematical concepts and symbols. People with Dyscalculia may have difficulty performing even the most simple mathematical calculations.
