Difference between dyslexia and specific LD?

Question

I live in Canada. I am 15. I have several 'specific learning disabilities' that affect my reading (decoding, comprehension, word recognition) writing (both the physical act and spelling) and mathematical computation. I find reading out loud hard, spelling even harder, cannot copy from the bored, am extremely artistic/musical etc. are those thing's all characteristics of dyslexia? What's the difference?

Answer 1

First let me correct a misconception about Dyslexia. Dyslexia is not a generic term that relates only to reading disabilities that is a characteristic of the disability not the disability. Dyslexia is a neurologically-based, often seen in families (more likely male but affects females), disorder which interferes with the acquisition and processing of language. Varying in degrees of severity, it is manifested by difficulties in receptive (understanding what is said or read) and expressive language (expressing ideas verbally and written), including phonological processing, in reading, writing, spelling, handwriting, and sometimes in arithmetic. Many individuals that have dyslexia also have Dysgraphia. Most understand this as messy handwriting but it is more then just one characteristic.

A specific learning disability is a disorder in one or more of the central nervous system processes involved in perceiving, understanding and/or using concepts through verbal (spoken or written) language or nonverbal means. This disorder manifests itself with a deficit in one or more of the following areas: attention, reasoning, processing, memory, communication, reading, writing, spelling, calculation, coordination, social competence and emotional maturity.

A specific learning disability does not mean you cannot learn to do the things you listed it just means that you learn them differently. There are strategies and tools that can make the reading and writing easier. Ask your parents to talk to the team about assistive technology tools to support your reading and writing. The tools will not teach you to read or write but are there to support you in completing tasks without it being fatiguing.

Most not all children with disabilities are creative. People with Dyslexia are often artistic/musical inclined. However, that does not mean you have dyslexia. For you to be diagnosed with dyslexia a doctor would have to diagnosis you.

Do not allow your diagnosis hold you back. I have specific learning disabilities and I went to college. I am currently enrolled in a doctoral program. The only person that hold you back it you. Best of Luck on your journey. We all have talents and we all have disabilities. It is a matter of how we use our talents and not allow a label to determine who we are and what we can do.

Answer 2

Dyslexia is a basket term for disabilities that relate to reading. You do have some of these, but the term SLD is much better for understanding what exactly is going on with you.

I am going to provide you with a list of disabilities that you may have. I put a star beside the ones I think are most likely for you, given your description.

A learning disability is a neurological disorder. The person's brain is wired differently and though he or she may be as smart as anyone else, they have trouble with reading, writing, organizing and remembering.  Some of the recognized learning disabilities that affect reading (and other things) are deficits in the following:

Auditory Sequencing - Confusion with number sequences, lists or lists of directions. Hearing ninety-four instead of forty-nine.

*Auditory Memory - Difficulty remembering what was heard, difficulty remembering important items from a lecture. Spells poorly.

*Visual Sequencing - Problems in using a separate answer sheet. Loses place easily. Problems with reading. Reversing or misreading numbers of letters. Reading words incorrectly. Difficulty with equations.

*Visual Memory - Difficulty remembering what was seen. Reading comprehension. Difficulty with math equations. Poor recall of information.

*Visual Motor Integration - Mechanical problems in test taking. Difficulty copying from board or book. Spaces poorly. Poor written work. Unorganized.

Non-verbal learning disability is a neurological disorder which originates in the right hemisphere of the brain, causing problems with visual-spatial perception, intuitive, organizational, evaluative and holistic processing functions.

Auditory Figure Ground - Trouble hearing sounds over background noises.

Visual Figure Ground - Trouble seeing an image within competing background. Picking one line of print from another while reading.

Visual Discrimination - Seeing the difference between two similar objects

Spatial Orientation - Loses materials. Late to class. Difficulty with oral reading. Unorganized homework. Difficulty judging time.

*Expressive Language - Difficulty expressing themselves. Difficulty with accessing stored information and turning it into language.

Receptive Language - Appears to be "not listening". Does not respond promptly to cues. Does not understand long sentences or 3 step directions.

The best way for you to find out which of these are causing you difficulty is to ask your special ed teacher if the school psychologist can review your psychological testing with you. This report identifies all of your learning disabilities. If they refuse your request, have one of your parent's request a meeting with the school psych to review testing and then go to that meeting.  At your age they can't really deny you access.

It sounds to me like you are quite smart. For you, the value in understanding your specific learning disabilities is so that you can develop ways to get around them. For instance, if you have an auditory memory issue, then getting the teacher to give you an outline of what is being said would be helpful.

Answer 3

they are not really interconnected.  my son is dyslexic and he too had trouble with some of the things you discribe...but I taught him not to focus on the problem, but rather on the solution...

those titles were created to explain the differences in different learning minuses and pluses...

i taught my son to read a book that had a movie...to see the movie first and then read the book..this allowed him to comprehend to story and then read and find the differences...it helped him and reduced the stress of having to read and understand at the same time...

also not all people are ment to do the same job...so he was encouraged to find what he wanted and then create the way to achieve the goal of getting what he wanted...

so he decided to become a paramedic...passing the medical stuff was hard...so he got cable tv and watched every thing he could find about forensics, medicine, operations, whatever, then watched ER and found all the mistakes they made...he was the only one to get 100% on the medical terminology exam...and it was written...and without extra time...

so dont focus on what you were told was wrong...rather focus on your strong points....cause you do have them...and learn how to make them work for you...