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Learning Disabilities: A New Horizon of Perception
| Article
# : |
13712 |
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Section : |
LIFE
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| Issue
Date : |
8 / 1988 |
3,158 Words |
| Author
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Evelyn B. Kelly
Evelyn B. Kelly is vice president of the Florida Chapter of
the American Medical Writers' Association and conducts
seminars on pediatric, psychological, and gerontological
concerns. |
"I just love my LD class. The teacher is so patient and nice. I really appreciate the special help and work very hard," said one seventh-grade student.
"LD--that stands for lazy, and dumb. That's me--and the other geeks pulled out for special class. I would rather be failing in regular class than be stuck where that teacher hassles you every minute," said another.
These words are from two students in a model learning disabilities (LD) program. And what's interesting--the program is in the same school and the students are in the same class!
The comments of these students mirror the great diversity in thinking about learning disabilities. Theories, therapies, and remedies, as well as criticisms, have proliferated as quickly as the number of students classified as "learning disabled."
When people lived on the farm in an agrarian society, they did not need a lot of verbal or processing skills. When they moved to town as part of the industrial revolution, they needed a few more. But, as John Naisbitt suggests in Megatrends, we are rapidly moving from an industrial to an information society, and the ability to learn and process information becomes imperative. As we place greater emphasis on learning and verbal skills, those people with the hidden handicaps that we have coined "learning disabilities" will be uncovered. In an information-laden society, understanding and helping the learning disabled may give them hope for a productive future.
The
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