Understanding Learning Disabilities: Origins and Features

Origins of Learning Disabilities

In 1963, Samuel Kirk defined a learning disability as "a delay or disorder in one or more processes of speech, language, writing, arithmetic, or other school areas resulting from a handicap caused by a possible cerebral dysfunction, conceptual, or emotional disturbance."

A 1988 definition used in the U.S. described it as a "general term that refers to a heterogeneous group of disorders manifested by significant difficulties in the acquisition and use of listening, speaking, writing, reasoning, or mathematical abilities. These disorders are intrinsic to the individual, assuming [they are] due to dysfunction of the central nervous system and can occur throughout the life cycle, but they can also increase."

According to a speech-based curriculum, "A child will have difficulty learning when [they are] unable to perform adequately one or more core academic activities."

Concepts Related to Learning Difficulties (LD): School Failure

School failure and learning difficulties are similar but not synonymous. Both refer to poor school performance, but school failure refers to performance regardless of the cause. A learning difficulty is a type of school failure caused by personal factors related to a lack of maturity in the structure or functioning of the central nervous system.

When discussing learning difficulties, one must include terms that refer to perceptual deficits, brain damage, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental dysphasia. This does not include learning problems caused by sensory deficits, motor injury, or mental retardation; these problems are added and may be due to evolutionary factors, accidents, etc.

Mullier (1986) stated that "specific learning difficulties are underdeveloped skills that have fallen behind in comparison to the rest of [a child's] intellectual development, and these capabilities appear in children with higher, middle, or lower intelligences." Therefore, it is not uncommon to find children with the following characteristics:

Characteristics of Learning Difficulties

Myers and Hammill (1987) established six characteristics they considered sufficient to justify the appearance of learning difficulties (not all six need to be present):

• Motor Activity Disorders: Associated with learning difficulties; any type of motor difficulty is linked with a central nervous system disorder.
• Emotionality Disorders: Emotional instability is often linked with learning difficulties and abnormal brain functioning.
• Perceptual Disorders: Inability to identify, discriminate, and interpret sensations.
• Symbolization Disorders: These can be of four types:
  • Receptive-auditory: Misunderstanding of spoken symbols (asking for repetition).
  • Receptive-visual: Difficulty understanding what is read; poverty of ideas when speaking.
  • Expressive-vocal: Trouble forming thoughts into speech; lack of ideas.
  • Expressive-motor: Difficulty expressing thoughts in writing or gestures.
• Attention Disorders: Can manifest as either a deficit or excess of attention. Children with inattention are usually irritable and easily distracted. Excess attention involves focusing too much on insignificant details.
• Memory Disorders: Difficulty absorbing, storing, and retrieving information.

In addition to these six features, there are other types of characteristics or deficits affecting learning difficulties. Some deficits are associated with other disorders, such as poor attention span, underdevelopment of listening skills (not listening), poor vocabulary, and poor self-esteem.