Clarifying Definitions of Learning Disabilities

Some school-aged children and young people are diagnosed with a learning disability and consequently need special support. However, learning disabilities are sometimes wrongly diagnosed or overlooked.
One reason for this is that there is no clear definition of when someone actually has a learning disability. Personal or social factors, such as children's family backgrounds, overcrowded classrooms, time pressure, or staff shortages, can also contribute to misdiagnosis.
With our project, we therefore want to investigate how the diagnosis of learning disabilities can be improved.

We ask ourselves:
  • What characterizes students with diagnosed learning disabilities?
  • Are there students with learning disabilities who are overlooked?
  • Are there students with a diagnosis who do not have a learning disability?
  • How can we ensure that learning disabilities are correctly diagnosed?

For this purpose, we are developing guidelines with diagnostic criteria. Ultimately, these guidelines should help teachers recognize learning disabilities better and provide students with appropriate support.

Leader
Prof Dr Michael Grosche

Collaborators (University of Wuppertal)
Dr Gunnar Bruns
Dr Birgit Ehl
Linda Kashikar
Dr Jacquelin Kluge-Brück
Michèle Paul
Sophie Schneemelcher
Nihayet Yildirim
Lisa Zimmer

Project management / application
Prof. Dr Michael Grosche

Duration: since 03/2021

Funding from own resources