Learning Disabilities

As we grow up, we learn how to get along with others. For example, most of us learn at an early age to read body language. When people use body language, they use their bodies to communicate their feelings in ways such as smiling, frowning, and standing with their arms crossed. When someone pulls back from us, we understand we are too close to him or her. A yawn tells us that someone may be bored.

Many people with a learning disability, like Frank, are often not good at reading the body language of other people. For lots of reasons, they don't seem able to notice subtle signals such as a lifted eyebrow or a frown.

Like Frank, some people with LD may also have a poor sense of timing. They can't judge when to bring a new topic into a conversation or how to get to a party on time.

There is almost no end to the ways a learning disability can interfere with one's social life. Here are some other examples.

Shyla skips too many spaces when she plays a board game. She doesn't “see” the correct number of spaces. Friends think she is cheating.

Brandon may quit listening to someone because he is still trying to make sense of the first words he heard. People think he's not paying attention to them.

Devon has problems remembering. One day he could not remember where his mom hid the house key. He was so frustrated that he kicked a hole in the door. Devon's parents grounded him for a month.