Specific Learning Disorder
Specific learning disorder causes persistent difficulty learning and using academic skills despite targeted help. It may affect reading, written expression, mathematics or more than one area.
Not a measure of intelligence
The pattern may involve slow or inaccurate word reading, poor reading comprehension, spelling and written organisation, number sense, calculations or mathematical reasoning. Terms such as dyslexia and dyscalculia may describe particular profiles, while the formal diagnosis specifies the affected academic area.
A large discrepancy between IQ and attainment is not required. Assessment considers the quality of teaching, language exposure, hearing, vision, developmental history and real-life impact so that difference, interrupted schooling or inadequate instruction is not mislabelled as a disorder.
Assessment
- At least one defined difficulty in reading, comprehension, spelling, written expression, number skills or mathematical reasoning persists for at least six months despite targeted intervention.
- Affected skills are measurably below age expectations and meaningfully interfere with education, work or daily activities.
- The difficulty begins during school years, although it may become fully apparent only when demands exceed the person’s ability to compensate.
- Intellectual disability, uncorrected sensory difficulty, neurological or mental disorders, language difference, adversity and inadequate instruction are considered.
Teaching and access
Effective intervention directly teaches the relevant skill: structured decoding and fluency work for reading, explicit planning and revision strategies for writing, and clear modelling with guided practice for mathematical concepts and problem solving.
Adjustments such as extra time, audio text, typing, spelling tools or an appropriate calculator improve access but do not replace specialised teaching. Family, school and specialists set measurable goals, track progress and change the approach when the learner is not responding.
When to seek help
Ask for assessment when reading, writing or mathematics remains difficult despite suitable teaching and targeted support, requires disproportionate time or produces avoidance and anxiety. Evaluation should lead to a practical educational plan, not only a label. Sudden loss of an established skill after injury or neurological symptoms needs medical assessment.