Topic for September: Learning Disabilities

It’s a new month and time to focus on another topic this month.

This month, the focus will be on learning disabilities. It is something that many people struggle with. It is also not uncommon for those with learning disabilities to also have ADHD. 

What Does It Mean Exactly?

Learning disabilities (LD) is a term referring to several disorders that affects the person’s learning. According to Learning Disabilities Association of Canada, learning disabilities “may affect the acquisition, organization, retention, understanding or use of verbal or nonverbal information.”

LDs are neurological and brain-based disorders.

There are different types of learning disabilities. 

• Dyslexia
• Dyspraxia
• Dyscalculia
• Dysgraphia
• Dysphasia/Aphasia
• Auditory processing disorder
• Visual processing disorder

When someone has a learning disability, it makes it challenging to learn and process the information. The brain processes the information differently. It is important to keep in mind that having a learning disability doesn’t make the person dumb. Learning disability has nothing to do with intelligence.

ADHD and LD

ADHD and LDs are the common co-existing condition. So many people with ADHD also have a learning disability. Numbers on how many struggle with both ADHD and one type of LD vary, but the articles I have read suggest that at least 30% struggle with ADHD and a LD and is the most common comorbidity.

It is important to note that ADHD is not a learning disability.

Both are neurological or brain-based disorders, but are not the same. An LD affects a person’s ability to learn a certain skill like reading. While ADHD affects more global skills and executive functions. They may appear similar, but are two different disorders.

Final Thoughts

I considered writing a post about learning disabilities in August, as I wanted to write about comorbidity. However, I chose not to. Since there are several different types of learning disabilities, I wasn’t sure if I could do this topic justice by talking about all of them in a single post.

So, this is why I didn’t discuss it last month. And chose to focus on learning disabilities throughout the month of September.

Hope you enjoy! Until next time.