I totally disagree that the term learning disability should not be used by anyone but the professionals who are working with the child. It wasn't until I learned that I have learning disabilities when I was in my 30s that I was able to find a way to benefit from a structured learning environment. It wasn't until I learned exactly what my problems were, and then found effective tools for getting around them that I was able to function well in a classroom setting. Where I had consistently gotten Ds and Es (the lowest grade being F) in school as a child (except in art, where I always got As), when I went back to college in my 30s (after having twice dropped out in my late teens, without ever finishing a semester), I got mostly As and a couple of Bs.

The reason I was able to do this is because I understood the nature of my problems. And I STILL have attention deficit disorder, and have had it all of my life (I believe that ADD is a little sister to autism), so that can't be pinned on my home life as a child. But when I understood why I had so much difficulty focusing, that was when I was able to find ways to create an environment in which I was able, with a lot of effort, to focus and learn, and get very good grades.

But the reason I was so successful after I went back to school as an adult was because I as an adult, and I had much more power and control over my environent. The learning disabilities didn't go way, I just learned how to compensate for them.

And knowing why I have the problems I do also helped my self-esteem a hell of a lot. Because then I knew that the things the schools had taught me to believe about myself weren't true, and that there were very good reasons why I had the difficulties I had in school.