Learning Disability

Subtitle

Learn More about Learning Disability

A learning disability affects the way a person learns new things in any area of life, not just at school. Find out how a learning disability can affect someone, and where support can be found.

It affects the way they understand information and how they communicate. Around 1.5 million people in the UK have one. This means they can have difficulty:  

  • understanding new or complex information
  • learning new skills 
  • coping independently

“In practical terms,” says Lesley Campbell from the learning disability charity Mencap, “a learning disability means that it’s harder for your child to learn, understand and communicate than it is for other children.”

Mild, moderate or severe

A learning disability can be mild, moderate or severe. Some people with a mild learning disability can talk easily and look after themselves, but take a bit longer than usual to learn new skills. Others may not be able to communicate at all and have more than one disability (see Profound and multiple learning disability, below).

A learning disability is not the same as learning difficulty or mental illness. “People get confused if they start using the term ‘learning difficulty’. In education this means things like dyslexia, which is not a learning disability,” says Campbell.

“Our definition of learning disabilities focuses on people who have difficulty learning across more than one area of their life. It’s not just to do with reading or writing.”

Consultant paediatrician Dr Martin Ward Platt agrees. “It can be very confusing,” he says, pointing out that the term “learning difficulties” is used by some people to cover the whole range of learning disabilities, from children with a slightly lower IQ to those who will never be able to live on their own.

“It is easy to give the impression, by using a term like ‘learning difficulties’, that a child has less of a disability than they really do,” says Dr Ward Platt. 

Some children grow up to be quite independent, while others need help with everyday tasks, such as washing or getting dressed, for their whole lives. It depends on their abilities.

Sources of support

Some learning disabilities are diagnosed at birth, Down’s syndrome for example. Others might not be discovered until the child is old enough to talk or walk.

Once your child is diagnosed with a learning disability, your GP can refer you for any specialist support you may need. You’ll begin to get to know the team of professionals who will be involved in your child’s care.

Support from professionals including GPs, paediatricians, speech and language therapists, physiotherapists and educational and clinical psychologists is available to help individuals live as full and independent a life as possible.

What causes learning disabilities?

A learning disability happens when a person’s brain development is affected, either before they are born, during their birth or in early childhood. Several factors can affect brain development, including: 

  • the mother becoming ill in pregnancy 
  • problems during the birth that stop enough oxygen getting to the brain
  • the unborn baby developing certain genes
  • the parents passing certain genes to the unborn baby that make having a learning disability more likely (known as inherited learning disability) 
  • illness, such as meningitis, or injury in early childhood

Sometimes there is no known cause for a learning disability.

Some conditions are associated with having a learning disability, such as cerebral palsy*. This is because people with these conditions are more likely to have one. Everyone with Down’s syndrome, for example, has some kind of learning disability, and so do most people with cerebral palsy. People with autism** may also have learning disabilities, and around 30% of people with epilepsy*** have a learning disability.

Profound and multiple learning disability (PMLD)

A diagnosis of profound and multiple learning disability is used when a child has more than one disability, with the most significant being a learning disability. 

Many children diagnosed with PMLD will also have a sensory or physical disability, complex health needs or mental health difficulties. People with PMLD need a carer or carers to help them with most areas of everyday life, such as eating, washing and going to the toilet.

* Cerebral palsy is a general term covering a number neurological conditions that affect a child's movement and coordination.

Neurological conditions affect the brain and nervous system.

Cerebral palsy is caused by damage to the brain, which normally occurs before, during or soon after birth. Known possible causes of cerebral palsy include:

  • infection in early pregnancy
  • a difficult or premature birth
  • bleeding in the baby’s brain
  • abnormal brain development in the baby

Read more about the causes of cerebral palsy.

Symptoms of cerebral palsy

The symptoms of cerebral palsy vary greatly from child to child and depend on the type of cerebral palsy your child has (see box, left). Some children have problems walking, while others are profoundly disabled and require lifelong care. Read more about the symptoms of cerebral palsy.

Children with cerebral palsy often have other related conditions or problems, including:

How common is cerebral palsy?

It is estimated that 1 in every 400 children in the UK is affected by cerebral palsy. Approximately 1,800 babies are diagnosed with the condition each year.

Outlook

Cerebral palsy is not a progressive condition. This means it will not get worse as your child gets older. However, it can put a great deal of strain on the body, which can cause problems in later life.

There is no cure for cerebral palsy, but a range of treatments can help relieve symptoms and increase a child's sense of independence and self-esteem. These include physiotherapy, occupational therapy and medication to relieve muscle stiffness and spasms. Find out more about treatments for cerebral palsy.

** Living with autism

Autism is a serious and lifelong developmental disability. On its own, autism is not a learning disability or a mental health problem.

People with autism usually have difficulties with:

  • social communication
  • social interaction
  • social imagination

However, some people with autism have an accompanying learning disability, learning difficulty or mental health problem.

Autism is a spectrum condition. This means that while all people with autism share certain difficulties, the condition affects them differently.

Perhaps the best known form of autism is Asperger syndrome. People with Asperger syndrome are often of average or above-average intelligence. They have fewer problems with speech than people with other types of autism, but may find it difficult to understand and process language.

While some people with autism live independent lives, others may need a lifetime of specialist support. Autism can have a profound and sometimes devastating effect on individuals and families. But getting the right support makes a positive difference to the person who is diagnosed and their loved ones.

What causes autism?

There are over half a million people with autism in the UK. That’s one person in every 100. If you include their families, autism touches the lives of over two million people every day.

The causes of autism are still being investigated. According to the National Autistic Society (NAS), there is strong evidence to suggest that autism can be caused by a variety of physical factors, all of which affect brain development There is also evidence, says the NAS, to suggest that genetic factors are responsible for some forms of autism.

Autism is not caused by a person's upbringing and is not the fault of the individual with the condition.

There is no cure for autism. However, there are a range of interventions (learning and development techniques) that people may find helpful.

How does autism affect people?

Autism affects the way a person communicates with, and relates to, other people. It also affects how they make sense of the world around them.

Everyday life for people with autism can be confusing, frightening and lack meaning. People with autism often find understanding and communicating with others particularly difficult, which can leave them feeling isolated.

People with autism may also experience some form of sensory sensitivity or lack of sensitivity, for example to sound, touch, taste, smell, lights or colour.

The triad of impairments

People with autism share three main areas of difficulty, which are sometimes called the triad of impairments.

Difficulty with social communication

People with autism have difficulty using and understanding verbal and non-verbal language, such as gestures, facial expressions and tone of voice, as well as jokes and sarcasm. Some people with autism might not speak or have fairly limited speech. They may understand what people say to them but prefer to use alternative forms of communication, such as sign language.

Difficulty with social interaction

People with autism have difficulty recognising and understanding people’s feelings and managing their own feelings. They may, for example, stand too close to another person, prefer to be alone, behave inappropriately and may not seek comfort from another person. This can make it hard for them to make friends.

Difficulty with social imagination

People with autism have difficulty understanding and predicting other people’s intentions and behaviour and imagining situations that are outside their own routine. This can mean they carry out a narrow, repetitive range of activities. A lack of social imagination should not be confused with lack of imagination. Many people with autism are very creative.

Other related characteristics of autism Love of routines

The world can seem an unpredictable and confusing place to people with autism, which is why they often feel more comfortable with a fixed daily routine so that they know what’s going to happen each day.

Sensory sensitivity

People with autism may experience sensory sensitivity in one or more of the five senses. A person’s senses are either intensified (hypersensitive) or lack sensitivity (hyposensitive).

Special interests

Many people with autism have intense special interests, often from a young age. These can be anything from art or music to trains and computers.

Learning disabilities

People with autism may have learning disabilities that can affect all aspects of their life, from studying in school to learning how to wash themselves or make a meal

*** Epilepsy

Epilepsy affects the brain and causes repeated seizures, also known as fits.

Epilepsy affects around 456,000 people in the UK. This means that about 1 in 130 people has epilepsy. Epilepsy usually begins during childhood, although it can start at any age.

Seizures

The cells in the brain, known as neurons, communicate with each other with electrical impulses. During a seizure, the electrical impulses are disrupted, which can cause the brain and body to behave strangely.

The severity of the seizures can differ from person to person. Some people simply experience a ‘trance-like’ state for a few seconds or minutes, while others lose consciousness and have convulsions (uncontrollable shaking of the body).

Types of epilepsy

There are three main types of epilepsy:

  • Symptomatic epilepsy - the symptoms of epilepsy are due to damage or disruption to the brain.
  • Cryptogenic epilepsy - while no evidence of damage to the brain can be found, other symptoms, such as learning difficulties, suggest that damage to the brain has occurred.
  • Idiopathic epilepsy - no obvious cause for epilepsy can be found.
Outlook

Epilepsy is a long-term condition and, for most people, the outlook is very good. Symptoms can usually be controlled using medicines known as anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs).

It can take some time to find the right type and correct dose of AED before your seizures can be controlled.

With a clear understanding of your epilepsy and good management of your seizures, the risk of SUDEP can be minimised.