Disability vs difficulties?

[Whyohwhy99]

Can anyone explain the difference between learning difficulties and learning disabilities please?

Using an example of learning to read, to compare. Someone with a Learning Disability may struggle to focus on letters or even the idea of reading words and stories. Someone with dyslexia (Learning Difficulty) may try but not be able to see or process letters and sounds well in their brain. They can coexist or separately, and vary in level and impact from one person to another.

Oh that makes sense thank you 🙂

I asked google and it said:
In the UK, a learning disability affects a person’s overall intellectual capacity and daily life skills, whereas a learning difficulty impacts specific areas of learning like reading or numbers without lowering general intelligence.

As far as I understand there is a difference In meaning, which is as follows:

Learning disability is in terms of general intelligence being significantly reduced- such as those with Global developmental delay etc.

Learning difficulty does not affect general intelligence, but is more to do with specific academic or processing tasks, such as: Dyslexia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia etc.

I hope this helps OP @Whyohwhy99

I know this isn’t helpful for OP and may cause confusion, but unfortunately it is confusing because as I said upthread there isn’t actually a consistent approach to definitions, even within the UK.

The UK education system for some time has used the term ‘difficulty’ for conditions that others think of as ‘disabilities’. These were broken down into the following categories in education:

• Specific Learning Difficulty (SpLD) results in a child requiring some support in school targeted to their specific area of difficulty such as spelling or numeracy due to conditions such as dyslexia, dyspraxia and/or dyscalculia.

• Moderate Learning Difficulty (MLD) which can result in a child taking longer to learn skills than the majority of their peers. They will require extra support in their school.

• Severe Learning Difficulty (SLD) which can result in significant learning impairments and affects a child's ability to learn without specialist support.

• Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty (PMLD) results in complex learning needs meaning that a child may have physical difficulties, sensory impairment or a severe medical condition in addition to severe learning difficulties and will require specialist support at all times.

archive.datadictionary.nhs.uk/DD%20Release%20May%202024/nhs_business_definitions/learning_difficulty.html

https://directory.luton.gov.uk/kb5/luton/directory/advice.page?id=VcUy9Gr_7iU&localofferchannel=0

Elsewhere many of the ‘difficulties’ as categorised above are referred to as ‘disabilities’. Sometimes you see the D (eg in SpLD ) standing for Disorder too, Perhaps the terminology is changing, I don’t know, but I do know it’s all a bit of a mess at the moment. It means everyone needs to take care when reading articles to make sure they know what exactly is being referenced.

OP, as others have said, if you have already been referred then it’s very likely you have been sent to the right place. Hope it all goes well for you. At the moment different people in the UK are using different terms to mean the same thing, so please don’t feel bad about finding it confusing. It’s because it is confusing and a bit mixed-up!

Historically people with learning disabilities were called people with learning difficulties, previous to that the term was people with mental handicap and previous to that again it was people with mental subnormality.

I qualified as an RNMH (registered nurse mental handicap) in 1992 and this was the last year before the qualification became RN(LD) learning disability.

Times have changed so much and the term of learning disabilities has become so over used that it leads to this lack of clarity as to whether it refers to a very significant cognitive impairment such as might mean a person needs full time care and supervision or simply that they have dyslexia.

Learning disability is a medical diagnosis and defined as: IQ 50 to 69 mild, IQ 35 to 49 moderate. IQ 25 to 35 severe, IQ 24 or less profound.

Most people with mild LD can live independently or semi-independently.
Someone with moderate LD is very likely to need considerable support with basic tasks like self-care & meal preparation.

The link explains the difference to learning difficulties.

https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/learning-disabilities/background-information/definition/

Yes definitly my son has severe autism and severe learning disabillities and at 16 is cogntivley around 2/3 he goes to a school for children with severe amd profound learning dissbillitiess terms like neuro diverse or additional needs are far to broad imo
Incidenslly when i was training as an RMN i qualified in 1996 there were very few places that offered the learning disabillity nurse training.

Thank you that's quite clear.

Now I'm woundering if it can change as a child i was told i had moderate learning difficulties. And i went to a school for people with moderate learning difficulties.

Or could the IQ levels have changed ?

I can do every day living and bring up children. Pay bills get shopping in etc.

But with cooking for example if i was cooking chips I havevti look at the instructions everytime. I used to use gusto they used to have each set of ingredient in a separate bag for each meal. Then they started putting the ingredients for all meals into one bag so you would have to sort them yourself and I couldn't do is so i had to stop using it.

When i used to use it. If i was doing it and someone asked what I'm doing o would completely loose what im doing and have to go over the steps again. And say something said add 200ml of water time i have put the water i the jug i have to reread what I'm doing with the water like was i meantbti be adding the water or am I adding something to the water. I have to read things over and over.

I can't read a book. Nothing sinks in.
If im ready something and theres a word I don't understand amd can't actually read the world i loose the whole paragraph. Its similar with numbers. Measurements etc. Oh ajd filling in forms. I can do that but i don't always understand so I would tick a box then put a note next to it eventhogh your not meant to.

I can't challenge a professional 100% not face to face. I have only been able to do it through email. But thats only because I have done it all through chatgpt. I ask it questions send it my messed up email and it will rewrite it for me using better wording. Put it in order etc.

I have completely lost what I was trying to say. I'm still posting it because i just spent 30 mins typing it.

You seem very articulate though
Which is a positive
And you also to have a lot of insight into your specific needs

I'm not sure because gp told me to choose one from right to choose. There was one i saw for autism that said they can't accept people with learning difficulties. It was written clearly. I mentioned it to her and she said to choose another just incase. So i done that. Then when I got home I realised the 2nd one I choose also said they can't accept people with learning difficulties. They might even all say it.

Lots of autistic people also have a learning disability so it is definitely possible to be assessed. You are right to be concerned though, because some of the providers in the Right to Choose scheme offer a more limited service than the NHS and don’t assess for autism if someone also has a learning disability.
I think you should go back to the GP with your concerns.

When I worked in the field, a learning “disability” was strictly defined as IQ below 70 and meant someone qualified for the nhs side of the adults learning disability service.

“learning difficulties” was often preferred and used interchangeably by the learning disabilities community themselves. And also can be a wider definition to include things like specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia.

but my knowledge could be out of date

I done an on line IQ test. I know its not official. But does it give a guide?

I’d be a bit wary of them OP.

Not really. The manual that psychologists use to interpret these tests is really thick because it isn't as simple as answering questions. Things like your processing speed and language skills can affect the results, as well as the environment. A psychologist would make sure you understood the task before you did each test, for example.

I don't think you need to worry too much about what your exact IQ is. You clearly have some learning difficulties but you've been able to raise children so I don't think they would exclude you from assessment because of it, even if you struggle to follow instructions if you're distracted.

If they do decide they can't assess you, they would decide quite quickly, then the GP would refer you somewhere else.

Yeah i only done that test because I kept seeing IQ so thought i would look. And yes I'm just going to leave it and see what happens. It's probably not as black and white as I thought.

Your examples about reading, being distracted and loosing your place/forgetting what you were doing and having difficulty filling in forms sounds a lot like dyslexia at the more severe end. It isn’t just reading it’s how your brain works, processes and retains information.

Dyslexia and ADHD have a lot of overlap. I wouldn’t expect somewhere that does ADHD assessments to exclude people with dyslexia.

I think you’ll be fine OP to continue with the right to choose. Try not to worry about it.

Have you ever been formally assessed for dyslexia? My dyslexia assessment included an IQ test. If you have a formal assessment for that it might be worth looking back at if you’re worried.

I’m sorry this experience is difficult and confusing for you, OP.

i think the main issue with the ADHD / autism services you’ve been referred to is that they assessments they so are designed for people who don’t have moderate learning disabilities. When the tests are designed, they “ validated”. What that means is, they are tested on a particular group of people to make sure that they get correct results. If they then do the test on someone who is different, so has a learning disability for example, then they can’t be sure that the result will be correct and fair.
There are teams and professionals who can do ADHD / autism assessments with people with a moderate learning disability. Your GP should help you find them and refer you.

I’m not sure if this has been said already, so I’m sorry if I’m just repeating what others already hav

@Whyohwhy99 is unsure of her educational history. Moderate learning disability equates to severe learning difficulties. If she has been told she had moderate learning difficulties that equates to mild learning disability. So @Whyohwhy99 just needs to submit any paperwork requested and let them decide.

Yes but as a child. I don't remember it though I only know because a sibling told me years back.

Yeah i think its throwing me a blt because I feel like I'm being put in s box. But I don't think its black and white as that. Yes I do have learning difficulties. I probably struggle compared to the average person. But I also have work arounds that work for me. I don't want to be rejected based on a label.

I know that gp wrote about LD on the consultation notes but I'm not sure thats in with the referral. They will find out anyway though

I didn't think ADHD was a learning difficulty? Maybe that's because I think of difficulty and disability is possibly being similar or the same. Even though they're not.
I think maybe the more appropriate term for the 'difficulty' category might be 'difference'?

Yes I'm only just learning that over the past year. I just thought it was spelling grammar and punctuation.. i didn't think it was severe 😅 I might be thinking that though because I'm still pulled to the writing side of it.

And that makes alot of sense now you said about the over lapping.

I don't know if adhd is a learning difficulty or not. I was trying to understand the difference between learning disability and learning difficulty. Because it said they can't do an adhd or an autism assessment on someone with a learning disability.