Self-Understanding and Self-Esteem in Children with Learning Disabilities

Abstract

Little is known about the way children with learning disabilities (LD) develop an understanding of their disability. In this study, 95 students (23 elementary and 72 junior high) were interviewed to determine how they were informed about their learning disability and what they knew about it. Students were also administered two questionnaires, Harter's What I Am Like and Heyman's Self-Perception of a Learning Disability (SPLD). All students reported being told about their learning problems either by their parents, school personnel, or “no one.” Contrary to our hypothesis, increased knowledge about LD was not associated with higher self-esteem. Understanding of one's LD was associated with actual and perceived scholastic competence, while global self-esteem was associated with perceptions of competence in nonacademic domains. Concerns about current measures of self-understanding and future directions for helping children with LD understand their disability and maintain their self-esteem are discussed.