Learning Disabilities Vs Learning Differences
According to the regulations for Public Law (P.L.) 101-476 which is entitled The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the definition of Learning Disability is “a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using spoken or written language, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell or to do mathematical calculations.” The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that 4.6 million people in the United States are learning with disabilities.
A learning disability may manifest itself with one or more of the following:
Ø Dyslexia/grade writing deficits
Ø Auditory Processing Disorder
Ø Attention Deficit/Attention Disorder (ADD)/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Deficit/Hyperactivity Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD)
Ø Reading Comprehension Disorder/Comprehension Problems
Ø Sensory Integration Disorder/SID
On the other hand, the term Learning Difference indicates that some learners tend to acquire new information in a way, or ways that may be unlike those of others. The functions of the brain and how differently they can learn from individual to individual remains a mystery to many in the field of neurogentics. What is clear is that we all process and learn information in our own, unique ways. What may be an adequate way of learning for one may be inadequate for another.
Ø Some individuals learn through their visual senses, or “seeing” the process in action.
Ø Auditory learners gain understanding through hearing new information.
Ø Others may need to touch and feel the concept that is being taught.
Ø And then there are those who learn through body movements and expression of self in space.
Ø In actuality, many learners use several styles of learning at the same time to accomplish their learning needs.
Unfortunately, most schools follow a curriculum designed for a visual learner. Information is presented visually in text books, on chalk boards and in media presentations. As one can see, this “boxes” a student into a learning style, while he or she may require a very different approach to learning that material.
We are here to help you help your child learn to his or her own optimal potential and to his or her own personalized learning style. We are a group of therapists and learning specialists who have assisted hundreds of families in academic crisis and we can help you! The professionals of The Therapy Group believe that success can be gained for children who are struggling in their academic lives by identifying and addressing the underlying root cause of a problem and specific learning style needs of a student.
Learning difficulties can be helped, not by just giving the student a compensation strategy, but by improving the whole learning process.
