This post is part of a series of guest posts on GPS by the graduate students in my Psychopathology course. As part of their work for the course, each student had to demonstrate mastery of the skill of “Educating the Public about Mental Health.” To that end, each student has to prepare two 1,000ish word posts on a particular class of mental disorders.
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Learning Disorders, Success, and Us by Hayley Twyman
What is wrong with people who have a specific learning disorder?
Specific learning disorders affect one’s ability to learn new things. Learning disorders can be characterized by difficulty reading, spelling, calculating math, sequencing information, or reading social cues. Individuals with the disorder may have difficulties in understanding directions given in the classroom, understanding time, or trouble completing homework. There is much more to specific learning disorders than issues presented through reading, writing, and arithmetic; however many of these issues are often overlooked or over-simplified.
Major issues in the treatment of individuals with specific learning disorders exist within the school system. For many with the disorder, their lives may be plagued by stigma and preconceived notions held by their caretakers, which may affect the quality of education they receive. Some states allow a child to be exempt from the rigors of final examinations in high school if they have been diagnosed with a learning disorder. While it may appear as though the school is trying to help the student, it truly is neglecting to help that student overcome his or her ability and succeed. Having a disorder not only affects the way a child is treated in school; it also affects the child’ own self-esteem. Once a child is labeled as having a learning disorder, their self-esteem falls along with their own expectations. Combining low expectations with low-self esteem can be detrimental to the development and success of a young student. If educational development is hindered early on, the effects may cause issues as life goes on.
A common stereotype with specific learning disorders is that it is a childhood issue. But what many fail to realize is that those children grow up. The issues presented by being diagnosed with this disorder are not isolated in the classroom; if not treated promptly and properly, it can become a life-long issue. Approximately 1.7 percent of the United States population, or 4.6 million people have a learning disability. However, even though the disorder is prevalent, the opportunity to receive assistance is rare. Only 5% of adults with learning disorders receive amenities in the workplace to accommodate their disorder and only 46% report being employed. Without the necessary assistance in the workplace to fulfill the requirements of a job, one can hardly blame coincidence for the disproportionate employment rate.
Another major obstacle for many adults with specific learning disorder is the criminal justice system. Half of adults with a specific learning disorder are reported to have been in trouble with the criminal justice system within eight years of high school graduation and research suggests that nearly 30% of the prison population has some sort of diagnosable learning disability. However, though the rate of learning disabilities is so high in prison, few receive the help that they need. It could be detrimental to the odds of one winning a court case if he or she does not have the ability to read the charges lain out in front of them.
Adults with specific learning disorders may also have difficulties advancing their post-high school education. These individuals graduate with four-year college degrees at nearly half the rate as those without the disability. Though 94% of students with the disability receive some sort of accommodation in high school the same is true for only 17% of college students. Specific learning disorders may not be curable, but they are treatable. The lack of resources for students with the disabilities may be hindering many capable and intelligent students from fulfilling their potential to become successful. With proper remediation and instruction, most students are able to circumnavigate their disabilities in order to live happy, functional, and fulfilling lives.
But perhaps the greatest difficulty to overcome with specific learning disorders is the public’s overall misunderstanding of the disorder. In a national survey 22% of respondents thought that specific learning disorders were developed from watching too much television, 24% thought the development was due to vaccinations, and 43% percent attributed the disorder to low IQ. Though each of these three beliefs is inaccurate, they are still held by an alarming percentage of the American public. A great stigmatizing factor is socioeconomic status. Research suggests that children with specific learning disorders are more likely to be from a low socioeconomic status and to have had exposures to poor living conditions that may have been detrimental to cognitive development. Those with a learning disorder were also more likely to have been raised in a single mother-headed household. Some are quick to attribute laziness with poverty; unfortunately laziness is also attributed to specific learning disorder in children. But how can the inability to understand information presented grade level be attributed to work ethic when the child may have been exposed to malnourishment or other dangers? These beliefs continue the stigmatization of those with the disorders and hinder the overall understanding of what it means to have a specific learning disorder.
So what exactly is wrong with learning disorders?
Specific learning disorders affect one’s ability to learn new things and are often associated with low self-esteem and expectations in high school. However, though it is often though of as a childhood disorder, the effects do not go away once one graduates. People with learning disorders are less likely than those without to graduate from a four-year college. In fact, those with a learning disorder are more likely to be in trouble with the law within eight years of high school graduation than they are to earn a four-year degree. Being that those with a four-year degree earn approximately 40% more than those with only a high school diploma, the lessened likelihood to finish college may affect earnings later on in life, which may affect socioeconomic status. A lower socioeconomic status means fewer resources for the person and their children, which may lead to malnourishment and exposure to dangerous conditions. Children raised in such an environment are more likely than those in a higher socioeconomic status to develop a specific learning disorder.
Maybe there is nothing wrong with people who have learning disorders.
Maybe there is something wrong with how we care for them.
