The early signs of learning disabilities are often subtle and easily overlooked. These conditions may initially present as a difficulty with telling time, pronouncing certain words, writing by hand, or memorizing simple information. Over time, however, they have serious and far-reaching effects: Approximately 20% of students with learning disabilities drop out of school, compared to just 8% of students in the general population. By secondary school, close to half of all learning disabled students are more than three grade levels behind their peers in at least one area of learning.
Though learning-disabled children come from a variety of ethnic and economic backgrounds, they all share a need for early intervention, understanding, and support. By recognizing and debunking common myths about learning disabilities, we can identify kids with these conditions more readily – and provide them with the help they need. Below, we’ll examine and correct five of the most prevalent misconceptions about learning disabilities:
Myth #1: Learning disabilities are in the same category as Autism, ADHD, and mental illnesses.
The term “learning disability” (LD) refers specifically to disorders that affect information processing; e.g., a child’s ability to read, write, spell, or do arithmetic. Learning disabilities are caused by problems with brain architecture, not visual, hearing, or motor impairments. They are also distinct from neurodevelopmental disorders like ADHD, Autism, and intellectual disability (formerly known as mental retardation). Neurodevelopmental disorders affect a child’s social, emotional, and motor skills, not just his or her ability to learn.
Similarly, learning disabilities should not be confused with mental illnesses – LDs don’t necessarily impair a child’s level of emotional and behavioural adjustment, and mental illnesses don’t always affect a child’s ability to learn. While children with learning disabilities may experience social or emotional challenges, these struggles are usually a direct result of living with stigma, bullying, or poor self-esteem. Unlike mental illnesses, they are not caused by innate psychological issues. Kids with LDs who are properly supported and held to realistic expectations typically demonstrate healthy emotional and behavioural development.
Of course, it’s fully possible for LDs and other conditions to coexist. A child can have both ADHD and a learning disability, or both depression and a learning disability, and so on. However, it’s important to remember that these conditions are not all alike, and they require different, targeted interventions. For example, learning disabilities cannot be treated with medication, whereas many mental illnesses can.
Myth #2: It’s easy to identify a child with a learning disability.
Despite the fact that LDs are fairly common, affecting about 3.2% of Canadian Children (LDAC, 2007), they remain extremely challenging to diagnose. Learning disabilities cannot be identified through blood tests, genetic screening, or even advanced brain scans, though research has shown that LDs often run in families. Furthermore, not all children with learning disabilities struggle visibly at school. Though many children with LDs show signs of academic difficulty, some highly intelligent kids learn to compensate for their disability (thereby inadvertently masking it). These children look like average students, when they could be performing to a much higher standard if their LD was diagnosed and treated.
To identify a possible learning disability, parents and educators must pay close attention to how kids in their care learn over time. Parents should be prepared to discuss their child’s learning style, along with any family history of learning difficulties, with teachers, doctors, and other professionals, as needed. Educators will need to observe and document how the child responds to instruction and how he progresses in relation to his peers. This information is essential and required as part of a comprehensive learning disability assessment: the parent and teacher questionnaires complement the standardized psychoeducational testing and help psychologists establish the diagnosis.
Parents and teachers must also avoid immediately attributing a child’s poor performance at school to “laziness” or simple learning preferences (e.g., enjoying reading much more than math). Most kids want to excel at school in order to earn peer recognition and the approval of their parents. When a child consistently fails to perform academically, it’s usually because he’s confronted with an insurmountable barrier to success. Remember: Unlike poor motivation or learning preferences, LDs cannot be overcome with the application of more effort or practice.
Myth #3: Kids with learning disabilities have a low IQ.
LDs affect how a child processes specific kinds of information; they don’t indicate a global problem with intelligence. Many kids with LDs have average or above-average intelligence; in fact, it’s possible for a child to be both gifted and learning disabled. Children with LDs will generally thrive intellectually if they’re given learning material that works with, and not against, the unique way they process information.
Myth #4: Learning disabilities are becoming more common.
Though special education enrollment has increased in recent years, there is little evidence to suggest that LDs are becoming more common – nor are they over-diagnosed. Instead, these changes represent enhanced detection of information processing difficulties in children and more precise methods of diagnosis. Nonetheless, learning disabilities remain under-diagnosed in Canada, especially in younger children. Likewise, fully one-quarter of all children with learning disabilities are not receiving adequate special education services. (Statistics Canada, 2006)
Myth #5: Learning disabilities go away over time.
Learning disabilities are lifelong conditions, but that doesn’t mean they have to limit a child’s chances of being successful. With the right support, kids with LDs can find ways to manage their individual learning challenges through a mix of adaptation and accommodation.
The earlier a child begins learning about his or her condition, the more likely it becomes that he or she will find ways work around it. Likewise, kids who understand the nature of their LD have a better chance of learning to self-advocate. Effective self-advocacy among people with LDs is more strongly correlated with success than overall intelligence or early diagnosis, so it’s vital that kids learn how to talk about their disability. If you aren’t sure how to teach your child this skill, consider working with a therapist to find successful self-advocacy strategies.
If you’re raising a child with a learning disability, it’s important to provide him with support and accurate information throughout his developmental years. In addition to dispelling common myths about these conditions, you should explain your child’s rights and protections to him as soon as he’s old enough to understand them. By the time your child is an adolescent, he should have copies of documents detailing the services and supports he’s entitled to receive, too. Giving your child this information will empower him to stand up for himself, deepen his understanding of his disability, and pursue his goals and aspirations.
