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The term learning disorders refers to the problems or difficulties that some students experience in acquiring the necessary knowledge or skills that lead to academic achievement. Explanations for learning disorders are contested. Early understandings of problems in learning were psychological in nature and based on the medical model. Recently, sociological critiques of psychomedical approaches have led to new educational perspectives.

The medical model suggests that symptoms of a disease are the visible manifestations of an underlying pathology, requiring an accurate diagnosis to define appropriate treatment of the pathology and result in a cure.

A psychological approach to learning disorders based on the medical model sees the symptom of the "disease" as low achievement. The underlying pathology is a categorical label (e.g., learning or intellectual disabilities). Through educational assessment diagnosing the condition, treatment in the form of intervention targets the underlying pathology in order to cure the condition.

The most widely recognized category of learning disorder is learning disability, a term coined by Samuel Kirk in 1962 to refer to any limitation beyond intelligence that prevents individuals from a successful learning experience; that is, those for whom conventional categories such as intellectual disabilities could not explain their failure. Kirk described learning disabilities as a retardation or disorder in areas of school achievement such as reading or mathematics. Based on the medical model, he suggested that cerebral dysfunction or emotional disturbance caused learning disabilities. Given the difficulty in detecting the nature of the underlying cerebral dysfunction, Kirk suggested that exclusionary criteria could differentiate learning disabilities from other causes of failure. He stated that the failure was not the result of intellectual disabilities, sensory deprivation, or cultural or instructional factors.

Since Kirk first introduced the term, a number of definitions of learning disabilities have emerged, but they generally adhere to his central tenets. For example, the initial public policy definition developed as part of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1977 stated that learning disability means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes in understanding or using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, read, spell or do mathematical calculations. The term includes such conditions as perceptual handicaps, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. The term does not include children who have learning problems which are primarily the result of visual, hearing or motor handicaps, of mental retardation, or emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.

Although learning disability is a general term subsuming a wide range of conditions, some researchers and advocacy groups refer to more specific categories of disorders or disabilities, such as the following.

Dyslexia refers specifically to disorders with the written language (reading and spelling). Its use is common in Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, where its distinction is as a neurological  impairment as opposed to an intellectual disability.

Aphasia refers to a disorder in acquiring or using language.  Children or adults can have difficulties in understanding language (receptive language) or in speaking  (expressive language).

Dysgraphia refers to the inability to produce written text.

Dyscalculia refers to a disorder in the ability to perform mathematical tasks.

Bibliography:

Kirk, Samuel A. 2007. Educating Exceptional Children. 11th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

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