ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the idea underpinning to help the readers understand the underlying learning skills and preferences of children and young people with specific learning difficulty/disability (SpLDs). By focusing on their specific learning preferences this should help them develop self-knowledge and lead to empowerment and eventual success in learning. Some assessment approaches attempt to identify how individual students process information in terms of cognitive style; others emphasise the cognitive/physiological aspects of learning, including laterality preferences. Both cognitive and metacognitive aspects are important in Vygotsky's model, and both have been applied to many areas of assessment and learning. Kolb's learning style inventory is a derivative of Jung's psychological types combined with Piaget's emphasis on assimilation and accommodation. The learning style inventory (LSI) is comprehensive and assesses elements in combination with each other. interactive observational style identification (IOSI) serves a valuable purpose by teaching children to observe their own behaviours and performances and to take responsibility for their own learning.
