What is learning disability?

Friend, sister, brother, employee, father, mother? Anyone conveniently 'labelled' as a person with a learning disability is a person, first and before all else.

Children and adults with a learning disability are generally like everyone else, but have more difficulty in learning how to do things, adapting to new situations and coping independently. Sometimes a learning disability is barely noticeable; other people have profound difficulties.

The umbrella term 'learning disability' covers a wide range of conditions linked to impaired intellectual and social functioning. This term and the description 'people with a learning disability' have been widely used in the UK since 1996, when people rejected the tag 'mental handicap', as it set them apart from other people.

A 'learning disability' is a life-long condition that starts before adulthood and affects a person's intellectual development. People with a learning disability are extremely diverse, vary hugely in their abilities and often look no different from anyone else, although physical development can be affected.

A learning disability is NOT the same as mental illness. Mental illnesses can take many forms, are often short-term and can be cured or controlled. A learning disability cannot be 'cured'; but with education, support and opportunities, people with a learning disability achieve a great deal - just like anyone else.

Labels like mild, moderate, severe and profound are used to describe learning disability. More recently it has been recognised that emphasis on the level of support people need to live their lives is perhaps more important than the label given to their level of impairment.

How many people in Northern Ireland
have a learning disability?

It is not possible to give exact figures.

Sometimes it is not always obvious when someone has a learning disability.

Official statistics covering attendance at special schools and other facilities only tell part of the story, as most people with a learning disability live at home with their families. Others go to college, some have jobs and many older people with a learning disability have never received any kind of support.

In this context it's easy for many people to "slip through the net" and never be recorded as having a learning disability.

In broad terms, research suggests that 2% of the UK population have some form of learning disability, from mild to severe - in Northern Ireland this translates to over 30,000 people.

Information on people with a severe learning disability is more accurate - 8,300 people fall into this category in Northern Ireland.

Approximately 90% of people with a learning disability live at home with carers and quite a number are not known to Social Service teams.

In terms of practical support, the primary needs of people with a learning disability are social and educational. When asked, people with a learning disability tell us they want to live in their own place, near to family, friends and amenities. They want to go to college, receive training or have a job and to get support from others to achieve their goals'.

What is learning disability?

Our mission & values