One in Five: More Than a Disability
How Common Are Learning Disabilities?
According to the National Center for Learning Disabilities, “one in five children in the U.S. have learning and attention disorders such as dyslexia and ADHD,” along with Mental Health America’s data that “learning disabilities affect as much as 15 percent of otherwise able school children.”
Although so many students are affected by a Learning Disorder (LD), the current education system fails to surround such students with an environment that effectively provides for their needs.
The Impacts of Having a Learning Disorder
The American Academy of Pediatrics states that “approximately two in five boys and girls with ADHD aren’t diagnosed until they reach junior high or high school — sometimes not until college.”
Currently, the US government provides only a limited amount of funding towards helping students with LDs and relies largely on state and local governments to supply the rest.
Many states choose to allocate the minimal funding towards programs that focus on special education, rather than the identification of LDs in students who may also not be eligible for different classes.
If a Learning Disorder is not properly addressed, the student can be psychologically and socially impacted, as students with LDs usually have high levels of emotional concerns such as depression, loneliness, and low self-esteem.
Even students who have identified their LDs can feel ostracized and have high symptoms of depression and anxiety. According to the Sovereign Health Adolescent Program, “heightened anxiety can be due to students’ sense that scholastic demands are beyond their control.”
Students with LDs can feel overwhelmed, discouraged, and incapable of handling work that other students seem to grasp more easily. Not only do they struggle with internal pressures, but external ordeals as well, such as the social stigma of being ‘slow’ that is associated with an LD.
Such issues can carry on from a young age to adult life. The National Center for Learning Disabilities states that “half of young adults with SLD or OHI [learning disabilities] had been involved at some point with the justice system” and “compared with adults who do not have learning disabilities, adults with these issues are twice as likely to be jobless.”
How You Can Help People Affected by an LD
Raising awareness about LDs is crucial to eliminating the stereotype that people with LDs are ‘dumber’ than everyone else. It is important to know that having an LD means that a person has difficulty in one or more areas of learning, and their overall intelligence or motivation is not affected.
Educating others about the symptoms of an LD can help them identify if someone may have one. The most notable symptoms of an LD include:
- Problems reading and/or writing
- Problems with math
- Poor memory
- Problems paying attention
- Trouble following directions
Signing petitions, donating to organizations such as the Learning Disabilities Foundation, and offering academic or emotional support to somebody you know with an LD is the first step towards definite change. So, continue championing the voices of people who cannot speak as loudly, and change will come along with it.
Sources
American Academy of Pediatrics. Learning Problems in Teens. https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/learning-disabilities/Pages/Learning-Problems-Teens.aspx
CDC. Learning Disorders in Children. https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/learning-disorder.html#:~:text=Having%20a%20learning%20disorder%20means,after%20first%20or%20second%20grade
Gorman, Jean Cheng. Understanding Children’s Hearts and Minds: Emotional Functioning and Learning Disabilities. http://www.ldonline.org/article/6292/
Griffith, Michael. The Progress of Education Reform. https://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/01/17/72/11772.pdf
Mental Health America. Learning Disabilities. https://www.mhanational.org/conditions/learning-disabilities
Sovereign Health Adolescent Program. How Learning Disabilities Fuel Anxiety and Depression. https://www.sovteens.com/mental-health/how-learning-disabilities-fuel-anxiety-and-depression/
The National Center for Learning Disabilities. Understanding Learning and Attention Issues. https://www.ncld.org/news/state-of-learning-disabilities/understanding-learning-and-attention-issues/
The Understood Team. ADHD and Co-Occurring Conditions by the Numbers. https://www.understood.org/en/learning-thinking-differences/child-learning-disabilities/add-adhd/adhd-comorbidity
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Edited by: Mehek Bhargava, Director of Research Bloggers
