Learning Disabilities come in many varieties... in fact, one might argue that every individual's learning profile is unique. Difficulties with receptive and/or expressive language can undermine communication with others and interfere with learning both in and out of school. Difficulties in learning academic skills can be terribly frustrating for children during their early school years, and inadequate academic skills can hamper students preparing for college or undermine adults' success in the workplace. Difficulties with processing nonverbal information, such as the nonverbal aspects of language (e.g., tone of voice, body language, etc.), visuospatial information, and quantity can cause sometimes subtle, but nonetheless, significant life problems for persons of all ages. Unfortunately, learning disabilities don't always fit into nice, neat categories, and they don't always occur alone... attention deficits, behavior problems, emotional difficulties, social problems, underachievement in school, and difficulties with work can all be present.
The causes of learning difficulties are quite varied as well. Medical conditions, such as seizure disorders and metabolic disorders, concussions and other head injuries, genetic syndromes, and prenatal/birth-related difficulties can all lead to learning problems of various types. Unsuspected hearing or vision problems can interfere with learning, too. Some learning disorders, such as Dyslexia, tend to run in families. Often, however, there is no clear cause. Regardless, learning differently can be very challenging -- at any time in an individual's life.
A thorough assessment requires in-depth exploration of the history of each learning problem a child, student, or adult is experiencing: When did it start? How has it changed over time? Where does the problem cause the most difficulty? What has been done so far to work on the problem, and how helpful have those supports or interventions been?
A strong assessment also looks for strengths and areas of intact functioning as well as difficulties. Reasoning abilities, speed of cognitive processing, attention, executive functioning, memory, perception, language skills, visuomotor abilities, emotional/behavioral functioning, academic skills/performance, and a variety of other skills may all be relevant. A personalized assessment, tailored to the needs and concerns of the individual, is ideal.
The causes of learning difficulties are quite varied as well. Medical conditions, such as seizure disorders and metabolic disorders, concussions and other head injuries, genetic syndromes, and prenatal/birth-related difficulties can all lead to learning problems of various types. Unsuspected hearing or vision problems can interfere with learning, too. Some learning disorders, such as Dyslexia, tend to run in families. Often, however, there is no clear cause. Regardless, learning differently can be very challenging -- at any time in an individual's life.
A thorough assessment requires in-depth exploration of the history of each learning problem a child, student, or adult is experiencing: When did it start? How has it changed over time? Where does the problem cause the most difficulty? What has been done so far to work on the problem, and how helpful have those supports or interventions been?
A strong assessment also looks for strengths and areas of intact functioning as well as difficulties. Reasoning abilities, speed of cognitive processing, attention, executive functioning, memory, perception, language skills, visuomotor abilities, emotional/behavioral functioning, academic skills/performance, and a variety of other skills may all be relevant. A personalized assessment, tailored to the needs and concerns of the individual, is ideal.