LEARNING-DISABILITIES - CLASSIFICATION, CLINICAL-FEATURES AND TREATMENT

Learning disabilities are a group of conditions diagnosed when the ind ividual's achievement in reading, mathematics or written expression is substantially below that expected for his/her age, schooling and leve l of intelligence, Learning dis ability does not include learning abno rmality resulting primarily from communication disorders, impaired vis ion or hearing. social or emotional disturbances or cultural differenc es, a number of classification systems of learning disabilities have b een proposed. A clinical-neuropsychological system recognises 5 types of learning disorders based on abnormalities of: (i) phonological proc essing (ii) spatial cognition; (iii) executive function; (iv) social r ecognition; and (v) long term memory. underlying at,normalities of cog nitive processes, mostly auditory and language processing but also vis ual-perceptual abnormalities. are frequently present in individuals wi th learning disabilities, Comorbid conditions include attention defici t hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder and social skills abnormali ties.