Learning Disabilities may be among the most misunderstood terms used in education today. There are people who will insist that they don't exist at all, and others who rename all of the "Learning Differences." Sometimes Special Education (SPED) and LD are treated as if they are interchangeable, though in many places they are not. But most confusing of all to people seems to be the combination of LD with Gifted and Talented. "How can a child be both learning disabled and gifted and talented?" GT/LD children are also called Twice Exceptional or Crossover children. Definitions

According to the Dictionary: For Parents of Children with Disabilities, LD is defined as "A disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations. The term includes, but is not limited to conditions such 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; mental retardation; emotional disturbance; or environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantages."

Wow! That's a mouthful. To offer a quick example, being nearsighted is not a learning disability. Being blind, while not a learning disability is certainly a "special need." And an individual student who was either nearsighted or blind might also have an LD!

Part of the difficulty rests with legal definitions versus medical definitions. The determination of a particular condition, where it falls, and how it is treated educationally is seldom made from a purely medical or psychological perspective. This seems to be true for homeschoolers whose children have an LD, as surely as with those families whose children are enrolled in school.

Check out the definition of 'disability:' "1. A particular act that someone has problems performing, like reading a book, running or dressing, because of an impairment. A disability is not a "handicap" unless the individual with a disability must function in a particular activity that is impeded by his or her physical limitation, or because society has said he or she is "unable" to perform activities for which they, in fact, are able to perform. 2. The result of any physical or mental condition that affects or prevents one's ability to develop, achieve, and/or function in educational and social settings within the "normal" rate of growth and development." ...and the definition of handicap: "handicap: 1. A limitation imposed on an individual by the environment and the person's capacity to cope with that limitation. 2. A term used to refer to any disability (physical, mental or emotional) which limits or threatens a persons development of full potential. 3. For legal or eligibility purposes, "handicapped" may be defined as: A "special population" of persons who have been evaluated as having mental retardation, being hard of hearing, deaf, speech or language impairments, visual impairments, serious emotional disturbance, orthopedic impairments, other health impairments, or specific learning disabilities; who, because of their handicapping condition, require special education and related services (if a child) provided through an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), in order to succeed in a regular educational program. If an adult, other services or assistance may be available through a variety of other agencies."

For the sake of completeness, I offer their definition of "gifted, creative, and talented:" "Terms applied to those with extraordinary abilities in one or more areas and capable of superior performance."

Of particular note in theses definitions is the phrase from disability, "The result of any mental condition that affects or prevents one's ability to develop, achieve, and/or function in educational and social settings within the "normal" rate of growth or development." In some states, gifted education is under the umbrella of special education for exactly that reason. Gifted children can not develop within the "normal" rate of growth and development.

What does a GT/LD child "look' like? Many times, she or he will look like another gifted child. OR like another child who is not gifted. Part of this depends on the severity of the LD, part of it depends on the degree of giftedness, part of it depends on the fit between the type of LD and the area of giftedness, and part of it depends on how you are looking at the child! There are many stories of gifted children not being diagnosed with an LD because they have performed at or above grade level, despite their Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) or Dyslexia. Others have overcome what might have been expected to be an overwhelming physical disability like hearing loss (not an LD). Children (and humans in general) are very resilient and adaptable. Gifted children are especially so, much of the time.

If a child does less well than you would have expected, or seems to resist reading when you would have expected the child to love it, these are caution signs that there may be reason to check things out. If behavior suggests an aptitude but tests suggest no such aptitude, there is a good chance that there is a reason other than a fluke in the child's behavior.

Recommended resources:

Uniquely Gifted: Identifying and Meeting the Needs of the Twice-Exceptional Student, edited by Kiesa Kay http://www.uniquelygifted.org/ - maintained by Meredith Warshaw, M.S.S., M.A.

http://www.gtworld.org/gtspeclist.html ö a mailing list for families with gifted/special needs children. http://student.admin.utas.edu.au/student_services/alda/what_is_ld and the rest of the articles, especially "Opening All Options" http://www.usd.edu/cd/dictionary/index.htm - which I found at Meredith's website.