Specific learning difficulty

Specific is the load-bearing word: the difficulty is in one or more particular skills, not in learning overall. A child with dyslexia Dyslexia Dyslexia is a common learning difference that mainly affects reading and spelling. It does not affect how clever a child is. Read the full definition of Dyslexia can be brilliant at maths, and a child with dyscalculia Dyscalculia Dyscalculia is a learning difference that affects working with numbers. A child with dyscalculia may find it hard to judge quantities, put numbers in order, or hold on to number facts. Read the full definition of Dyscalculia can be a fluent reader. That unevenness is often the giveaway, and it is also why bright children with an SpLD get missed, because they work hard to compensate.

Schools and assessors use SpLD as the umbrella heading, and England's SEND SEND SEND is England's word for children who need extra help to learn. The rest of the UK uses other words, and other rules. Read the full definition of SEND Code of Practice defines it that way at paragraph 6.31. The phrase itself is used across the UK, but each nation's school support system around it is different.

You may also see specific learning difference, chosen by people who want to describe a different way of learning rather than a deficit. On a report, both mean the same thing.