About LD
Learning disabilities affect about 15 percent of the population, and can have a profound impact on individuals and families. People with learning disabilities are just as smart (and sometimes smarter) than their peers, but have difficulty learning in conventional school settings. Understand more about learning disabilities, discover how to overcome obstacles, and learn how to uncover hidden aptitudes and gifts.
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The Positive Side of Learning Disabilities and ADHD
LD OnLine is sharing the positive side of learning disabilities. Learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, dyslexia, and other challenges can often present possibilities for personal growth and achievement.
Learning Disabilities: An Overview
How Do You Know If Your Child Might Have a Learning Disability?
If you think your child might have a learning disability, this article will help. Dr. Larry Silver tells parents the clues to look for in pre-school and elementary school children. Then the article talks about how to get a "psychoeducational evaluation" to find out for sure.
Timeline of Learning Disabilities
The learning disabilities gives a brief history of learning disabilities — from 1877 when the term "word blindness" was invented to 2005 when a gene was discovered that is connected with dyslexia.
Learn about dyspraxia, a term that refers to a disorder in motor skill development. Dyspraxia affects both fine motor skills — such as writing — and gross motor skills— such as throwing a ball.
Understanding Sensory Integration
Sensory integration is a theory that explains why children respond in a certain way to touch, sounds, and other senses. Some children have sensory integration dysfunction, which influences their behavior. Learn about this disorder and how to treat it.
Auditory Processing Disorder in Children
Children with auditory processing disorder (APD) often do not recognized the subtle differences between sounds in words because a dysfunction makes it difficult for the brain to interpret the information. The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders presents basic information on symptoms, diagnosis, and current research of APD.
The behaviors of a child with ADHD can be hard to understand sometimes — especially if a child is seen only once or twice a week in a group after-school activity. Do you recognize Billy? His behaviors are often seen in children with ADHD.
Motivation: The Key to Academic Success
Motivation is key to school success. Just as the actor asks a director, "What is my motivation, for this scene?," the child turns to teachers, parents, and peers to discover the "why" of learning. Motivation is often defined as a need or drive that energizes behavior toward a goal.
Who Can Diagnose LD and/or ADHD
Many professionals are involved in the diagnosis of LD: psychologists, educational specialists, and other professionals who work in specialized fields such as speech and language. This article identifies licensure requirements and who can diagnose LD and/or ADHD.
What is ADHD? Is It a Type of LD?
Many parents and educational professionals confuse ADHD and LD. Is ADHD a form of LD? No. Each is distinctive neurologically-based disorder. Each is recognized and diagnosed differently. Each is treated in a different way. The treatment for ADHD will not correct an LD. The treatment for LD will not help ADHD. Of importance is that about 30 to 40% of individuals with LD will also have ADHD. Thus, if you find one problem it is important to look for the other.
What Are Learning Disabilities?
As parents you are familiar with the term learning disability. Yet, it seems that there are so many types, and each educator or other professional you work with uses different terms or ways to describe your son or daughter. The following outline might be helpful in putting these terms and concepts in perspective.
Thinking with Language, Images, and Strategies
The Abilities of Those with Reading Disabilities: Focusing on the Talents of People with Dyslexia
Thomas West builds a case for the scientific study of gifts and talents thought to be associated with dyslexia. Such research would supplement the current research on correcting deficits, by discovering ways to maximize talents to overcome these deficits.
Multiple Intelligences and Underachievement: Lessons From Individuals with Learning Disabilities
Lessons from individuals with LD researchers and educators Dixon Hearn and Suki Stone provide an overview of research on the abilities of students labeled LD. They recommend instructional approaches that build upon the multiple intelligences of students within a constructivist framework.
Mathematical Disabilities: What We Know and Don't Know
Over the past several decades important advances have been made in the understanding of the genetic, neural, and cognitive deficits that underlie reading disability (RD), and in the ability to identify and remediate this form of learning disability (LD).
The Positive Side of Learning Differences: A Variety of Ways of Thinking and Learning
For the past ten years I have been working with college students who have ADHD, dyslexia and other specific learning disabilities. While the learning and thinking differences of my students often provide them with challenges and cause frustration, I have also come to appreciate the many positive facets of these differences.
What to Do If You Suspect Your Child Has a Learning Disability
If you think your child might have a learning disability, this article can help. With early intervention, children with learning disabilities can learn strategies to achieve as well as other children do. Organizing information about your child will help you to monitor progress. This information will be valuable in planning for your child.
The Politics of Learning Disabilities
