Abstract

The distinction between students diagnosed with a learning disability and those considered merely slow learners is based on conceptually flawed assumptions that: 1) LD represents a brain dysfunction while SL does not; 2) LD is a well-defined disorder; 3) valid measurement instruments distinguish LD and SL; 4) special education for students with LD is fundamentally different from that for SL students. These erroneous beliefs are maintained because governmental legislation transformed a diagnosis of LD into an admission ticket to a variety of government entitlements thereby subjecting it to political, legal, social and ideological forces.