learning

SPECIAL EDUCATION

Exceptional Learning Needs
Learning disabilities

Learning disabilities. This rather vague-sounding term actually refers to several quite specific learning problems. Dyslexia, for instance, is a difficulty in reading in which the person perceives individual characters, words, or sentences in reverse (see Reading). This is one of several conditions called perceptual aphasias. (The word aphasia, from the Greek, literally means "lack of speech.") Individuals with perceptual aphasias can see perfectly well but do not adequately recognize what they see. Other aphasias cause problems in sounding words or in writing. Although these disabilities are brain-generated, they do not involve mental retardation. They are also not sensory disorders.

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