LEARNING PROBLEMS AND DISORDERS: DEFINITIONS AND DETERMINANTS

Abstract

The present paper is an overview about the definitions and determinants of learning problems and disorders, which are treated differently depending on different authors and covering a broad spectrum of problematics. There is no consensus about definitions, although most of them locate the problem or disorder in the individual – neurobiological causes. Genetic, emotional or even related to the individual’s family causes are also assumed. External to the individual determinants, such as pedagogical causes, are less referred. To the behavioral analytic approach, the more important is to understand under what conditions learning occurs, such as the modification of such conditions in order to plan effective teaching is what makes learning possible. Other informations and myths about learning disorders are also discussed, concluding that reading skills is the most common disorder both in isolation or associated with others, since it is a skill that affects all others.