ABSTRACT
Traditionally, the term learning disabilities has been used to refer to problems acquiring academic knowledge and skills that are caused by disorders in basic psychological processes. These processing weaknesses, in turn, are caused by dysfunction of the central nervous system (U.S. Department of Education, 1977). Further, these processing weaknesses are thought to have a strictly limited impact on cognitive development; they impede the acquisition of certain academic skills while leaving many other cognitive abilities to develop normally. This conceptualization is meant to differentiate children with specific learning disabilities from those who have learning problems in school for other reasons. The idea that the processing disabilities have a relatively narrow impact on cognitive development differentiates children with specific learning disabilities from those who have the kind of general learning weaknesses associated with mental retardation. The idea that the processing limitations are intrinsic, or constitutionally based, differentiates children with learning disabilities from children whose problems learning in school are the result of lack of opportunity or motivation to learn.
