Introduction to Learning Disabilities

illustration of people talking

Learning disabilities are invisible, individualized and complicated - for starters! The good news is that helping is less complicated - and helping starts with understanding.

This section of www.LDAO.ca compiles everything we have to share about LDs - starting with an introduction to the subject and moving on to detailed information and articles, and other solid sources of information, such as other websites and organisations.

This section is subdivided into the big three questions for people who are learning about LDs:

What Are LDs?

LDs – which is short for learning disabilities – affect one or more of the ways that a person takes in, stores, or uses information. LDs come in many forms and affect people with varying levels of severity. Between 5 and 10 percent of Canadians have LDs.

LDs are a life-long condition – they do not go away – but can be coped with successfully by using areas of strength to compensate and accommodations such as technology.

A quick example: a student could have an LD that affected her reading-and-understanding. She knows how to read, but the process of decoding the words and sentences takes so much effort that she comprehends little of what she's read. This student has learned that this is the case, and now records lectures to listen to later, and listens to audio-books on tape and CD. She has compensated by using her strong listening skills.

LDs and their effects are different from person to person, so a person's pattern of learning abilities need to be understood in order to find good, effective strategies for compensation.

picture of character from the video Select a heading to open up the relevent page.

Working Description and Official Definition of LDs
Different Types of LDs
How Do I Know if I Have an LD?
Some Common Signs of Learning Disabilities
About Assessments
What Are LDs? - a short video introduction for children

What Helps?

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Who Helps?

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