The challenge with this group of individuals is that they show similar learning problems to individuals with learning disabilities. However, if you were to give these individuals the strategies that you might provide individuals with learning disabilities, you might be setting them up for failure. As literacy practitioners, we know that intellectual inability is not a barrier to reading. Individuals with intellectual disabilities can learn to read and we could probably teach them how to decode anything, however we would eventually see a breakdown in reading comprehension. Individuals who have characteristics that most resemble an individual with an intellectual impairment have difficulty comprehending abstract ideas, which is why reading comprehension and other higher level thinking skills can be difficult to attain.

It is important to keep in mind that we need to work with what we think the main disability is and use teaching strategies that would be effective for that individual. For instance, sometimes we encounter individuals who may show characteristics that are predominantly associated with intellectual impairments but at the same time show a few signs of having a potential learning disability. In this case, it would be better to focus on providing teaching strategies that are beneficial for adults with intellectual disabilities. It is essential to focus on what the main disability is in order to effectively help an individual in this situation. The reason this is important is because practitioners might be tempted to use strategies that work with individuals with learning disabilities. This could be very discouraging for learners whose main disability is an intellectual disability. It could set the learner up for failure.

The IQ Factor

And so dyslexia represents a paradox, particularly in our society where reading ability is often taken as a proxy for intelligence and it is assumed that if you are a good reader, you are also highly intelligent and if you struggle to read, you must not be so smart. ¹⁶

The question of whether an individual with a learning disability is average to above average intelligence is one that has been disputed in the literacy field for many years. According to many professionals in the field of learning disabilities and many learning disability associations, individuals with learning disabilities are average to above average intelligence. The Learning Disabilities Association of Canada says "adults with learning disabilities have average, above-average, or even exceptional intelligence. They may be highly artistic, musical, or gifted in a specific academic area. Their general intellectual functioning is not impaired and they are able to reason and make judgements at least within the average range. In other words, people with learning disabilities are not slow learners. They just learn in a different way. They learn inefficiently, due to inefficiencies in the functioning of the brain." ¹⁷