Specific Learning Disorder (also known as learning disorder or learning disability) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that begins during school-age, but may not be recognized until adulthood. Learning disabilities affect one of three areas: reading, writing and/or math.
Difficulties learning and using academic skills, as indicated by the presence of at least one of the following symptoms that have persisted for at least 6
months, despite the provision of interventions that target those difficulties:
The affected academic skills are substantially and quantifiably below those expected for the individual’s chronological age, and cause significant interference with academic or occupational performance, or with activities of daily living, as confirmed by individually administered standardized achievement measures and comprehensive clinical assessment. For individuals age 17
years and older, a documented history of impairing learning difficulties may be substituted for the standardized assessment.
The learning difficulties begin during school-age years but may not become fully manifest until the demands for those affected academic skills exceed the individual’s limited capacities (e.g. - as in timed tests, reading or writing lengthy complex reports for a tight deadline, excessively heavy academic loads).
The learning difficulties are not better accounted for by intellectual disabilities, uncorrected visual or auditory acuity, other mental or neurological disorders, psychosocial adversity, lack of proficiency in the language of academic instruction, or inadequate educational instruction.
Dyslexia is a specific learning disorder that refers to difficulty with reading. Individuals with dyslexia have difficulty connecting letters they see on a page with the sounds they make. As a result, reading becomes a slow, effortful and not a fluent process for them.
Problems in reading begin even before learning to read. Kindergarten-age children may not be able to recognize and write letters as well as their peers. People with dyslexia may have difficulty with accuracy and spelling as well. Common myths include thinking that children with dyslexia write letters backwards or those who write letters backwards all have dyslexia. Individuals with dyslexia may try to avoid activities that require reading whenever they can (e.g. - reading for pleasure, reading instructions). They may often gravitate to other mediums of expression such as pictures, video, or audio.
Dysgraphia is a specific learning disorder used to describe difficulties with putting one’s thoughts on to paper. Problems with writing can include difficulties with spelling, grammar, punctuation, and handwriting.
Dyscalculia is a specific learning disorder used to describe difficulties learning number related concepts or using the symbols and functions to perform math calculations. Problems with math can include difficulties with number sense, memorizing math facts, math calculations, math reasoning and math problem solving.