View synonyms for

learning disability

[ lur-ning dis-uh-bil-i-tee ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

Also called specific learning disability. a disorder, such as dyslexia, characterized by difficulty in one specific cognitive area, including understanding or using spoken or written language, understanding or using numbers and mathematical concepts, coordinating movements, or directing attention.
Chiefly British. intellectual disability ( def ).

learning disability

Any of various disabilities of the basic cognitive and psychological processes involved in using language or performing mathematical calculations. Learning disabilities are not caused by low intelligence, emotional disturbance, or physical impairment (as of hearing). Dyslexia is a common learning disability.

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Word History and Origins

Origin of learning disability¹

First recorded in 1955–60

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

About half a million people in the UK currently live in supported housing, including young care leavers, army veterans, people with learning disabilities and those escaping homelessness or domestic abuse.

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In Newton Abbott in Devon, a cafe that employed people with learning disabilities shut last month.

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Those with the syndrome will have some level of learning disability, the NHS website says.

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"When you look across the lifetime of an autistic person or a person with learning disabilities, this is the first real gap in provision that there is," she said.

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The mother of a boy with autism and a severe learning disability fears she will have to hand over care of her son to social services because of a lack of support.

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learning difficulties learning-disabled

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