Learning disabilities or the inability of the human brain to function to its normal acceptable extent is a condition that does not necessarily portray the patient to be an invalid, as is so often perceived by one and all. This condition can range from being a mild one to something to worry about. I have tried to compile a list of learning disabilities that you might find helpful to refer to. These conditions are apparent in both children and adults, hence, we will try to segregate the disabilities according to those of a child and those of an adult.

List of Learning Disabilities in Children
First and foremost, there isn’t a significant difference between what affects a child and what might affect an adult. Most disabilities are born with the child and if not treated tend to progress with age. So let’s look at the various most common types of learning disabilities.

Autism: Among the list of learning disabilities, autism accounts for an average of 12 in every 10,000 children, occurring more in boys than in girls. This condition is far from being similar or displaying identical symptoms in children suffering from it. No two children will show the same or identical characteristics of suffering from autism. It impairs the child’s ability to perceive, understand, reason and communicate. A classic indication of this disease is hypersensitivity to all or some of the five senses, that is:
Inability to tolerate sounds that appear normal to an average person or even hear inaudible soundsSeeing objects that are not really there (some call this hypervision)Ability to pick up smells that normally would not be strong enough to be picked up by the average human olfactory nerve
Autistic children find it difficult communicating with people, however, display intelligent reasoning and mental capabilities with the people they form a strong bond with, which in most cases is the mother or the father.

Dyslexia: This condition encompasses a wide range of problems from the inability to mug things by heart, to having problems understanding and picking up language. Dyslexia is primarily a neurological disorder that affects the child’s ability to:
Comprehend languageSolve simple math problems and confusion with numbersDistinguish between right and leftUnderstand what he or she is asked to doState the English alphabet in order, thus mixing up alphabets and reversing the order of numbersOrganize and plan, thus displaying a relatively poor sense of co-ordination
Read more on dyslexia in children.

Central Auditory Processing Disorder(CAPD): This disorder pertains to the psychological result of an attempt at learning and reasoning a particular concept or a study, through auditory modes of learning. That is, that branch of learning which involves the sense of hearing, such as following spoken commands or directions, or understanding an instruction that is made vocal to the child. Needless to say, the child will thus require conversation to be slower and louder to help him or her understand it better. It might also be indicative of a poor ability to memorize as the instructions often need to be repeated, sometimes not out of misunderstanding the instruction, but of not being able to memorize the same. This problem can sometimes, but rarely, also be considered to be a physical one, due to the presence of fluid in the middle ear which the distorts the signals sent by the outer ear and into the auditory nerve.

Attention Deficit Disorder: This disability too is common among the list of learning disabilities for children. Also known as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD, children suffering from this condition have trouble, as the name suggests, maintaining concentration on one particular topic for a prolonged period of time. This disability was at first looked upon by people to be a fault on the child’s part in terms of slacking and woolgathering. However, later studies revealed that this indeed was a psychological condition that did require treatment, failing which, would deteriorate the child’s ability to effectively lose out in the long run. This condition is characterized by the following:
Inability to concentrate on one subject for not so long a timeBecoming restless and fidgety after a whileBecoming easily distracted by external stimuliInability to complete a task or project in a given span of timeImpatience and getting frustrated, tendency of becoming violent because of frustrationCarelessness in terms of misplacing essential objects or articles, forgetfulness to a small degree
This problem becomes apparent when the child is under stress, such as that of homework or project deadlines. According to experts, when the child starts displaying these characteristics, the school authorities should first be contacted and a thorough assessment should be conducted in the fields that the child is having a problem with, thereafter, it’s the parent’s choice to either enroll the child into the school’s special program, considering the school has one, or seek professional help with the full report submitted by the school authorities as regards the child’s areas that require help. Read more on ADHD symptoms.

Dyscalculia: This disability is specifically concerned with numbers and solving math equations which makes it a math learning disability. Such as it may seem, this problem however, is not limited to math as it has a huge bearing on a child’s everyday life. Mathematics helps a person develop his or her brain in a manner that involves logic, organizing, rearranging and problem solving, which is seen as part and parcel of everyday life. So ignoring the problem will result in the child paying a heavy sum (literally and metaphorically). Children with this condition, have difficulty in:
Map readingFollowing directionsThey are unable to gauge the passage of timeThey face difficulties in keeping score cards in simple games where points need to be calculated
Dysgraphia: This disability is concerned with the child’s ability to form words or sentences on a piece of paper, i.e. writing. The child is unable to pen down letters and words in a proper order, resulting in the sentences and words appearing distorted and meaningless. This condition should also be placed under the list of learning disabilities, as it says a lot of the child’s mental capacity to recognize order and method. The fact that the writing appears haywire is indicative of the child’s confusion. This condition though apparent only in the child’s writing speaks of a lot more than just that. This difficulty in placing words and letters in order can also affects the child’s daily activities when it comes to order and method.

Note: It has to be borne in mind that this list of learning disabilities is not what encompasses the entire problem. A child suffering from learning disabilities may or may not have any of the conditions as aforementioned. Hence, it would be unwise to state that this is all what the syndrome is all about or create a list of specific learning disabilities, because it is just not so.

You will find an extensive and comprehensive list in disabilities, and on the lighter side, refer to famous people with learning disabilities.

In many cases, there are symptoms of learning disabilities that often go un-noticed or aren’t paid much attention to, because it does not pose that great a risk to the child’s overall well-being. It is very easy to provide a solution and label a certain condition by placing a name against it, however, the human mind as it is, is complex enough to keep us continuously baffled and keep on researching. There are a myriad other conditions and this list of learning disabilities can go on and on. The list of learning disabilities found in adults are mostly behavioral problems, brought about through trauma to the brain or through external factors.