Clarifying Definitions of Learning Disabilities

Some children and young people of school age are diagnosed as having a learning disability and therefore need special support. Sometimes learning disabilities are wrongly diagnosed or overlooked.

One reason for this is that it is not clearly defined when someone actually has a learning disability or not. Possible incorrect decisions can also be influenced by personal or social factors, such as children's family backgrounds, overcrowded classes, time pressure or staff shortages.

We therefore want to use our project to investigate how the diagnosis of learning disabilities can be improved.

We ask ourselves:

• What characterises pupils with diagnosed learning disabilities?
• Are there pupils with learning disabilities who are overlooked?
• Are there students with diagnoses who do not have learning disabilities?
• How can we ensure that learning disabilities are correctly diagnosed?

We are developing a guideline with diagnostic criteria for this purpose. In the end, these guidelines should help teachers to better recognise learning disabilities and provide pupils with the 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