A Retrospective Assessment of Specific Learning Disorders

Abstract

Objective: Specific learning disorders (SLD) are delays or deviations observed in an individual’s ability to speak, read, write, understand and do arithmetic. Diagnosis and the educational process is very difficult. Abnormalities of the central nervous system are shown as the cause of SLD, in addition to hereditary and environmental interactions. SLD has four subareas of reading disorder (dyslexia), written comprehension disorder (dysgraphia), mathematic disorder (dyscalculia) and other types. SLD may be accompanied by attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, depression, anxiety, emotional and social problems. Epidemiological research has found rates of 1-33%. The lack of clarity in SLD criteria with very different rates of diagnosis may be linked to the difficulties of diagnosis and method deficiencies. Studies have shown it is observed more often in males in terms of gender, with no significant correlation between females and males. This study aimed to retrospectively assess SLD diagnoses from 2009 to 2017. Methods: The study accessed data for all SLD children from 2009-2017 and included 846 child diagnoses in total.Results: The study found the percentage of a population of 201,347 people aged from 0-18 years containing 197 SLD cases was 0.09%. Single sample chi-square test observed a significant level of increase as the years passed. Additionally, in terms of gender, the incidence in males (69.14%) was higher than in females (30.85%). The increase in SLD according to year was identified to be significantly rapid. Conclusion: According to the data obtained in the study, it was concluded that there is a need for in-depth research into topics from SLD diagnosis to methods on a country basis.