Contrasting learning and intellectual disabilities - Essay Example

Contrasting Learning and Intellectual Disabilities Contrasting Learning and Intellectual Disabilities The characteristics of learning disabilities are can be grouped into reading skills, spelling skills, written expression skills, oral language skills, mathematical skills, memory skills and reasoning skills (Hallahan, 2011). People go through poor decoding skills, slow reading rate, poor reading fluency, and recurrent spelling errors of high occurring words among others.The characteristics of intellectual disability, on the other hand, are all behavioral (Hallahan, 2011).

It is characterized by delays in oral language development, difficulty in learning social rules, deficits in memory skills, trouble with problem solving skills, as well as lack of social inhibitors (Hallahan, 2011).Students with learning disabilities need alternative learning methods, in a manner similar to a student who needs glasses to see (Hallahan, 2011). They require help, and with it they work as much as their peers. Intellectual disabilities, on the other hand, are those that decrease the cognitive skill of the student in a major way (Hallahan, 2011).

Some of the similarities between students with learning disabilities and students with intellectual disabilities are that they have low expectations, are academically and socially unwary, lack of self drive, are poor in interpreting important things, poor family preparation for school and have gaps in technology access (Hallahan, 2011).What I would like to explore more about is how intellectual disabilities decrease the cognitive process of a student and how a student might be helped to grow from this challenge.

As I was conducting my study, I learned that intellectual disability is worse compared to learning disability; therefore, it would be vital to find ways to assist students whom this condition is affecting.ReferenceHallahan, D. P. (2011). Exceptional learners (11th ed.). Paris, Lavoisier.