Friends of Quinn

The National Center for Learning Disabilities took a survey of 2,000 American to see what they know about learning disabilities and this is what they found:

•     Learning disabilities are poorly understood.
•     Forty-three percent believe that learning disabilities correlate with IQ.
•     Fifty-five percent think that corrective eyewear can threat certain learning disabilities.
•     Twenty-two percent believe that learning disabilities can be caused by spending too much time watching computer or television.
•     Thirty-one percent believe that poor eating is can cause learning disabilities.
•     Twenty-four percent believe that childhood vaccinations can cause learning disabilities.
•     More than 1/3 believe that poor parenting can cause learning disabilities.
•     More that 1/3 believe that poor teaching in early child can cause learning disabilities.

ALL OF THE ABOVE ARE FALSE. Not true. No way. No how. This evidence that we clearly have a lot more work we need to do to educate the public about LDs.

The good news is that came out of the survey is:

• 90% of Americans know that dyslexia is a learning disability.
• 80% of Americans can accurately define what a learning disability is.
• Though we don’t really know what a learning disability is, we spend money on it.
• From 1967 – 1991 nine school districts gave money to help students with learning disabilities.
• There was a 73% spending increase per person during that period.

Read the whole article, "Our Ignorance of Learning Disabilities," and find out which LD myths you think are true. We all need to educate each other.