According to the federal definition of learning disabilities in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), a "specific learning disability means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which disorder may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, or do mathematical calculations" (Heward, 242-243).

If a person has difficulty learning because they have visual, hearing, mental, or emotional impairments, this is NOT included within the learning disability term. People with these impairments are included underneath a different label. That is not to say that a person with an impairment such as hearing loss or mental retardation can not have a learning disability. They might have a learning disability along with another impairment but, if other impairment causes the learning problem, then it is not considered a learning disability.

For example, Karen cannot hear. Because of her hearing problem, she has difficulty speaking and writing with correct English grammar. But Karen's difficulty with language is not considered a learning disability because the difficulty is due to her hearing problem, not because of a disorder in one of her basic psychological processes. So in this instant, Karen's disability is a hearing loss, not a learning disability.

Karen also has difficulty understanding math. This difficulty has nothing to do with her hearing loss. So Karen does have a learning disability in mathematics.

In my resource classes, many of my students display a misunderstanding of what it means to have a learning disability. Either through the ignorant teasing of other children or even the occasional overheard comments from adults, these children start to believe that they are "slower" than other children and are being educated in the "slow" class.

This is NOT the definition of a learning disability. Children with a learning disability must have a disparity between their level of intelligence and the particular disability. A child who has difficulty understanding the world around her and difficulty reading at the same level of another child does not necessarily have a learning disability. If her level of intelligence and her ability to read are at the same level, her problem is considered a disability in intelligence, not in learning. For her to have a learning disability, there must be a significant difference in her intelligence and her ability to learn in a certain core subject.

Therefore, a child with a normal or even higher intelligence than other children can easily be referred to a resource classroom for reading if he displays a problem with reading that is significantly different from his level of intelligence.

I thoroughly enjoy the look of happy astonishment on the faces of my students when I explain that they are in no way in the "slow" class. I'm always thrilled to add that many of them are at a higher functioning level than students outside of my classes.

Learning disabilities are just that, disabilities. People with them need to know that they do not change who they are, and they do not even touch their intelligence. People without them, who may have the tendency to ignorantly look upon people with them, especially need to know this.

Outside Source Used:

Heward, William L. Exceptional Children: An Introduction to Special Education. Columbus, Ohio: Merrill Prentice Hall, 2003.

Learn more about this author, Amelia Love.
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