Home
>
Parenting
>
Aptitude, Achievement, Processing Deficit - What Does It All Mean?

Aptitude, Achievement, Processing Deficit - What Does It All Mean?

You are sitting with the professionals who know about learning disabilities. They have been explaining what they will be looking for when they test your child.

"We look for an aptitude-achievement discrepancy as well as a processing deficit," one of them explains.

Your eyes glaze over and you begin to feel you're not too smart. It's like they're speaking another language. You haven't a clue what these people are talking about.

Actually, I've always felt that special education does use a foreign language.

That doesn't, however, mean that you can't learn it. Like any language, after a while, you'll get it.

When you meet with the Pupil Evaluation Team, or the Case Conference Committee, or the Child Study Team, or whatever it's called in your area, you will probably hear the sentence mentioned above.

Let's chop that sentence into pieces:

"We look for an aptitude-achievement discrepancy..."

Your child's aptitude is his ability to learn. When I was in school, we called it an IQ. In order for someone to have a learning disability, he has to have at least average aptitude for learning. In other words, he needs to have the ability to learn as well as any average child of his age.

His achievement refers to how well he is learning, or the extent to which he has received information and mastered certain skills. This may be where problems show up.

The evaluator looks at whether there is a big difference, or discrepancy, between those two scores - aptitude and achievement. Is there a big difference between what he SHOULD HAVE learned and what he really has learned?

Let's say your child has an aptitude of 100, which is exactly average. That means that he should be able to learn things as well as any average student of his age or grade. But let's say that the test found him to be achieving only at a level of 60 in reading. That's 40 points below what he SHOULD BE doing in reading. That's important information.

"...as well as a processing deficit."

The next thing the evaluator looks at is a "processing deficit". The term "processing" refers to the way your child's brain works. Can his brain handle information better through what he sees (visual channel) or through what he hears (auditory channel). Can he remember a list of 4 or 5 things, or does he forget them quickly? How well does he find information he has stored in his head? How quickly can he process information?

A deficit in processing means that he has trouble with one of the ways his brain handles information.

Now, let's put it all together:

"There has to be an aptitude-achievement discrepancy..." The evaluator has found a big gap between your child's ability (100) and his achievement (60) in reading. That tells you that he hasn't learned what he needs to learn in order to be successful in reading.

"...as well as a processing deficit." The evaluator has found that he has a real problem remembering letters and sounds. And what is more necessary in order to learn to read than remembering letters and their sounds?

Now you know that he should be able to read like the other children in his class, but his brain isn't remembering letters and their sounds the way it should. That's what's standing in the way of his being able to read as well as the other children.

Chances are the team will decide that your child has a learning disability in reading and that he is eligible for special education services. He will be able to get extra help from a special teacher. There will be things you can do with him at home to help him as well. He will be able to receive help from people who know what will work best for him and who care enough to give him the skills he needs to be successful in life.

For more plain talk about learning disabilities, please visit us at www.ldperspectives.com.

About the Author

Sandy Gauvin is a retired educator who has seen learning disabilities from many perspectives - as the parent of a daughter with learning disabilities, as the teacher of children with learning disabilities, and as an advocate for others who have diagnosed and unrecognized learning disabilities. Sandy shares her wisdom and her resources at www.ldperspectives.com.

kitchen deep cleaning Deerfield ..

In The News:

Unlike robotaxi competitors, Tensor focuses on consumer-owned self-driving cars that adapt to highways and urban roads with full redundancy systems for safety.

Medicare scams cost $54 billion in 2024 as fraudsters target beneficiaries with fake calls demanding payments and personal information to steal benefits.

Scammers create fake Evite invitations that mimic legitimate event emails, requiring users to verify senders and use antivirus software for protection.

The new Apple Watch hypertension feature passively monitors blood pressure patterns over 30 days using sensors to detect chronic high blood pressure signs.

Chrome extension spyware disguised as a free VPN service highlights security risks after it captured private browsing data from trusted sites.

New research shows how fatty acids in cooking oil can safely dissolve and recover silver from circuit boards without harmful chemicals or environmental damage.

The Fox News AI newsletter gives you information on the latest AI technology advancements, and about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Anthropic investigates alarming AI abuse case where hacker automated entire cybercrime campaign using Claude, stealing sensitive data from defense and healthcare firms.

TikTok, Meta and YouTube restrict Charlie Kirk shooting videos with age gates and warnings while X faces criticism for allowing continued circulation.

Cybercriminals use fake troubleshooting websites to trick Mac users into running terminal commands that install Shamos malware through ClickFix tactics.

San Francisco startup Fable launches Showrunner, an AI platform dubbed the 'Netflix of AI' that generates animated episodes from text descriptions with Amazon support.

Apple raised iPhone prices for some models despite receiving tariff relief from President Donald Trump, with the new lineup starting at $799 for the base model.

A two-story 3D concrete printed home in Western Australia demonstrates faster construction methods that could reshape American housing amid rising costs.

Credit scores remain important during retirement for insurance rates and housing applications, while seniors become prime targets for identity theft and financial scams.

Scammers now send unexpected packages with QR codes that redirect victims to fraudulent websites or download malicious software to steal sensitive information.

Meeting AI tools record private conversations alongside work discussions, creating privacy risks that can be managed with proper settings and awareness.

Hotel privacy concerns are valid but rare, with methods to detect hidden tech using smartphone flashlights, mirror tests and scanning apps.

Improve your Wi-Fi speed and reliability with 10 simple router optimization tips that don't require special apps or expensive subscriptions.

A Columbia University breach exposed names, Social Security numbers and academic records of nearly 869,000 people, with notifications beginning in August.

Rental car drivers use AI-powered apps like Proofr to protect themselves from unfair damage fees as major companies deploy automated inspection tools.

Fox News' AI newsletter brings you the latest on technology advancements around artificial intelligence.

OnTrac data breach between April 13-15, 2025, exposed personal information of over 40,000 people including Social Security numbers and medical records.

A woman named Wika announces her engagement to an AI chatbot sparking worldwide debate about virtual relationships and technology.

The notorious people search site National Public Data relaunches despite a previous breach affecting 3 billion individuals, raising fresh privacy concerns.

Revolutionary TRAUMAGEL gel controls life-threatening bleeding from gunshot wounds and traumatic injuries, helping first responders prevent prehospital deaths.

Aptitude, Achievement, Processing Deficit - What Does It All Mean?

Parenting