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A learning disability is a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or using spoken or written language. This may manifest as difficulties in listening, thinking, speaking, reading, writing, spelling, or mathematical calculations. Common learning disabilities include dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia. Learning disabilities can affect anyone, regardless of age, ethnicity, or gender, and typically mean that learning itself is more challenging.
Types of Learning Disabilities:
- Dyslexia: Dyslexia affects reading and related language-based processing skills. It can lead to difficulties with reading fluency, decoding, comprehension, and recall.
- Dysgraphia: Dysgraphia impacts writing abilities. It can manifest as difficulties with spelling, poor handwriting, and trouble putting thoughts on paper.
- Dyscalculia: Dyscalculia affects a person’s ability to understand numbers and learn math facts. It can cause difficulties with number sense, memorization of arithmetic facts, and accurate or fluent calculation.
Criteria for Diagnosing Learning Disabilities:
- Significant Discrepancy: A notable difference between overall cognitive ability and academic achievement. This discrepancy is typically measured through intelligence tests and academic performance assessments. An individual may have the cognitive ability to succeed academically but shows lower-than-expected achievement in specific areas such as spelling, math, or reading.
- Processing Deficit: A deficit in the ability to process information, which affects learning. This can involve difficulties with visual memory, auditory processing, or other cognitive functions. Someone with weak visual memory may struggle to remember what they see, while another person with auditory processing issues may find it hard to distinguish similar sounds like ‘m’ and ‘n’.
- Impact on Academic Performance: The processing deficit must directly contribute to academic underachievement. The difficulty in processing information must negatively affect learning in specific academic areas. Trouble processing similar sounds can lead to difficulties in learning to read using phonics, directly contributing to reading underachievement.
- Exclusion of Other Factors: The underachievement cannot be primarily due to factors other than the processing deficit, such as intellectual disabilities, sensory impairments, or severe psychological disturbances. While a person with learning disabilities may also have other challenges like depression or low self-esteem, these must be secondary to the learning disability itself.
If you or a loved one is experiencing difficulties related to a learning disability, please contact us to schedule an appointment or learn more about our assessment and support services.
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What Clients Say
“This place is amazing our son (6 at the time) was having problems at school. Thanks to their advice our son (now almost 8) is doing SO much better. I would recommend this place to anyone even considering an assessment for their child!”
J.B.
“The tests Dr. Goldstein used were very accurate in determining the correct concerns, plus he provided excellent advice on tools and resources in moving forward. Five Stars all the way!”
E.H.
“Our teacher suggested that we test our 8 year-old and we could not be happier with the process, the staff and the outcome. This was one of the best things we could have done for our daughter.”
P.B.
“Dr. Goldstein and his staff are very professional, patient and understanding about the entire process. Our family is very grateful to have found and highly recommend Cognitive Solutions Learning Center!”
L.M.
“Dr. Goldstein and the staff at Cognitive Solutions was the best. Dr Goldstein helped my son through the extensive testing, identify and explain his learning disability, along with giving him hope for a brighter future! Thank you.”
H.P.
“After observing my son demonstrating disruptive behavior, I was advised to take him to CSLC for testing. They were able to identify issues and offer realistic strategies to put him on the path to success.“
C.J.
“We have been patients of Cognitive Solutions for years. The evaluations are thorough without taking too much away from school. We would recommend for evaluations we well as learning specialist needs.”
M.B.