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Cognitive Learning Disabilities

Other learning disabilities are related to cognitive skills. Dyslexia, for example, is a common developmental reading disorder. A person can have problems with any of the tasks involved in reading. Scientists have found, however, that a significant number of people with dyslexia share an inability to distinguish or separate the sounds in spoken words. For instance, dyslexic individuals sometimes have difficulty assigning the appropriate sounds to letters, either individually or when letters combine to form words. There is more to reading than recognizing words, though. If the brain is unable to form images or relate new ideas to those stored in memory, the reader can’t understand or remember the new concepts. So, other types of reading disabilities can appear when the focus of reading shifts from word identification to comprehension.⁶

“Writing, too, involves several brain areas and functions. The brain networks for vocabulary, grammar, hand movement, and memory must all be in good working order. So, a developmental writing disorder might result from problems in any of these areas.”⁷ Someone who can’t distinguish the sequence of sounds in a word will often have problems with spelling. People who have writing disabilities, particularly expressive language disorders (the inability to express oneself using accurate language or sentence structure), are often unable to compose complete, grammatical sentences.⁸

A student with a developmental arithmetic disorder will have difficulty recognizing numbers and symbols, memorizing facts such as the multiplication table, aligning numbers, and understanding abstract concepts such as place value and fractions.⁹

Anyone who is diagnosed with a learning disability is in good company. The pop star Jewel; Michael Phelps, the Olympic gold medal swimmer; and actors Keira Knightley, Orlando Bloom, Patrick Dempsey, and Vince Vaughn are just a few of the famous and successful people who have diagnosed learning disabilities. A final important message: A learning disability is a learning difference, but in no way is it related to intelligence. Having a learning disability is not a sign that you are stupid. In fact, some of the most intelligent individuals in human history have had a learning disability.

The following questions may help you determine whether you should seek further screening for a possible learning disability:

Do you perform poorly on tests even when you think you have studied and are capable of performing better?
Do you have trouble spelling words?
Do you work harder than your classmates at basic reading and writing?
Do your instructors tell you that your performance in class is inconsistent, such as answering questions correctly in class but incorrectly on a written test?
Do you have a really short attention span, or do others say that you do things without thinking?

Although responding “yes” to any of these questions does not mean that you have a disability, the resources of your campus learning center or the office for student disability services can help you address any potential problems and devise ways to learn more effectively.