Can't One Be Enough?

The specific definition of learning disabilities is one of the major issues that is affecting the classification and testing systems within this community. There are multiple definitions of learning disabilities and each vary either by a couple of words or by multiple sentences. “At least 10 additional definitions achieved some degree of popularity”, states Henry Reiff. These different definitions are arising from doctors in different careers, each trying to attribute LD to relate back to their own respective field. For example a psychologist would try to attribute LD to issues within the brain. Before any progress can occur within this community a consensus of a common definition must be established. This will not only allow for guidelines to be created for classification exams, but it will allow for the LD community to be improved and more accurately represented.

Source: Reiff, Henry B. “Definitions of Learning Disabilities from Adults with Learning Disabilities: The Insiders' Perspectives.” Learning Disability Quarterly, vol. 16, no. 2, 1993, pp. 114–125. www.jstor.org/stable/1511133.