Addressing the Problem

When SLD is Not Identified or Appropriately Addressed

Research documents the devastating financial, social, and emotional outcomes that can occur when individuals with SLD go unidentified and/or receive inappropriate educational and/or rehabilitation services. These negative outcomes are usually multi-faceted and can result in devastating outcomes such as:

• Dropping out of school before receiving a high school diploma
• Inadequate job readiness skills
• Difficulty accessing the job market and/or keeping employment, or low-paying employment, despite the ability to achieve higher-paying employment
• Mental health problems
• Drug and/or alcohol abuse
• Criminal activity/incarceration
• Chronic poverty
• Ongoing dependence on the welfare system

These consequences can be catastrophic to the individual, his or her family, the community and the country’s economy. It is far less costly to provide early diagnosis and effective intervention services than to fund the end-of-the-road programs that attempt to address the problem/s after the fact.

We Know How to Identify and Deal with SLD

Today, we know more about Specific Learning Disabilities than ever before. We have more than a basic understanding of how to correctly diagnose the range of Specific Learning Disabilities that exist, to develop appropriate individualized programs of intervention, and to deliver those programs. Unfortunately, this knowledge is not widely used by many of our country’s education, human services, and health care systems. The general public may have heard about Specific Learning Disabilities or LD but, for the most part, they remain unsure of what it actually is, how widespread this disability is, how devastating it can be if left untreated, and where to seek assistance if the need arises.

However, the future remains promising. By continuing to research the complexities of Specific Learning Disabilities and brain functioning, we will have a better understanding of this cluster of neurobiological disorders, their causes, and what constitutes better treatments. By increasing the public’s awareness of SLD, we hope to see an expansion of effective treatment of SLD in our education, human services, and health care systems.

Dr. Sally Shaywitz, a noted neurologist, researcher on SLD, and a professor of pediatrics at Yale University’s Center for the Study of Learning and Attention, stated, “I want people to know that it is possible to identify dyslexia (one of the major types of SLD) early and accurately, to diagnose dyslexia precisely in older students and adults, to provide highly effective treatments that lead to skilled reading.”