The meaning of learning disabilities
People who have learning disabilities find it a lot more difficult to learn and understand than other people. They may find it hard to use what they have learned in practical ways. This means they will need help and support with everyday living skills. Some people need high levels of help and support. Other people, with some help, are able to live quite independently.
Some people with learning disabilities prefer the term ‘learning difficulties’. In the UK, ‘learning difficulties’ tends to be used to describe specific learning problems.
More information about learning disabilities in the UK is available from Mencap:
Freephone: 0808 808 1111 (from the UK)
Website: www.mencap.org.uk
The causes of learning disabilities
Around one in every four people with epilepsy has learning disabilities. Around half of all people with learning disabilities has epilepsy. A learning disability is caused by something that affects the way the brain develops. This can happen before, during or soon after birth. These are some examples.
Before birth - damage to the baby’s brain and the spinal cord can cause a learning disability. If a pregnant woman is ill or has an accident, particularly a road traffic accident, her baby may be born with learning disabilities. Some babies are born with learning disabilities if they have a genetic problem, such as Down’s syndrome.
During birth - a child can be born with a learning disability if they don’t get enough oxygen during birth.
Soon after birth - a child can develop a learning disability if they have had a serious illness, such as meningitis, or brain injuries. These cause problems with the way the brain develops.
Some children who are born too early will have learning disabilities.
Sometimes, the cause of learning disabilities can't be found.
About epilepsy
If you have epilepsy, it means that you sometimes have seizures. Electrical activity is happening in our brain all the time. A seizure happens when there is a sudden burst of intense electrical activity. This intense electrical activity causes a temporary disruption to the way the brain normally works, meaning that the brain’s messages become mixed up. The result is an epileptic seizure.
Your brain is responsible for everything your body does. What happens to you during a seizure will depend on which part of your brain the epileptic activity begins, and how widely and quickly it spreads. There are many different types of seizure and each person will have epilepsy in a way that is unique to them.
Epilepsy Action has more information about seizures.
The link between learning disabilities and epilepsy
Damage to the brain can cause learning disabilities. The damaged part of the brain can then become irritable and cause epileptic seizures. Some people might not start having seizures until many years after the damage has happened.
In some people, epilepsy and learning disabilities can both be part of a syndrome.
A syndrome is a group of signs and symptoms that, added together, point to a particular medical condition. These are some examples of syndromes where a person might have epilepsy and learning disabilities.
- Down’s syndrome
- Rett syndrome
- Sturge-Weber syndrome
- Lennox-Gastaut syndrome
- Landau-Kleffner syndrome
Epilepsy Action has more information about syndromes.
We can provide references and information on the source material we use to write our epilepsy advice and information pages. Please contact our Epilepsy Helpline by email at helpline@epilepsy.org.uk.
Our thanks to Prof. M. Kerr, Welsh Centre for Learning Disabilities, who reviewed and contributed to this information. Also to Mencap, who provided information about the causes of learning disabilities.
Prof. M. Kerr has no conflict of interest to declare.
This information has been produced under the terms of The Information Standard.
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Updated September 2012To be reviewed September 2014
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