What is Learning Disability?

Learning Difficulties and Learning Disabilities are commonly used terms. The terminology attempts to explain why a child or young person may struggle with one or more activities of daily life, such as communication, social participation, and independent living, across multiple environments, such as home, school, work and community.

When these difficulties persist, despite good daily teaching interventions and nurturing environments, the term Learning Disability can be considered.  This means the child or young person is likely to progress with their learning of life skills at a significantly slower rate than their peers.

DSM5 diagnostic criteria

DSM5 adopt the term "Intellectual disabiltiy" to describe child or young person with deficit in Intellectual functions such as reasoning, problems solving, planning, abstract thinking, judgment, academic learning, and learning from experience. And deficit in adaptive functioning that result in failure to meet developmental and sociocultural standards for personal independence and social responsibility. Without ongoing support, the adaptive deficit limit functioning in one or more activities of daily life, such as communication, social participation, and independent living, across multiple environment, such as home, school, work and community.

Our approach to assessment and diagnosis

Practitioners within Safe CDC adopt a strengths-based model to consider the child’s or young person’s strengths and then specific areas where they need intervention. The intervention focuses on what we want the child or young person to be able to achieve and this will be different for every child or young person. 

Safe CDC does not adopt the deficit model of intellectual functions, we focus on the individual’s strengths and areas of where the support is needed for daily life, such as communication, social participation, and independent living, across multiple environments, such as home, school, work and community.