“Learning Disability” is just a Label

Ask Yourself…

How would you answer if I said to you:

“In general, children with learning disabilities score below average on intelligence tests.”

What would you say?  Would you quickly say something or would you think about it?  What if this question were on a final exam you were taking for your Learning, Literacy, and Development requirement for a teaching certificate?  Would you think that maybe this question was more than an off-handed question because it is on a final exam in college?

Sheesh…

What’s the Answer?

The answer is:  FALSE

I had only one student out of 33 who answered this question correctly.  I have to ask: “Where did I go wrong?”  Did I not get the point across that “learning disability” is just a label and has nothing to do with intelligence, motivation, and creativity?  I know I discussed this for at least one lecture, so all I can think is that it is a label, a cultural bias, a rumor.

A “learning disability” can be a label for a variety of things.  Woolfolk (2007) states that this term is often overused and given to kids who may be a little troublesome to a teacher.  This label encompasses all issues from ADHD to not being able to see the board well because you need glasses.  Exactly how do these issues decrease intelligence?  They just don’t.

Please be very careful when you label a learner, and I think you should not label a learner.  We are all so different with so many different strengths and weaknesses.  Should we label a learner by one weakness?

References

Woolfolk, A. (2007). Educational Psychology (Vol. 10): Allyn & Bacon.