Sep

3

The Three “Ds” of Learning Disabilities

Filed Under Goals, Special Education | 2 Comments

Most of us know what the three “Rs” of education are: Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic. But, how many of us know what the three “D’s” of learning disabilities are: Dyslexia, Dysgraphia and Dyscalculia? How many of us know how these specific learning disabilities affect people? Notice, I didn’t ask how many of us know how these learning disabilities affect students. That’s because if you have a learning disability, it affects you all your life, in all areas of your life- not just when you are a student in school. You don’t outgrow learning disabilities; you learn to cope with them.

Learning disabilities are more prevalent than you might think. Most likely, you know someone who has a learning disability. Experts tell us that approximately 10 percent of the population have learning disabilities. That’s a lot of people! It’s important for us to understand learning disabilities because we may have family members, friends, co-workers etc. who have learning disabilities. If we understand the nature of learning disabilities, we can be more compassionate and helpful.

People with learning disabilities aren’t stupid, stubborn or lazy. In fact, they have average or above average intelligence. So what’s going on? Why aren’t they performing to potential? Well, the thing is that their brains are “wired” differently; consequently, they perceive, process and remember things differently. I know it sounds weird, but that’s how it is.

The first “D” of the three “Ds”, dyslexia is a term used to describe various reading problems. Simply put, when a person with dyslexia is reading, he sees the letters and numbers in a different order than they really are making it difficult for him to recognize words because the “spelling” of the words, the order of the numbers, or the placement of words can change each time you look at them. Imagine how difficult it is to read, if things look different all the time. The second “D”, dysgraphia is the term used to describe writing problems. People who have dysgraphia usually write sloppy, poorly formed letters. Some letters are even written backwards. Imagine how difficult it is to do school work if you have dysgraphia. The third “D”, dyscalculia is the term used to describe problems with math. People who have dyscalculia have extreme difficulty grasping basic math concepts. Imaging how frustrating it is not to be able to do basic math computations.

It’s not all doom and gloom. I want to tell you what I tell my students who have a specific learning disability. First, of course, I give them strategies to help them cope with whatever problems they have and then tell their teachers what accommodations they need to make in class so that the students can live up to their potential. Then, I tell them that they shouldn’t define themselves by what they can’t do. They should go with their strengths; they should use them to help them be successful. I tell them it’s really not that complicated: if they have problems with math, then don’t aim for a career that involves a lot of math. Let the people who love math go into those careers. The world needs all kinds of different strengths. The world needs them.



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