The real benefits of the belief that people with LD have average to
above average intelligence is that teachers are more willing to use
metacognitive approaches like  strategy instruction and other
evidence-based practices rather than remediation.  

Also, it is easier for the teachers to commit to strength-based
practices like working with a person with LD as a "learning partner"
rather than "deficit-based" relationships and approaches. 

Most of the definitions of LD  that I have seen, do contain the "average
to above average" term. In my case, being assigned to the bluebird group
(less than average intelligence) in primary school, created a stigma
that was much more difficult to deal with than my LD. I could compensate
for the LD, but "attitude is the biggest barrier for people with
disabilities".

Michael Tate

-----Original Message-----
From: learningdisabilities-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:learningdisabilities-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Arlyn
Roffman
Sent: Friday, November 09, 2007 11:47 AM
To: The Learning Disabilities Discussion List
Subject: [LearningDisabilities 1517] Transition- the IQ debate

Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt wrote-
... When my daughters got the psychological evaluations, I was told that
kids with LD often had average or above average intelligence.  That's
not in
the VA description, however (which I just looked up out of curiosity).
So
there may be some confusion on my part between the psych descriptions
and
theacademic descriptions.  I think this is probably common since many
parents must get their children evaluated outside of school (via a
psychiatrist) before the school will test them for learning
disabilities.
At least, this has been my experience in this state.

Hi again-
Yes, you're making a LOT of sense. It's not surprising to me that you
were
told that kids with LD often have average or above average intelligence.
The
fact is, they often do, but they also often don't. What we have here is
a
residual hang-on belief by MANY people (both professionals and non-),
that
LD is tied to average intellectual ability. This debate goes back
decades,
and I wish it would go away!
Arlyn


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