earn the appropriate visual discrimination and the associated letter sound, etc. However, it is the children that continue to experience these problems that are diagnosed as having learning difficulties. The proper identification of a learning problem is only the first step in the redemption process. Before the data obtained from testing and from subjective observations can have prescriptive value, it must be properly interpreted and analyzed correctly. There are so many cases where children are labeled as immature or unenthusiastic and they are given no special attention or care. When the term “immaturity” is used by educators to describe a child, the description does not in any way offer insight into the source of the child’s disability or problem. Today, there are so many terms that are used to refer to children who have difficulties comprehending materials and who have atypical behavioral skills. These include terms such as handicapped, disabled, exceptional, impaired, disordered, special, and developmentally delayed. These are general terms, however, it is those terms that actually specify the problem that often get confused. Placing a label on this child is telling those around the child to treat him in a different way than other children. There is substantial research that teachers act differently toward children for whom they have low expectations. Over time, the child’s behavior and achievement conforms to the teacher’s expectations. By labeling a child, not only will the educator deal with the child differently, but also other children will also immediately act differently toward the child because they think something is wrong. By other children acting differently this will eventually cause a change in the way the child perceives himself. The child will look at himself in a different way. He will think of himself as bad. Now that he is labeled he is no longer an individual, his uniqueness is lost...
