A person who has significant academic, social, or vocational difficulties may have a learning disability. These disabilities are often somewhat hidden and misunderstood.

A person who has a learning disability may have difficulty acquiring, remembering, organizing, and expressing thoughts and ideas. The disorder may show itself in a person's lessened ability to listen, speak, read, write, spell, pay attention, reason, or do mathematical calculations despite average or above-average intelligence. Coordination, behavior, and interactions with others may also be affected.

Ways to Help

• Focus on correct answers and behaviors, not on incorrect ones that cause embarrassment. Acknowledge and commend the person's efforts. A person who has a learning disability often works harder with fewer results than peers who do not have disabilities.
• Adapt activities and programs so the person does not become discouraged and stay away from church. Encourage leaders working with the individual with learning disabilities to be creative and flexible.
• Focus on participation and enjoyment, not on "winning" during activities.
• Help the person accept responsibility by giving assignments and seeing that they are completed. A person who has learning disabilities is often surprised and pleased when someone demonstrates trust in his or her ability to handle new assignments.

Teaching Tips

• Help the person feel comfortable participating in class. Don't suddenly ask the person to read aloud or recite from memory. Give plenty of time to prepare responses, and ask the person to volunteer when ready. It may help to have the person rehearse a scripture or a response before class.
• Introduce and explain vocabulary before teaching a lesson. Review new words and information frequently.
• Present materials in a variety of formats. Some class members who have difficulty with one form of communication, such as oral, often do well with another, such as written or pictorial.
• Assure class members that they may ask questions about things they don't understand.
• Make sure that handouts or other materials are typed clearly with spaces between the lines. Handwritten materials are often difficult to read.
• Limit the amount of writing required in classes.
• Teach by sharing experiences and feelings about the gospel. Learning is easier when people become spiritually and emotionally involved in what is being taught. Just hearing facts is more difficult.
• Include movement activities, such as a nature walk or an action game, as part of the lesson. Holding still may take so much concentration for some people that they may not be able to focus on anything else.

Additional Resources

Laurie Wilson Thornton, "The Hidden Handicap," Ensign, Apr. 1990, 44–48.

Materials for members who have learning disabilities are listed in the annual Church Materials Catalog. Most people who have difficulty reading would benefit from scriptures and other materials on audiocassettes.