A Specific Learning Disability is defined as a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or using language, whether spoken or written. This may manifest itself as difficulties in listening, thinking, speaking, reading, writing, spelling, or doing math. Basic psychological processes include: attention, visual processing, auditory processing, sensory-motor skills, cognitive abilities such as association, conceptualization, and expression.
Conditions included under SLD may encompass:
- Perceptual disabilities
- Brain injury
- Minimal brain dysfunction
- Dyslexia
- Dyscalculia
- Dysgraphia
- Developmental aphasia.
SLD does not include learning problems primarily due to visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, or intellectual disabilities, or emotional disturbance, or environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.[1] However, a specific learning disability does include a disability within the function of vision which results in visual perceptual or visual motor dysfunction.[2]
The specific learning disability category of special education eligibility is the largest category of special education students and the most complicated in terms of the factors which must be considered and the evaluation processes school districts may use in making this determination.
In California, school districts often use what is known as the “discrepancy model” to determine whether a student has a specific learning disability. Under this approach, a student must be found to have a severe discrepancy between their intellectual ability and their achievement in oral expression, listening comprehension, written expression, basic reading skills, reading comprehension, mathematical calculation, or mathematical reasoning.[3] Federal special education law allows school districts to use another assessment method known as “response to scientific, research-based intervention model” or “Response to Intervention (RTI) model” to determine if a student qualifies for special education with a learning disability.[4] Federal law prohibits states from requiring school districts to use only the discrepancy model and requires states to also allow their school districts to use the RTI model.[5] Because of the federal law, California law permits schools to use either the discrepancy model or RTI model in determining whether a student has a specific learning disability.[6] Before consenting to a special education evaluation for your child, it is important to understand which method of assessment your school district will use.