Defining Learning Disabilities

Learning Disabilities

According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA), "The term 'specific learning disability' means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, speak, read, write, spell, or to do math calculations. The term includes such conditions as perceptual handicaps, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia."

The disorders that are not included under this IDEA definition of learning disabilities are learning problems that result from "visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage" (Rosenberg, 2008, p. 141).

Rosenberg, Michael S. , David L. Westling, and James McLeskey. Special Education for Today's Teachers. New Jersey: Pearsons Education, Inc., 2008.