Introduction to Learning Disabilities

This Introduction to Learning Disabilities is divided into three sections – What Are LDs?, What Helps?, and Who Helps? – and is intended as a quick introduction to the complicated topic of learning disabilities.

For more in-depth information, please consult the next section in the left menu, called LD Info and Resources. In that section, you'll find articles, organisations and services, online resources and websites, and more.

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.

picture of character from the video 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.

For more introductory information, select any of the links below.

Working Description of LDs
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

Next in the Introduction to LDs: What Helps?

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