Specific Learning Disorder

● “Learning disorder” means any neurodevelopmental disorder that interferes with the
learning of academic and/or social skills.
● Traditionally defined as learning disabilities, such as dyslexia or reading disability
(RD) and mathematics disorder MD), constitute a subset of learning disorders
● These disorders have their origins in genetic and environmental risk factors that
generally act early in development and change the developmental trajectory in
particular domains of functioning.
Symptoms

Have difficulties in at least one of the following areas for at least six months despite
targeted help:

❏ Difficulty reading (e.g., inaccurate, slow and only with much effort).
❏ Difficulty understanding the meaning of what is read.
❏ Difficulty with spelling.
❏ Difficulty with written expression (e.g., problems with grammar, punctuation or
organization).
 ❏ Difficulty understanding number concepts, number facts or calculation.
❏ Difficulty with mathematical reasoning (e.g., applying math concepts or solving
math problems).
Have academic skills that are substantially below what is expected for the child’s age and
cause problems in school, work or everyday activities.
The difficulties start during school-age even if some people don’t experience significant
problems until adulthood (when academic, work and day-to-day demands are greater).
Learning difficulties are not due to other conditions, such as intellectual disability, vision
or hearing problems, a neurological condition (e.g., pediatric stroke), adverse conditions
such as economic or environmental disadvantage, lack of instruction, or difficulties
speaking/understanding the language.
Hypothetical Progression

“A preschool child at family risk for dyslexia may have speech problems, as well as some
delays in vocabulary development and expressive syntax. By kindergarten, this child is
likely to be having trouble learning letter names and color names. In first grade, phoneme
awareness will nearly always be difficult, as will learning to decode new printed words and
reliably recognizing familiar ones. In the later elementary grades, problems in reading
fluency and comprehension will be more evident, in addition to problems memorizing math
facts. Somewhat later, there are likely to be difficulties with math “word” problems, as well
as with foreign languages.”
Distinction between Terms
Disorder- refers to significant
problems faced by children in
academic areas. The word
“disorder” is a medical term as
mentioned in DSM- V and ICD- 10.
Disability- legal term that is mentioned in the
Right of Persons with Disabilities Act (RPWD
Act, 2016). To receive special disability
certificates and services under these acts, a student
must be a “child with a disability.” SLD is an
official clinical diagnosis where the individual
meets certain criteria as assessed by a professional
(psychologist, pediatrician, etc.).
Learning difficulties- underachieve academically for a wide
range of reasons, such as, behavioral, psychological, and
emotional issues; English being their second language and not
their mother tongue; ineffective instruction; high absenteeism;
or inadequate curricula. These children have the potential to
achieve age-appropriate levels once they are provided support
and evidence-based instruction. Slow learners- Students with below average
cognitive abilities. They are not considered
mentally retarded because he is capable of
achieving a moderate degree of academic
success even though at a slower rate than the
average child.

(Kohli, Sharma and Padhy, 2018)

Types of Learning Disabilities

Reading Disability- Reading requires the ability to understand the relationship between
letters and the associated sound, which is known as phonetics.
Dyslexia reflects a specific problem in processing individual speech sounds (e.g., the ssss
sound, the mmm sound) in words (phonemes).
There can be problems with holding sounds in sequence in short-term memory (e.g.,
holding the sequence of sounds in a new word in mind long enough to recognize it).
Children with a reading disability may also have difficulties with reading fluency, resulting
in reading skills that are accurate but effortful and slow.
Dyscalculia- difficulty in learning or understanding mathematical operations.

A student with arithmetic disorder might have difficulty organizing problems on the page;
following through on multiple step calculations such as long division; transposing numbers
accurately on paper or on to a calculator, such as turning 89 into 98; distinguishing right
from left; and using mathematical calculation signs.

They may also be confused about basic operations and facts.

Dysgraphia - characterized by distorted writing despite thorough instruction.

A student with dysgraphia exhibits inconsistent and illegible writing, mixing upper and
lowercase letters, and writing on a line and inside margins. He or she might have fine motor
difficulties such as trouble holding the pencil correctly, inability to use scissors well, or
coloring inside the lines.

Overall writing does not communicate at the same level as his or her other language skills.
History of SLD

● First described over 100 years ago by Pringle-Morton (1896) and Kerr (1897)
● Earlier theories of dyslexia postulated a basic deficit in visual processing.
● Theories focussed on reversal errors and this deficit was termed “strephosymbolia,”
which means “twisted symbols”. (Orton, 1925, 1937)
● Visual problem thought to arise because of a failure of hemispheric dominance.
● Understanding of cognitive phenotype of dyslexia evolved over last 25 years.
● Reversal errors in dyslexia were seen to be restricted to processing print in one’s own
language
● Therefore, the difficulty is linguistic rather than visual in nature. (Vellutino, 1979)
● Dyslexia is now considered as a type of language disorder, and that one of its
underlying neuropsychological deficits is faulty development of phonological
representations.
Signs and symptoms - common symptoms

● Problems reading and/or

writing
● Problems with math
● Poor memory
● Problems paying attention
● Trouble following directions
● Clumsiness
● Trouble telling time
● Problems staying organized
 Other symptoms:
● Acting without really thinking about
possible outcomes (impulsiveness)
● “Acting out” in school or social situations
● Difficulty staying focused; being easily
distracted
● Difficulty saying a word correctly out
loud or expressing thoughts
● Problems with school performance from
week to week or day to day
● Speaking like a younger child; using
short, simple phrases; or leaving out
words in sentences
● Having a hard time listening
● Problems dealing with changes in
schedule or situations
● Problems understanding words or
concepts
Symptoms of Dyslexia

● Having a hard time understanding what others are saying

● Difficulty organizing written and spoken language
● Delay in being able to speak
● Difficulty expressing thoughts or feelings
● Difficulty learning new words (vocabulary), either while reading or hearing
● Trouble learning foreign languages
● Difficulty learning songs and rhymes
● Slow rate of reading, both silently and out loud
● Giving up on longer reading tasks
● Difficulty understanding questions and following directions
● Poor spelling
● Problems remembering numbers in sequence (for example, telephone numbers and
addresses)
● Trouble telling left from right
Symptoms of Dysgraphia

● A strong dislike of writing and/or drawing

● Problems with grammar
● Trouble writing down ideas
● Losing energy or interest as soon as they start writing
● Trouble writing down thoughts in a logical sequence
● Saying words out loud while writing
● Leaving words unfinished or omitting them when writing sentences
Symptoms of Dyscalculia

● Difficulty with math-related word problems

● Trouble making change in cash transactions
● Messiness in putting math problems on paper
● Trouble with logical sequences (for example, steps in math problems)
● Trouble understanding the time sequence of events
● Trouble describing math processes
SLD and IQ

● Prior definitions suggest reading deficits should be significantly below child’s IQ

level.
● Reading should also be below age expectations.
● However, IQ scores, both verbal and nonverbal, found to be moderately correlated
with reading and language development
● IQ could influence reading and language development or vice-versa or both could be
related to a third variable.
● Reading and language skills are very likely to affect IQ scores, even nonverbal IQ
scores, and these measures also share cognitive components.
● Therefore, children with age discrepancies but not IQ discrepancies may be the
children with the most severe cases of RD, and they are likely to have the same
underlying cognitive deficits as children who meet the IQ discrepancy definition.