Learning Disabilities: A Multidimensional Perspective

The heterogeneity of children with learning disorders is discussed. Subtypes of learning disabilities based on neuropsychological, developmental, and behavioral perspectives are reviewed. Each approach is examined in terms of its particular definition and explanation of learning disorders as well as its strengths and weaknesses and implications for intervention. A multidimensional perspective that integrates aspects of these three views is proposed. Within this broader perspective a distinction is drawn between production and mediational subtypes of learning disorders, and emphasis is placed on an idiographic approach to assessment and treatment.