3.4: The History of Learning Disabilities

There has been considerable debate about how to define or categorize learning disabilities. Often, as demonstrated by the definitions at the beginning of this chapter, a learning disability is defined by what it is not. For example, the Illinois definition states that “specific learning disability does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of intellectual disability, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage” (Illinois State Board of Education, 2022).

Wiederholt (1974) identifies four periods in the history of learning disabilities. The foundational phase (1800–1930) emphasized basic scientific research related to the brain. During this period, the relationship of injury to specific brain areas and the corresponding loss of specific functions, such as language or perceptual skills, was investigated. Researchers such as Kurt Goldstein, who studied patients who suffered head injuries during World War I, found that many patients displayed characteristics that would later be associated with learning disabilities. These characteristics include perseveration, in which an individual starts an activity but has difficulty stopping or changing it; hyperactivity; and figure–ground problems, in which an individual cannot perceptually shift from foreground to background as when viewing Rubin’s Vase (see Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\)). This research period emphasized the perceptual problems associated with learning disabilities (Smiley et al., 2022).

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Rubin's Vase(“Rubin’s Vase” by Anonymousracoon123 is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.)

The transition phase (1930–1960) began the application of brain research to the study of children. For example, Heinz Werner and Alfred Strauss noticed similarities between the characteristics of children with learning problems and those of adults who had suffered a brain injury. This observation led to terms such as minimal brain injury and minimal brain dysfunction, which were early labels used for learning disabilities.

The integration phase (1930–1974) included the origination of the term learning disability and the recognition of learning disabilities within education. In 1963, Samuel Kirk, a professor at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, delivered a speech to the Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA) that popularized the term learning disability. Perceptual skills were emphasized during this phase through the work of researchers such as William Cruickshank, Newell Kephart, and Marianne Frostig. While the views about the perceptual nature of learning disabilities developed during this period were later disproven, this period generated significant research and interest in learning disabilities.

Activity \(\PageIndex{1}\): Dr. Samuel Kirk

Directions: Visit the Dr. Samuel Kirk website at the Illinois Distributed Museum to learn more about his work with children with learning disabilities at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign. What other unique contributions did Dr. Kirk make to the field of special education?

The current phase (1975 to present) emphasizes interventions focusing on academic, behavioral, cognitive, and language development. Most research today examines interventions that help students with learning disabilities achieve academically in the general education classroom (Smiley et al., 2022).

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Illinois State Board of Education. (2022, September 1). Special education disability areas. https://www.isbe.net/Pages/Special-Education-Disability-Areas.aspx#:~:text=Specific%20learning%20disability%20means%20a,do%20mathematical%20calculations%2C%20including%20conditions

Smiley, L. R., Richards, S.B., & Taylor, R. (2022). Exceptional students: Preparing teachers for the 21st century (4th ed.). McGraw Hill.