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Home > Departments and Services > AccessAbility Services : Learning Disabilities

Canadore AccessAbility Services

Canadore Department & Services Special Needs
Canadore Department & Services Special Needs
 

Learning Disabilities

The Invisible Disability
There are two main problems which interfere with the identification and understanding of learning disabilities: the condition is 'invisible' and there is currently no universally accepted definition. As a result, many people believe that:

  • learning disabilities aren't 'real' disabilities
  • children with learning problems will 'grow out' of it 
  • learning disabilities only affect how well someone does in school
Faced with such a negative attitude, even those who have been identified as having a learning disability may believe these myths. They may choose to deny or cover up their difficulties, or they might only say they have problems with a specific task rather than use the term learning disability.

Not surprisingly, this can seriously affect a person's success on all fronts. Living with an unaddressed learning disability can have a continuous impact on school and work accomplishment, self-esteem and personal relationships.

What is a Learning Disability
Having a learning disability means having a lifelong disorder. It is not an indication of low intelligence, low motivation, autism or mental illness. Rather, it causes individuals with average to above-average intellectual potential to receive, retain, or express information in ways different from their non-learning disabled peers. Learning disabilities involve either language or perceptual problems. Individuals with learning disabilities usually have areas of difficulty that contrast markedly with other areas in which they excel.

For the college student with a learning disability, this could result in problems with one or more of the following important learning skills:
 listening  perceiving  speaking
 reading  writing  managing time
 spelling  organizing  interacting socially
 calculating

While many students with a learning disability are identified before post secondary education and have received accommodations through resource services, others have struggled on their own. Once those in the latter group arrive at college, they typically discover they must seek assistance when faced with the academic challenge and workload demands of their courses.

Help Works
The good news is that people with learning disabilities can and do learn when taught in a manner that works for them. No one should be expected to cope with the effects of a learning disability without help.

 
Canadore Department & Services Special Needs
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