by Dr. John Vavrik, Phd., R. Psych.

What are learning disabilities? Over the past few decades a great deal of research has been done to better understand the nature of learning disabilities. Most of this work has focused on children and adolescents within the school system but adult learning disabilities have only recently started to be fully appreciated and properly diagnosed. Perhaps the most important fact we have learned so far is that learning disabilities are not the same as learning difficulties. We all have trouble learning some things some of the time. However, learning disabled individuals have difficulties that are usually quite specific and persistent over time - typically from early childhood to adulthood. About five percent of adults have some form of learning disability but unfortunately many of these disabilities are often ignored or misinterpreted as laziness, apathy, or some kind of mental deficiency. One reason why leaning disabilities are inconsistently or improperly diagnosed is because there is limited awareness, even among professionals, of just what learning disabilities are. While many different definitions of learning disabilities exist, they all reflect the following basic concept: Learning disabilities are a group of disorders characterized by specific difficulties in reading, writing, or math that cannot be attributed to other handicapping conditions such as inadequate intelligence, instruction, sociocultural opportunities, emotional disturbances, sensory impairments, etc. What do learning disabilities “feel like”? Definitions aside, what is it like to have a learning disability? To get a sense of what it’s like to be visually impaired we can try walking with our eyes closed. To get a sense of being hearing impaired, we can listen to soft music with ear plugs. But what is it like to be learning impaired? Read the sentence below and try to figure out who kissed who: The man that the woman that the child hugged kissed laughed. Confusing? Do you need to read it over a few times? Do you find yourself almost “getting it” only to have it all fall apart in an instant? Are you beginning to feel frustrated? How interested would you be in reading a whole book, or even a page of sentences like these? How would you feel about yourself if your classmates or coworkers didn’t seem to have any trouble with such sentences in their reading? From such examples we might get a sense of what a learning disabled person may be experiencing every time he or she opens a book. We should remember, however, that our experience may last only a few seconds - a learning disabled individual has likely been experiencing such frustrations for years. What do learning disabilities “look like”? Learning disabilities manifest themselves through specific patterns of errors in reading, writing, and math. They may also affect how we relate to ourselves and to others, and how we go about our daily routines. Below is a brief sample of the many faces of learning disabilities: Reading Patterns · making errors reading single words (guest read as just) · leaving out, inserting, or substituting words while reading (muddy read as quagmire) · difficulty sounding out words · not understanding and not remembering even recently read material Writing Patterns · making persistent spelling errors and not learning from corrective feedback · spelling phonetically (Munday, Toosday) · reversing letters when spelling (Firday instead of Friday) Math Patterns · repeatedly forgetting basic math facts and procedures · not being able to make rough estimates when making calculations · difficulty solving problems that require multiple sequential steps Behaviour Patterns · difficulty concentrating · being easily distracted · blurting out answers · difficulties in dealing with novel experiences · sticking to a strategy even when it is no longer appropriate or useful · poor sense of time and personal space · clumsy or awkward movements · misjudging social situations · misinterpreting what others say What causes learning disabilities? The underlying causes of learning disabilities all have to do with how the brain processes information, including: · How it processes sounds · How it processes visual images · How it converts text to sounds and sounds to text · How it accesses information from memory · How quickly it processes information · How it coordinates the sequencing of all its mental activities. What can be done about learning disabilities? The most important starting point is becoming fully aware of the nature and severity of one’s learning disability and what role it plays at work, at home, or in school. At the same time it is important not to assume that all difficulties one may be experiencing are due to a learning disability - most people, with or without learning disabilities, often face daily challenges that at times seem overwhelming. Individual or group counseling helps many people make sense of what their disability means or does not mean in their daily lives. While there is no “cure” for learning disabilities, many effective strategies, programs and services are available. Specific intervention strategies generally fall into two categories. The first set of strategies is aimed at “fixing whatever is broken”. They are usually referred to as remedial strategies. The second set involves utilizing individual strengths to bypass a particular weakness. They are called compensatory strategies. Both remedial and compensatory strategies can be effective and both are frequently used. Because many cognitive functions are very difficult to remediate, compensatory strategies are often the “treatment of choice” (e.g. using checklists to compensate for poor memory). However, some mental functions, like phonological awareness, are so essential to reading that enhancing them through remedial instruction is sometimes necessary. Another set of interventions are called accommodations. These include such things as extra time on exams, tape recording notes, or using portable electronic spell checkers. Learning disabled individuals sometimes need to rethink their current educational and vocational situation and choose a vocation that does not interfere with their particular learning disability. They also benefit from learning to openly accept the disability, by talking about it with others including their partners, family, and fellow students or coworkers. Finally, they can also utilize the wide variety of services offered to learning disabled individuals. These include, among others: · Professional, full-service agencies such as ALDA · Services for students with disabilities at public and some private colleges · Provincial and federal government supported employment and vocational training programs It is important to remember that in order to be eligible for many of the services offered, an official learning disability diagnosis is often required. How should a suspected leaning disability be properly diagnosed? Learning disabilities should be formally diagnosed by a registered psychologist with advanced training in the learning disabilities field. The diagnosis is based on information collected during a comprehensive psychoeducational assessment. The main purpose of the assessment is to determine the specific nature and extent of academic difficulties (e.g. dyslexia), and to identify, as closely as possible, a specific brain mechanism that is responsible for these difficulties (e.g. phonological processing). A valid learning disability assessment should include at least the following: · Medical history (e.g. head injuries; exposure to environmental toxins) · Developmental history (e.g. onset of developmental milestones such as walking and talking) · Educational history (e.g. school grades; type of remedial instruction provided) · Performance on measures of specific mental processes (e.g. auditory discrimination) · Performance on measures of academic achievement (e.g. reading comprehension) The assessment also needs to take into account the fact that most adults have been out of school for years, and in many cases never received adequate schooling in the first place. This is one reason why assessing adult learning disabilities is much more challenging than assessing school-aged learning problems. Key Benefits of a Valid Assessment A comprehensive psychoeducational assessment provides the foundation for developing appropriate assistance programs and interventions for individuals with learning disabilities. Specifically, a valid assessment will: · Identify a profile of specific strengths and weaknesses from which realistic training and vocational goals and relevant strategies for attaining    them can be developed · Determine eligibility for specific training and testing accommodations · Determine eligibility for a variety of government-sponsored employment and training assistance programs Some additional issues to consider when contemplating an assessment: Most people with undiagnosed learning disabilities usually suspect for a long time that “something is not quite right”. They, along with their teachers, family members or partners, want to finally pin down the root cause of these difficulties. At the same time, they may feel that an official diagnosis might just be a label that will further restrict their social and employment opportunities. When contemplating an assessment, it is sometimes helpful to consider the following points: · Finding out what’s at the heart of years of struggles at school or at work usually brings a sense of relief and peace to many individuals with a learning disability. · Finding out that one is not alone, that many others have virtually identical experiences, can be comforting and often “puts things in perspective”. · Instead of wasting energy on “hiding” a disability, one can focus on effective strategies that work around the disability (compensations) or make it easier to cope with it (accommodations) and stop “beating one’s head against the wall”. · Finally, an assessment often helps people discover many unexpected strengths and talents that have been unrecognized or undervalued. For more information please contact ALDA             (article copyright John Vavrik / ALDA 2001-2006) click here to return to main page