The way in which a disability is defined affects the way in which individuals are determined to have or not have the disability, the estimates of the prevalence of the disability, and many other phenomena related to the disability. The definition of Learning Disabilities, which is the only one of the 13 disability categories in special education that is actually defined in statute, has been a point of contention since the late 1960s (when it first appeared in US laws), because it (a) includes a diverse array of other disorders, (b) excludes other disorders, and (c) refers to incompletely documented phenomena (psychological processes).
In the US, Learning Disabilities expressly excludes intellectual disabilities (which were known as “mental retardation” until the about 2006). However, in the UK, learning disability refers to mental retardation and other terms are use for the conditions we would call Learning Disabilities in the US.
In US law, the term “Specific Learning Disability,” as defined in federal law and regulation, means
A disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which disorder may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations. This term includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. This term does not include a learning problem that is primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.
A coalition of US organizations concerned with Learning Disabilities, the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities, developed and promoted an alternative definition. Here’s that alternative:
Learning disabilities is a generic term that refers to a heterogeneous group of disorders manifested by significant difficulties in the acquisition and use of listening, speaking, reading, writing, reasoning, or mathematical abilities. These disorders are intrinsic to the individual and presumed to be due to central nervous system dysfunction. Even though a learning disability may occur concomitantly with other handicapping conditions (e.g., sensory impairment, mental retardation, social and emotional disturbance), or environmental influences (e.g., cultural differences, insufficient/inappropriate instruction, psychogenic factors), it is not the direct result of those conditions or influences.
To understand the subtle differences and the reasons for them, review the NJCLD statement, “Learning Disabilities: Issues on Definition.”
It is important to note that there are many other definitions of Learning Disabilities offered by other organizations and agencies, and these differ substantially from the US government and NJCLD definitions. For example, the World Health Organization’s ICF includes a category called “Specific developmental disorders of scholastic skills” (F81; see Chapter V Mental and behavioural disorders, Disorders of psychological development) that refers to disorders we might call Learning Disabilities. But, it also includes a category for dyslexia (R48; see Chapter XVIII Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified). Pretty interesting, hunh?
Although advocates of other definitions support them, the only definition that really matters in the US is the one to which the US federal government and the various states adhere. It is that legal definition that provides to authority for the provision of services in the US public schools. That’s the one that applies when we seek to obtain special education services for children in the US.
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