Defining Learning Disabilities: A New and Cooperative Direction

A new definition of learning disabilities presented by the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities emphasizes the severity and heterogeneity of learning disabilities. It redirects the field's attention to the internal nature of learning disabilities, but eliminates exclusive focus on psychological processing disorders contained in former definitions. A direct causal relationship of learning disabilities to other handicapping conditions or environmental influences is denied. The cognitive, linguistic, and academic nature of learning disabilities is stressed.