ABSTRACT
Learning disorders represent an assorted category of generalized neurodevelopmental challenges that interfere with the ability to learn academic and/or social skills (Pennington, 2009). Broadly, learning disorders originate from a combination of congenital, acquired and/or environmental conditions or circumstances. Congenital learning disorders include specific learning disabilities (e.g., dyslexia, dyscalculia), communication disorders (e.g., stuttering) and developmental disabilities (e.g., intellectual disability, autism). They are present at birth, and manifest throughout the lifespan as children and adolescents engage in increasingly challenging cognitive and academic tasks. Learning disorders also can be acquired at any point in the lifespan following acute health conditions or severe injury (e.g., traumatic brain injury). Despite their organic etiology, risk and protective factors shape the developmental trajectory of both congenital and acquired learning disorders. Poor environmental conditions (e.g., not reading aloud to young children and implementing teaching methods that are not evidencebased) can bring about and exacerbate learning difficulties and disorders, even when there is not a biological predisposition for them.
