Behaviour Problems In Children and Adolescents with Learning Disabilities

The National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities (NJCLD 1987) defines learning disabilities as follows: Learning Disabilities is a general term that refers to a heterogeneous group of disorders manifested by significant difficulties in the acquisition and use of listening, speaking, reading, writing, reasoning or mathematical abilities. These disorders are intrinsic to the individual, presumed to be due to central nervous system dysfunction and may occur across the life span. Problems in self regulatory behaviours, social perception and social interaction may exist with learning disabilities but do not by themselves constitute a learning disability. The DSM IV (APA 1994) introduced the term learning disorders. Learning disorders are of four types: reading disorder, mathematics disorder, disorder of written expression and learning disorder not otherwise specified. But only a few scientific publications have used this terminology. Learning disorder has been addressed by various labels in research literature such as learning disabilities, reading disabilities, specific developmental disorders of scholastic skills, dyslexia, dyscalculia etc. Literature reviewed here includes all of these, as they are conceptually similar.