Love of Kids Foundation - About Learning "Challenges"

What is a Learning "Disability"?

A learning disability, which we think is more aptly called a learning challenge, is a neurological disorder that results from the way a person's brain is "wired." Children with learning challenges are as "smart" as their peers, but they may have difficulty reading, writing, spelling, reasoning, recalling, and/or organizing information if left to figure things out alone or if taught in conventional ways.

A learning disability can't be "fixed", it is a lifelong issue. With proper support and guidance, however, children with learning challenges can succeed in school and go on to successful, often distinguished careers.

Parents can help children with learning challenges achieve such success by encouraging their strengths, knowing their weaknesses, understanding the educational system, working with professionals, and learning about strategies for dealing with specific difficulties.

Remember, not all great minds think alike. Physicist Albert Einstein began speaking only in full sentences at age 3, and Walt Disney, General George Patton, and U.S. Vice President Nelson Rockefeller had trouble reading all their lives. Entertainers Cher and Tom Cruise are performers with dyslexia, and actor-comedian Robin Williams has turned ADHD into a celebrated international career.

See Does Your Child Learn Differently for specific behaviors that may indicate learning challenges, and What's Wrong for information on specific types of learning challenges.