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Teen Health Teen Health Basics

Explaining a Learning Disability to Parents and Teens

Introduction
What IS a Learning Disability?
The Learning Disability Roadmap
How Does a Learning Disability Affect School and Home Life?
Emotional Reactions to Learning Disabilities
Diagnosing a Learning Disability
Learning Techniques for Those With a Learning Disability
Resources
Summary
 

Introduction

“I don’t understand all that stuff. What do you mean he has a learning disability? What’s that?”

I had just finished going over the neuropsychologist’s diagnostic testing report with the father of one of my patients. I thought I had explained his son’s learning disability carefully, but this father was telling me I hadn’t done a very good job. And he was right. The report was full of professional jargon and code words that shut him out. I needed to start over, using words, images and analogies that fit his needs instead of mine.
 

What IS a Learning Disability?

A learning disability is a difficulty learning certain specific kinds of information even though the ability to learn in general remains intact. A learning disability affects how language is processed in the brain, both the words we hear and the ones we say. And it affects how pictures are handled, both the ones we read and the ones we write.

A disability can create difficulty for kids in school. Reading, writing, spelling, math, and any number of other subjects can be arduous with a learning disability. Out of school, they interfere with learning on the job and with oral and written communication.

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