Overview of learning disorders

[Britney]

Learning disorders are conditions that cause a discrepancy between potential and actual levels of academic performance as predicted by the person’s intellectual abilities. Learning disorders involve impairments or difficulties in concentration or attention, language development, or visual and aural information processing. Diagnosis includes cognitive, educational, speech and language, medical, and psychologic evaluations. Treatment consists primarily of educational management and sometimes medical, behavioral, and psychologic therapy.
Learning disorders are considered a type of neurodevelopmental disorder. Neurodevelopmental disorders are neurologically based conditions that appear early in childhood, typically before school entry. These disorders impair development of personal, social, academic, and/or occupational functioning and typically involve difficulties with the acquisition, retention, or application of specific skills or sets of information. The disorders may involve dysfunction in attention, memory, perception, language, problem-solving, or social interaction. Other common neurodevelopmental disorders include attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorders, and intellectual disability.
Specific learning disorders affect the ability to

Understand or use spoken language
Understand or use written language
Understand and use numbers and reason using mathematical concepts
Coordinate movements
Focus attention on a task

Thus, these disorders involve problems in reading, mathematics, spelling, written expression or handwriting, and understanding or using verbal and nonverbal language (see Table: Common Specific Learning Disorders). Most learning disorders are complex or mixed, with deficits in more than one system.
Although the total number of children in the US with learning disorders is unknown, in the 2017–2018 school year, 7 million students (or 14% of all public school students) ages 3 to 21 in the US received special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Among students receiving special education services, 34% (or about 5% of all students) had specific learning disabilities (1). Boys with learning disorders outnumber girls 5:1. Although formal diagnoses may help some children get assistance, characterizing different capabilities as disorders risks medicalizing them as somehow pathological. The important thing is to identify people who need different or additional help learning and provide access to the assistance they need.
Learning disorders may be congenital or acquired. No single cause has been defined, but neurologic deficits are presumed to be involved whether or not other neurologic manifestations (ie, apart from the learning disorder) are present. Genetic influences are often implicated. Other possible causes include

Maternal illness or use of toxic drugs during pregnancy
Complications during pregnancy or delivery (eg, spotting, toxemia, prolonged labor, precipitous delivery)
Neonatal problems (eg, prematurity, low birth weight, severe jaundice, perinatal asphyxia, postmaturity, respiratory distress)

Potential postnatal factors include exposure to environmental toxins (eg, lead), central nervous system infections, cancers and their treatments, trauma, undernutrition, and severe social isolation or deprivation.