Learned Helplessness and Attribution for Success and Failure in LD Students is an article published on the website ldonline.org which discusses the concept of learned helplessness especially as it relates to the educational journey of students with LD. Here is an excerpt from the article:
Attributions of learning disabled students
Research has repeatedly shown that children with learning disabilities make different attributions of success and failure than their normally achieving peers, and that these attributions may interfere with their classroom performance. Studies have suggested the following about academic achievement and self concept attributions of learning disabled students:
- Students with learning disabilities are more likely to make external attributions for both success and failure than their non-disabled peers. Specificallv, they are less likely to attribute success to ability or internal, controllable, and stable factors and are more likely to attribute success to luck or external, uncontrollable and unstable factors.
- Students with learning disabilities have lower global self concepts than non-disabled peers. This lowered self-concept was reported as early as grade three, and was found to remain stable through high school. Students with learning disabilities who were neither identified nor given special placement experienced lower academic self-concepts than those who were identified and specifically placed. Severely learning disabled students who received full-time special placement experienced increased academic self-concept, especially in reading.
