Learning Disabilities, An Understanding and Definition.

A counselor with a dyslexic-like disability shares three conclusions concerning this type of disability. First, difficulties with reading, math, writing, heard language, and nonverbal language are not the disability but the symptom of the disability. Second, these disabilities are dynamic in nature and therefore the symptoms fluctuate somewhere between minimal and severe from one minute to the next or from one day to the next. Third, the choices the individual with the disability makes and the choices that are made for that individual by others will determine how disabled that person is by the disability. Dyslexic-like symptoms are thought to occur when one or more of the language process systems is out of sync (timing) with the other processes in the system. An example is given showing how the normally automatic reading process becomes a five-step manual process for the individual with a dyslexic-like disability. Conclusions that involve compensating through wise choices and the use of technology are discussed. (DB)