Types of learning disabilities

3.7 Read the text and write the annotation to it (all in all 5-8 sentences).

By the late 1960s, the present model of learning disabilities was established. This model distinguishes four stages of information processing used in learning: input, integration, memory, and output. Input is the process of recording in the brain information that comes from the senses. Integration is the process of interpreting this information. Memory is its storage for later retrieval. Output of information is achieved through language or motor (muscular) activity. Learning disabilities can be classified by their effects at one or more of these stages. Each child has individual strengths and weaknesses at each stage.

Input

The first major type of problem at the input stage is a visual perception disability.

Some students have difficulty in recognizing the position and shape of what they see. Letters may be reversed or rotated; for example, the letters d, b, p, q, and g might be confused. The child might also have difficulty distinguishing a significant form from its background. People with this disability often have reading problems. They may jump over words, read the same line twice, or skip lines. Other students have poor depth perception or poor distance judgement. They might bump into things, fall over chairs, or knock over drinks.

The other major input disability is in auditory perception. Students may have difficulty understanding because they do not distinguish subtle differences in sounds. They confuse words and phrases that sound alike — for example, "blue" with "blow" or "ball" with "bell." Some children find it hard to pick out an auditory figure from its background; they may not respond to the sound of a parent's or teacher's voice, and it may seem that they are not listening or paying attention.