1. Learning disabilities are a congenital neurological condition,
which impacts the lives of children, youth and adults and affects all aspects of human functioning, including social functioning.
Reference: Report on neurological basis, The Lancet, February 1990.
2. One in ten Canadians has learning disabilities or 3 million Canadians.
References: 1970 Commission on Emotional and Learning Disorders in Children.
3. According to principals who participated in the first cycle of
the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY), an average of 12% of children in their schools had a learning
disability.
Reference:1997 Education Quarterly Review, Statistics Canada, Catalogue
no. 81-003-XPB, Vol. 4, no. 2 - Initial Results from the School Component, NLSCY.
4. One in 10 children received some form of remedial education during
1994-95. Children receiving remedial education often have multiple problems with the most common difficulties being a learning
disability (51%) or an emotional or behavioral problem (23%).
Reference:1997 Education Quarterly Review, Statistics Canada, Catalogue
no. 81-003-XPB, Vol. 4, no. 2 - Initial Results from the School Component, NLSCY.
5. 35% of students identified with learning disabilities drop out
of high school. This is twice the rate of non-disabled peers and does not include students who are not identified and drop
out.
Reference: Washington Summit on Learning Disabilities, 1994.
6. The Conference Board of Canada determined that dropouts from
the high school class of 1987 will cost society more than $1.7 billion in lost taxes.
Reference:1997, Dr. Doherty, Zero to Six: The Basis for School Readiness,
HRDC.
7. Adults with learning disabilities, who have not received appropriate
education and/or training, typically hold a job for only three months. Employers when questioned, report that the reason for
termination in most cases related to the person's social skills deficits rather than to any job skill problems.
Reference: Ontario Ministry of Labour, Handicapped Employment Program
8. 45.6% of adult inmates with learning disabilities have previous
youth court involvement.
Reference:1995, Learning Disabilities Among Canada's Federal Inmate
Population, Larry Motiuk, Ph.D., Correctional Services Canada.
9. 50% of females with learning disabilities will be mothers within
3 to 5 years of leaving high school.
Reference:1994,WashingtonSummiton Learning Disabilities.
10. 15% to 20% of Canadians with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
also have a specific learning disabilities.
Reference: Dr. Dan Offord, Ontario Child Health Study, Chedoke-McMaster
Hospital, Hamilton, Ontario.
11. 80% of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
(ADHD) have a specific learning disability while 30% of children with learning disabilities have ADHD. Almost all children
who have ADHD are identified in the school system as having a behavioral exceptionality.
Reference: Dr. Dan Offord, Ontario Child Health Study, Chedoke-McMaster
Hospital, Hamilton, Ontario.
12. 30% of adults with severe literacy problems were found to have
undetected or untreated LD.
Reference: National Adult Literacy and Learning Disabilities Center,
1994
13. 75% of children with reading disabilities in grade 3 who did
not receive early intervention, continue to have difficulties learning to read throughout high school and their adult life.
Reference: Dr. Reid Lyon's testimony before the Committee on Education
and the Workforce, a committee of The US House of Representatives, July 10, 1997.
14. In a self-reported study conducted in Atlantic Canada, 13,549
students in grades seven to twelve surveyed found that:
8.5 % of students reported taking Ritalin and similar prescription
drugs for recreational reasons, compared to5.3 % who took the drugs for treatment of ADHD.
20 % of teenagers who are prescribed
methylphenidate (Ritalin) and dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine) are passing the medications on to others.
14.7 % of
them are sharing the pills with classmates, including a significant number who are being bullied out of their drugs or having
them stolen
7.3 % are trafficking the drugs to their schoolmates.
According to the study, students who sell
their medications are four times more likely to use marijuana and six times more likely to use other recreational drugs than
other students. (alcohol, cigarettes, and other drugs).
Reference: Canadian Medical Association Journal, Fall, 2001.
15. The most common long-term condition suffered by children 0 to
14 years of age is learning disabilities - HALS reported that 95,580 children aged 0 to 14 years have this condition.
Reference: Statistics Canada's Health and Activity Limitation Survey
(HALS) 1991
16. Almost 50% of adolescent suicides had previously been diagnosed
as having learning disabilities.
References:1985, Dr. Peck, Crisis Intervention Treatment with Chronically
and Acutely Suicidal Adolescents - Youth Suicide (pp 112-122),New York.
17. 1989, Young, Leenaars, Rourke, A Childhood Learning Disability
that Predisposes Those Afflicted to Adolescents and Adult Depression and Suicide Risk - Journal of Learning Disabilities,
Volume 22, Number 3 (pp 169-175) and numerous other studies. Volumes of research have shown that 30% to 70% of young offenders
have experienced learning problems. In the past two decades, the link between learning disabilities and delinquent behaviour
has been examined and confirmed in both Canada and the US.
Reference:1976,Murray, D.A., - The Link Between Learning Disabilities
and Juvenile Delinquency: Current Theory and Knowledge, Washington, US Government Printing Office.
1978, Dr. Carol Crealock, University of Western Ontario- Juvenile Delinquency:
The Canadian Perspective, Behavioural Disorder 3:309-13.
1983, Dr. Peggy Koopman, University of British Columbia - Cognitive
Disorders and Syntactical Deficiencies in the Inmate Populations of Federal Penitentiaries in Canada, Report to the Solicitor
General of Canada.
1987, Dr. Carol Crealock, University of Western Ontario- The learning
Disabilities/Juvenile Delinquency Link: Causation or Correction, Ottawa, Minister of the Solicitor General.
1987, The Relationship Between Learning Disabilities and Delinquent
Behaviour, Learning Disabilities1:55-8.
18. The cost of detaining a young offender is approximately $100,000
a year.
Reference:1998, National Strategy on Community Safety
and Crime Prevention, Andy Scott, Solicitor General of Canada
