What is a learning disability?

A learning disability affects the way a person learns new things in any area of life. It affects the way they understand information and how they communicate. This means they can have difficulty:

• understanding new or complex information
• learning new skills
• coping independently

A person with some form of learning disability will know that everyday activities like work, education and jobs around the house can be a challenge. The person may experience prejudice from other people who don't understand about learning disabilities, or feel lonely because they don't have anyone to talk to about how they are feeling. 

By selecting from the menu on the left of the screen you can find out more about the different types of learning disability, discover things that can make living with a learning disability easier, and find out about support and services which can help a person with a learning disability to live a full and happy life. 

If you have a learning disability yourself you may find it useful to look at our separate section on Easy Read Information for People with Learning Disabilities.

And if you look after someone with a learning disability then take a look at our section on Looking after someone.