Specific Learning Disabilities 

is a group of disabling conditions that hampers a

person’s ability to listen, think, speak, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations.
One or more of these abilities may be hampered.

Specific Learning Disability interferes with the normal learning process of the
person. The term does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of
visual, hearing or motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance,
or of environmental, cultural or economic disadvantage.

Types and Examples of Specific Learning Disabilities

1. Dyslexia

Dyslexia is the specific learning disability in reading. Children affected with dyslexia
find it very difficult to read. It occurs in children with normal vision and intelligence.

Symptoms of Dyslexia in School going Kids

 Reading well below the expected level for age

 Problems remembering the sequences
 Difficulty in seeing similarities and differences in letters and words
 Difficulty in spelling words
 Avoiding activities that involve reading
2. Dysgraphia

Dysgraphia is a specific learning disability that affects written expression, for

example difficulties with spelling, poor handwriting and trouble putting thoughts on
paper.

Symptoms of Dysgraphia in School going Kids

 Difficulty in writing letters

 Trouble in spacing letters correctly on the page
 Difficulty in writing in a straight line
 Difficulty in:
 Holding paper with one hand while writing with the other
 Holding and controlling a pencil or other writing tool
  Putting the right amount of pressure on the paper with a writing tool
 Maintaining the right arm position and posture for writing

3. Dyscalculia

Dyscalculia is a specific learn disability that causes difficulty in learning arithmetic,

understanding numbers and doing mathematical calculations. About 3 to 6% of
population is affected with some degree of dyscalculia.

 Difficulty reading analog clocks

 Difficulty in finding which of two numbers is larger
 Issues in sequencing things
 Difficulty with multiplication, subtraction, addition, and division tables, mental
arithmetic, etc.
 Problems with differentiating between left and right
 Difficulty with time, directions, recalling schedules, sequences of events,
keeping track of time, frequently late or early
 Inability to concentrate on mentally intensive tasks
NOTE: The term acalculia is used for an acquired impairment in which people have
difficulty in performing simple. Acalculia is distinguished from dyscalculia in that
acalculia is acquired late in life due to neurological injury such as stroke, while
dyscalculia is a specific developmental disorder first observed during the acquisition
of mathematical knowledge.

4. Dyspraxia

Developmental co-ordination disorder (DCD), also known as dyspraxia, is a

condition affecting physical co-ordination. It causes a child to perform less well than
expected in daily activities for their age, and appear to move clumsily.

5. Developmental Aphasia
Aphasia is an impairment of language, affecting the production or comprehension of
speech and the ability to read or write. Aphasia is always due to injury to the brain-
most commonly from a stroke, particularly in older individuals.

Specific Learning Disabilities and Disability Benefits

India’s RPWD Act 2016 defines Specific Learning Disabilities as a heterogeneous
group of conditions wherein there is a deficit inprocessing language, spoken
or written, that may manifest itself as a difficulty to comprehend, speak, read,
write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations and includes such conditions
as perceptual disabilities, dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia and
developmental aphasia.