{"id":943,"date":"2021-03-25T16:38:42","date_gmt":"2021-03-25T16:38:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.devon.gov.uk\/educationandfamilies\/home\/send-local-offer\/about-send-and-the-local-offer\/conditions\/learning-disabilities\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T15:56:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T15:56:38","slug":"learning-disabilities","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/children-families-education\/send-local-offer\/types-of-send\/cognition-and-learning\/learning-disabilities\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning difficulties and disabilities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Learning difficulties <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Learning difficulties can affect how well someone can:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>process information<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>use language<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>perform mathematical calculations<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>co-ordinate their movements<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>focus on a task<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>A learning difficulty might mean that a child or young person needs more time to process information or instructions. They also may need extra help to complete certain tasks at school. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>There are many types of learning difficulty, including <strong>dyslexia<\/strong>, <strong>dyspraxia<\/strong> and <strong>dyscalculia<\/strong>. A person can have one, or a combination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some examples of Specific Learning Disabilities are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/contact.org.uk\/conditions\/dyslexia\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Dyslexia<\/a> &#8211; difficulties with accurate and fluent word reading and spelling<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>D<a href=\"https:\/\/contact.org.uk\/conditions\/dyscalculia\/\" rel=\"noopener\">yscalculia<\/a> &#8211; difficulties with counting, arithmetic and learning mathematical skills <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/contact.org.uk\/conditions\/dyspraxia\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Dyspraxia<\/a> (or Developmental Coordination Disorder) &#8211; difficulties with fine and or gross motor skills coordination <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Learning disabilities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A learning disability affects the way a person understands information and how they communicate. Learning disabilities can be mild, moderate, severe or profound. In all cases a\u00a0learning disability is lifelong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Children and young people with <strong>moderate learning difficulties (MLD)<\/strong> may need extra support in some areas of the curriculum.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Children and young people with <strong>severe learning difficulties (SLD)<\/strong> are likely to need support in all areas of the curriculum and have associated difficulties with mobility and communication.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Children and young people with <strong>profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD)<\/strong>, are likely to have severe and complex learning difficulties as well as a physical disability or sensory impairment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Support in Devon<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Devon\u2019s <a class=\"wpel-icon-right\" href=\"http:\/\/childrenandfamilyhealthdevon.nhs.uk\/learning-disability-nursing\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">Learning Disability Team<\/a> gives advice and support to professionals and families of children and young people with severe or profound learning disabilities. Email <a href=\"mailto:TSDFT.DevonSPA@nhs.net\">TSDFT.DevonSPA@nhs.net<\/a> or call <a href=\"tel:03300245321\">0330 024 5321<\/a> and ask to speak to a duty member from the Learning Disability Team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Devon Partnership NHS Trust&#8217;s service includes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dpt.nhs.uk\/services?ser_search_text=Learning+disability&amp;ser_search_location=&amp;ser_search_type=&amp;ser_submit=\" rel=\"noopener\">a number of specialist teams<\/a> that can help support people with learning disabilities that are over 18 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Useful websites<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Find out\u00a0<a class=\"wpel-icon-right\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nhs.uk\/conditions\/learning-disabilities\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener noreferrer\">more about learning disabilities on the NHS website<\/a>.<br><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.learningdisabilitydevon.org.uk\/\" rel=\"noopener\">The Learning Disability Devon website<\/a> has been designed by people with a learning disability for people with a learning disability and contains lots of information to help you stay safe and well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learning difficulties Learning difficulties can affect how well someone can: A learning difficulty might mean that a child or young person needs more time to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":748,"featured_media":0,"parent":20210,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-943","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-29 21:06:17","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/children-families-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/children-families-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/children-families-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/children-families-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/748"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/children-families-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=943"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/children-families-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/943\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73675,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/children-families-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/943\/revisions\/73675"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/children-families-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/children-families-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}