Specific Learning Disorder

Learning Objectives

  • Describe the characteristics and diagnosis of specific learning disorders

DSM-5 Diagnostic Criteria

Specific learning disorder is a classification of disorders in which a person has difficulty learning in a typical manner within one of several domains. Often referred to as learning disabilities, learning disorders are characterized by inadequate development of specific academic, language, and speech skills. Types of learning disorders include difficulties in reading (dyslexia), mathematics (dyscalculia), and writing (dysgraphia).

The diagnosis of specific learning disorder was added to the DSM-5 in 2013. The DSM does not require that a single domain of difficulty (such as reading, mathematics, or written expression) be identified—instead, it is a single diagnosis that describes a collection of potential difficulties with general academic skills, simply including detailed specifiers for the areas of reading, mathematics, and writing. Academic performance must be below average in at least one of these fields, and the symptoms may also interfere with daily life or work. In addition, the learning difficulties cannot be attributed to other sensory, motor, developmental, or neurological disorders.

Learning disabilities are cognitive disorders that affect different areas of cognition, particularly language or reading. It should be pointed out that learning disabilities are not the same thing as intellectual disabilities. Learning disabilities are considered specific neurological impairments rather than global intellectual or developmental disabilities. Often, learning disabilities are not recognized until a child reaches school age. One confounding aspect of learning disabilities is that they most often affect children with average to above-average intelligence. In other words, the disability is specific to a particular area and not a measure of overall intellectual ability. At the same time, learning disabilities tend to exhibit comorbidity with other disorders, like attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Link to Learning

If you are interested in further reading on learning disabilities, read this post published in Psychology Today “Gifted Kids with Learning Problems.”

Dyslexia

Dyslexia, sometimes called reading disorder, is the most common learning disability; of all students with specific learning disabilities, 70–80% have deficits in reading. The term developmental dyslexia is often used as a catch-all term, but researchers assert that dyslexia is just one of several types of reading disabilities. A reading disability can affect any part of the reading process, including word recognition, word decoding, reading speed, prosody (oral reading with expression), and reading comprehension.

Girl reading a chapter book
Figure 1. People with dyslexia may have difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, writing words, “sounding out” words in their head, pronouncing words when reading aloud, and understanding what they’re reading.

Dyscalculia

Dyscalculia is a form of math-related disability that involves difficulties with learning math-related concepts (such as quantity, place value, and time), memorizing math-related facts, organizing numbers, and understanding how problems are organized on the page. People with this dyscalculia are often referred to as having poor “number sense.”

Dysgraphia

The term dysgraphia is often used as an overarching term for all disorders of written expression. Individuals with dysgraphia typically show multiple writing-related deficiencies, such as grammatical and punctuation errors within sentences, poor paragraph organization, multiple spelling errors, and excessively poor penmanship.

An additional type of learning disability is nonverbal, also known as NVLD. Nonverbal learning disabilities represent another type of learning difficulty in which individuals demonstrate adequate vocabulary, verbal expression, or reading skills, but present difficulties with certain nonverbal activities (e.g., problem-solving, visual-spatial tasks, reading body language, and recognizing social cues).

Passage of text with dysgraphia highlighted, showing some sloppy writing and poor organization.
Figure 2. Dysgraphia is often characterized by grammatical and punctuation errors within sentences, poor paragraph organization, multiple spelling errors, and excessively poor penmanship.

Etiology

The causes of learning disabilities are not well understood. However, some potential causes or contributing factors are

  • heredity. Learning disabilities often run in the family—children with learning disabilities are likely to have parents or other relatives with similar difficulties.
  • problems during pregnancy and birth. Learning disabilities can result from anomalies in the developing brain, illness or injury, fetal exposure to alcohol or drugs, low birth weight, oxygen deprivation, or premature or prolonged labor.
  • accidents after birth. Learning disabilities can also be caused by head injuries, malnutrition, or toxic exposure (such as heavy metals or pesticides).

Epidemiology

Child writing numbers
Figure 3. Dyscalculia tends to become more apparent as children get older; however, symptoms can appear as early as preschool. Dyscalculia is characterized by difficulties with common arithmetic tasks such as reading analog clocks; stating which of two numbers is larger; and basic adding, subtracting, multiplication, and division.

The DSM-5 estimates the prevalence of all learning disorders (including impairment in writing as well as in reading and/or mathematics) to be about five to 15% worldwide and the German S3 guideline names prevalence for reading and/or writing disorders of about 3%-8%.[1]

The percentage of people with dyslexia is unknown, but it has been estimated to be as low as 5% and as high as 17% of the population. While it is diagnosed more often in males, some believe that it affects males and females equally.

Dyscalculia is thought to be present in 3%-6% of the general population, but estimates by country and sample vary. Many studies have found prevalence rates by gender to be equivalent. Those that find a gender difference in prevalence rates often find dyscalculia higher in females, but some few studies have found prevalence rates higher in males.

The prevalence for developmental writing disorders is about seven to 15% among school-aged children, with boys being more affected than girls by two to three times.[2]

Treatment

Individuals with learning disorders face unique challenges that may persist throughout their lives. Depending on the type and severity of their disability, interventions and technology may be used to help the individual learn strategies that will foster future success. Some interventions can be quite simple while others are intricate and complex. Teachers, parents, and schools can work together to create a tailored plan for intervention and accommodation to aid an individual in successfully becoming an independent learner. School psychologists and other qualified professionals often help design and manage such interventions. Social support may also improve learning for students with learning disabilities.

Key Takeaways: Specific Learning Disorder

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Glossary

specific learning disorder: a classification of disorders in which a person has difficulty learning in a typical manner within one of several domains; often referred to as learning disabilities

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  1. Döhla, D., & Heim, S. (2016). Developmental Dyslexia and Dysgraphia: What can We Learn from the One About the Other?. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 2045. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.02045
  2. Döhla, D., & Heim, S. (2016). Developmental Dyslexia and Dysgraphia: What can We Learn from the One About the Other?. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 2045. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.02045

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