Identifying Learning Disabilities
The ‘Discrepancy Formula’:
One approach is to demonstrate a gap between a student’s academic performance and her potential to achieve. The identification of this discrepancy is done through the use of standardized tests, which are administered and interpreted by a qualified professional.
Family History:
Any family history of similar conditions are tested amongst blood relatives. Many learning disabilities run in families and are clearly related to genetic predispositions.
Personal History:
Personal history is relevant in events such as head injuries or other neurological abuses and emotional stressors, such as: family breakups, exposure to domestic violence, child abuse, reactions to changes to the family structure from additions, and losses to the family.
Current information:
The next stage of the assessment process is to obtain some current information regarding the child’s functioning in the day-to-day life situations, such as at school and at home. This helps to identify how the child sees him or herself, as well as providing some insight into their self-esteem and approach to challenging situations.
Intellectual Testing:
The most commonly used test is the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – 3rd Edition (WlSC – III).
There are 4 key components:
- Verbal Comprehension index (VCI)
- Perceptual Reasoning Index (PRI)
- Processing Speed Index (PSI)
- Working Memory Index (WMI)
This test is very useful because it not only provides a general estimate of learning aptitude; it also provides a breakdown into the areas of Verbal, Performance (nonverbal) and Full Scale I.Q. It is also possible to identify patterns of strength and weakness across the profile that can help with determining a more accurate diagnoses of learning disability
Standardized Tests:
In combination with the intellectual test results, it is also important to obtain concurrent measures of academic achievement using standardized tests that provide reliable estimates of performance relative to age or grade population norms. This allows for a comparison of performance using national standards rather than subjective ratings based on a comparison to the rest of the child’s class.
It also provides an objective basis for comparing performance to potential by contrasting standard scores from the achievement test, with the I.Q. scores to determine if the achievement level is significantly below the intellectual expectancy range.
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