PREVALENCE OF SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITIES: THE CASE OF DYSLEXIA IN SPAIN

Abstract

The main purpose of this research has been to analyze the prevalence of specific learning disabilities in Spain. A first study was con-ducted in the Canary Islands region to demonstrate that “learning prob-lems” is one of the most identified areas in the Special Education field. This fact is a consequence of the lack of specific criteria to identify stu-dents with “Learning Disabilities”. Consequently, a second study was de-signed to test whether the identification of LD students should not be only based on curricular criteria but also on standardized specific criteria in each academic subject (i.e., reading, writing, arithmetic, etc.). We found that the greater proportion of individuals with special educational needs is identified as LD. Likewise, when used psychometric criteria for LD identi-fication, the percentage obtained is lower. By this way the counsellors could provide an educational response more appropriate to these children.