Learning Disabilities Vs Learning Differences
The Therapy Group
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 Visual Processing Disorder
Ø Dysgraphia
Ø Attention Deficit/Attention Disorder (ADD)/Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Deficit/Hyperactivity Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD)
Ø Reading Comprehension Disorder/Comprehension Problems
Ø Alexia
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 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