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Diagnostic Learning Disabilities

Decent Essays

Considering how mild general learning difficulties can be assessed, this paragraph will explore what criteria is needed for a diagnosis of MGLD and the flaws, if any, associated with this set of criteria. Firstly, it is important to look at why there is a need for a diagnosis. Webb and Whitaker (2012) feel that “diagnoses of learning disability have real-life impact, in terms of service review”. Put simply, a diagnosis of a learning disability will have an affect on the level of resourcing and the support that a child will receive. In terms of access to supports, the need for a diagnosis is understandable. Internationally, before a learning disability can be identified there are three criteria that must be met. These criteria are intellectual …show more content…

“Adaptive behaviour is a person’s functioning in daily life activities, including communication, social participation, progress at school or preschool and personal independence at home or in the community.” (NCSE 2014) Early onset means they are present from an early age and are not as a result of an accident or an illness later in life. (Enable Ireland, 2012:16) Similarly, another article outlines that to meet the diagnostic criteria of a learning disability “depends on having an impairment of intellectual functioning, typically measured as an IQ below 70, along with a significant impairment of adaptive or social functioning.” (Webb and Whitaker 2012) They argue the point of how reliable it is to have a diagnosis based on IQ scores. Their opinions based on the validity of the current criteria for the diagnosis of a learning difficulty made for very interesting reading, leading to an exploration into what is known as the Flynn effect and therefore, the quality of IQ testing. Flynn 1987, reveals that evidence exists that the intellectual ability of the population from one generation to the next has increased. This is not only evident in the general population but also for those presenting with low intellectual ability (Flynn, …show more content…

The argument which they put forward is that there is no evidence that people with an IQ score of below 70 are significantly less able to cope than those with a measured IQ of above 70. On the contrary, they state that their clinical experience “suggests that there are also a significant number of people with measured IQs over 70 who cannot cope without the support of specialist

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