Can autism be a learning disability?

[Ylva]

Exactly what the title says: is autism a learning disability? Can some forms of autism be a learning disability? Are most learning disabilities either/or, or can you have different degrees of them?

 

[unsurewhattoname]

I had no problems with learning so pretty sure that autism itself is not a learning disability, but learning disabilities are more common in autism than in the general population, so there is some kind of a link there.

 

[Warmheart]

"Uneven skillsets" can be reflected in our amazing abilities vs our learning challenges. An example can be verbal IQ in the superior range, with mathematic abilities in the impaired range... or vice versa.

A few things to consider before someone judges an autistic's supposed learning, cognition, and IQ results:
1. The tremendous dominant default of our "autistic inner world" means our awareness can be challenged, and this impacts test results for typically lengthly IQ testing. Thus, a "lower IQ" of many autistics is simply the result of not being aware or "present" for the testing.

2. Our receptive communication is often challenged. Auditory processing disorder can mean that for many of us, words come in jumbled, so we must sort the fragmented, jumbled sounds out into what words the teacher or IQ tester likely just said. Basically, we're often at a disadvantage in understanding the spoken words of teacher or tester.

3. Funky conceptual executive dysfunction means some of us naturally encounter & thus anticipate challenges in doing tasks, especially when trying to follow someone's instructions/prompting. If something involves doing a sequence of things, sometimes the task falls apart in the execution. Even as little kids, we learn this about ourselves, so we soon develop task performance anxiety. This REALLY gets reflected when we're trying to follow instructions at school or work. This isn't a lack of brilliance, it's an executive function challenge that can effect any setting with instructions, sequences, prompting, and task performance.

Just my thoughts.

 

[Southern Discomfort]

No, it's not unheard of in Britain that people slip through the net in the services because autism is not a mental health condition nor is it a learning disability. So officially it is not a learning disability.

 

[metalminx24]

I think it depends what we're supposed to be learning. Given that a prerequisite for autism is some form of social impairment, would that qualify as a disability as far as learning social nuances goes? Quite possibly.
Learning disabilities certainly do come in different degrees rather than either/or. That's why different schools cater for different severities of learning disability.

 

[marcadam]

That's an excellent question. I am a support worker for adults with learning disabilities, the majority of our clients are on the autistic spectrum. I think there is a lot of comorbidity and very often autism is not the main cause of learning difficulties. Technically I suppose any condition that impairs your ability to learn, could be classified as a learning disability. Personally I detest the term 'learning disability', it's far too narrow and stigmatising. The other problem with the term is who decides where the cut off point is? I've know several people with a clinical 'learning disability' diagnosis who are more capable than quite a few NTs I've known over the years.

 

[Ylva]

No, it's not unheard of in Britain that people slip through the net in the services because autism is not a mental health condition nor is it a learning disability. So officially it is not a learning disability.

I know it's not officially a learning disability, but is that what it really is?

I think it depends what we're supposed to be learning. Given that a prerequisite for autism is some form of social impairment, would that qualify as a disability as far as learning social nuances goes?

Yes, social learning disability. I know a dyscalculic; numbers don't make sense to him, but he can do math, presumably through memorization. I'll have to ask him. I follow two booktubers who are dyslexic, yet read all the time. So maybe it's a flaw in the learning strategies, given impairments that render standard learning strategies useless.

 

[Ylva]

1. The tremendous dominant default of our "autistic inner world" means our awareness can be challenged, and this impacts test results for typically lengthly IQ testing. Thus, a "lower IQ" of many autistics is simply the result of not being aware or "present" for the testing.

So true. My teachers thought I was a dunce, simply because I found it difficult to concentrate while they stood over me, two inches away from me, literally breathing down my neck.

 

[On the Inside]

Very interesting.

I was thinking on my ride to work this morning about the varying abilities in my small subset of humans that I work with. We all have our strengths, some of them are brilliant, even. Some are excellent at organizing, some are very inventive, some are good writers, many are expert craftspeople, some are good at moving things around, others are very good speakers. I have my strengths, and my weaknesses are typical Aspie stuff that precludes me from doing some of the other jobs we have around here. One will be opening soon, kind of the only way I could "move up". I applied for and interviewed for the same position several years ago and was not promoted. I won't try again.

This made me think, "Is this because I am disabled? Is Asperger's really a disability, or what?" I know that I have all kinds of trouble writing, and am absolutely hopeless at organizing more than one or two tasks at a time, there's no way I could manage a whole project. Not to mention my social impairments would be the ruin of me anyways. I know that I had trouble organizing my school work and consequently was very erratic and inconsistent. Still I passed with decent grades until I reached upper level college courses, so is it a disability? It has definitely held me back.

 

[NothingToSeeHere]

I think whether autism could be consider a learning disability varies from person to person... personally I wouldn't consider my autism a learning disability (because as far as I can tell it doesn't affect my ability to learn) but if it does, then I suppose it would be...? Thinking about it I don't actually have a clue what makes something a learning disability.

I am dyslexic, which the person who assessed me for autism said is a somewhat common co-morbid. However, I don't really think of that as a disability either, as I am still an avid reader, have good spelling and grammar (after years of hard work), and my English grades were always very high at school despite the disadvantage of being dyslexic. The only things I really struggle with are reading aloud (which is no longer a problem now that school is far behind me) and short term memory. Rather than being a disability it's just a slight disadvantage that made me work that much harder to reach my own high standards. But that's just my way of thinking of it, it's still technically a learning disability :/

 

[FreeDiver]

I think what really needs to be defined here is. What is a "learning disability"? I think it has a lot to do with how we are taught, and where we are taught. When it come to the class room with other students. Yes, I am very learning disabled. That environment is so distracting to me. I could never get anything done. Every thing I've ever learned in life was on my own. So I guess that make me learning disable by the standards of the system. RIGHT?

 

[Hurting89]

Poor executive functioning is common with those on the spectrum. Learning Disabilities (especially processing disorder)co-exist with Autism pretty often. Even the one "1%" high I.Q Aspies have some type of L.D on the side.

 

[Jimbo]

I think what really needs to be defined here is. What is a "learning disability"? I think it has a lot to do with how we are taught, and where we are taught. When it come to the class room with other students. Yes, I am very learning disabled. That environment is so distracting to me. I could never get anything done. Every thing I've ever learned in life was on my own. So I guess that make me learning disable by the standards of the system. RIGHT?

I agree. I went through school thinking I was dumb. Turns out that once I went to community college I was able to learn. The public schools in the U.S. are clueless when it comes to different learning styles and now they teach this stupid common core curriculum and try to make the kids robots.

What may appear to be a learning disability may just be the need to change teaching methods. Temple Grandin has spent years trying to convince schools of this.

 

[OrSomething]

Nonverbal Learning Disability, which causes trouble with math and visual processing as well as social skills challenges, often overlaps with ASD. Also, I think people with ASD can be more likely to have certain types of academic problems. Like, they might have trouble analyzing literature because of trouble understanding people's motivations. Or they might have trouble doing a task when the steps aren't listed in a straightforward way.

 

[Progster]

I don't think that it's a learning disability in itself. It's possible to be very good academically, and still have the executive functioning and social challenged associated with autism. Comorbid learning disabilities are quite common though.

 

[marcadam]

Just found some interesting stats in an unrelated search http://goo.gl/JSNMAb

• 60-70% of people who have an autistic spectrum condition will also have a learning disability.

Kind of sounds plausible?